As a foreigner, I had the luck to visit both cities for work. In my opinion, Beijing is definitely more attractive than Shanghai because it is culturally richer while Shanghai is like any other big metropolitan cities. I will certainly re-visit the Chinese capital again. You have my vote here.
I do agree, Shanghai is like any other large metropolitan in the world, there's less "individuality." But Beijing is more unique. Shanghai is like a beautiful woman, at first glance is very alluring but after awhile can lose its attractiveness. While Beijing is like wine, the more you stay the better it gets and more you'll like it--guarantee. I like both cities because they're very different from one another but being from another large metropolitan Shanghai isn't much different from where I'm from.
People in beijing are awesome (most of them are high educated and very smart.) Shanghai is a modernized city close to a western one. If you like inclusive people and cultrue, choose beijing. If you like shopping malls and a western style life, choose shanghai. Both of them are awesome, but actuely, in China there are at least 20-30 other big cities also quite awesome for foreigners to visit or live in, such as chengdu, xiamen, hanzhou, xian..etc. strongly recommend foreigners spending more than one year to go traveling china due to its huge size and diverse landscape and cultrues. Please keep remembering that every province of China has Its own at least 3000-4000 years of history. China is more like a continent than a country.
Have you ever been to Chengdu? It has very authentic Chinese culture (Buddhist temple, mahjong, panda, tea) with amazing food everywhere. Also I will recommend Yunan and Guizhou for ethnic minorities culture experience, coz they have like 50 ethnicities there, great food and no pollution! Visit Beijing and Shanghai are like visiting NY and Boston, there is no down-to-earth touches of real China.
IMHO, Beijing only beats Shanghai in smog. (joking) :) Beijing is obviously a must see at least once for its rich history as well as being the seat of power in China. My family goes to China a couple of times every year and our hearts are attached to Shanghai (as well as the Huangshan region). Shanghai is an ultra modern, cosmopolitan city with incredible variety. It is the cleanest large city I have ever seen, and I have seen many. The people there are high energy, super friendly and full of optimism. There are many interesting sights to see and getting around is a breeze thanks to a world class transportation system. Come to think of it, Shanghai is actually my favorite large city in the entire world. I
Well I only did Beijing but I was looking for history and the real China, and I could not have been more satisfied. I totally get what you mean by it being intimidating at first and I so agree on your coment on the authentic China feel in Beijing, it is just dripping with it. Best people wacthing city ever. Since I got in so late I did take a cab when I arrived as the subway was closed. I found a legal licensed taxi and paid 120RMB to Qianmen in the night which I think was pretty good. But did the subway back when I left and yeah totally best option.
You can actually experience traditional southern Chinese architecture and lifestyle in Shanghai as well. The Yu Garden (or Yuyuan Garden, in Chinese 豫园) is a representative of Suzhou Style Garden. Qibao (in Chinese 七宝) and Zhujiajiao (in Chinese 朱家角) are typical traditional Chinese water towns. They are of great Jiangnan (which means the Yangtze River delta area) feature. You can go to all the attractions I've mentioned by metro. A tip from Shanghai native ;)
i have just returned from my trip to beijing and shanghai .. both of them had their own qualities to like and dislike.. i think beijing was more architecturally chinese where as shanghai was more naturally chinese. i had a wonderful stay at both cities and i liked both of them. but people in shanghai were more friendlier, easy to travel around and more places to party at night than beijing. so my vote is for shanghai :)
Went to Beijing 10 years ago, it must've changed a lot since, but it's definitely an interesting city. It felt really huge, spread out, traffic was pretty crazy, felt like a constant traffic jam. We hit all the tourist spots - at least the biggest ones - like the Forbidden City, Tiananmen square, Maos mausoleum, hall of the people, Summer palace, Great Wall...it was December and freezing which did detract from the enjoyment a bit, but all pretty amazing. Another downside was the pollution - the smog was pretty bad, you could look straight at the sun. I think the more traditional areas, the hutongs etc, was what charmed me most about Beijing, even if it was modern with skyscrapers etc. Haven't been to Shanghai but hope to when I return to China.
I'm so happy I've found your channel, I'm going to be studying abroad in Beijing next year so this was helpful. :) Also, do you speak Mandarin/Cantonese Chinese? If so, how did you learn and do you have any advice?
I have been to both and plan on teaching in Beijing. I liked Beijing more. Less crowded! but super fun and lots to do. Shanghai was a bit overstimulating.
shanghai is nothing, just one of the modern city with only around 100 year city history. in terms of modern, leisure, living, guangzhou is much better than shanghai. Beijing is a thousands years city, better than shanghai in most of aspects.
from Shanghai . Ten years ago, I would just consider Beijing as a rural city with strong air pollution. But since 2008, Beijing has invested a lot in real estate, construction things, which, in my opinion, makes some villagers dare brag about their city with no awareness of that Shanghai has been more modernized than Beijing for extra 20 years.
I recommend Qingdao. Qingdao is not as density as shanghai and Beijing. And has better environment. Qingdao is developing right now. The city has great potential, you may want to work and live there!
