Hangzhou, Hainan and Hong Kong
I spent a week last month working with a factory in Hangzhou. The factory was great but I'm sure that I lost a week of my life due to the pollution (lucky I didn't lose my life due to the traffic). Hangzhou was so polluted that it makes the PRD look clean and sunny. Maybe it's the recession that's making the PRD look so nice lately... But back to Hangzhou, I'm really not sure which was worse, the traffic or the pollution. I've lived over here for more 10 years and the traffic there was surprisingly awful but each night I could feel the grit on my teeth. Yet Hangzhou is not even on the list of the most polluted cities in China. Scary. Nice lake, too bad you can barely see across it. 
Two days after returning from Hangzhou I went to Sanya for a few days of vacation. In contrast to Hangzhou, Hainan, specifically Haikou, is on the list of cleanest places to live in China. Partly due to the fact that there is no manufacturing in Hainan and partly due to the fact that a typhoon just passed through, it was beautiful! Dare I say pristine, even? Surpassing my expectations in every way, I can honestly say it was the nicest place I've ever stayed in China. Really very clean, uncrowded, with lots of fresh seafood and fruit, long empty beaches, blue skies and some very nice hotels. Highly recommended. 
Oh, yea, and there were tons of Russian speaking tourists there too--how random is that? I guess that it's easier to get a visa to China from many of the Central Asian States that it is to Thailand or other SEA beach destinations. Everything there was in Chinese or Russian--hardly any English at all. Very odd experience to be in China and not be able to communicate with any of the other occidental expats. Also, I've never been to a beach where I was shorter (or more clothed) than a majority of the women. Sorry, no photos. 
Finally, over the next two weeks I'll be speaking in Hong Kong at the Semi-Annual Global Sources Trade Shows at the AsiaWorld Expo out by the Hong Kong International Airport. In addition to the general group presentations each day you can book time with any one of the speakers for individual advice and Q&A too.
Week One: scheduleTuesday, Oct. 13th and Wednesday Oct. 14th, 12:30 to 3:00, Buying from China: What New Buyers Need to Know.Mike Bellamy, Passage MakerDavid Dayton, Silk Road InternationalJohnny Sadhu, BVBenjamin Dolgin-Gardner, Shenzhen CE and ITCharles Kirmuss, Kirmuss & Associates.
Week Two scheduleTuesday, Oct. 20th and Thursday Oct. 22nd, 12:30 to 3:00, Buying from China: What New Buyers Need to know.Mike Bellamy, Passage MakerDavid Dayton, Silk Road InternationalJohnny Sadhu, BV