Things I wish I knew before moving to China

That Timehop app is both one of the best apps I've downloaded, as well as one I've regretted having from time to time. I'm a bit of a nostalgic person. I like looking back and being reminded of things that have happened years ago, even if they are really cringeworthy. In recent days, I've been reminded that this time last year, I was frantically preparing to move to China for the year. In all honesty, I know it's about to kick in an awful bout of China blues again, especially as there are people I've met in the last year about to head back to the Middle Kingdom for another year of fun.

Anyway, I thought it might be helpful and useful for anyone just about to fly out to China to read about some things I wish I knew prior to going. By no means an extensive list, but here are some things that stuck out to me.

1. The smog can get bloody awful.

It was pretty naive of me but I genuinely didn't think about smog or haze or even remotely factor it into my expectations before moving to China. When I first arrived in Beijing for teacher training, I was graced with hot weather and beautiful Beijing blue skies. I was later whisked away into the Beijing mountains and didn't really experience much by way of smog. My first few weeks in China also coincided with the upcoming 70th Anniversary of Victory Day Celebrations and to ensure the skies were clear for the parades, factory work was cut down and cars limited on the roads so as to control smoggy emissions. In the beginning of the year when my students asked me what I thought of the haze, I had to admit I hadn't really come across it much. It was only later as the winter months swung round it got goddamn awful and Beijing announced a red alert - which meant that it was REAL bad.

The genuine split between fresh air and smog as seen from a flight back into Tianjin

At it's worst, visibility was so affected, you couldn't really see even 100 metres in front of yourself, breathing felt like someone was sitting on your chest, you could taste something metallic in the air whenever you inhaled and the smell of smog lingered in my hair. I do count myself lucky that I didn't ever really get sick from it but there were definitely points when I would feel physically drained and tired more quickly as an after effect of the bad smog. I know I shouldn't have been as nonchalant as I was about the hazy weather but one thing I immediately appreciated upon landing back in the UK was the improvement in air quality. Breathe in deeply, appreciate fresh air whilst you can because the smog can get pretty bloody awful in China.

2. There's an invasion of personal space, and then there's a Chinese 'queue'.

I don't really mind a bit of pushing and shoving. I know how to protect my own space when the situation calls for it (I'm looking at you gig crowds. We've all paid to see this band live and this aint some bump and grind teenage club night, so back the hell up!) but you don't really know what an invasion of personal space is until you hop in a Chinese 'queue'. I say queue but what I really mean is an chaotically organised crowd of people who don't have a concept of what an actual line looks like.

Its funny because on more than one occasion, normally in a 'queue' for train tickets, I'd get quite well acquainted (and not voluntarily) with the men or families who stood behind me who seemed convinced that the line would never move forward if we weren't physically touching in some way. Don't worry mate, I'm here to get tickets too but I don't fancy getting all up close and personal with the stranger in front of me cheers...

It's not just queues either. During national holidays, pretty much the entire Chinese population gets time off and uses it to go travelling to all the famous tourist hotspots. There's a famous Chinese saying that every local is familiar with that goes "人山人海" (ren shan ren hai) which translates as 'People mountain, people sea'. It really does perfectly summarise the overwhelmingness of Chinese crowds. Don't believe me? See for yourself...

'人山人海' on the Great Wall of China during a national holiday 

3. A VPN is both a blessing and a curse

One of the most common questions I got whilst I was out there and when I returned home was how I was able to access things like Facebook whilst I was in China, despite the fact that it's banned. It's no secret that people use VPNs to get around the 'Great Firewall'. I won't get into the ins and outs of how that works but basically having one gave me access to all the modern web-based conveniences I had access to back in the UK - Facebook, Google, YouTube etc. It was definitely a blessing. I could keep in touch with my family and friends all year. I could research teaching resources and ideas for my job. I could watch Lip Sync Battles and Carpool Karaokes to pass the time when I was feeling lazy. I'm not sure I would have coped especially well without a VPN in China.