Beijing is China's capital, there are many traditional Chinese architecture, Shanghai is China's largest city, is also an international metropolis, more international, in general, foreigners like Shanghai more.
Shanghai is a very international city whereas Beijing is a very Chinese city. Take that as you will. For me I prefer to live in a more diverse place, so Shanghai it is. I can see BJ being appealing but it just did not strike me the way it did you. I fell in love with Shanghai 6 years ago and am amazed how much it has changed.
We visited Shanghai lest We visited Shanghai last year but stayed in an air b&b bordering the French concession. It was so lovely and off the beaten path. I so agree about the transportation being easy and fast. We were a 5 min walk from the metro which was so convenient. We ate in little neighborhood cafes, rode bikes and felt immersed (kinda) in the local culture due to staying in the air b&b vs a hotel. We were visited by the local police because out host did not register us. Yup, that was a little scary but it all worked out ok. This year we will visit Beijing and are staying in a hostel in a Hutong. I am anxious about the hostel but you only live once, right? BTW, my husband and I are in our 60’s. We are looking forward to exploring all that Beijing has to offer. Am just loving all your posts about this amazing,ancient city. Thank you
China is really big so the culture and history is really different from place to place. Visit Hangzhou and nearby areas you'll find a different kind of historical aspect of China.
As a person from Nanjing, I like Shanghai better. I've been to Shanghai for over twenty times and I'm still in love with that city. But they are both very modern cities where you can get whatever you want.
I was offered to do an exchange at either Peking University in Beijing or Fudan University in Shanghai, but eventually opted for Shanghai because I have never been there before, whilst everyone recommends to visit the grand city. Now, that I have heard and read all the reviews about the 2 cities I have a slight regret that I didn't choose Beijing. To be frank, I only preferred Shanghai because of its novelty and based on my own judgement of Beijing the only 1 day I was there. I should've known better and just had to choose PKU :(
I like borh, perhaps Shanghai better, because its mixed culture makes it more sophisticated and subtler where in Beijing you'll find a lot of locals like to talk politics and exaggerate things.
Depends where you from. i'm a northern chinese and i went to Hangzhou, I nearly got killed there because it's too wet to me. But i love Hangzhou. Haha, dry and cold weather is really my type.
i know what you mean, i've only been to shanghai(and nanjing) and before i wasn't at all interested in beijing. totally put off by the government, pollution and dead mao body museum. but after getting quite interested in chinese history i can't wait to visit! shanghai really is good too. indeed it doesn't have the history though. i found the same thing about nanjing too, i did like it a lot but don't really like the idea of living in a smaller city. authentic kind of depends on your definition i guess. for me, my idea of what is 'chinese' is the old stuff that the communists wiped out, so its hard to find anywhere in china but probably easier to find a glimpse of in the north with all the historical sites.
Hey Lauren, as a foreigner who has lived in China, I would say Shanghai but only for it's convenience. I lived in a city called Ningbo for almost 3 years and Shanghai was close enough, 1 hour by bullet train, and had all of the things Ningbo didn't have (Mexican Food). However, I have visited Beijing and enjoyed my time there and will agree with it being spread out. I am thinking of returning to China and your videos make me feel all nostalgic!
OMG I understand that Mexican food urge. Since we were in Nanjing, we did actually fulfill our Mexican food craving in Shanghai - haha!! That's awesome!
I just found your channel. I currently teach ESL to Chinese students online with VIPKID. Most of my students are from Bejing. I love my job and my students so much. My dream is to travel there one day and meet some of my students in person. Also, how cheap is Bejing compared to America? Trying to get an idea for how much I should save for my family of 4 to visit.
I'm off to Shanghai and Hangzhou in August :) being my first time in China, I felt more comfortable staying in Shanghai on my own knowing that it's much more metropolitan. Also Beijing was way out of my way.
Hello Lauren. Thank you for your informative video! Do many people speak English in Beijing? I have been studying Mandarin for a while so my language skills are about on the level of a five year old (I just recently passed HSK2). I'm just wondering if that's enough to get around without too many hassles? Also, did you get a rabies vaccine when you went hiking outside the city?
As a Shanghainese living in Beijing for a year, my feeling is that Shanghai is more livable - better food, higher restaurant/convenient store density, better traffic and more convenient public transportation, more commercialized and westernized, more expat-friendly if you don't read Chinese - than Beijing. On the other hand, Beijing is more culturally abundant, more traditional Chinese feel, and tons of ancient Chinese attractions...so, my suggestion for foreigners, if you go to China for a short trip, Beijing may be more interesting to you, while if you decide to live in China for longer period, Shanghai is the city to go.
my bias on comparing the two city with each other is probably that I was living in Beijing in winter time, and was freaking cold and bad pollution, and visited shanghai when in spring/summer. So, I like Shanghai more, I´m not the winter person..
Haha that's fair enough! They're both beautiful cities :) I was lucky enough to be in Beijing from August to November, so I left right before it got too cold.
