Cheers for the replies guys!

Believe me, in an ideal world sichuan or xinjiang (maybe not beijing, sorry LJH) would be highest on my list of places to move to! In fact there are plenty of places where i would love to be located, yunnan and guangxi too. However i was offered a sweet opportunity in Xi'an so my choices are either that or Shanghai.

If terrain maps don't lie, shanghai beats xi'an hands down for proximity to absolutely nothing. So xi'an it is then!

PS: doesn't anyone why 陝西 shaanxi province is written with two A's in pinyin? It's the only character written like that. My best guess is that it's to differentiate between it and 山西 shanxi province.