我该何去何从？

i'm sorry for this long post, but there is no easy to way to describe it, and I cannot discuss this w. anyone and i'm getting kinda panicky thinking about this decision i have to make...

I've been been w. my bf for 7 months, and he's great. We were friends before that for about a year. I'm not 100% sure we are the most compatible couple (i'm 35, came to US 12 yrs ago for grad school, he's 33, born and grew up in N. America and culturally very white. Age is not the issue here, but cultural differences. Both of us said that I probably will be more compatible with someone a bit more Chinese than him, and he will be more compatible with someone less Chinese. BUT, he said I have a very good heart and I am beautiful, so he decided that he cannot let this pass. He is wonderful to me and we love each other dearly. He is well-read, smart, respectful to women, sporty, and fun to be with, and does not have any of the short-comings of my prior boyfriends (Chinese) which turned out to be deal breakers, i.g. big-manism and being verbally and physically abusive, being a mom’s boy and listens literally everything his mom says.

Both of us are out of jobs now due to the financial industry turmoil. My colleagues, parents, friends and families are all saying I should look for job opportunities in China, since my yrs of US experience including Wall Street exp will still be valuable assets to many Chinese companies/banks and my potential will be higher there. He is very American and will not be happy in China at all, even if he has a job there. (He does not read or write any Chinese, and his mandarin is very poor and far from functional. All his friends are Caucasian, either European or American, no Asian except me.)
For now he signed up for Canadian Navy (reserve right now) and will go to Canada to train for about 3-4 months. He said he always wanted to do that (to serve his country, ideally America, but he cannot because he is not a citizen), and now is the perfect time to do it due to lack of good jobs in the investment banking industry. He said he’d rather do that than taking a meaningless job which does not add anything to his resume. Also as on reserve he is not locked down so if any good jobs come up he can drop the navy thing and go for it.

I traveled to China recently and it feels the market is also slowing down. Good jobs are far and few in between. My friend who returned to China suggests that I move back, find an apt., and start networking with people in the investment community and the opportunities will come to me.

My bf said if there is lack of opportunities in the pro-longed period, he will join the Navy full time for a year or two, and he wants us to be together, he said we will be married and his navy salary, even not much, should be enough for us to live, and I can find some job in Canada, too. (He used to make very good money but they are all gone by now. He’s been living with me for the past several months and I am not letting him paying anything. I made less money than he did but I saved for investments, and now, unfortunately, for living expenses.)

So the question is whether I should go to China. I can sit here and look for a job in China, (which is hard to do given this market), or do what my friend suggested and just move back and look for a job. Regardless, going there will be the end of our relationship. (I have a green card so I can be back anytime, but it will mean the end of this relationship.) Part of me wants to go because I am 35 now and I cannot afford to wait years before I resume my career and my long-term potential is likely higher in China, plus my parents and most of my families are there. But, I will lose him and it brings tears in my eyes just thinking about it.

Career set aside, I may be able to find someone compatible in China, but it won’t be easy. Many Chinese men prefer women young and pretty, less educated, make less $, and hopefully naïve and dependent. I do not fit in that profile, (my last yr’s pay was $300K, but don’t know if I will get close to that in China), even though I am very nice looking and I take good care of my body and skin, and I am smart, sophisticated, well educated and somewhat accomplished. Despite the fear of unknown, he has a good heart and he loves me. I just hate the idea having to end a relationship when it could have a chance to become something great. I have had enough heartburn in relationships to know that a good man is not that easy to find.

On the other hand, I just cannot imagine what I will do in Canada. Nor can I imagine how it feels to live with his parents when I do not have a job and am forced to munch on the in-laws (they both live in Canada and he is the only son. He said he will never be out of food and shelter, nor will I.).

He said if I am sure that I really want to be that close to my parents, and my potential is so much higher in China and my career is really important to me, he understands and I should not waste my time here. But if I have some confidence in the US and in us, he wants to be with me for life and we will figure things out. He said he is very happy spending time with me, despite that we are unemployed and don’t have money, and imagine when we do have $. But how and when we can figure things out? He does not know. My parents said, in a situation of pro-longed unemployment, even married couple will have problems.

I am really torn. What should I do?
Thanks.