I want to buy a property in China- but where?

I think it is about time I brought this subject back to the top of the agenda again as it is the one topic I get most enquiries about - I want to buy, but where?

The questions are arising now as some that have been here a while and have been brave enough to purchase properties are happily in the black and are rightly so, probably singing about it.
Now, that’s not to say that those that follow will be as fortunate, we all know that property prices can and do fluctuate. On the surface one might think that it will not apply here in China?
It would not be possible to speculate where to buy exactly as there are so many contributing factors, not least, your own situation.
I know those that have bought in Nanning and are happy. Some not.
I know those that have bought in Beihai and they too are happy, mostly, some not. I have bought in both and yes, Beihai has a very good rate of property value growth but would I choose Beihai as a place to live, No, most certainly not.
To my mind it is a place to visit occasionally as I have found it to be a little superficial and somewhat unkempt.
I think Nanning is a safer bet from the social standpoint.
I have noticed here in Nanning and probably China as a whole that location popularity appears to be quite fickle.
An area or building that was highly popular last year, still is popular to the casual observer but to those in the know, taking a longer term view, other areas might be a better bet.
The Chinese are, there is no doubt, great speculators and in turn, speedy developers.
Not in the, I build apartment block sense but in the, if enough people like it then that particular block or area will develop very quickly.
Ok, I know this is logical but in most places in the world the speed of this area
popularity and development is considerably slower.
Here, with so much being built, everywhere, it happens at lightning pace.

The cultural dissimilarities can and often do throw the western property buyer off target, the selection rules here are to some western minds, illogical - I don't know too many westerners that use Feng Shui as the main decider in whether to buy or not!

So the watchword is, 'choose carefully' or you might find yourself sitting on a white elephant in the, 'my property value went up at an astonishing rate' gamble.