# Where to live with a 5 year old boy



## panama (Nov 24, 2011)

Hi everyone. I´m planning a trip around Europe (France, Germany, New Zealand) and will end up in Asia. I´m looking for a place to live and learn a new language for the next 3-5 years. I have about 30-40K US dollars in savings. 

My wife and I are in our mid 30s and have a 5 year old kid that needs to go to school of course. Currently living here in Panama, we have a good population of chinese citizens. I´ve asked them where in China I can raise a family with about $1,500.00 cost per month and I get a whole lot of mixed answers. 

Can you make any suggestions as to good city, schools, parks and a decent place not too far away (hours long) from major cities in China.

Thanks in advance

Alx


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## anneteoh (Mar 20, 2010)

panama said:


> Hi everyone. I´m planning a trip around Europe (France, Germany, New Zealand) and will end up in Asia. I´m looking for a place to live and learn a new language for the next 3-5 years. I have about 30-40K US dollars in savings.
> 
> My wife and I are in our mid 30s and have a 5 year old kid that needs to go to school of course. Currently living here in Panama, we have a good population of chinese citizens. I´ve asked them where in China I can raise a family with about $1,500.00 cost per month and I get a whole lot of mixed answers.
> 
> ...


Sorry to come in so late though you might still be on your Euro travels and would take some time to get to China. I'm no expert on China though I'd read libraries of books about the vast and ancient country and have friends and been there twice .

It should be a good place to bring up and educate a young child. I like Bj and the mandarin accent that B'jingers speak... but there's extreme weather conditions and the pollution in Beijing. Perhaps Xiamen in Fujian province might have a more tropical climate - it's also a place where tea comes from and have traditionally scenic Chinese landscapes. They speak a
different dialect - Hokkein, in Xiamen but Mandarin is the standard lingua.

Liiang's a lovely place among the streams, mountains and clouds in Southern China. I gather they'll all have good schools in China as learning is so much in the culture. The difference would be in the type of education you wish on your child - classical, scientific, economic, political, art, drama etc... googling some internet searches on this aspect of schooling should help a lot; preferably after consulting your child which subject he'd like to study.
I had, at one stage, thought of sending my child to the Shao Lin school of martial arts!

Whatever you go for, I'm sure you will find good support in China; but as someone said, you must also take care not to be duped or pressurised by some hustlers perhaps. The safe way is to approach reputable institutions noted for their academic excellence. From my own experience, it's the care and sincerity of the people at such places that ensure that my needs were passed on from one person to the next along the line of right communication; a truly great grapevine.

Wish you a happy stay and great learning; though mind you, learning Chinese demands your dedication!


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## pengpeng (Aug 8, 2012)

you can go to Beijing or hangzhou


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