Hey everyone,
My name is Bill Teskey. I'm from Canada but have been living in Changchun, Jilin for the last 4 years. my wife and I will be relocating to Changshu or Suzhou this August/September and are looking to get to know the place a little before we go.
I guess my first real question is; should I choose Changshu over Suzhou? salary is similar, job is similar, Changshu apartment included, Suzhou apartment stipend available (about 2000RMB). I come from a small town and like quiet places, but I'd like to hear your opinion having lived there.

Thanks.

Bill

Hi,

I know it's probably a bit late to impart this information but maybe it will still be helpful.
I currently live in Suzhou and though it is obviously not Shanghai it's a pretty busy city! At the moment there is a construction of a metro here that makes the whole business of it seem worth in combination with the extreme bad driving.
I don't know where you will be working but 2000Y a month will not get you far if you want to live in:
A: Down town
B: SIP
C:SND
There are other areas you can live closer to the train station and other more distant location, in those places you could get a 2 br for less then 2000Y fully furnished and in good condition but the standard is a chinese soviet building and the furniture is traditional. In dow Town it's more or less the same being the old town but more expensive being the centre.
Suzhou is a second tier city and all your basic staples are more expensive here too.
I don't know what you are like or the place where you stayed at is like but if you are used to living on Chinese standards and happy to do so you can get on quite well in Suzhou on relativity little money (but probably not compare to where you are staying now) over all Suzhou (when not under construction) a very beautiful city and well known for that. If you want to experience Chinese progress this is the place to be. It's close to Shanghai (that I love!) and now also Beijing (4.5h via high speed rail) it has many restaurants representing many cuisines (I think most western restaurants are rubbish but again it's personal taste). There are also expat associations and all sorts of other expat related activities here.

I enjoyed living here very much so far and I am moving to Changshu this month 26th so if you decided to stay is there let me know.

Cheers,

Tal-El

Hi,

Welcome to Changshu. I have shifted to Changshu from India past 10 months.. If you like small towns thn u would love this place.

Also, the easy 1 hour max connectivity to Shanghai, Suzhou and Wuxi is a blessing for people tired of the small place. The rent is going to be much lower compared
to Suzhou as mentioned by Tal-el..

Seeya
Vaish