Talking about histories, Shenzen only have 30 years of history. It was farm land before. Shanghai got about 200 years of history, was a fishing village before Opium War. Most other cities or villages in China have around 500 to 2000 years of histories.
hello Lauren! it's very nice to see your videos. You are so communicative and add a lot of important informations to each of your videos.. Well actually i have a few questions for you. First, i would like to ask you, chinese people they celebrate lantern festival around February, do you know in which city they celebrate the best? The nearest city from beijing if possible. My second question is, which cities are the best to spend winter time near Beijing or Shanghai? And I saw one of your video and you said that you've ever had a problem of being ripped off by a hotel, I would recommend you to booking.com for hotels booking. I prefer booking.com rather than agoda cause it's really detail on each description of the hotel and its surrounding, also they give us final prices. Thanks before, and look forward to your new videos.. Hope you enjoy China! :)
I am from Shanghai. In China, people from Beijing and Shanghai always argues with each other. I have to say that Shanghai is the most westernized city in China. If any forienger comes to China and want to explore more local Chinese stuff. Maybe Beijing works better than Shanghai for foreingers like above. In the other hand, for those foriengers who wants to explore how China with the eastern culture are able to adopt western culture, Shanghai is the best choice.
+Lekuan Wang Shenzhen should be the most westernized city in China. Eventhough there are more classical western building in Shanghai, but the way how people think and live are not as modern as Shenzhen (youngest and most creative big city in China). Plus, Hong Kong, the most Westernized city in China is right next to Shenzhen. So, if one wants to see modern/Westernized China, Pearl River Delta is the place to go.
I would definitely say Shanghai is better. Beijing is "governmenttal" and touristy not even talking about pollution. Shanghai is still very spread out and village like when going outside the city, so outside Pudong the Bund etc. The shopping and scenery is better and also more things to do in Shanghai compared to Beijing
Damn how did I make a video with Beijing in it and not even mention the pollution? That's a valid point. But I still like BJ ;) I think they're going to clean up the pollution drastically in the next 5 years... at least I hope
that's totally wrong ，our water is safe，only reason of boil water is bacause we don't get used to the“unboiled water”，it's feasible if we drink it since we were born，some of my relatives live in northeast China，they never boiled water，but when I visited them and drunk their water，I felt uncomfortable cause I'm mot “traditional drinker”
Oh, please shut your mouth, and start searching. The water condition in China is not safe at all. If you are drinking boiled tap water, I can only say you are stupid. www.zhihu.com/question/23972034
Hubei>>>Beijing+Shanghai Why don’t anybody talk about Hubei? Hubei is less polluted than the least polluted place in china, Hubei’s capital look like shanghai! Also many people always say Hubei sucks, but guess what? Without us, you would not have dragon boat festival, Taoism would not be a thing, chu would never exist and Central china wouldn’t be so beautiful! We hate urbanization, because we already have a rich culture, we don’t need new skyscrapers like typical western media says. Come to hubei and you will see!
I've never been, but a handful of subscribers have recommended it to me! It's one of the top cities I hear about in China :) I hear if you love pandas, it's a must-see.
“环北京贫困带”(Places surrounding Beijing are very poor) because Beijing is literally a vampire - sucking all the resources next to it. But if you travel 300km away from Shanghai, to any direction, most places are still rich and people are civilized. If someone lives in Shanghai, he/she can have short trips to many nearby cities with great culture and much longer history than Beijing, such as Nanjing, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Shaoxing, Ningbo - which used to be the capitals or greatest cities in ancient China.
lol，the places around shanghai like suzhou hangzhou or nanjing has been rich for thousands years ，it's not shanghai's credit，they became the economy center almost at ming dynasty，but the place around beijing hasn't been rich for a thousand of years
history longer than beijing？beijing was founded almost 3000 years ago known as the “ji” ，it has been 800years capital city in china's history only shorter than xian and luoyang ，telling part of the truth=lying，keep it
Of course, it is not Shanghai's credit. If there is no Shanghai today, there will be another Shanghai in the region. His point is Beijing is damaging the surrounding areas by robbing their resources. If you are unable to talk probably with logic in English, switch to Chinese.
lol，Beijing is taking things from around，Shanghai is taking things from all China，shanghainese's “beautiful old shanghai memory”was built on old China's wide range of poverty，Shanghai gdp（1930s） ≈half China，the hole shanghai was just a joke ，a joke for how Western country made money on China，remember what you did to shenzhen stock exchange？
Oh, really? The numbers do not agree with your delusion at all. www.zhihu.com/question/26673732 Statistics show that the growth of every 1% in one specific industry in Beijing results in the contract in the same industry in surrounding areas, however, the situation is reverse in the case of Shanghai. Industries grow together both in Shanghai and its surrounding areas. Let alone the other facts that I do not ever bother to show to you, since you are so biased anyway. So next time, think before you speak.
lol i love you .. shanghai! oh i hate suburbia and like urban feel. ( i read and think it still holds true. Shanghai is where the west tempts china and beijing is where china tempts us.) not trying to act mean to beijing crowd .. it simply comfortable in the south and you dont have to wear a damn gas mask to go outside .. the food is not as good though yet the bars are better
From my experience, people in southern China love Shanghai more, people in northern China love Beijing more. By the way, I am Chinese from Southern China.
lol，“han chinses cultural city”？？it sounds like your ancestor didn't cut the hair by manchurian people in history，and you began to laughing at the others after puting on the western clouth and claim “we are the traditional chinese，you are not”，did your ancestor teach you how to split your own country？if not，i can just say you are a self-study genius
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Shanghai for work, Beijing for dream.
