You know your onions re China.

@ SS: I don't consider myself an old china hand, and that term implies someone who likes and enjoys living in China, let's just say I got burnt more times than I can remember, esp. so in HZ and by HZ people. They would f*** anyone or anything, if they thought it would increase their investment savings account or stock options:( I dated a couple of girls from there, experiences I deeply regret, and the recruiters there are untrustworthy to say the least, perhaps the worst of all China. And it has gone very downhill, the west lake is polluted, the subway system still wasn't finished when I was last there, the taxis/traffic situation still very bad, and some of the rudest/stuck up people anywhere in China.

I'm teaching at a private university in Dongbei. Some of my students have come a long way
from Hangzhou to study here. Their parents are not among the richest of Hangzhou's
citizens, and can afford the tuiton fees here, which are definitely much lower than they
would be where they come from for an equivalent education. And yes, they are much more
money-orientated than local students studying here. In my view, students from Dongbei
are friendlier and more honest than those from Hangzhou and the like. Yet, the latter's
parents are above the former's in terms of social class!

I know a couple of guys in Songyuan and I've met a few people from the north east. IMHO, i am not sure that they are any better, certainly more friendly perhaps, but honesty...tough one?