Suzhou is located in the south of Jiangsu province, some 50 miles west of Shanghai, along the old Grand Canal with a history of 2500 years. Suzhou is a new tier-1 city with a population of about 12 million people. The city is famous for gardens, embroidery & crabs.
Pros:
Easy Acess to western products & International restaurants
There are many western supermakets and shops in Suzhou so it is easy to get western products. You can find not only chinese food but also Indian food, Thai food, Malaysian food, Persian food, Greek food, Turkish food, French food, Italian food, Spanish food, American food here.
Low crime rate
I am a single chinese woman. I feel safe no matter where I go in suzhou, even in late night.
Easy to travel in & around Suzhou
There are four railway stations in Suzhou that offer advanced bullet trains and ordinary trains to nearby cities and beyond. They connect Suzhou by rail to Shanghai, Beijing, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Wuxi, and other cities. Suzhou has a well developed public transportation system. Currently there are 6 metro lines, 2 tram lines. Public buses routes run into all parts of the city. It is easy to get a cab both online and offline.
Affordable apartments & houses, much cheaper than that in Shanghai/Beijing/Shenzhen/Guangzhou
Average rent price for 1 bedroom apartment ranges from 3000CNY to 5000CNY depending on location in Suzhou.
Average rent price for 2 bedroom apartment ranges from 4000CNY to 7000CNY depending on location in Suzhou.
many good international schools for you to select
Etonhouse, Dulwich, Nord Anglia, Singapore International School, North America High School, Duke University, UWC
Full of Chinese culture
Downtown is filled with historical buildings, temples and pagoda. It is worth to explore the intangle cultural heritage in Suzhou.
Cons:
Air quality worse than western cities
Air pollution gets bad from time to time because there are many factories here. In early 2021, the air quality in Suzhou was classified as “Unhealthy” with a US AQI reading of 163. This is according to the recommended figures from the World Health Organisation (WHO). The recorded levels of the pollutants were as follows: PM2.
No Airport
When you need to travel internationally, you have to travel to Shanghai or Wuxi to take the flight, which can be a bit of hassel.
Traffic jams during rush hours
During rush hours (mornings 7am-9:00am) (evenings 5pm-6pm) traffic is very congested.
VPN is a must.
Global websites like facebook, instagram, youtube, twitter are blocked in Suzhou so you must install a VPN on mobile/PC to browse those websites.
Conclusion:
Suzhou is one of the very livable cities to live and work in China taking everything into account.