That said, using a VPN always made whatever I was doing on the internet noticeably slower, which really tested my patience the entire year. And, if it wasn't slow, it was glitchy AF. You could lose connection at any given point and have to wait to reconnect - an excruciating minute or five. It was a whole lot of waiting. Expats in China will know my pain but it's the tradeoff between a frustrating wait and the ability to Google things. And in this day and age, who can really get by without googling things?

4. You're never going to quite get used to all the spitting

Of all the things that were strange to begin with and would eventually get accustomed to, spitting in the streets was not one of them. Squat toilets? No problem. Parents encouraging their kids to pee anywhere in public if their little one needed to go - a common sighting! But spitting? It's a habit that I never got used to happening around me. You'd be walking down a street, having a conversation with your friend and in the near distance, you'd here someone hawking up a gob of spit good and proper. More often or not, it was an elderly old man committing the crime but there were women too, which came as a double shock.

I've asked my students about it before and they are well aware of how gross the habit is and always condemned it as a disgusting act. They put it down to generational differences. Others have also explained that it's probably a response to the smoggy conditions whereby people need to clear their throats and chests regularly because the bad air does things to your lungs, which I guess is kind of forgiveable. Either way, it's something that stuck out to me in China and still makes me shudder whenever I hear someone about to do it...

5. You're going to fall in love with the place...

For all of the inconveniences that might get thrown your way, whether its smog, crowds, firewalls or spitting, I didn't ever think I'd love China as much as I currently do now (hence why I've been writing about all the reasons you should live there one day). If you'd have told me a year ago I would have done or seen all the things I did during my time in China, I probably wouldn't have believed you. And there's still so much left I want to do! I've become a bit of a China obsessive. I'm constantly checking the news for mention of China, always trying to keep on top of all the viral trends there, always on the search for authentic Chinese food to match that of the original. I can't let go of using WeChat. It's definitely a place that is difficult to get bored of because there is just so much to love about it. I just wish I knew I'd love it so much because it'd probably make the current China blues I have less of a blow, but until next time, China, until next time...

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.

Long time no see

So it’s been over a month since I last posted (oops). I vowed to keep the blog updated whilst I was travelling but that was clearly an ambitious pledge. But my holiday is now officially over and I’m back in TJ - back to teaching, back to regularly eating 牛肉面 and back to writing blog updates (I hope).

As I settle back into life in Tianjin, here begins a blog series I’m planning on uploading covering all my adventures and mishaps (and believe me there were plenty) during my Spring Festival travels. 

Hitting the road on day one of my travels

To make things a bit more digestible, here’s a quick overview of my travels in numbers:

• 37 days away from Tianjin
• 22 hours in one train sitting
• 10 leg bruises (approximately)
• 8 destinations in China
• 6 flights
• 5 destinations in Vietnam (7 including some brief pit stops)
• 4 mountains visited
• 3 boat/ raft trips
• 2 people crashed into on a bike (luckily, both left uninjured)
• 1 lost piece of luggage (still unrecovered).

Whilst I genuinely had a pretty amazing time during my winter break, it was a rollercoaster – definitely full of ups and downs both in the metaphorical sense and the sense that I hiked a few mountains. I was very conflicted about coming back to Tianjin. I wasn’t looking forward to early mornings and long days teaching too much, but I did like the idea of getting back into some kind of routine. I love travelling and have loved it for the past month and a bit, but I was also in need of some rest and a place to plant my feet in the ground again. Overall though, I’m really grateful that I was given the time to go and do all the travelling I did but it is really nice to be back.

Perhaps the best thing I discovered throughout my travels is that I actually really do love China. It’s not without its challenges and it never once occurred to me that I might miss the place but landing back in Guangzhou after two weeks in Vietnam was a relief. It was good to be back somewhere I was familiar with and felt like I belonged to. It was maybe the first time I thought of China as home.

Anyway, coming up keep your eyes peeled for further elaboration on all of the numbers above and more - starting with my first stop: Chengdu, Sichuan.

