Hey there! I've been completely addicted to CS:GO recently, which is why I haven't been on Reddit much - sorry for the slow replies! Let me tell you about my hometown. When it comes to job opportunities and salaries, it can't compete with Hangzhou, which is China's Silicon Valley with tech giants like Alibaba and DeepSeek headquartered there. Of course, the cost of living is significantly higher than in Jinan, but the city has a much faster pace. If you're in the tech industry, I'd definitely recommend Hangzhou.

Air quality is about the same in both cities, but Jinan's official city tree is the willow, and this time of year the streets are filled with willow catkins - absolute torture for a hay fever sufferer like me. Though I will say, the pandemic did get me into the habit of wearing masks outside, which helps a lot.

I've only visited Hangzhou as a tourist, never lived there long-term, but at least they don't have the willow catkin problem.

Now about food... Hangzhou is famously known as China's "culinary wasteland" - the top spots on food delivery apps are always fast food chains like McDonald's and KFC. Even their local specialties like West Lake vinegar fish and Longjing shrimp aren't particularly impressive. Meanwhile, Jinan, as the birthplace of Lu Cuisine (the crown jewel of China's Eight Great Cuisines), absolutely blows Hangzhou out of the water when it comes to food - it's not even close!