Warning, for sensitive animal lovers, DO NOT READ THE REST OF THIS POST.
Sadly a crackdown on dogs would not be a huge undertaking for the police.
A crackdown took place in Guangdong a few years ago. Basically headed up by Chengguang and 'concerned citizens'. I believe about 50 000 dogs were disposed of in a few days, mostly at the end of a club.
Life is great in the US if you have lots of money or a masters degree unless you get really lucky. If youre not one of those people, youre gonna be working long hours to barely scrape by. I lived in Minnesota.
When I lived in the US before I worked in Computer Desktop support and was making about 40k (this was in 2000 and in Portland OR). Plenty of money... then I went into real estate buying houses working on them and selling them. Tough work.. but I cleared 60k a year. I have a BA in History.
The thing about China as a foreigner you have no real future there... you won't be building many skills that could transfer back to the USA. If you master Chinese language if you ever came back you might be able to land a job with a company that deals with China... but I think you would need a BA (not sure what you level of education is).
I don't think Kunming is that much cheaper than the US if you want to have a decent lifestyle. When we left my wife and I and dog (dog ate one 13.5kg bag of Orijen every month, which is 1100 RMB) were spending about 12,000 RMB per month. We did have a car and lived in a nicer development. Incidentally it was the only place where we were not robbed due to high level of security, but there were still trash fires often from neighboring areas.
In Chinese there is a saying 一分钱一分货 or You get what you pay for! (lit. one penny buys one penny goods).
I used to be angry alot about the US and all it's problems but after being in China for 10 years I found that the problems US has are small in comparison to China. And to put it bluntly the vast majority of Chinese people don't want you there... believe me this will wear you down.
Have a good reason to go, know that someday you will come back to the USA. And for goodness sakes don't go to just escape what you perceive as a less than perfect situation in your life in the US.
Anyways just my two cents...
Wish you the best whatever you do!
Wow, 12000 rmb per month? Thats really a lot. If I fed my dog a natural diet itd be significantly cheaper. I dont plan to stay in China forever. Maybe only a year. The reason I initially came was because Im a chinese language and literature major...you cant pick up chinese by simply reading books though. Its absolutely impossible. I didnt come here to escape, I came to get my chinese to a high enough proficiency that I can finish my BA. I have one year left on it. Right now however, being a musician in Kunming is awesome. We just got a band going and are getting a lot of work. Thats the main reason we want to stay longer; continue mastering chinese and developing ourselves as musicians. I would have to cut both of those things short if i leave china, but i will have to if I cant bring my dog here.
Hi,
Sounds like fun... but remember the costs to transport the dog could run close to 8000 USD round-trip and there is no guarantee they won't change things and make it impossible for you to get your dog out of the country.
You must really love your dog... but if they are safe back at home in the US they'll thank you for keeping them there. Everyone I know that moved there dog to another country (including myself) said it put the dog through a huge amount of stress. The adjustment time for a dog in new environment is really intense and stressful and can last up to a year.
Anyways... whatever you decide good luck!
