Live in Chengdu or Wuhan?

[Shadowdh]

3 years, in both Chengdu and Chongqing. Dated dozens of girls and had long relationships with a handful.

what would you consider to be a "long relationship"... a handful of relationships that are "long" in 3 years... doesnt seem that long a time to establish a relationship...(I know way off topic but just interested)...

[Prodigal Son]

what would you consider to be a "long relationship"... a handful of relationships that are "long" in 3 years... doesnt seem that long a time to establish a relationship...(I know way off topic but just interested)...

Since you ask, I consider anything past 6 months to be a long enough time to know someone relatively well. Sometimes it doesn't take that long, sometimes it takes longer; it's not an exact science. Seems like more than enough time to establish a relationship to me, though.

[tuanjie]

Don't know about Chengdu, but I have been in Wuhan several years. Wuhan is hot in summer and cold in winter and not much in between during the in-between months. It's not the cleanest city, as has already been mentioned. I could think of a handful of cities I'd rather be in, frankly. But that said, it is a great place for learning Chinese if you are here. I used to live in Hunan (which I also like very much) and it was very refreshing to be able to understand taxi drivers and food sellers, etc, when I made the move here. I think the air is not so great in either cities, by the way.

[Chinadoog]

i've heard a lot of people say that wuhan is a sh*thole. people generally like chengdu. even though everyone there speaks sichuanhua, pretty much everyone can speak putonghua as well.

but chengdu has some of the worst weather i've ever seen. absolutely terrible. it's cloudy and foggy 95% of the time. and not normal cloudiness - it's like a constant haze that surrounds the city. there were mountains out of my window but i only saw them twice in a period of 10 months.

other than the weather, chengdu is a good place to live.

[Don_Horhe]

i've heard a lot of people say that wuhan is a sh*thole

And they're right, too. I spent 2 years there and I'm never, EVER going back to that particular city. I've never been to Chengdu myself, but I can't imagine it being worse than Wuhan.

[xiaocai]

but chengdu has some of the worst weather i've ever seen. absolutely terrible. it's cloudy and foggy 95% of the time. and not normal cloudiness - it's like a constant haze that surrounds the city. there were mountains out of my window but i only saw them twice in a period of 10 months.

According to China Meteorological Administration Chengdu has the least sunshine and highest relative humidity among all the capital cities in China, so yes, it is not the not best place to stay if good weather is essential to you.

[redrabbit]

I lived in Wuhan for a semester and have spent a month in Chengdu. As in weather they are both similar, hot summers and cold winters. I personally would choose Chengdu, i found the people more friendly and laid back, and a much nicer city and especially the food. If you want an easy environment to learn putonghua, best you go to the north of China, however i had no problems communicating in putonghua in both Wuhan and Chengdu, occasionally you may meet a local whos putonghua is hard to understand.

[Vinny / 文森]

I've been to Chengdu twice and on both occassions I very rarely heard Putonghua spoken on the streets. It isn't the best environment to go if you are looking to "immerse" yourself in Mandarin.

Also, while it might be a great city by Chinese standards, as I always hear Chinese people raving about Chengdu, by any other standard it is an average city. Lots of grey skies, pollution, grey buildings, and grey coloured roads just in case there were not enough shades of grey. In winter you don't see the sun or get blue skies for several weeks.

That said, it is an interesting place, with everything you could want in a city, and a good place if you're looking for a laid back lifestyle that's not too expensive in a big city. But I'm not sure I would go to Chengdu if my main purpose was to learn Mandarin.

[lukoktonos]

I live in Wuhan and recently visited Chengdu briefly, and I agree with several of the other posters that Chengdu is cleaner, more laid back, and has better traffic, while Wuhan might be somewhat better for learning Mandarin, especially if you are the type to be out talking to strangers a lot.

Although Wuhan hua is comparable to Sichuan hua, Wuhan has a lot more colleges than Chengdu, which means a lot of young people from outside of Hubei with completely different dialects that come to study and possibly stay for employment. This means that more people speak Putonghua to communicate rather than Wuhan hua.

My vote is for Chengdu, but I have not experienced in full force the extremes of the weather there.