DalianDalian.com

Late spring means its time to start thinking about next school year. Over the past few weeks, I've been getting emails from people in and out of China asking whether they should move to Dalian. What are the highlights? What was your biggest frustration? Can I do something besides teach?

The short answer to all this is, yes, Dalian's a fine city to live in. For most people.

• The Clean City

  Dalian is one of the cleanest cities in China. That might not mean much to our Canadian friends from the pristine north (proud and free), but spend a week in Beijing, and you'll appreciate the almost-blueness of the sky.
  
  In the 1990s, Dalian shifted from industrial to high-tech, and its environment benefited tremendously. Bo Xilai, the mayor at the time, had a thing for tree-lined streets, and the major thoroughfares are richer for it. Add in a coastal breeze, and it's a downright pleasant place, most of the time.

• The Windy City

  Those pleasant coastal breezes only really stay pleasant in the spring and fall. In Winter, they turn into icy Siberian gusts: face-numbing, finger-throbbing, downright horrid.
  
  Buy warm clothes.

• The Tech City

  Several emailers asked about jobs other than teaching. Because who wouldn't want to spend the rest of their time in China trying to manage a group of 20-somethings who really need to pass a mysterious test much more than they need to learn a language, or better yet, a pile of toddlers whose parents insist being near a foreigner will make them instantly bilingual? So, yes, there are other jobs out there.
  
  As I said above, Dalian went high-tech in the '90s. Specifically, it's an outsourcing hub. What Bangalore is to the United States, Dalian is to Japan. There's a host of companies based in the city, mostly in the Dalian Software Park, the High Tech Zone and the Development Zone. Intel is also building a fabrication plant north of the city proper.
  
  If you have skills in IT, business, communications, or something remotely related, you just may be qualified to join the ranks of former English teachers now gainfully employed in real jobs.

Did I miss anything?

Probably. But I'm just getting things started here. Add your own questions or answers in the comments..