I actually still live here, and will until the end of the month. I have visited Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Beijing (the "big three" as far as mainland cities are concerned) and I live in Shandong province, so I have been to Jinan, Qingdao, Qufu, Liaocheng, Gaomi, Changyi, and Rizhao. The city I live in (Gaomi or 高密) is small by Chinese standards - only about 800,000 people total. It is hard to distill the essence of living in China into a comment, but I'll do my best.
It is definitely different from living in a western, developed country, but it isn't like living in the third world. Most people have smart phones, but cars are still pretty scarce. I and most of the people I know travel by electric scooter. Public transportation is MUCH better than in the US, Canada, or New Zealand. I can grab a taxi to anywhere in the city for about US$1. However, there are also those culturally different things that make us western 老外
I actually still live here, and will until the end of the month. I have visited Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Beijing (the "big three" as far as mainland cities are concerned) and I live in Shandong province, so I have been to Jinan, Qingdao, Qufu, Liaocheng, Gaomi, Changyi, and Rizhao. The city I live in (Gaomi or 高密) is small by Chinese standards - only about 800,000 people total. It is hard to distill the essence of living in China into a comment, but I'll do my best.
It is definitely different from living in a western, developed country, but it isn't like living in the third world. Most people have smart phones, but cars are still pretty scarce. I and most of the people I know travel by electric scooter. Public transportation is MUCH better than in the US, Canada, or New Zealand. I can grab a taxi to anywhere in the city for about US$1. However, there are also those culturally different things that make us western 老外
Wow, it seems Snapzu cut off most of my comment reply... I will rewrite it later, but if you have specific questions feel free to ask, too!