The city of Xiangtan, Hunan is a garbage dump. There is no other way to put it. I spent almost two years of my life there when I first came to China. There is absolutely nothing, nothing redeeming about this city at all. It is heavily polluted, dirty, and frankly a little dangerous. Yes, indeed, it is cheap, that is true, but that is about the biggest advantage that it has.

The weather is dreadful, just perfectly dreadful -- very, very hot steamy summers, exceptionally damp and cold winters, and long ones at that -- autumn is beautiful but short and spring disappears in the blink of an eye.

The city relies almost exclusively on heavy industry and defense production for its industrial base. Thus, if you like living in a steel mill town, you will love living there. There are practically no foreigners in the city and the ones that are there are all drunks, druggies, weirdos and low-life types. They will cause you as much grief as they can.

Xiangtan University is located way, way, way out in the boondocks these days and it is quite the adventure to reach downtown Xiangtan by taxi or bus. You may end up having to shuttle yourself between their two campuses, which they still maintain.

If you want the worst year of your life in China, then I would encourage you to go there.