Guiping, China

At over 1.5 million residents, Guiping is a sprawling, bureaucratic hub in eastern Guangxi. The city experiences a monsoon-influenced humid subtropical climate, with hot, rainy summers and mild, increasingly wet winters. Flooding is a persistent risk during the heavy May-July plum rains that account for nearly half the city's annual 1,735 mm of precipitation.

On the upside, Guiping's population has grown by just under 15,000 over the past decade, a modest 0.94% increase. The sex ratio skews slightly male, with men making up 52.55% of the permanent resident population of 1,511,011. Overall, Guiping offers little to attract foreign expats beyond its strategic location at the confluence of major rivers - this is a city best suited for those already accustomed to China's administrative headaches.