OOOOooo I like that!
Snow Lee 同意beijing dream
My dad is Shanghaineese and he also prefers Din ta fung over the soup dumplins in SH
As a foreigner, I had the luck to visit both cities for work. In my opinion, Beijing is definitely more attractive than Shanghai because it is culturally richer while Shanghai is like any other big metropolitan cities. I will certainly re-visit the Chinese capital again. You have my vote here.
I do agree, Shanghai is like any other large metropolitan in the world, there's less "individuality." But Beijing is more unique. Shanghai is like a beautiful woman, at first glance is very alluring but after awhile can lose its attractiveness. While Beijing is like wine, the more you stay the better it gets and more you'll like it--guarantee. I like both cities because they're very different from one another but being from another large metropolitan Shanghai isn't much different from where I'm from.
I suggest you to go to Xi'an. It is the capital of more ancient China(1046bc-907,most time),while Beijing is of nearly ancient China(1271-1912).
welcome to Beijing
Shanghai seems more modern and polished, but I really do prefer the people and culture in Beijing (plus it helps my wife's family are in Beijing). =P
I recommend Chongqing City! It's the Best!!!
I am from Beijing.
i like shanghai,but Beijing is the best city in China.
no GuangZhou is da best
People in beijing are awesome (most of them are high educated and very smart.) Shanghai is a modernized city close to a western one. If you like inclusive people and cultrue, choose beijing. If you like shopping malls and a western style life, choose shanghai. Both of them are awesome, but actuely, in China there are at least 20-30 other big cities also quite awesome for foreigners to visit or live in, such as chengdu, xiamen, hanzhou, xian..etc. strongly recommend foreigners spending more than one year to go traveling china due to its huge size and diverse landscape and cultrues. Please keep remembering that every province of China has Its own at least 3000-4000 years of history. China is more like a continent than a country.
Lauren Without Fear you are charming. Keep awesome.
Have you ever been to Chengdu? It has very authentic Chinese culture (Buddhist temple, mahjong, panda, tea) with amazing food everywhere. Also I will recommend Yunan and Guizhou for ethnic minorities culture experience, coz they have like 50 ethnicities there, great food and no pollution! Visit Beijing and Shanghai are like visiting NY and Boston, there is no down-to-earth touches of real China.
No I haven't but I want to go see all those places!
IMHO, Beijing only beats Shanghai in smog. (joking) :) Beijing is obviously a must see at least once for its rich history as well as being the seat of power in China. My family goes to China a couple of times every year and our hearts are attached to Shanghai (as well as the Huangshan region). Shanghai is an ultra modern, cosmopolitan city with incredible variety. It is the cleanest large city I have ever seen, and I have seen many. The people there are high energy, super friendly and full of optimism. There are many interesting sights to see and getting around is a breeze thanks to a world class transportation system. Come to think of it, Shanghai is actually my favorite large city in the entire world. I
Well I only did Beijing but I was looking for history and the real China, and I could not have been more satisfied. I totally get what you mean by it being intimidating at first and I so agree on your coment on the authentic China feel in Beijing, it is just dripping with it. Best people wacthing city ever. Since I got in so late I did take a cab when I arrived as the subway was closed. I found a legal licensed taxi and paid 120RMB to Qianmen in the night which I think was pretty good. But did the subway back when I left and yeah totally best option.
120 to Qianmen sounds like a fair price to me!
You can actually experience traditional southern Chinese architecture and lifestyle in Shanghai as well. The Yu Garden (or Yuyuan Garden, in Chinese 豫园) is a representative of Suzhou Style Garden. Qibao (in Chinese 七宝) and Zhujiajiao (in Chinese 朱家角) are typical traditional Chinese water towns. They are of great Jiangnan (which means the Yangtze River delta area) feature. You can go to all the attractions I've mentioned by metro. A tip from Shanghai native ;)
BTW if you'd like to visit some temples, I'd recommend Jing'an Temple and Longhua Temple, which all have a history of thousands of years
i have just returned from my trip to beijing and shanghai .. both of them had their own qualities to like and dislike.. i think beijing was more architecturally chinese where as shanghai was more naturally chinese. i had a wonderful stay at both cities and i liked both of them. but people in shanghai were more friendlier, easy to travel around and more places to party at night than beijing. so my vote is for shanghai :)
That's so cool you got to experience both! Happy travels :)
Shanghai has a history of about... 100 years?... Beijing has 1000 years of history.
Maybe that's why I like BJ so much more :) It's complex and mysterious
a a As a capital Beijing has 1000 years of history, but as a city Beijing has more than 3000 years of history.
And Shenzhen has 40 yet still beats both in quality of living.
