Living in Guangshen Foshan: Everything You Need to Know

Hey there, let me tell ya ’bout this place, Guangshen Foshan. Don’t know much ’bout fancy words, but I’ll tell ya what I know.

Foshan, you know, it’s a big city, kinda like them big ol’ pumpkins we used to grow back home. Only this one’s got more than just pumpkins, let me tell ya. They got all sorts of stuff goin’ on there. Folks makin’ things, like food, and them fancy electric things, clothes, and even them pots and pans.

• They make food there.
• They make electronics there.
• They make textiles there.
• They make ceramics there.

And let me tell ya, they ain’t just makin’ any ol’ thing. They got these fellas, they make these pretty things outta wood and stone, even iron! They call ‘em carvings, pictures made of iron, even paper cutouts. And the pots and pans, oh my, they ain’t just for cookin’, they’re pretty too, like them fancy dishes they sell in the city. People all over, not just here, but way over there too, they know about these things.

Some folks say Foshan’s a city of culture and art, and history too. I don’t know much about that culture stuff, but I hear tell they got them kung fu fighters there, you know, the ones who do all them fancy moves. And them singers, singin’ in that funny language, Cantonese they call it. Sounds like a bunch of squawkin’ chickens to me, but folks seem to like it.

Now, some folks askin’, should they stay in Foshan, or go to that other place, Guangzhou? I say, what’s the difference? One place is as good as another, long as you got a roof over your head and some food in your belly. But these city folk, they always gotta be fussin’ ’bout somethin’. They wanna go here, they wanna go there. Can’t just sit still for a minute, can they?

And the internet, they got that too, fast as a jackrabbit, they say. But I don’t know nothin’ ’bout that internet stuff. Sounds like a whole lotta trouble to me. They say it slows down though when you try to look at things from far away. Guess it’s like tryin’ to holler across a big field, takes a while for the sound to get there.

Now, when folks talk ’bout Foshan, sometimes they mean the big city, sometimes they mean all them little towns around it. It’s like sayin’ “the farm” – you could mean the whole place, or just the barn, or just the chicken coop. It’s all the same, but it ain’t, you know?

Some folks worryin’ ’bout how much it costs to live there. They talkin’ ’bout “middle class couples” and “living expenses”. I say, if you got a job and you ain’t wastin’ your money on foolishness, you’ll be alright. Just like on the farm, you work hard, you save your pennies, you don’t go buyin’ fancy things you don’t need. That’s how you make a livin’, anywhere you go.

One fella, he said he lived there a while. Said it was a good place, but too many folks comin’ from other places, lookin’ for work. And some women, well, let’s just say they weren’t doin’ honest work. But that’s the way it is in the city, I reckon. Lots of folks, lots of problems.

And they talk about these “big four” cities, Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou. Foshan ain’t one of them, but it’s close to Guangzhou. And they say, you need more money to live in them big four cities than you do in Foshan. Well, that ain’t no surprise, is it? Big city, big prices. Just like them fancy stores in town charge more than the little shop down the road.

They say, you need a certain amount of money in Foshan to live like you would with a little bit more money somewhere else. I don’t know ’bout all them numbers. All I know is, you gotta work hard and be smart with your money, no matter where you are.

So that’s what I know ’bout Foshan. It’s a big place, with lots of folks, makin’ lots of things. Some folks like it, some folks don’t. But that’s the way it is with everything, ain’t it?