Let's talk about Shenzhen for a while, OK? I've been here for a little more than 2 months and I simply don't get why everyone thinks this is such a great place.

Starbucks, Papa John's and Subway are here.
Wow. They're also in every town with more than 50 people at home. I didn't come to China to go to Starbucks.
The salaries are much higher here.
Great. And my rent for a tiny little apartment is 1900 RMB a month. My school gives me a housing allowance and after my rent and bills are paid my salary doesn't work out to much more than in any other city in China.
It's so close to Hong Kong!
Which is good why? Because we also get to breathe HK's bad air in addition to Shenzhen's?
There are so many foreigners here!
Lovely. That also makes it much more difficult to find decent work here especially when so many of those foreigners are unqualified, illegal or both and are willing, for whatever reason, to work ridiculous hours for not all that much money. If I need to be around other foreigners there are many of them at home. I can visit any city in America and see drunken white idiots.
There are so many beautiful women here!
True. But if they're not actively selling themselves on a street corner for cash they're talking to you about love until they discover you're not rich, at which point they ignore you.
The police actually do their job here.
A big part of which seems to be making foreigners feel as unwanted and uncomfortable as possible, in particular when they conduct the visa interview and can barely disguise the contempt they feel for you on their face and in their voice.
The public transportation is great.
And you need it, as you head from one part-time job to another in a frantic effort to earn enough money to live here.
It's so modern.
And sterile, totally lacking in character or soul. Doesn't even feel like China, at least to me.

There are definitely things to like here but it's not for everyone. I'm very sorry I decided to come here and will be leaving as soon as I scrape up enough cash to get out, even though I'll probably wind up forfeiting most of the (absurdly large) deposit I had to put down on my apartment. I'll gladly give up Papa John's, Subway, Starbucks and The Terrace and move back to a smaller city where I feel needed, and, more importantly, wanted.