LAST PART, JAPAN

-Japan! I've never been there but that's actually where I'd love to be more than anywhere else. They have a fascinating culture. Super clean and ultra modern or even futuristic as we all know. Tokyo must be one of the coolest and most exciting place in the world to live. Japanese are super polite and respectful (most in the world) and the language is to me, just as Korean, one of the most beautiful and delighful to hear and to learn and to try to speak! Girls (Korean too) often have a unique feminine delicate charm. But it ain't "always" cheap! Accomodation and transportation are expensive in cities (everything else is actually cheaper than in the west) although a small 2 bedroom house in the country might only cost 500 bucks... I'd move there from next spring if I could and will have the funds...

I hope some people will find these informations useful and sorry fo the inaccuracies ans still very subjective point of view. Also, I didn't mean to offend anyone so I hope I didn't. ,cheers

SINCE THE NUMBER OF CHARACTERS ARE LIMITED TO 2000 HERE IS THE FOLLOWING:  

-Taiwan is a good compromise in the Mandarin spoken world. People are a little more polite than China but also a little less friendly. It's almost as cheap as China too although wages are higher so the standard of living is higher. Architecture is closer to western (maybe north American) Korea and Japan ones: Modern and not too original but not depressing either.
-in there, Taipei is the absolute best place to make friends and mingle! Taipei is also a very cool and exciting place to be. You might end up bored anywhere else unless you don't get bored easily, but I do. Winter are mild in Taiwan and it's never really cold unlike China, Japan and Korea.

-Korea! yes winter are the coldest there (with Beijing and northern China) but Seoul is a pretty awesome place too (although I prefer HK and Taipei). Some foreign teachers find the Koreans sometimes cold and unfriendly but I love them. Maybe it's because I also love the language which was the hardest for me to learn (I forgot everything by the way). I like how much polite people are. It is more expensive than China and Taiwan but obviously cheaper than Japan and anywhere in the west. You can still eat out for a couple of buks, a unique trait of Asia. I spent only 3 months there and I'm still totally fascinated by the place and it's folks. Would love to return.

I know this is an old post but I still just wanted to add my unbiased (since I'm french) opinion for other people curious about the same issue: 

-Personally I so love Hong Kong too but if you are looking for an english teaching job then probably it isn't the best place since almost everyone speak english there. It's quite warm the whole year too. (I hate the cold).

-Shenzhen might be a good compromise. Cheaper than Hong Kong and you could go back to HK virtually anytime as both cities touch one another.

-Shanghai is also an exciting place to be and is still cheaper than HK but winters are also pretty cold.

-Beijing isn't that nice of a city just as most places in China. Concrete dull buildings without much of a soul. They got rid of the lovely "Hutongs", these nice old alleys, to built huge boring buildings. Winters are super coldddd!

-China is an interesting country to visit but I'd only live either in an exciting city (SH, HK) there or in a village in order to learn chinese fast but everywhere else is quite grey and depressing (no offence to Chinese folks, just my personal opinion) and personally architecture matters to me and my mood. Most of China is also pretty cold in winter.

-Yangshuo might be a good option if looking for a picturesque smaller place with mild winters.