Which is the Better City to Move to – Shanghai or Beijing?
Two of the fastest growing cities in the world – Beijing and Shanghai – are in China. Both offer plenty of opportunities to experience a different culture and to advance your career.
Here The Moving Partnership, who offer high-quality house removals to China, look at the relative merits of these two cities, and which may be the best one to move to depending on your personal circumstances.
For the Cost of Living
Although Beijing (formerly Peking) is the capital of China, it’s generally cheaper to live there than in Shanghai. Housing costs and groceries in particular are much better value in the capital city.
However, the cost of living overall is much more affordable in China compared to the UK (and particularly London), although salaries are usually lower too.
For the Job Opportunities
Although both cities have thriving economies, Shanghai, pictured top, is generally better for financial services – many international banks, insurance companies, and consultancy groups have a base in the city.
Beijing may be better if you have previous experience in the media, tourism or hospitality sectors, and in other service industries such as in translation, or working for museums, art galleries and charities.
However, both cities employ many non-natives in education and healthcare – private education in particular presents great job opportunities for English-speaker teachers and education professionals.
For the Student
Both cities have prestigious universities, schools and colleges offering a wide variety of courses and you don’t necessarily have to be fluent in Mandarin to study there – for instance Tsinghua University in Beijing gladly welcomes exchange students and teaches many graduate-level courses in English.
(If you do need to learn or brush up on your Chinese, there are plenty of language schools in both cities).
If you are considering house removals to Shanghai, then the city is home to Fudan and Jiaotong Universities, both of which are very popular among international students.
The universities in Beijing generally have a better academic reputation. However, Shanghai has a more diverse population as a whole (that is more immigrants, therefore you should be able to find a local social scene you are comfortable with) and the student life is more integrated into the wider city, whereas Beijing’s campuses are in the northwest corner of the city.
For the Culture
Both cities have plenty of cultural highlights – however Beijing has more historic significance. The city has seven UNESCO World Heritage sites, including the Great Wall of China (part of which runs through the city, and which is pictured above) and the Forbidden City – a network of Imperial Palaces which date back to the 15th Century.
However, Shanghai has its own historical attractions too – there’s an Old City in which, although it has been largely demolished, some elements such as the Yuyuan Gardens remain – and these were renovated in the late 1950s to early 1960s.
Generally, though, Shanghai, pictured above, is a mix of the old and the new – with some traditional Chinese buildings, some art deco properties, and some unmistakeably modern constructions such as the commercial skyscrapers as well as other buildings such as the Oriental Pearl Tower and the Disneyland theme park.
For the Accessibility
In terms of accessibility, there’s little difference between the two cities – both have modern international airports (Beijing Capital International Airport and Pudong Airport for Shanghai) and both offer flights to and from the UK – via London destinations such as Heathrow and Gatwick.
They both also have other, smaller airports which are ideal for travel within the country or other parts of south-east Asia – namely Beijing’s Daxing International Airport, and Shanghai’s Hongqiao Airport.
Although all the airports are a few miles outside the respective cities, once you arrive there are plenty of rail routes into the centre of the respective cities; both have extensive underground networks as well. Getting around shouldn’t be a problem, provided you can understand the signs or speak a modicum of Chinese.
And there’s plenty of road infrastructure which has been built in recent years in both cities, so provided you feel confident enough (and have successfully applied for a Chinese driving licence – a UK or European one won’t be valid here) you can also cross the cities by car.
House Removals to China with The Moving Partnership
At The Moving Partnership, we offer international removals to Beijing as well as house removals to Shanghai. Our network of contacts in the international removal industry mean we can source a competitively priced quote which will meet your exact needs.
We can also help you move to many other Chinese destinations, including Macao, Taipei, Nanjing and Yangzhou – for more information follow this link.