Fighting FOMO

Without a doubt, one of the things I struggle with whilst I'm here on the other side of the world is that FOMO feeling. For those of you not in the know, FOMO stands for 'Fear Of Missing Out', and it was one of my biggest fears before actually boarding the plane to China.

From time to time, I wonder about what I'd be doing back home if I wasn't here in Tianjin. Things were going pretty well for me before I left. I was doing a job I felt I was really getting good at and more importantly, it was a job that I actually enjoyed! I was spending a lot of time with my friends and family (mostly due to the many leaving parties I threw) and exploring London more and more each week (there's just always something good happening!). Generally, I was really content with my life and where it was all going and although I'd been wanting to experience China for quite some time, it was still a big thing to just get up and leave everything back in the UK.

Now don't get me wrong, I actually enjoy life here in China. I feel very settled and comfortable in Tianjin already and I'm really looking forward to exploring more of this massive country. But, when certain events happen back home, I can't help but really feel a pang of FOMO hit me right in the chest.

Bonfire Night did this to me recently. It's one of my favourite nights of the year because I absolutely love fireworks! I head to the Battersea Park fireworks display almost every year. I love waiting to see what theme they'll go with for the display. I love the smell of smoke that lingers in the air when everyone heads home. Fireworks just make me inexplicably happy, so it's been a bit sad for me to think about how that's all going on whilst I'm in a completely different time zone.

The only consolation I had was being able to teach my students about the Bonfire Night back story. I'm particularly proud of the lesson I ran last week. I loved being able to introduce complex new words like conspiracy, and telling them about some of the more gruesome aspects of the gunpowder plot. It was great to see their reactions to the brutal punishment of being hung, drawn and quartered. It's things like being able to talk about traditions I love from back home, like Bonfire Night, and getting my students really engaged that pulls me back from that FOMO feeling.

FOMO had no plans to just leave things there though. My daily scroll through social media decided to throw the annual John Lewis Christmas advert my way, reminding me that Christmas is around the corner and that this will be the first time ever I've spent it away from my family.

(The cover of  Oasis' 'Half the World Away' never felt more apt)

I keep in touch with my family relatively regularly. It doesn't fuss me so much any more when my siblings meet for dinners and outings without me. I'm not too bothered at the thought of my Dad's amazing cooking at big family gatherings any more either because there's a wealth of amazing food to be had in Tianjin. But one of the things that gets me is that there is pretty much no such thing as celebrating Christmas here in China. In fact, the kids are still at school on Christmas day. Maybe I could ward off FOMO if there was some kind of Christmas tradition I could join in oni, but the complete lack of it will certainly make things feel strange for me come the end of December.

I don't want to dwell on it though. One thing I have to remind myself is that FOMO is only temporary and that it will only make you feel bad if you let it get to you. Likewise, I think the only other way to get over it is to play dirty - fight FOMO with FOMO. I have every intention of doing this in the next few weeks as I'm heading for some weekend trips to Xi'an and Qingdao. Hopefully nothing goes wrong and I'll have a great time exploring more of China. I'll be sure to do an update on my travels, and who knows, maybe next time you'll feel FOMO on your next read?

Until then!

Laowai label

In the Chinese language, to refer to a foreigner Chinese people use the term ‘laowai’(老外). This was a term I became quickly familiar with upon arriving in Tianjin. Merely walking around Tianjin with my fellow foreign teacher friends, it was the most noticeable words we picked up on as we passed through crowds of Chinese locals.

According to the definition given by my trusty Pleco app (which has so far saved me in many translation situations), ‘laowai’ refers to a foreigner, especially a non-Asian person. This is perhaps where one of my main struggles in China begins. By definition, I am most certainly a foreigner but, also being Asian means I blur the lines of what a ‘laowai’ traditionally refers to. The conflict between this clash of identities was something I tried to mentally prepare for before coming to China, but the reality of how to deal with it has been different.

