LOL the comments about lack of indoor heat! Was just complaining to my wife about that. But it gets even worse than just lack of heat, they actually leave windows and doors open even in the winter. I am in Chengdu and while it is not as cold here as it is in other parts of China, it is still regularly between 40 and 55 in the winter, and yet they still leave all the windows open! I was in our operations center before my last trip and everyone was sitting there shivering, bundled up in coats and yet all the windows were open. I was doing the initial medical stuff last February and nearly froze my butt off in the CAAC hospital because they refused to turn the heat on and left all the windows open. I guess they love to inhale the polluted air.

On another note - I personally do not know any Canadians at my airline, but I would imagine other than tax issues your concerns and preferences would be similar to Americans (although I think it is a bit harder to find a place to watch ice hockey than it is to watch American football). I think the big question you need to decide is are you going to be a commuter or are you going to be a full-time guy. If you commute regularly, like on a month on/month off, you might want to be a in a place that is easier to get home in one or two legs like Beijing or Shanghai. I know several of the guys here in Chengdu that require three legs to get home to the U.S. or Mexico even with United now offering non-stop to SFO. Doing that every month may get hard. However if you are here full-time and only traveling home once or twice per year then Chengdu or some of the other lesser known cities may be a better option than Beijing or Shanghai.

Agencies seem to be all about the same. All of the big ones have local representatives that will help you with apartments, mobile phones and other issues.