Baichihe, China

The population of 1,078,178 may seem impressive, but living in Baichihe, China is far from a glamorous experience. This heavily industrialized city is known more for its dinosaur fossils than its livability. Bureaucracy is a persistent headache, with the local government recently detaining 16 suspects over an illegal chemical discharge that killed 4 people. While Baichihe boasts ancient cultural figures and stunning paleontological finds, the gritty reality is that this is a place for the hardy, not the faint of heart.