Panshi, China

With a population of over 370,000, Panshi is hardly the quaint rural retreat many expats imagine. This gritty industrial center in Northeast China is a far cry from the idyllic visions often sold to would-be émigrés. Bureaucracy is a persistent headache, as residents must navigate a byzantine web of subdistricts, towns, and townships under the city's administration. And the climate - well, let's just say the long, harsh winters are not for the faint of heart. Panshi is a place for the resilient, not the romantic.