10 Reasons To Live In China One Day: #7

七。People

The people you will meet in China are some of the kindest and most sincere people you will ever come across - fact. There's much to be said about how easy it is to settle into a place with such a foreign culture when the vast majority of people are welcoming and willing to help. Sure, it's not easy when the language barrier is such a big factor that can isolate you, but most people are very patient and friendly, willing to look past the fact that you can't communicate in the same words. At least, in my experience, it's true.

Some of the fondest memories of China I have so far are of the friendships I made in hostel dorm rooms when I was travelling. Fleeting as they may have been, they certainly left a lasting impression on me. I remember it coming as a lovely surprise when I woke up one morning in Shanghai with a fellow dorm mate patiently waiting for me to wake up so she could hand deliver some biscuits and sweet treats from a local bakery she bought for me and my friends. We exchanged WeChat contacts and although we never actually spoke again apart from the odd comment on my pictures, it was the first time I'd experienced such a selfless act of friendliness in China.

Later on when I went to Xiamen, Fujian Province, I met yet more locals who undoubtedly made my time there even better. Sam, Haroon and I became good friends with two girls manning a waffle stall in Zeng Cuo An food market. We became particularly friendly with a girl called Dracula (yes, what a name!) who I bonded with because she was originally from Tianjin. The following day, she offered to show us around a little more, taking Sam and I for a little trip to the park and out to lunch at 'Grandma's House' (外婆家 - one of my favourite Chinese restaurant chains). It's easy to be sceptical of people who want your contact details almost as soon as they meet you. Certainly, if the same thing happened to me in London, I'd be massively guarded but living in China has definitely made me more trusting of people's good intentions. If you don't engage with the people, you'll miss out on opportunities to experience the culture and lifestyle in China beyond your expat bubble.

Haroon, Sam, Me, Nicki and Dracula - Xiamen, April 2016

It's not just the locals that make China though, it's the expat and traveller community too. The group of British Council English Language Assistants that I went out to China with are genuinely a bunch of people who I have come to call good friends. We were all there for each other when we needed to rant about a crap day of teaching. We travelled together. They've shared a big part of my life and understand exactly what I mean when I make a China reference (without getting annoyed that I might be mentioning it too much in conversation).

A young, clueless bunch of English Language Assistants in Beijing

Fellow travellers I came across have also become good friends. I had the pleasure of meeting up again with Poppy who I travelled to Dali with during Spring Festival very recently. We caught up over many cups of tea, sharing more travelling stories together and appreciate the funny sides. Poppy mentioned that she told one particular story to her friends about a typical Chinese tourist she came across in Portugal who she had somehow become a personal photographer for during a hike. The trouble was that to her friends, it was just a story about her taking photos of a stranger, but to us, it was hilarious simply because we knew that it was just "soo China" and I could completely visualise exactly what happened as she told the story because I'd experienced similar things too.

Me and Poppy hanging out in trees by Erhai Lake, Dali

Having other people in the same boat as you, who understand the strange and wonderful context of China only consolidates your experience. It's not the easiest of countries to crack but the people there and the people you meet certainly make it worth it.

10 Reasons To Live In China One Day: #6

六。"Stranger things have happened"

Every day I woke up in China and there was always a sense of 'anything could happen today'. Maybe it's because I was living in a culture so different to what I was used to for years or maybe it was because it was the first time I'd lived abroad for any extended amount of time. Whatever it was, it was a pretty exciting way to live. I've already written about how my China experience has undone some of my OCD organisation tendencies, leaving me to instead just accept that "because it's China" was an acceptable response when things didn't quite go to plan. In a similar vein, some of the strange and crazy things that happen in China can likewise be justified in the same way.

I had one of my first realisations that China can be quite random to live in at times just a couple months into living in Tianjin. I'd just finished one of my Chinese classes and was walking towards the subway station when I had to double take when I came across a falcon just casually perched on a gate outside a Seven Eleven corner shop. I didn't really even question it. Falcons outside corner shops? Sure China. Sure...

So lets take Tianjin as a key example. It always really amused me that whenever Tianjin was mentioned in Chinese news, it always seemed to be for some bizarre reason. It's not a city that is on many people's radars, despite it being one of the largest cities in the country. Some may be a little more familiar with it in the past year after the tragic chemical explosions that left a huge crater on the outskirts of the city and which caused our mentors to warn us not to let any rain touch our skin for fear of chemical contamination when we first arrived in Beijing for teaching training. Again, not something I expected to have to deal with when I got to China...

