Hangzhou: Come for the Views, Not to Pay the Bills.

[Zachary Hayes]

Alas, a rainstorm has kept me trapped here! I tried to hail a cab, but the line stretched over twenty people! My job penalizes me fifty dollars for even a minute of tardiness, which makes my heart ache so much .

Hangzhou, as a tourist destination, is indeed beautiful, but to say that making money here by working is a different story is an understatement!

• Housing costs rise faster than the turn of a page!

  • When I first came to Hangzhou (about five years ago):
    • "Wow, a single room in Binjiang District (a relatively new area with numerous tech companies) costs 1,800? A bit pricey, but from the window, you can see the majestic Qiantang River !"
  • At present:
    • "Even those old and run-down apartments in Yuhang District (farther away from the city center) cost up to 3,500 per month?! The distance to the subway station is so far that I have to run a mini-marathon daily!" The landlord provides countless reasons for rent increases every year, such as a book called "How to Stealthily Drain Workers' Pockets" or "How I Raised Rent After Changing a Curtain Color" I'm grateful if I can pay rent on time; buying a house is out of the question.

• Commuting is like participating in a triathlon!

  • You might think that working in the "Internet Capital" (Hangzhou has many big tech firms like Alibaba) sounds glamorous.
  • In reality, it takes one-and-a-half hours to commute each way. During rush hour, the subway is packed with people, sometimes making you unable to get on at all! After arriving at the company, one finds that the eggs brought in the morning were squashed upon arrival.

• Hangzhou cuisine? A world of high prices and pre-prepared dishes!

  • Tourists' perception of Hangzhou's famous delicacies might include Qianjiang Rice Noodle Soup (local specialty), Xihu Vinegar Fish (acidity-sweet flavor fish dish made with West Lake fish) and Longjing Shrimp (stir-fried with premium Longjing tea leaves)
  • Our daily meals as workers:
    • A bowl of noodles named poetically as "Zen-Inspired Vegetable Noodles" (plain old green onion oil noodle) which costs $5.
    • A cup of coffee named "Pagoda Bridge Coffee" (Pagoda Bridge is a well-known scenic spot around West Lake) which costs $10 yet leaves your heart feeling colder than the snow atop Pagoda Bridge.
  • Most restaurants near office areas serve mainly pre-cooked dishes (ready-made meal packs). Many trendy restaurants have huge crowds with wait times starting at two hours, and we have to worry about possible stomachaches after eating them. Wages haven’t increased, whereas commodity prices keep rising, leaving us, workers, silently shedding tears

• No matter how beautiful the scenes may be, they can't withstand the grinding everyday life of working!

  • West Lake (Hangzhou's most famous lake attraction), the meditative feel of the Lingyin Temple, and the aroma of dragon well tea in a famous tea-producing village are all great experiences.
  • However! We are dealing with various meetings and endless discussions under the “empowerment” facade by our bosses. If we're fortunate enough to continue working, we must work hard under difficult conditions. There's always a chance of being “graduated” (a euphemism for layoff in large corporations), turning us into someone who decides to “switch tracks” (leaving the current industry and exploring something else). The worst scenario is turning oneself into a street vender or leaving the city altogether ~

️ Important Notes for Travelers and Workers:
*

• If you are traveling to Hangzhou: Be assured, you will thoroughly enjoy the trip. Bring your camera along with sufficient funds and enjoy. The sceneries here are truly worth visiting!
• If you intend to work in Hangzhou: Consider your decision carefully and prepare accordingly:
  • Bring courage as well as strong fortitude capacity. The cost of living here (especially housing costs) is very high.
  • The commute might take a long time. While considering where to live, do check whether it is nearby your workplace and to the nearest subway station.
  • Be mindful when it comes to dining. Catering options in Central Business Districts usually carry hefty prices, with many of them mostly serving pre-cooked meal packs. You can also make some discoveries about small eateries regularly visited by locals.
  • The 'prosperity' promoted by companies might not be what one expects. The word "blessing," used by bosses in China's tech company culture denoting employee's so-called good luck of overwork, is frequently received with a mix of ridicule and despair. It's not everyone who can endure Hangzhou's high-intensity work culture...

[Courtney Hickle Jr.]

Honestly, I don't find Hangzhou particularly fun either. However, it boasts great green spaces. If it weren't for the housing prices, it'd be a very livable city, perhaps best suited for locals.

[Andrea Hand]

It's just average, I guess. The cost of living is incredibly high. Even locals find it tough unless they're wealthy.

[Eunice Rutherford]

You absolutely nailed it! In Hangzhou, it feels like it's always either raining or windy. Winters are freezing, summers are scorching, and the bone-chilling wind can give you a splitting headache.

[Misty Anderson DDS]

Everything except maybe the wind part is spot on. I've been living in Hangzhou for eight or nine years now, so I know.

[Andrea Hand]

Oh, I'm from Guangzhou and was actually planning a work-and-travel stint in Hangzhou this year. But after reading these comments, I'm really having second thoughts!

[Karen Bruen]

You could always give it a try, it might turn out better for you.

[Joanne Swift]

My landlord was complaining that his apartment has been vacant for six months and still hasn't rented out. I asked why he doesn't lower the rent, and he said property prices are too high in Hangzhou, so there are no 'cheap' places, and renting it out for less isn't worth it for him. They even hiked the rent by a few hundred after a new subway line opened nearby! So, they complain about it being empty, yet they'd rather leave it vacant at a high price than lower the rent for someone. Plus, they're always worried tenants will wear out or mess up the place!

[Emma Kihn]

Serves them right that it stays unrented.

[Eunice Rutherford]

Honestly, if you can make 4,000-5,000 RMB back home, there's really no point coming to Hangzhou. Wages are low, rent is high, and commutes can be a killer.

[Antonio Sawayn]

Sure, it's comfortable at home, but you might not have as much freedom.

[Ms. Beatrice Abernathy]

Don't even get me started! Today, I had a mala xiangguo that cost over 30 RMB, and it felt like four-fifths of it was just chili peppers and their casings. (This was at Langer Ge Mala Xiangguo).

[Miss Alison Collier]

I got totally ripped off by a mala xiangguo stall in a Hangzhou subway underpass once. I just casually picked a few items, and it came out to over 80 RMB! When they were weighing it, I saw the female owner – she looked like an internet celebrity, and I immediately sensed she was no ordinary vendor.

[Orville DuBuque]

There's a Hangzhou HR and Admin group. Hit me up if you're interested. It's for recruitment, job seeking, and also just for 'water cooler' chat or slacking off and chatting.

[Melinda Wilderman]

Could you please help leave a comment on the networking/resource-sharing thread? That way, more people who could use it will see it.

[Sally Breitenberg]

Hangzhou is positioned as a hub for internet e-commerce and AI technological innovation. It's not really geared towards the average person.

[Katrina Ziemann]

Hangzhou is a good place for ordinary folks to learn about e-commerce, but perhaps not ideal for conventional career paths.

[Byron Larkin]

That's absolutely true. Having been in Hangzhou for 20 years, I've seen monumental changes. The soaring cost of living is genuinely making it increasingly difficult for newcomers to stay. Why can't it be more like Guangzhou?

[Lena Oberbrunner]

Hi there, excuse me, but roughly how much is the rent over there?

[Tracy Hoppe]

Yeah, Hangzhou isn't all that exciting either.