In soon to be near future, Beijing!!!! But shopping in Shanghai but live in Beijing!!!
Awesome!
Beijing have many shopping malls too, actually the busiest shopping mall in china is located on Beijing.
Went to Beijing 10 years ago, it must've changed a lot since, but it's definitely an interesting city. It felt really huge, spread out, traffic was pretty crazy, felt like a constant traffic jam. We hit all the tourist spots - at least the biggest ones - like the Forbidden City, Tiananmen square, Maos mausoleum, hall of the people, Summer palace, Great Wall...it was December and freezing which did detract from the enjoyment a bit, but all pretty amazing. Another downside was the pollution - the smog was pretty bad, you could look straight at the sun. I think the more traditional areas, the hutongs etc, was what charmed me most about Beijing, even if it was modern with skyscrapers etc. Haven't been to Shanghai but hope to when I return to China.
definitely Shanghai!!
Beijing for sure! Feel like this city has its own soul
I totally get that :)
I'm so happy I've found your channel, I'm going to be studying abroad in Beijing next year so this was helpful. :) Also, do you speak Mandarin/Cantonese Chinese? If so, how did you learn and do you have any advice?
I have been to both and plan on teaching in Beijing. I liked Beijing more. Less crowded! but super fun and lots to do. Shanghai was a bit overstimulating.
When are you going to teach in BJ? That's so cool!
Lauren Without Fear Beijing new Talent Academy in Shunyi
August
shanghai is nothing, just one of the modern city with only around 100 year city history. in terms of modern, leisure,
living, guangzhou is much better than shanghai. Beijing is a thousands years city, better than shanghai in most of aspects.
你应该查一下松江府的历史，看看龙华寺有多少年了，最烦你们这些一上来就NOTHING啥的人了，多看书
Where is Guangzhou?
from Shanghai . Ten years ago, I would just consider Beijing as a rural city with strong air pollution. But since 2008, Beijing has invested a lot in real estate, construction things, which, in my opinion, makes some villagers dare brag about their city with no awareness of that Shanghai has been more modernized than Beijing for extra 20 years.
Beijing for me but they really, really, really need to get rid of the pollution. Great video!
I really really agree with that point!! The pollution was nasty! Thank you :)
I recommend Qingdao. Qingdao is not as density as shanghai and Beijing. And has better environment. Qingdao is developing right now. The city has great potential, you may want to work and live there!
You're actually not the first person to recommend this city to me, so it's already on my list and now it's just moving higher up the list!
Beijing is China's capital, there are many traditional Chinese architecture, Shanghai is China's largest city, is also an international metropolis, more international, in general, foreigners like Shanghai more.
I have this love and hate thing for BEIJING ... idk it’s like a hit or miss for the day
Shanghai is a very international city whereas Beijing is a very Chinese city. Take that as you will. For me I prefer to live in a more diverse place, so Shanghai it is. I can see BJ being appealing but it just did not strike me the way it did you. I fell in love with Shanghai 6 years ago and am amazed how much it has changed.
We visited Shanghai lest
We visited Shanghai last year but stayed in an air b&b bordering the French concession. It was so lovely and off the beaten path. I so agree about the transportation being easy and fast. We were a 5 min walk from the metro which was so convenient. We ate in little neighborhood cafes, rode bikes and felt immersed (kinda) in the local culture due to staying in the air b&b vs a hotel. We were visited by the local police because out host did not register us. Yup, that was a little scary but it all worked out ok. This year we will visit Beijing and are staying in a hostel in a Hutong. I am anxious about the hostel but you only live once, right? BTW, my husband and I are in our 60’s. We are looking forward to exploring all that Beijing has to offer. Am just loving all your posts about this amazing,ancient city. Thank you
You should definitely come to visit chengdu and then you can come to the conclusion which is your favorite city in china )))
Will do!! :) It's definitely on the list!
shanghain beautifull great city big beinjin good
China is really big so the culture and history is really different from place to place. Visit Hangzhou and nearby areas you'll find a different kind of historical aspect of China.
As a person from Nanjing, I like Shanghai better. I've been to Shanghai for over twenty times and I'm still in love with that city. But they are both very modern cities where you can get whatever you want.
True!! They're both awesome.
Hurray! Glad you went for Beijing! Hope you come back soon in the future. Maybe I can take you to some places you didn't get a chance to check out
I was offered to do an exchange at either Peking University in Beijing or Fudan University in Shanghai, but eventually opted for Shanghai because I have never been there before, whilst everyone recommends to visit the grand city. Now, that I have heard and read all the reviews about the 2 cities I have a slight regret that I didn't choose Beijing. To be frank, I only preferred Shanghai because of its novelty and based on my own judgement of Beijing the only 1 day I was there. I should've known better and just had to choose PKU :(
Yeah I completely agree, Beijing just has something about it whereas Shanghai just kind of feels like an anonymous international city
You absolutely get what I'm saying in the video :) So glad I'm not alone, haha
George My favorite city in China is Chengdu.
Beijing has the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, and it is not far from a famous portion of the Great Wall, case closed.
