Normal city on the river-Changzhou (常州)

inside one of the malls downtown

the street outside our university's gate

Looking back at posts I realize I write a lot about places I visit, but seldom share about the place where I spend most of time. More detailed information can be found on the Changzhou Wikipedia page. More or less, it's a city much like many others around China. It's in the Yangzi River Delta, which is the richest and most developed region in China. Although dwarfed by

a major intersection downtown

bigger, more important neighbors with longer histories like Nanjing and Suzhou, people in Changzhou are proud of how developed the city is-and of its reputation for having some of the best food and restaurants in the region.

the entrance to one of the malls downtown

Everyone seems to be of one of two mindsets: either from the country and happy to be here, or is a local and wishes they could live

a typical street in Changzhou

in Shanghai. Personally, I'm more like the people from the country. I am very happy with Changzhou precisely because it's not as big as Shanghai. The city extends out in all directions, as factories replace apartments. But, as I have discovered this year (due to the bus route being interrupted) Changzhou is very manageable on bike. Our university is about 25 minutes from downtown by bike, which is faster now than the bus. Downtown is only about 10 minutes from the train station. Some of my acquaintances in Shanghai live 20 minutes from the closest metro stations. Changzhou is a great mix of being big and developed enough to have wha t I need, and some American restaurants when I pine for the tastes of home while being compact enough that it's easy and convenient to go downtown for dinner without it being a big deal. I've thrown up some pictures I took the other night day while running some errands around town. Now, don't get me wrong-Changzhou is dirty, polluted, crowded, hustling, and loud. But, that's urban China.

Christmas tree and HaiBao mascot downtown