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I live in Xiamen, Fujian, and love it!
If you move to China there are some things you should take into consideration. To start with: pollution levels. Consider a city with relatively clean air, and you will be healthier and have more energy. Second: climate. The country has a variety of them so you should choose a climate that suits you. If you dont speak any Chinese, choose a city with a university, because students often speak English, helpful!

I would suggest Shenzhen.. There are so many foreigners that you can find in the malls, supermarkets and eateries. Mostly Coz it's near the university as well. The Chinese people are very open to foreigners here and tend to help you out even when you dont speak Chinese since the city is itself only about 30 years old so you will find young crowd here and even if they don't speak English they do understand you. I have stayed here for about 7 months now and I liked it. The weather doesn't get too hot neither does it get too cold.. Given that this year, Shenzhen for some reason became very cold in last 5 years. The food is good as you can find many cuisines and tourist attractions as well

Regards
Radhika

I agree with all that. University students are always good. They often step in if they see you struggling with a "Can I help you?". Air quality is important. I was in Beijing and very rarely saw a blue sky! Now in Jiaxing and it is so much more pleasant. Less traffic also. People are really friendly and only 40 minutes from Shanghai. It's a great place to live.

As I visited maybe over fifty towns and cities my personal preference is this. Top three in reverse order. 3. Xiamen, 2. French Concession, Shanghai, 1. Futian, Shenzhen. However Zhu hai is much improved and Coloane, Macau is a great balance of relaxing and quiet.

1. Hangzhou 2. Shenzhen 3. Wuxi

Dongguan and nearby Changan have a  very active expat community. Close enough to HK. It really depends on what you want to do. This area has a huge amount of factories.

I lived in Guangzhou for half a year and had the time of my life! I love the food and the culture and the proximity to Hong Kong and Macau!
I also like Changsha, where I lived for 1 year. It's not your go-to city but I've really fallen in love with the city! It's close to Fenghuang, Zhangjiajie and so many minority towns! Love it!

I agree: Shenzhen is an awesome city. I've been here for two years now and I really like this city. It's so important to go out with your friends and discover new places to hang out, new places to eat, and new places to enjoy yourself. Even with the humidity in the summer, the weather is generally pretty good and the air quality is better than in some other cities. I recommend that people give this relatively new city a chance and you'll be very pleased with what you'll find.

I am in Zhuhai and Guangzhou. I would like to connect with business-minded people to share experience and business resources. ***

I would prefer Shenyang, Liaoning Province, coz of the uncomfortable climate, air pollution and the fact that it's economy rate is the lowest in China. With only a few hundred expats, it's rather a Chinese city. Living abroad should in the first place be challenging, difficult and full of rare experiences.

From my experience... (American, been living over here pretty much all the time for the last 16 years... duh)

Xiamen... free spirits there, progressive atmosphere, great foreigner community, nice universities...

Yangshuo... a magical place in between holidays. If you live there you can have the best experiences in and around the country side... plus meet very interesting people.

Zhuhai / Sanxiang / Zhongshan... its sort of one big area, almost seamless. Clean air, great base to go anywhere in China from and still not be in too big of a city. Safe, affordable and not too many jerks.

Weihai area may be a good place to live. In the summer its pretty great. I hear in the winter it can be a bit severe. Very clean place, fresh air and not too big of a town. The downside may be the old school China still has a hold on the current culture...

Cheers

Don

Don't understand all the people quoting Westernised modern cities full of "Foreigners" - exactly what did you come to China for? May as well stay at home or any other big city in the World.

I live in rural areas, 10 years now, and enjoy learning and experiencing rapidly disappearing traditional China.

Decide what it is you're looking for before choosing where.

But the question was not about the weather or clean air..., it was: ''Which regions offer most of the job opportunities, a good quality of life, an affordable cost of living? ''

What kind of job? If you talking about teaching English - it is one thing, something else - will be another thing. If you want to get working visa - may be you first find the job, and place of living will come attached?

Looking for the question, I would say, that generally most of the job opportunities - in megalopolises - Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, but an affordable cost of living is rather not there, also depends, what is affordable for you... And a good quality of life you can find in many Chinese cities now, if you mean just Western style of life. Shenzhen is nice, I agree, from every point of view.

There is some relativity as to what you want to do with your money as well. Living in Chengdu or Shanghai, the pay is relative, eg; not much pay in Chengdu but it's dirt cheap to live there, even less and even cheaper to work and live in rural areas, and of course lots more in Shaghai/Beijing, but of course expensive to live there - i.e. the living costs balance out. But If you were hoping to save and/or send money back home then you need to go for the latter more expensive places.