Actually, try Shenzhen and Chengdu ( and I’d choose Beijing over Shanghai as well
I like borh, perhaps Shanghai better, because its mixed culture makes it more sophisticated and subtler where in Beijing you'll find a lot of locals like to talk politics and exaggerate things.
Shanghaiiiiiii hahaha because I went to Beijing in January and it was mad cold! and Shanghai was a lot warmer lololol
hahah I feel you on that one
Depends where you from. i'm a northern chinese and i went to Hangzhou, I nearly got killed there because it's too wet to me. But i love Hangzhou. Haha, dry and cold weather is really my type.
i know what you mean, i've only been to shanghai(and nanjing) and before i wasn't at all interested in beijing. totally put off by the government, pollution and dead mao body museum. but after getting quite interested in chinese history i can't wait to visit! shanghai really is good too. indeed it doesn't have the history though. i found the same thing about nanjing too, i did like it a lot but don't really like the idea of living in a smaller city.
authentic kind of depends on your definition i guess. for me, my idea of what is 'chinese' is the old stuff that the communists wiped out, so its hard to find anywhere in china but probably easier to find a glimpse of in the north with all the historical sites.
Shanghai > any other chinese city > Beijing
moron？
Great video! We would never be able to decide between the two, we want to visit both cities! Haha
Haha, I understand :) You should definitely go to both!!
Lauren Without Fear 去安徽黄山，哈哈！
Hey Lauren, as a foreigner who has lived in China, I would say Shanghai but only for it's convenience. I lived in a city called Ningbo for almost 3 years and Shanghai was close enough, 1 hour by bullet train, and had all of the things Ningbo didn't have (Mexican Food). However, I have visited Beijing and enjoyed my time there and will agree with it being spread out. I am thinking of returning to China and your videos make me feel all nostalgic!
OMG I understand that Mexican food urge. Since we were in Nanjing, we did actually fulfill our Mexican food craving in Shanghai - haha!! That's awesome!
Thank for your video. And I like Shanghai Most for living.
watch about our official trailer about shanghaiundercover too
th-cam.com/video/C1j8I5260gI/w-d-xo.html
JIA MO is a special food of Xian. Nowadays, lots of cities can obtain it, including beijing and shanghai
Oh I didn't know that! Thanks :)
I just found your channel. I currently teach ESL to Chinese students online with VIPKID. Most of my students are from Bejing. I love my job and my students so much. My dream is to travel there one day and meet some of my students in person. Also, how cheap is Bejing compared to America? Trying to get an idea for how much I should save for my family of 4 to visit.
I'm off to Shanghai and Hangzhou in August :) being my first time in China, I felt more comfortable staying in Shanghai on my own knowing that it's much more metropolitan. Also Beijing was way out of my way.
Have an amazing time! Shanghai is a really fun place :)
Thank you! Have you got an videos about how much money you need per week? I'm a bit stuck at the moment!
Great video. I'm currently in Nanjing too and Lovin' it.
Beijing by a million miles!!
Hangzhou tops both, end of story, haha.
I live in Shanghai, I think the weather here is pretty good, not too cold in winter. I like living here :）
Oh yeah, Shanghai weather is a lot better :)
Shanghai in only for touring not living , Beijing No.1
北京上海人别在外国人这里撕了 自己的国家别被外人带节奏
At least shanghai has a falling skyscraper! (If you know what i'm referencing. Then you are amazing)
Dang I wish I was amazing, but no I don't know what you're talking about. Let me google it... oooohhh this is a gaming reference.
Lauren Without Fear well... You know now. So YOUR AMAZING!!!😉
Shanghai is the best :D haha
Hello Lauren.
Thank you for your informative video!
Do many people speak English in Beijing? I have been studying Mandarin for a while so my language skills are about on the level of a five year old (I just recently passed HSK2). I'm just wondering if that's enough to get around without too many hassles?
Also, did you get a rabies vaccine when you went hiking outside the city?
As a Shanghainese living in Beijing for a year, my feeling is that Shanghai is more livable - better food, higher restaurant/convenient store density, better traffic and more convenient public transportation, more commercialized and westernized, more expat-friendly if you don't read Chinese - than Beijing. On the other hand, Beijing is more culturally abundant, more traditional Chinese feel, and tons of ancient Chinese attractions...so, my suggestion for foreigners, if you go to China for a short trip, Beijing may be more interesting to you, while if you decide to live in China for longer period, Shanghai is the city to go.
my bias on comparing the two city with each other is probably that I was living in Beijing in winter time, and was freaking cold and bad pollution, and visited shanghai when in spring/summer. So, I like Shanghai more, I´m not the winter person..
Haha that's fair enough! They're both beautiful cities :) I was lucky enough to be in Beijing from August to November, so I left right before it got too cold.