Some of the headlines which made me double take about Tianjin included the announcement of Tianjin's plans to open up a cloning factory for animals, 'Fatties eating for free at a Tianjin restaurant' and Tianjin University's degree course offering on lessons of love. Such a random bunch of headlines about the city I lived in which constantly left me thinking "Oh, China!". You just can't make this stuff up.

If it wasn't headlines about my own city that made me ears prick up, it was other strange fads and trends like the Chinese A4 waist challenge, which later became the iPhone 6 legs challenge, and then eventually the 100元 note wrist challenge. To the outside world seem, these types of things could seem absolutely crazy. Of course they did make my jaw drop too but not in such a judgemental spectator type way. I always loved keeping on top of all the viral stories from around the country. Strange and crazy as they seemed, for me, it opened up a new channel and way of understanding China today. There are so many strange yet wonderful things that happen all the time in China and I often have a hard time being able to explain just how different and opposite China can be. But I only see it as a great thing. It's not just amusing for the most part. It's just China...

10 Reasons To Live in China One Day: #5

五。Let It Go

It's only now I'm back home that I realise (as cheesy as it sounds) how much I've changed in the past year. Not in that I'm a completely different person but that when it comes to being really organised and planning ahead, I'm far more relaxed about things and that's definitely down to living in China.

All my friends from university or even way before that will tell you, I'm definitely one of those types of people who seems to have their head screwed on, knows what they're doing, has all the details pinned down and is likely to have a plan B if all else fails (or so I'd like to think, anyway). In fact, it's something I've always secretly prided myself on. I love being the person in the group who is relied upon to keep things orderly and organised. It's not to say that this side of me has disappeared, but if there's one thing I've learnt from living in China, it's to let it go.

Road traffic on Yingkou Road, Tianjin (营口道)

China is a little crazy. There's no denying it. Simply crossing the road turns into a genuine issue of life or death. And you know that really typically British tendency to queue for things in an orderly manner? Yep. Not really a thing in China. It's also not uncommon to hear people really going for it when they hawk up a gob of spit, launch it just centimetres in front of your feet and carry on with their day like nothing ever happened. But for all of China's differences, you learn to just accept that these things you might consider dangerous, inconvenient or down right disgusting as a way of life and shrug it off repeating the mantra, "Just 'cos... China". If you don't embrace that it's ingrained in the culture, you'll struggle to accept life in China.

Another thing I've become really accustomed to is things changing at the very last minute. It happened all the time. I might be told the day before (or a week if I was lucky) that my lessons would be cancelled because there were exams going on, despite the fact that exams had been scheduled for weeks. As I said, for someone who likes to think of themselves as very organised and likes to plan ahead, this type of thing would initially bother me. But I learned to just go with the flow and became well versed in making impulsive, last minute plans rather than well thought out contingency plans as I might have done prior to living in China.

I'm not quite sure how but things in China, however crazy, just seem to work themselves out eventually and there's a kind of certainty in knowing that things are always quite uncertain. As a result, I've definitely become way more relaxed in my approach to planning. I know that there's not much point getting stressed out or angry if things don't quite go your way or turn out different to what you expected. Rather, you need to 'unexpect' the expected, let it go and just find a new way to deal with last minute changes. It's been quite a journey but once you embrace that it's simply a part of life in China, you can really see how amazing the country is and how it's developed in spite of all the chaos.

10 Reasons To Live In China One Day: #4

四。Cure wanderlust

I can't promise this will be the last time I harp on about travelling in China in this past year, but here I am, at it again just one more time. I guess if there's definitely one thing that I've been so proud of in the last 12 months is the amount I've been able to explore the vast country that is China. And yet, I still feel like I've only scratched the surface! I've managed to tick off 18 different places within China, and there are still many places left on my list. I'd love to be able to say I've visited at least one place in each of China's provinces/ municipalities/ autonomous regions.

My impression is that when it comes to Asia, China doesn't rank too highly on people's travel list. Many opt to hop around the countries in South East Asia instead. With beaches, warm climate and incredible food, who could blame them? But China is somewhere I urge everyone to go and visit at least once in their life, and not just the famous destinations like Beijing or Shanghai. Whilst these places are amazing in their own right, other places a little less known in China are well worth visiting too.

