[waixingren]

I've been here in Shenzhen for two years. The winters are very mild and the summers are awful. I wouldn't really recommend it unless you have a good reason to be here (i.e. family, business). It's only real advantages are money and proximity to Hong Kong and Macau.

You might want to check out Chengdu. Not sure how winter is there, but it's a nice city with some great places nearby for holidays. You just have to learn the Sichuan dialect to really get around.

Depending on your qualifications (degree, since you haven't taught before), you might want to consider a job at an international school.

City life is good and bad in China... you have more Western comforts in the major cities (such as coffee, cheese, non-Chinese food). But you also get plenty more headaches (huge crowds, traffic, pollution). Part of it depends on what you're willing to miss out on by living outside the cities.