The only thing you can find online is usually catering to rich western tourists or "expats" and usually boils down to "Which place is the most western/ High GDP and McDonalds!" so I'd rather get an opinion from someone that's been there that isn't a business tourist.
Chinese people I've heard from generally say 昆明 (kunming) is the best place to live, at least from a natural scenery and weather perspective. Here's a map, where 昆明 is outlined in the 四季如春 (four seasons as spring) area, meaning the weather year-round is like spring. Beyond the climate, 云南 (yunnan), where 昆明 is located, is a mountainous province that is also a biodiversity hotspot. There's bountiful microclimates and many local cultures as well. Definitely not a "Max GDP" sort of place, but the other factors are incredibly good.
here's a video with english subs to explain why 云南 is so special. here's another video that's more about 昆明 tourism
seconded. lived there for a bit and it's great.
pretty small for a capital. downtown area is all within walking distance, but there's also a huge new urban area south towards the lake. climate is great though summers are a bit cold and wet for my taste (rain and thunder every day andtemps of like 23).
used to have a lot of hippie/hipster white people but last time i visited they were mostly gone which is fine. Sal bought the french bakery so now there's three or four Salvador restaurants in that area. oh and the cool little used bookshop is gone.
west mountain is cool but i never went to shilin, heard it's boring.
I've only been to Chengdu, which I thought was fantastic. Weather seemed decent, has excellent food, beautiful natural scenery nearby, amazing museums/history, pandas, Sichuan opera, extremely friendly people, and it also has a reputation for being the gayest city in China:
A healthy work/life balance is a signature of the Chengdunese; and that laid-back approach is present in every aspect of life there—including social mores. It confers on the locals a reputation for tolerance that has helped its LGBTQ+ population feel more comfortable being open and out. “It’s the lifestyle here—people don’t work so hard, they’re outdoors all the time,” says Kurt Macher, the openly gay general manager of the Temple House. “People look at you here, they smile and they don’t care. I see many gay Chinese couples walking down by the river, hand in hand, and I’ve never seen that in Beijing, Shanghai, or even in Hong Kong.”
Also, while I think it is a tourist hub for people in China (especially the panda research center), I saw no other westerners the whole time I was there, so you're unlikely to see anything specifically catering to expats like you described.
Chengdu is also great. Best food in the country. Very developed, a good look at a modern chinese megacity outside of SH/BJ/SZ/GZ.
Gaiwancha in people's park
face-changing show and sichuan opera pink little panda babies at the resarch base
There's a saying in Chinese 上有天堂，下有苏杭 which means 'Heaven is above, on Earth there is Suzhou amd Hangzhou'.
I loved Suzhou. Suzhou is a large city about an hour west of Shanghai (half hour by HSR) in the wealthy province of Jiangsu (think Newcastle relative to Sydney, Geelong to Melbourne). It's an old city full of canals (I mean... all the cities are old) built close to the Great Canal. It's reputed for its old silk culture and style of opera (not as famous as jingju but quite nice). Hangzhou in nearby Zhejiang province is probably a bit too tech-y, influencer-y (it's the headquarters of Alibaba) but is considered one of the most aesthetically pleasing cities in the country alongside Suzhou because of the West Lake and its rolling tea fields. Nanjing (the capital of the Jiangsu province) is very nice too and probably overlooked.
Other cities tend to be those that are within commuting distance from major cities like Zhuhai (close to Shenzhen) for employment but not over urbanised yet.
It's sad to see 苏州 (suzhou) characterized by its relationship to 上海 (shanghai), when 上海 is merely a city invented by China within the last 100 years to interface with the capitalist west. 上海's culture draws from the original, ancient cities of 杭州 (hangzhou) and 苏州. If history had played out slightly differently, 普通话 (common speech) would probably be their 吴语 (wu chinese) due to 南京 (nanjing)'s influence.
I did have friends who lived in the suburbs between SZ and SH and commuted daily to SH, so its current economic influence can definitely overshadow the historical relationship between the two cities.
Wuhan was also pretty damn nice. It's kinda hard to go wrong. I also watch videos of an influencer who lives in Changchun (whose name means 'Eternal Spring') and honestly it looks lovely in the right seasons. It's always subjective though because I've always lived coastal and don't think I'd be able to live inland.
All the cities seem great to me. Guizhou, Chongqing and Kunming stand out, but I've got lots more to see.
If I had to pick now I'd probably choose Chongqing just because it's bloody massive and has everything
Proud Cantonese here. Come to Guangzhou! We welcome everyone and it’s always hospitable all year round, not to mention we are pretty close to Hong Kong. Guangzhou is a chill city with pretty laid back people, with a unique Yum cha culture (lit. “drink tea”). Unlike Shenzhen, which is modern but soulless because it feels like a big company conglomerate - everybody goes to there for work (including me).
Other nice cities to live in including Lijiang: stunning scenery, good & unique food, etc., Suzhou: a laid back city with a rich culture and very comfortable weather, and Chengdu: another welcoming city with an open (compared to the rest of the China) culture.
Idk, but I love watching a YouTube channel called Little Chinese Everywhere. By a Chinese woman who is on her way to making videos of every single province in China. She goes into homes of locals like every episode. Asks them about life there. Sometimes multiple homes. Crazy levels of hospitality in many total strangers. I'm American and it made my bf cry because we deeply feel like these are our people. Maybe her channel will inspire your choice making. It certainly makes me want to move to China.
Shenzhen, modern city. Busy city, good job opportunities should be a thing if you know Chinese sufficiently. Amazing metro, and if you want more capitalism, visiting Xianggang(Hong Kong) is a breeze. I enjoyed my (quite long) time there
