Ningbo
 

Has anybody been to Ningbo City? Is this foreigner friendly city? Is there a lot of foreigners living there? Is there an extensive expat compunity there?

What is the cost of living? etc.... Any information would be greatly appreciated.

~5 years back, I spent a lot of time in Ningbo (in addition to other places in Zhejiang). At that time, it was my second least favorite city in China (Jiaxing topped that list). However, in light of the amount of investment dollars that have been pouring in, I wouldn't be surprised if it was livable by now.

In Zhejiang, Hangzhou is much better in my opinion.

Agreed. Hangzhou is one of my favorite cities in China, but you needn't travel far from there to find yourself in a place you'd rather not be.

Ningbo
 

Do you have a choice? If you're looking for a Chinese experience with the presence of foreigners, Hangzhou is nearby and probably easier.

I just spent several weeks in Ningbo staying with a friend. It was an interesting experience, but I felt somewhat isolated. There are few foreigners and only a modest sprinkling of English-speakers in stores or restaurants. You certainly won't, however, find negative responses to foreigners. Didn't ever see an International Herald Tribune, but if you have internet that isn't a big drawback. Unless I missed them, even the Xinhua bookstore didn't have English books.

The city is fairly affluent: lots of BMWs and with new Zegna and Cartier stores. I hear rents are not low. Chinese food (supermarkets, small restaurants, late-night street food stands) can be incredibly cheap and good, but you can also find the incredibly expensive (a new restaurant along the river just opened with 1000RMB lunch). There are a small number of good foreign restaurants. Chinese beer drunk in Ningbo is atrocious to a westerner (often 1.9% alcohol, bland and not very cold); even Tsingdao comes in a range of quality. There are a couple of bar areas with good foreign beer, where several places serve Guinness, for example. If you're shopping for Belgian beers and Swiss chocolates in stores you have to look hard, but they can be found.

Taxis are cheap (10-15RMB), and buses are cheap (1-2RMB) once you catch on to the routes, but infrequently air-conditioned.

Websites with some info for foreigners are
helloningbo.com and
ningboexpat.com

If this all sounds too negative, that wasn't my intent. It's a cautious recommendation.

Thanks all for your input.

Going to Ningbo to check things out before making final decision.