Talking about histories, Shenzen only have 30 years of history. It was farm land before. Shanghai got about 200 years of history, was a fishing village before Opium War. Most other cities or villages in China have around 500 to 2000 years of histories.
hello Lauren! it's very nice to see your videos. You are so communicative and add a lot of important informations to each of your videos.. Well actually i have a few questions for you. First, i would like to ask you, chinese people they celebrate lantern festival around February, do you know in which city they celebrate the best? The nearest city from beijing if possible. My second question is, which cities are the best to spend winter time near Beijing or Shanghai? And I saw one of your video and you said that you've ever had a problem of being ripped off by a hotel, I would recommend you to booking.com for hotels booking. I prefer booking.com rather than agoda cause it's really detail on each description of the hotel and its surrounding, also they give us final prices. Thanks before, and look forward to your new videos.. Hope you enjoy China! :)
You could come to Shenzhen
I lived in Beijing for decades ☞Beijing
I've been to both, and my thoughts are pretty much same as yours.
Nice!
I'm southern chinese, I can't adapt the climate in beijing (like lack of water). So I prefer shanghai
That's a totally valid reason! Bonus: Shanghai has amazing xiao long bao.
YOU ARE A YOUTBE GOD!!!!! THANK YOU☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁
SH = EU, BJ = US :-)
If only travel a few days, Beijing or Shanghai is not the best choice, , xiamen, hangzhou, zhangjiajie，chengdu they are good choise
I think young people may enjoy Shanghai more for its modern living style, but elder people may like Beijing more for its culture and history.
I am from Shanghai. In China, people from Beijing and Shanghai always argues with each other. I have to say that Shanghai is the most westernized city in China. If any forienger comes to China and want to explore more local Chinese stuff. Maybe Beijing works better than Shanghai for foreingers like above. In the other hand, for those foriengers who wants to explore how China with the eastern culture are able to adopt western culture, Shanghai is the best choice.
Lekuan Wang Dude Shanghai is not part of China!
XDDD r u ok, jay ?
+Lekuan Wang Shenzhen should be the most westernized city in China. Eventhough there are more classical western building in Shanghai, but the way how people think and live are not as modern as Shenzhen (youngest and most creative big city in China). Plus, Hong Kong, the most Westernized city in China is right next to Shenzhen. So, if one wants to see modern/Westernized China, Pearl River Delta is the place to go.
Jay Love New York is not part of America!
As a capital Beijing has more than 1000 years of history, but as a city Beijing has more than 3000 years of history.
I'm going to Shanghai, but definitely want to visit Beijing because as you say its more culturally rich.
I've never been to Shanghai, but Iooove Beijing! I totally get what you're saying about the "authentic China feel."
I would definitely say Shanghai is better. Beijing is "governmenttal" and touristy not even talking about pollution. Shanghai is still very spread out and village like when going outside the city, so outside Pudong the Bund etc. The shopping and scenery is better and also more things to do in Shanghai compared to Beijing
I need to explore the outskirts of Shanghai!
Yeah I'm not sure I like the governmental part of it.
My goodness those guys don't stay put ha. I'm not talking about the tourist. The f and the b.
Thanks for your review, I am having a tough time deciding but I think you made my decisions easier. Thanks!
I love your videos! Thank you so much for making them. I am moving to Beijing to teach in February.
But you didn't show much of the cities I am so disappointed on this. I got your points.
SH is less polluted.
Damn how did I make a video with Beijing in it and not even mention the pollution? That's a valid point. But I still like BJ ;) I think they're going to clean up the pollution drastically in the next 5 years... at least I hope
I loved both Cities but shanghai a bit more 😊
Go Xi‘an for history! Beijing is a new capital city, it only has few hundreds years of history of being capital city.
Xi'an is at the top of my China Wish List!!! I'm 100% positive I'll get to see it eventually :)
I like your videos but the anxiety-branding is very cringe
I've visited both and have to say Shanghai won my heart. Beijing felt too conservative plus pollution.
I love that there really is a city for everyone :) That's awesome you got to see both!
I’m going to China soon so I’m loving watching your videos so much!
Shanghai!!!!! (Because.....138 days! hahaha) also I've heard pollution is much worse in Beijing...
The pollution is definitely worse! I forgot to mention that!
shanghai's pollution is different kind like acid rain，but both are getting better every year
I heard to never drink the water in China unless it's boiled. Will the Chinese waiters oppose to women havin' a beer?
that's totally wrong ，our water is safe，only reason of boil water is bacause we don't get used to the“unboiled water”，it's feasible if we drink it since we were born，some of my relatives live in northeast China，they never boiled water，but when I visited them and drunk their water，I felt uncomfortable cause I'm mot “traditional drinker”
Oh, please shut your mouth, and start searching. The water condition in China is not safe at all. If you are drinking boiled tap water, I can only say you are stupid.
www.zhihu.com/question/23972034
You should come check out southern Canton(Guangdong) province
I want to so bad!!!
Hey Lauren how can I contact you?
you should try tianjin ”goubuli”
Hubei>>>Beijing+Shanghai
Why don’t anybody talk about Hubei? Hubei is less polluted than the least polluted place in china, Hubei’s capital look like shanghai!
Also many people always say Hubei sucks, but guess what? Without us, you would not have dragon boat festival, Taoism would not be a thing, chu would never exist and Central china wouldn’t be so beautiful!
We hate urbanization, because we already have a rich culture, we don’t need new skyscrapers like typical western media says.
