anybody know anything about zaozhuang in shandong provience?

hi, what kind of information do you want to know about this city?  maybe i can help you translate from website.

Mostly interested in what it's like to live in a small northern city.  Have only lived in really big cities down south

Hi. lol. i am sorry i've never live in northern part of china. i only traveled in several cities there.  Zaozhuang is in mid-north part of china, i think. it is said the seasons difference is obvious, while shenzhen only has winter and summer. but they have heater in north china so it is no so cold in winter. it rains mostly in sumer, this is simmilar to shenzhen. according to the news report, i am thinking maybe the weather is better in south china as we can see more blue sky here. i am not sure about it. and zaozhuang does not have airport. it takes about 9 hours from shenzhen to zaozhuang by high speed train. the second class seat costs RMB 804 Yuan.
maybe you can consider about Wuxi city. it is in JiangSu province. it is not those large city. it is not so north as zaozhuang. it has snow, too. and it is convenient to travel arround in Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanjing, ect.
Or, if you are interested in business, you can go to Yiwu, it is also a second line city. The city is famous for its small commodity trade and vibrant market and is a regional tourist destination. Although administratively Yiwu is a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Jinhua, it is more well-known than Jinhua nationally and internationally.
hope these information helps.
have a good day.