Shanghai 上海/ Harbin 哈尔滨/ Kunming 昆明

In a country as big as China, there is bound to be something for everyone, whatever your interests are. If it's the glitzy city life you're after, you'll find that and more in Shanghai. If it's laid back beach vibes, Xiamen has just the thing. A bit more outdoorsy? Plenty of incredible mountain ranges all over China you can go and hike.

Sure, you can find all these kinds of things in almost every country in the world, but what makes China a bit more special is the context of the country. You won't find another place in the world which has the same population. The sheer size and vastness of China is something I still can't get my head around and with that, it just means there's literally so much to explore. The culture and history of China stretches so far back, everything is steeped in some kind of historicism and it can be tangibly felt in the surroundings. China is just... something else.

Shangri-la 香格里拉/ Guilin 桂林/ Beijing 北京/ Yunnan 云南

Another great thing about China is that it can be a great springboard into surrounding countries too. As well as cities within China, I've also been able to visit South Korea, Vietnam and Hong Kong this year too. But many of the friends I made this year also visited Taiwan, Thailand, Cambodia, Japan and more.

If you're someone who suffers from wanderlust, China could be the perfect cure. China has been completely different to any place I have ever experienced or travelled to and it's been amazing to compare it with other places in Asia or western countries in general. Travel-wise, China has so much to offer, but don't just take my word for it. You should go find out for yourself...

10 Reasons To Live in China One Day: #3

三。It's Cheap

Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner but if there's been one thing I knew I'd miss about China, it's how cheap it is to live there. I've had one of the most incredible years living and working in the Middle Kingdom and have been afforded so many great opportunities to travel and explore a such a rich culture - but it couldn't be done had I have been on the same salary in the UK, even if it wasn't London.

Let me break it down.
- Average cost of one journey on the subway in Tianjin: 2元 (20p)
- Start rate of a taxi journey: 8元 (80p) with additional 1.7元 per km
- Average cost of a typical A to B taxi journey in Tianjin: 21元 (£2.10)
- Cost of a bowl of noodles: 18元 (£1.80)

I could go on, but it depresses me that I'm not dealing with these prices any more now I'm back in London. It genuinely hurts my soul every time I tap my oyster card...

As I've mentioned a lot in the blog, I've travelled a lot in China and beyond this past year. The prices for domestic flights are reasonable considering the distance covered across the vast country. Even then, if you fancy 'slumming it' for something cheaper, long distance buses or overnight trains are often even cheaper than flights. Even bullet trains are cheap (only 54元 to get from Tianjin to Beijing in a quick 30 minute bullet train - just a fiver to get to the capital!). It's really not hard to get around in China on a budget and it's because of this that I've been able to tick off quite a few places on my China list.

Pins of all the places I've visited in the last year

Of course, it's worth mentioning that the living costs for each city in China varies. Those who want to live a more 'western' lifestyle will also end up paying the price for products that you can find in your home country. Still, I believe I found the right balance between living like a local, as well as indulging myself every now and then with more western comforts when I felt like it. So long as you keep an eye on what you're spending and weigh up the pros and cons about shelling out a little more on things like western branded chocolate, milk or cheese, it's easy to live a very comfortable lifestyle in China and enjoy all it has to offer. I'm already missing so much about China and having paid £1.10 for a bottle of Ribeana at my local Sainsbury's today, I realise that the cost of living in China is definitely up there on the list...

10 Reasons To Live In China One Day: #2

二。Taste real China

If you think you love Chinese food now, then wait until you get to China and taste real authentic Chinese food. Everyone's got their own favourite local Chinese takeaway. You might even know what numbers to call out over the phone when you order your usual favourites on a Friday night - but the 'delicious' guilty treat that comes in a plastic tupperware box with some complimentary prawn crackers is far from the real deal. 

Hot pot set up (火锅） 

As a foreigner in China, it's not hard to come across a 'western' restaurant to eat all the things you're used to. Even I was prone to going for pizza every now and then when I wanted to change things up but for the most part, I ate Chinese food so as to integrate myself into the culture as much as possible. Over the course of the year, I've managed to visit many Chinese cities and one of the main things I attempt to do is to try THE must-eat thing. Without this goal, I wouldn't have tried some of the best food I've ever tasted or developed new favourite things to eat. RouJiaMo (肉夹馍) in Xi'an is genuinely one of my favourite things ever and I'm certainly going to miss being able to get it from a street vendor if I get a craving.

