City or suburbs

Where to live? It's a difficult decision. Many ex-pat familes choose to live in Shunyi, out by the airport. We can see the attraction. You get a house, small garden, lots of children around, half a dozen very good international schools with big impressive facilities, safe environment, cleaner air and stairs. A & N want stairs. On the other hand, it's miles out, although the commute isn't so bad (30-45 mins). There's not much cultural interest out there, or even decent shops. And it's very estranged from 'real China': a big, cosey bubble which could be anywhere in the world. And what would Liz do out there? The temptation must be to stay put and not make the effort to come into town. We'd need a car, and we're not really sure we want a car.

City-living has its pluses and minuses too. On the minus side you can forget the house. But is that so bad? We've always lived in flats, and our 4th floor place in Bangkok was fantastic. OK, no private garden but most places have a communal green space with a basic playground and paths for bicycling. It can be noisy but there are pockets of calm. Views of endless buildings can be soul-destroying, but at a certain height Beijing becomes quite beautiful, and there's a surprising amount of green. There are less international schools in town and they don't have the kind of all-singing, all-dancing facilities, but the one we've chosen is nice & compact and not too far from my office. A definite plus is that I could cycle or possibly walk to work. But the real plus for us would be being in the thick of it, experiencing China's capital for what it is - a vibrant, cultural, fascinating city. Being able to pop out to the shops, restaurants, exhibitions, temples, concerts - just as we loved in Tokyo, Bangkok and London.

We've been taken round countless apartments and houses in both locations so have a good idea of the options. Now to make up our minds...