Come to hubei and you will see!
I want to go to Hubei!!!
Lauren Without Fear thanks
Hong Kong, Beijing -Shanghai
do you recommend chengdu
I've never been, but a handful of subscribers have recommended it to me! It's one of the top cities I hear about in China :) I hear if you love pandas, it's a must-see.
Love your videos!!!!
“环北京贫困带”(Places surrounding Beijing are very poor) because Beijing is literally a vampire - sucking all the resources next to it. But if you travel 300km away from Shanghai, to any direction, most places are still rich and people are civilized.
If someone lives in Shanghai, he/she can have short trips to many nearby cities with great culture and much longer history than Beijing, such as Nanjing, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Shaoxing, Ningbo - which used to be the capitals or greatest cities in ancient China.
lol，the places around shanghai like suzhou hangzhou or nanjing has been rich for thousands years ，it's not shanghai's credit，they became the economy center almost at ming dynasty，but the place around beijing hasn't been rich for a thousand of years
history longer than beijing？beijing was founded almost 3000 years ago known as the “ji” ，it has been 800years capital city in china's history only shorter than xian and luoyang ，telling part of the truth=lying，keep it
Of course, it is not Shanghai's credit. If there is no Shanghai today, there will be another Shanghai in the region. His point is Beijing is damaging the surrounding areas by robbing their resources.
If you are unable to talk probably with logic in English, switch to Chinese.
lol，Beijing is taking things from around，Shanghai is taking things from all China，shanghainese's “beautiful old shanghai memory”was built on old China's wide range of poverty，Shanghai gdp（1930s） ≈half China，the hole shanghai was just a joke ，a joke for how Western country made money on China，remember what you did to shenzhen stock exchange？
Oh, really? The numbers do not agree with your delusion at all.
www.zhihu.com/question/26673732
Statistics show that the growth of every 1% in one specific industry in Beijing results in the contract in the same industry in surrounding areas, however, the situation is reverse in the case of Shanghai. Industries grow together both in Shanghai and its surrounding areas.
Let alone the other facts that I do not ever bother to show to you, since you are so biased anyway.
So next time, think before you speak.
Mumbai >> Shanghai + Beijing combined
I definitely want to visit India some day!!
For your safty, don't come alone
Abhay Achal u r hilarious
shenzhen is better
I'll have to go some day!
shanghai better than beijing
Chengdu is much better than both Beijing and Shanghai.
Shenzhen easy win.
:)
lol i love you .. shanghai! oh i hate suburbia and like urban feel. ( i read and think it still holds true. Shanghai is where the west tempts china and beijing is where china tempts us.) not trying to act mean to beijing crowd .. it simply comfortable in the south and you dont have to wear a damn gas mask to go outside .. the food is not as good though yet the bars are better
Seriously. I didn't even mention the pollution. Very valid point. Yeah, I felt like Shanghai had better food and Beijing had better craft beer!
I think China because is my country
I think Shanghai
From my experience, people in southern China love Shanghai more, people in northern China love Beijing more. By the way, I am Chinese from Southern China.
So do you like Shanghai more? :)
Yeah, Beijing is too polluted and cold. 😄
qingchuan sure
嗯，确实是这样，大学朋友一堆南方人，要么就是说北京太干太冷，要么就是说污染，还有因为地理原因去上海的次数比北京多，感觉南方人除了来旅游或者工作，对北京的了解不如上海多
Beijing is not Han Chinese cultural city, it is mongol+manchuu. Really Han Chinese cultural is in the south, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Guangdong...
lol，“han chinses cultural city”？？it sounds like your ancestor didn't cut the hair by manchurian people in history，and you began to laughing at the others after puting on the western clouth and claim “we are the traditional chinese，you are not”，did your ancestor teach
you how to split your own country？if not，i can just say you are a self-study genius
无聊，网文看多吧。如果北京是蒙古+满洲文化，应该大街上都是蒙古包啊，故宫是蒙古文化?那么南方古代都是百越南蛮，广东人外貌和上海人相差千里之外，方言各不相同，请问到底是广东还是上海是Han?
普通话本来就深受满语的影响。古诗词很多用现在的普通话读起来都不押韵了。故宫也不是明代的故宫，而是经满清殖民过的故宫。这有啥不能承认的。
Qi Zhang 中国自古就是各民族之间的融合和分离，你不能把中国历史等同于汉族王朝。女真源于肃慎，肃慎起源于长白山到松嫩平原一代，努尔哈赤于辽宁新宾的赫图阿拉城建立后金政权，当时也是明朝境内，所以只是像无数个曾经的王朝一样，推翻原有政权建立新政权，他跟李自成的区别就是他成功了，李自成失败了。比如中华民国推翻清，比如中华人民共和国推翻中华民国。像你这样讲就太狭隘了，不然目前中国五十六个民族都独立好了，其他五十五个少数民族都不是中国人，对么？
满语属阿尔泰语系，语法是sov，普通话是汉语的svo。满语和日语更像。那我是不是可以说南方话受越南影响？毕竟听起来都差不多