RouJiaMo (肉夹馍) in Xi'an 

One of the greatest things about Chinese cuisine is that it is so varied. Each province or city has their own speciality, and for the most popular types of food (noodles, dumplings, bao etc), there's still a lot of local variation. Take for example Tianjin, where I've been living for the past year. Tianjin specialises in 'snacks'; from fried dough twists to 'fried ear hole cakes'. The municipality is also famous across China for its 'Go Believe' baozi (a white bready bun, typically filled with meat). Tianjin also lays claim to a famous egg pancake based breakfast food called 'Jian Bing Guo Zi' (煎饼果子)- although I have come to find out that it's sold and eaten over much of China, but it does indeed taste a little different depending on where you are. But that's my point exactly. No matter where in China you are, you can be sure the typical cuisine has a local take on it, making it hard to resist sampling all food to discover its variation. 

Sharing food with newly made friends

The food culture in China is also centred around sharing food. It is common for families or groups of friends to cook or order many dishes to be shared amongst the entire table. I'm used to this style of eating at home but I don't think I ever truly appreciated the sociability of this kind of food culture until I came to China. Not to mention the fact that you get to try so much more than if you simply order one thing for yourself. It's a complete win-win situation for all!

Yak, mushroom and mint in Yunnan Province

Provincially, each place also has its own 'thing'. Whether it's the spiciness of Sichuan, the Peking duck of Beijing, the dim sum or morning tea of Guangdong or the yak based meals in Yunnan - there is simply so much to try and it's all delicious in its own way. For the more adventurous, China also serves some of the strangest foods I never thought I'd become so fond of. Personally, I've taken quite a liking to spicy duck neck but it does get even more odd with the likes of snake or the stomach of various other animals appearing on menus. 

Fried scorpion on sticks found in the snack streets of Beijing

All I know is my eyes have been opened to so much more in terms of Chinese food. I've always appreciated it. In fact, my Dad is a chef so the food I eat at home has always been top quality Chinese food but it has to be said, my Dad has to step up to the plate now I've discovered so much more about the taste of China. It's not all sweet and sour chicken or egg fried rice - there's a whole lot more to explore and China is the place to do it if you want to do it right!

10 Reasons To Live In China One Day: #1

It's strange to think that I'm in some of my last month here in China and that this whole language assistants programme is soon coming to an end. Recently, I scheduled a Skype date with a good friend from home who is currently writing magazine articles about living and working abroad. Having spoken to her about my experience in Tianjin, I thought it would be good to put my thoughts into words on my own blog. I've genuinely had a great year and I don't think there's ever been a point where I have regretted the decision to come to China to live and work. So why should you live in China one day? Here's reason #1...

一。Learn a new language

This deservedly takes first place in my reasons rank because it is the top reason I decided to come to China to begin with. I don't need to bang on about how important or advantageous it is to have another language under your belt when it comes to things like employment - so I won't. Sure, with English being an international language spoken all over the world it's easy to be complacent and lazy with your language skills. What I will point out though is that there are over one billion people who speak Mandarin as a first language. Although a good majority of Mandarin speakers reside in the Chinese Mainland, learning the language means you can communicate with them- and that's a huge portion of the world's population. As many would agree, there's simply no better way to pick up the language than by living in the country itself, forcing yourself to adapt to a different written character system and the tonal sounds of a new language.

Although learning Mandarin can seem daunting because it sounds so alien to the English language, once you overcome the first few initial barriers and finally find that eureka moment when things start to click - it is satisfying beyond belief! For those who think it's too difficult a language to pick up, I'd disagree and say that once you start getting the hang of it Mandarin is actually a relatively simple language. You can say so much in just a few syllables and words. The meanings are contextual and there's something really beautiful about how simple it is to say just three little words to tell everyone, for example, you're full from a delicious meal you've just eaten.

By no means am I an expert or even close to being fluent in Mandarin. It's certainly not a walk in the park to pick up and I have a long way to go before I can have full one conversations with people. But if I think back to how much progress I've made in the last 9 months, I'm pretty proud of myself. I've come along way since using the most broken Chinese ever to order some food in Beijing. So it just goes to show, it's never too late in your life to learn something new! For me, picking up Mandarin is the key to understanding a great deal about this fascinating country so, one of the top reasons you should live in China one day is to learn a new language.