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Thread: Xiamen or Taipei...HELP ME!
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[quote=GUEST13209,321462]Dear GSTARKWE , I have been living in Xiamen for 4 years and let me try to answer your question. 1)For instance, is there an expat community there? I'm definitely going to meet the locals, but I fear I may get lonely if I go a year without having somebody with whom to talk baseball/football and complain about the Chinese government. There is a small expat community, it can't in any way be compared with shanghai or Beijing. 2)I don't even know what dialect they speak there. I studied three years of Mandarin in college and want to make sure I'm fluent over the next 12 months. I KNOW I can do that here in Taipei, but can I do that in Xiamen? How're the Xiamen University classes? Does everybody on the street speak Mandarin that me, a fresh schoolboy from the states, could understand? The locals Speak Minnan hua but most of the locals speak Manarin. Half of the city is gold diggers from other parts of Fujian or China. Almost nobody speaks English, even if alot of peolpe shouts hello when you pass by. 3)How hard is it to get around? I'm not getting a scooter, maybe a bike (no, not a hog...a bicycle); is there public transit (I'm guessing buses but no subway?)? The trafic in Xiamen is terrible, do not ride a bicycle it's really dangerus. The car/taxi drivers can not drive at all. They drive with no concern for others life. I have seen 4-5 dead peolpe lying on the street after beeing hit. The buss driver drives even worse. If you take a buss ride you should be prepared for packed busses, sweat and farts. It's a very unciviliced trafic situation. Unfortunately the trafic gives you a mirror to the peoples soul. Money money money, me me me. 4)What about public parks? I love running. Taipei sucks as far as running goes, but it DOES have Daan park, where I could go and run around it's 2k trail. Not great, but it's enough. Does Xiamen have affordable gyms? Xiamen have some parks, they all have a very artificial feeling. I tought you could run around the lake in central Xiamen but is stinks to much. You can however run at the beach side, Huan dao lu. The gyms in Xiamen are not very good and they are quite expencive. 5)I want to study judo or jiu jitsu (ie, one of the wrestling martial arts). Can I do that in Xiamen? I m sure you can find something but don't expect to much. I hope my answers can help you decide. George [/quote]
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