Which Chinese cities look good to me

[Gertrude_Awonk]

Hi I'm a Chinese American with emotional ties to mainland China. My family is from Beijing which I've been a few times but even though I identify with China and the Chinese I don't really like Beijing that much. For me it's too political and I am drawn to other cities in China. Here is a list of them.

(For reference here is a map of the places I'm interested in)

Fuzhou:

Famous for - Fuzhou fish balls, origin of Chinese people in Malaysia, Taiwan, and New York, birthplace of tea, destination point of Marco Polo.

Shaoxing:

Famous for - Shaoxing wine (used in cooking), beautiful houses on water, home of many poets and philosophers.

Ningbo:

Famous for - Go-on pronunciation of Japanese Kanji (used to be trade port with Japan), Ningbo means "tranquil waves" which I think is so beautiful

Shanghai:

Famous for - China's most famous city arguably. Paris of the East. Good mix of traditional Chinese culture and European architecture. Romantic and dreamy vibe.

Harbin:

Famous for - confluence of Chinese and Russian culture, ice sculptures, cold temperature.

North Korea:

Famous for - Joseon dynasty which was strongly Confucian based. Korean cuisine that's supposed to be more creative than south Korea's. Alliance with Mainland China. ( I know they're technically not China but I feel like they're similar to China at least to me)

(Honorable mentions)

Guangzhou:

Famous for - Dim Sum, origin of Cantonese immigrants in California, New York, and southeast Asia, Mainland China's cousin of Hong Kong. (They're Chinese but because they speak a different language Cantonese I consider them distinct from me in some ways)

Tokyo:

Famous for - anime and robotics and stuff. The name Tokyo means "Eastern capital". I consider it the furthest extension of traditional Chinese-influenced culture.

Thanks!

[ChrisMaster69]

I’ve been to a lot of China.

I would also add in Shenzhen and Hong Kong

Guangzhou I do like, spent lot of time there.

Hangzhou / Suzhou

[4dmins-4-13itches]

oh wow i forgot i made this MyTake and that people responded to it! Thanks for your response it's interesting to me. Yeah Hangzhou/Suzhou are pretty famous that's true. I'm haven't been to the south of China as much as Beijing so I really want to travel there and get a different side of the culture I grew up with. I guess like west coast vs east coast US or England vs Scotland or something I don't know. Thanks for your input!

[ChrisMaster69]

@4dmins-4-13itches I would say it’s even more than that, with Scotland, England, East West in the US, it’s pretty much the same people and similar culture.

With China, you have north south, east west and not only variations in food but also people, there are variations in the ethnicity ish between areas in China.

Also if you have not been there, Hong Kong is brilliant

[4dmins-4-13itches]

Ok I guess it's worth a visit but not the cheapest place in the world to live I hear ahha... ok

[ChrisMaster69]

@4dmins-4-13itches it is pricey for accommodation but it’s really worth a visit.

If you’ve been to Shanghai and been to the old French part, it has shades of that, similar to Singapore.
Different to Macau

[4dmins-4-13itches]

So you think you like Hong Kong the most though? Or a mix of different places?

[4dmins-4-13itches]

In my personal experience some Hong Kong people are really rude to Mainland people although I guess I’m Americanized but even still it doesn’t sit well with me from what I’ve witnessed.

[zagor]

I liked Beijing a lot more than Shanghai. Shanghai was the only place in China where I was approached multiple times by scam artists.

[4dmins-4-13itches]

oh wow i forgot i made this MyTake and that people responded to it! Thanks for your response it's interesting to me. I didn't know Shanghai had that problem

[zagor]

@4dmins-4-13itches If you're of Chinese descent they probably don't single you out as a foreigner. I got several approaches exactly as warned about in the guidebook and the sign in the hotel room.

[4dmins-4-13itches]

wow i made this in the past and forgot about it