Suzhou Poster Boy

January 23rd, 2008 | by This is China! |

p1010191.JPGCheck out the Guest Word section of China Economic Review’s Focus pull-out from its January 2008 edition of its magazine. You’ll find a piece they asked me to write on “Setting up in Suzhou”.

I write, “Chinese call Suzhou ‘the Venice of China.’ Though far from sinking, the saying nowadays applies as much to the scenery and history of the city, which is only a 30-minute train ride from Shanghai, as to the fame it is now gaining as one of China’s premier commercial centers.”

I go on in the article to discuss why Western companies have placed their China investments in Suzhou, as well as how easy it is now to get operational and to get your family situated. Suzhou is also a lot of fun! (if it’s not cold or raining or snowing - it is “The Garden City” after all, which tends to put one outdoors quite a lot of the time for diversions)

And last week a reporter for the Shanghai Business Review, was here investigating Suzhou’s investment environment, it’s expat life, its bars and restaurants (it was too damned cold for the gardens). He gave me a ring to learn more about what’s up around town. So, we drank copious amounts of beer at The Blue Marlin, and talked about life and business in Suzhou. I introduced him to some local business and government contacts I thought would inform his article (part of a series on the second-tier cities of Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces).

I guess those guys in Shanghai figure now it’s safe for them to start venturing out into the rest of China! tongue0023.gif

Bill Dodson
SUZHOU, China

  1. 3 Responses to “Suzhou Poster Boy”

  2. By Mark on Jan 25, 2008 | Reply

    Hi Bill,

    Thanks for this entry about living in Suzhou. I have never been to Suzhou, but I have visited Hong Kong and ShenZhen quite often.

    How would you rate the pollution and environment in Hong Kong compared to Suzhou? What about ShenZhen compared to Suzhou?

    If possible, please feel free to reply to my email. I would love to have a more detailed discussion on this. Thanks.

    -Mark

  3. By This is China! on Jan 26, 2008 | Reply

    Hi, Mark;
    There really can’t be a reasonable comparison between Suzhou’s environment and Hong Kong’s, since Suzhou’s scale is so much smaller than HK’s and Shanghai’s and, I would have to say, Shenzhen’s, as well.

    I haven’t been back to HK for about two years, but I would have to say HK’s pollution is very high. I understand some foreign companies have pulled their offices there because the pollution has been affecting the health of their expats. My experience with Shenzhen the couple times I’ve been is that the downtown area seemed not as heavily polluted for air, though I cannot speak to water issues. My feeling about the outlying parts of Shenzhen, though, is the same as Dongguan: very heavily polluting factories fouling air and water.

    One of the reasons we up here in south Jiangsu province and some parts of Shanghai had problems with potable water from nearby Lake Tai (the third largest lake in China) was algae blooms caused by the waste water emitted by factories on the lake and on rivers feeding into the lake. Many of the companies were west of Suzhou: Wuxi, Yixing, Changshu. Suzhou government didn’t approve the business licenses for the factories precisely because they were heavily polluting; the other cities chose to look away, much to Central Government’s ire.

    In general, then, many of us expats believe the air quality here in Suzhou has improved these past couple years as the Suzhou government has not re-approved the business licenses of labor-intensive and polluting companies. So I do believe the air quality at least is better than that in HK and Shenzhen. However, the air is still polluted, heavily at times, it seems. The largest drivers of the air pollution seem to be the addition of about 200 new cars per day to Suzhou’s roads, and a construction boom that is throwing tons of dust and dirt in the air 24/7.

    Bill

  4. By Mark on Jan 30, 2008 | Reply

    Thanks Bill.

    I’ve never been to SuZhou, but I have travelled in Shanghai, ShenZhen and HK.

    I live in the States (Colorado), and it is obvious that any city in China is more polluted than Denver.

    However, my take on HK is that the southern part of the island seems less polluted than the northern part.

    My stays in ShenZhen have been a breathing nightmare. My throat clogs up, stuff starts to build up in my nose and mouth. I then have to retreat to HK to get a breath of “fresh” air.

    Again, thanks for your blog. I find it quite informative. Thanks.

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