[updated Jan. 2012] I have written a few notes here now but have not yet really given an account of what Xi’an is like, so I will do that now. Xi’an is a great place to live, but I must first be clear that the life here for a foreigner – whether a teacher or someone earning an expat wage – is far and away easier than it is even for our Chinese counterparts, let alone the majority who do not have anything like the opportunity for the lifestyle we have.
That is not to say there are not the ridiculously wealthy Chinese, there certainly are and their number is swelling. While what could loosely be described as a middle-class – a problem term at the best of times but more so here with the so-called middle class being generally such a minority – is becoming more visible year on year, or even season upon season. The fashion season, rather than one of weather changes. The joy and energy with which the Chinese are applying to shopping (as a relatively recent pastime) makes it is easy to see where domestic consumer growth could be found to off set the slump in exports to the suffering West.
Life here as a foreign teacher allows, what some of us refer to as, the retirement life style with youth attached. This means that it is possible to do part-time work, study Chinese for a good chunk of the week, and still have a good chunk of time to hang out with friends and loved ones. Finally, the money earned for a week doing what teachers do here, far and away exceeds the average workers monthly salary for working fulltime. Many are unaware of this upon arrival and it of course contributes greatly to the enjoyment of life.
You can certainly work full-time, though not really learn Chinese, and earn a lot of money. This, as in the case of a large number of African teachers here, allows the opportunity for investments, that supply the basis for a business back at home. If you are a foreigner here doing your job from back home, then you are living the classic expat life, still working full-time but with your money going a whole lot further, with various other perks thrown in. However, Xi’an doesn’t really have a ‘classic’ expat life comparable to the large cities of Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong, or even Dalian and Guangzhou. Xi’an’s foreign community is still predominantly a community of teachers and students, although that is beginning to change with the increased number of foreign firms beginning to open offices in the High Tech District and beyond. [see the Xi'an Business Forum website]
However, I want to take this note outside the realm of affluence and opportunity and just outline a few things about Xi’an which make me actually feel at home, as well as give an idea of what is going on here. Xi’an is a great city with an incredible history, it is a city of about 8-9 million with 4-5 of those in the main centre and inner suburbs, but still doesn’t feel like a big city at all and is actually considered somewhat of a backwater with regards to modern Chinese cities, though that is beginning to change.
I do not believe people in other countries who have not been here can comprehend the construction work that goes on here. Cranes are everywhere; buildings are being pulled down within every street and around every corner. Pavements are being laid for the first time in places where a track was just months or a couple of years earlier. Fields on the outskirts of town, as well as in town centres, are being concretized at a rate probably comparable to a decade or two of growth back in the day in Britain, but that is taking a year or two here.
As an example, eight or so of the Universities here in downtown Xi’an have built shiny new ‘Super Campuses’ on the outer southern edge of the city. When I arrived in Xi’an those areas were quite literally rice fields, these ‘Super Campuses’ now exist and so increasingly do the apartment blocks and restaurants that service them, and, with their own life force, are transforming the area into a whole new suburb of the city. 
Just south of the Big Goose Pagoda (pictured left), which is one of the most famous historical spots here in Xi’an and not far from the city centre, a huge lake was created and is now one of Xi’an’s favourite weekend retreats. That area is itself now being developed with the building of luxury apartment blocks, fine restaurants and shops. As a living area it did not exist when I came here, it is now named Qu Jiang and is quickly becoming the place to live.
This Note continues in Part II.
Tags: Xi'an
西安