The International Schools Review Forum

Hi there,

It depends what you are after.

I am married, but I love living in Puxi. It has a more authentic, gritty, Shanghai-life atmosphere. Pudong feels sterile, up-town, and modern. Puxi has better restaurant and shopping districts, however, Pudong is much cheaper to live in.

Puxi is good for
night life
shopping
tree-lined streets
history
events
"shanghai" atmosphere
particularly great areas of Puxi I can recommend are of course, the Former French Concession & Jing'An areas

Pudong (aside from right near river) is good for
quiet
suburbian atmosphere nearby the schools
modern living
cleanliness
cheaper accommodation (for what I pay for a studio apartment near West Nanjing, Puxi, you could have a 2 bedroom apartment in Pudong)

This is just my opinion, and widely varies depending on who you are speaking to! Hope this helps.

@SJ

Id rather live further from work and then say I cant get there and using a sick day I would otherwise not use. At the least I can get a later start, have a relaxed cup of coffee and watch the rain fall.

I've always been a bigger fan of Puxi. In Pudong I could never get over the huge, impersonal city blocks. It also felt sterile, probably because of the newness of it all. I've you're a person who likes exploring cities by wandering the streets and seeing where it takes you, Puxi is amazing.

PsyGuy wrote:
> @SJ
>
> Id rather live further from work and then say I cant get there and using a sick day
> I would otherwise not use. At the least I can get a later start, have a relaxed
> cup of coffee and watch the rain fall.

In fact, having experienced both living within the school bubble and downtown Shanghai, I agree with you. However, you would burn through your sick days in no time. Spending time in transit is a way of life here in Shanghai, which is why the upcoming CNY holiday is such a relief as folks leave town and the elevated highways empty.

@Overhere

Better than not using those days at all.

Until you actually get sick and need those days.

I consider sick days to be part of my annual leave entitlement. Always made sure I used the maximum amount per year that I could.

They're great when the traffic is horrendous, you've had a late night, or just can't face going into work. They have them in America too - personal days I think they're called?

@Overhere

If I get really sick I go to my classroom. Its much easier to coast through a day then it is to make a lesson plan and then grade the worksheets, etc. I can easily load up a video and then do a debate with a reaction paper over, then peer edit over 2 days.