Comments on: Dalian vs. Suzhou

By: Percy

Percy — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 10:19:08 +0000

It’s quite a nice reading here, seeing your comparison between Dalian where I now have my college life and extraordanary beautiful Suzhou. Good for you to enjoy your Chinese style living.

By: Yan

Yan — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 02:49:05 +0000

Have something to say about the weather in Suzhou. I’m a native and when I was a child, I remember that the four seasons are very obvious with almost average length. Spring and autumn can be enjoyed for quite a while every year which are the most nice time for outdoor activities. But now, just as you said fall and spring only show in a very short period of time.The difference happened just during the past 10-20 years I think. Environment-wise should really be paid more attention on.

By: A baozi in the steamer | A China Blog on Suzhou Expat Life

A baozi in the steamer | A China Blog on Suzhou Expat Life — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 05:46:44 +0000

[...] still early, and that we should come back in a week or two and check again. That led us into our recent trip up to Dalian, and then this past week’s National Holiday. Though impatient to know one way or the other [...]

By: Kim

Kim — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 12:52:54 +0000

Good to see you in Dalian again! And hope to seeya in Suzhou soon-ish.

AS far as culture goes, Dalian would really benefit from a “Bookworm”. You got any guanxi with the Bookworm owner? Tell him if he’d be willing to start one up in Dalian then I’d be ready to run it

Oh, and for me one of the big things about Dalian food is that there’s so much great and reasonably priced Korean and Japanese grub around.

By: chriswaugh_bj

chriswaugh_bj — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 08:07:20 +0000

Alex, I wasn’t talking about pollution.

By: Alex

Alex — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 05:33:37 +0000

On thing that really defines Dalian to me: Unlike other Chinese 2nd tier cities it’s quite a way from a 1st tier city or the typical population ‘hub’ that tends to surround provincial capitals.

This means it’s pretty self contained (airport, Metro, Ikea, hotels, general conveniences), but it also means it’s quite isolated from local competition and rests on it’s laurels quite a bit.

chriswaugh_bj: Pollution is something Dalian has been quite famous for lacking (less the lack of industry, more the strong wind blowing it away). Over the past few years other cities in China have made efforts to reduce their levels of pollution, the opposite has been true in Dalian which again has rested on it’s laurels: pollution over summer 2008 hit levels greater than Beijing and nearby notoriously dirty Shenyang several times – when there’s no wind Dalian does get quite dirty these days. See http://www.daliandalian.com/blog/slipping-on-grease-street-hoping-for-wind-to-blow-it-away

By: Mom

Mom — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 17:50:29 +0000

Love the photos! Maomao is adorable! Looks like a well fed Chihuahua!

By: chriswaugh_bj

chriswaugh_bj — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:05:30 +0000

Environment-wise, Dalian beats anywhere in the large pile of mud that is the Yangtze Delta hands down. Add 10 points to Dalian. And forgive, me, but the location points all go Dalian’s way. As for cuisine, bland as Dongbei may be, it’s great stuff for keeping warm in the winter. Add another point there. Also, I haven’t spent long enough in Dalian to really comment, but it’s history as a Russian then Japanese colony plus its identification more with Yantai than the rest of Dongbei surely give it a cultural mix to rival Suzhou’s long history of sitting on a pile of mud?

Oh, and you forget that Changzhou also has an airport, raising the tally to 4 within easy reach of Suzhou. It has at least one flight a day to Beijing, and maybe a couple of others to other places, too.