So in China cities are unofficially ranked by tier. Tier 1 is Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Shanghai, then theres like a couple dozen cities of 5-10m considered tier 2, Wuhan, Kunming, Xi'an, cities that are still very desirable in terms of economic development, tourism, education, etc. Tier 5 cities have less than a million people and even people from China might not know their names.

This one had half a million, and the housing situation was still quite good, inexpensive, quality high rises everywhere, the cheaper 5 story mixed use apartment streets seemed relatively well built, but it didn't even have direct passenger service connecting towns in the area, it was merely a stop on a high-speed line between other cities, to get to a town 100 miles away, you had to take a high-speed train to a town closer to a major city, then a low speed train in the direction you came from.

Here's some random pics, most of it looks like any of the other mundane parts of a chinese city.

How do you like Beijing? The scale is kinda insane. "OH I'll just take the subway" and its like 5 hours.

I use didi when I need to book a ride, but that's almost never given how ubiquitous and cheap meituan ebikes or scooters are, when subways, trains, and buses fail me.

You pay like 2 dollars and then you can ride yellow escooters for 15 cents for 20 minutes for 10 days or bicycles literally free for a month. Only works for the city you buy it in btw.

Some buses don't come up in amap btw, I have to ask around.

Transnational trains don't show up in any app, you have to book them at the station they depart from, cash only.