Sounds like a bit of a GW ( Grovelling Weasel ) post to me. I've also lived in Changchun and Dalian before. Strange that you never mentioned any drawbacks to the place.

Generally I found Dongbei people to be rude and obnoxious. Having, said that, they are amateurs in comparison to Guangxi people and also Hubei people when it comes to being racist, arrogant and ignorant snobs.

Girls in Dongbei, especially in Dalian and Shenyang certainly know how to turn on the charm as far as attracting Western men goes. Their fake facade crumbles quite quickly however. I knew a wealthy Australian guy who lived in Wuhan who would spend his days off in Shenyang. He went up there just for the hookers. He would fly out on Thursday night and come back on Monday afternoon. He went long time with one girl he really liked.

Anyway, you said you are married. You did not say if your spouse in Chinese or not. In the case that she is Chinese you certainly have my sympathy, but you were foolish to marry one of them.