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According to William Moss Wilson’s The 5 Best Places to Live Overseas for 2008, Shanghai is now the "Best Hot New City” for expats to flock to. Admittedly, any office bug can spin off a "Top Five" or "Top Ten" list on their lunch break while armchair traveling around the world on Google Maps, but, somehow, we still love reading point-form articles telling us what’s best and worst in life. What are the chances that William M. Wilson has ever set foot in Shanghai anyway?
This is what Wilson has to say about Shanghai:
Where to experience the next great expat city? Those with an eye to the future might consider Shanghai. With the inexorable rise of the Chinese economy, Shanghai is a good bet to become the financial capital of the 21st century.Hmmm, well, we do love Shanghai's "tapestry of contrast" AND it's worth emphasizing that Shanghai squeaked in at the very, very, very bottom of the Mercer top 100 list for 2007. But considering the rest of China never made it to the list, coming 100th is a significant enough achievement to mention and even brag about. Plus, two Swiss cities topped the list, so it certainly wasn't about exciting places to live anyway.Shanghai’s dynamism can be seen in the layering of the futuristic skyline, colonial facades, and the teeming, gritty street life. This energy is percolating down to Moganshan Road’s gallery and warehouse studio scene, regarded as the epicenter of contemporary Chinese art.
The only mainland Chinese city to crack the top 100 of the Mercer livable cities index, Shanghai already provides a good mixture of affordability, opportunity, nightlife, and culture.
Unlike Buenos Aires, work is not difficult to come by in Shanghai. ESL teachers are in demand, and entrepreneurial spirits can take advantage of Shanghai’s [Economist] ranking as the best place to do business in China.Perhaps in time, Shanghai’s tapestry of contrast will inspire the next great expat novel.
And while still on the topic of expat fiction, if you want to read a fabulous Shanghai-themed travel piece, you won't want to miss Condé Nast Traveler’s recent Secret Shanghai. Oooh, now that is classic expat jewelery. We laughed, we cried, we puked.
Photo from madaboutshanghai.com.
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I'd say there are enough vacuous expats here to warrant the use of 'hot'.
In light of wall street's meltdown Gawker is doing a tongue in cheek emigration guide, Dubai was last week and shanghai is on deck for this week, hopefully Gawker's take on shanghai will be up in a day or two
http://gawker.com/5060635/why-not-try-dubai
China needs to do a lot less intervening in markets for Shanghai to become the financial capital of the 21st century. IMO, articles like this are never written with the future in mind. They make projections about the future based on what is hot today.
"Oooh, now that is classic expat jewelery. We laughed, we cried, we puked."
I'm so tired of jealous F-listers bitching to Shanghaiist because they were too busy teaching bad English to kids and writing bad English for the local rags to think of pitching an article to a high-paying magazine. A pity that this Summer's visa issues didn't completely cleanse this city of idiotic meanderers whose only contribution to this city is giving hard working expats a bad name. I for one would prefer a few more Conde Nast Traveler readers visiting this city than second-hand Lonely Planet debris.
"we do love Shanghai's "tapestry of contrast""
Oh, how those pics of middle aged Shanghainese in pyjams with billboard of a global high fashion brand in the background make for a cosmopolitan city. Most english teachers and entrepreneurs would join the expat execs behind the gilded walls if they could afford it.
Best place? With this fog and the cancer-causing mineral water?
I don't think so.
i think lots of expats love to complain about this city, but in fact they would never want to leave this town.
majority of expats are treating this city like their wifes..
Does the worthless online blogging of an English teacher realy warrant a headline story??
Leading Study Findings Overturned by English Teacher
Nations the world over faced the stark reality today that the findings of an international study by Mercer covering 215 countries are wildly incorrect. The one-year study, ranking cities across 36 criteria placed Shanghai a lowley 100th livable city in the world. However, a travel blog released today from William Moss finds the study to be wildly incorrect. Indeed, Shanghai is actually the 5th most livable city in the world, acording to the travels of the English teacher. Shanghiist was the first to break the news.
Does the worthless online blogging of an English teacher realy warrant a headline story??
Leading Study Findings Overturned by English Teacher
Nations the world over faced the stark reality today that the findings of an international study by Mercer covering 215 countries are wildly incorrect. The one-year study, ranking cities across 36 criteria placed Shanghai a lowley 100th livable city in the world. However, a travel blog released today from William Moss finds the study to be wildly incorrect. Indeed, Shanghai is actually the 5th most livable city in the world, acording to the travels of the English teacher. Shanghiist was the first to break the news.
Wow, dms, that's just mean.
I was not writing for an audience that would put much stock into the Mercer ratings when choosing an international destination for a few years, and I am not seeking to "overturn" any studies. I am an economist as well as a former teacher, btw, though I don't know what credentials would be relevant for a journalist making qualitative judgments about a few cities young travelers might be interested in seeking out.
And yes, I have been to Shanghai.
@ dms
I enjoy reading Mercer's annual studies, but they're not convincing enough to have me packing my bags for Geneva or Zurich.
@ PDM
Looking forward to reading Gawker's take on Shanghai.
The reason why most expats don't leave China is simple, they cannot afford too. Wages for expatriates have been on a radical decline for the last 5 years. Put on top of that, most expatriates have not had a compliment in years, are exposed to the daily abuse of people on the street, the food the eat is low in vitamins and that they drink heavily, most of them are actually quite depressed and don't know how to get out of the shit hole they are in.
That would definitely be the case with english teachers and long term expats. For those with actual jobs in MNCs, they can come home to a decent salary, but to have a driver and household staff in the West you can't just be rich you have to be wealthy and those expat managers are just middle class back home.
And on top of it all no one back home cares about them being white or english speakers. No one.