Before even boarding my plane to China, I had my first experience of someone assuming I spoke Mandarin because I look Asian. It was the first of many times I would encounter this awkward situation. I continually bewilder Tianjin locals by my inability to communicate in a way that is expected of me because of the way I look. I have to admit, it is both amusing and frustrating.

Take for example my first few lessons of teaching when I introduced myself for the first time. I walked into classroom and was met with rows of confused faces. The majority of my students’ jaws hit the ground when I began speaking in fluent English with a British accent. I often had to pre-empt their questions – “I’m confusing, right? ...Because I look Chinese, but speak fluent English? … Well, yes, my parents are Chinese … but no, I do not speak Mandarin”. Some students had outright told me that I was not what they were expecting from their new foreign language teacher. In fact, they were expecting a blonde (sorry to disappoint, kids!). Situations like this were amusing to me, but then there’s the other side of the coin.

Growing up in multi-cultural society like London, the fact that I look Chinese has never really been something that has been a defining feature for me. But the concept of someone who looks Chinese/ Asian but cannot speak the language is not something that is easy to grasp for Chinese people.

Of course, this presents a major challenge for me here. Locals will insist on speaking to me (or rather at me) in Chinese, despite the fact that I have told them in broken Mandarin that I come from England and that I can only speak English. When I visit places with my western looking friends, locals beeline for me to play translator and unfortunately are met with my awkward laugh as I’m left with no choice but to apologetically shrug and run away.

It has been a struggle and a challenge that I found particularly difficult to deal with when I first arrived. I had to use hand gestures to get across my meaning but luckily, I have also discovered that I know far more Cantonese (the dialect my family speak in but is of no use to me here in Northern China) than I gave myself credit for. I should think I’ll be pretty great at charades when I return to the UK and/ or hopefully will have picked up Mandarin well enough for conversation.

I suppose the good thing about being forced into situations where I must (attempt to) communicate in Chinese because it is what is expected from my appearance is that I have stronger motivation to pick up Mandarin as quickly as possible. The few Chinese lessons I took as a teenager have already proved a good enough basis for me to identify what meat is included in a meal when reading a restaurant menu. Things can only get better from here.

I imagine this constant internal conflict I deal with, being both a ‘laowai’ but non-western looking girl, will be a common theme discussed in this blog. It makes me wonder how others feel when dealing with the same kind of problem. Any Britsh Born Chinese people or (BBC)s out there feel my pain? 

Anyway, I doubt the clash of identities I feel will actually go away whilst I'm here but in any case, the struggle I felt when I first got here has eased up a little. Now that I'm actually taking a few Mandarin classes, I feel more positive about being able to overcome the issue of the laowai label. It just goes to show, language really is the cornerstone of culture and can be the make or break factor as to whether you can integrate into a new one. 

Heading back to the motherland

The decision to move to China for a year has been part of my plans for a long time. Had I been a little more organised during my final year of university, I would have ideally been here just after graduating. One year on and a lengthy application process later, here I am back in the motherland at a teacher training camp in the middle of some mountains in the far west of Beijing. I'll be here for the next week and a half to obtain the TEFL qualification and teaching experience required for me to be an English language assistant (ELA) in Tianjin on behalf of British Council.

Packing up my life into 23kg worth of luggage was a true achievement (I got it in 22.7kg - score!) and getting to the airport and actually boarding my flight was a whirlwind. Before I knew it, I was on a plane set for Beijing and the plan to go to China that I'd been speaking about for so long suddenly became very real.

Before leaving my lovely hometown of London, I threw several leaving parties to see as many of my friends and family as possible. I didn't ever consider myself a sentimental person but I was genuinely sad and emotional at the prospect of not seeing my loved ones for a whole year and for the first time ever, spending things my birthday, Christmas and Chinese New Year without them.

Many of my friends have written me letters to open on certain occasions though - for my birthday, when I arrive in China, when I'm homesick or sad. It's the little things that count. Alice wrote me one to open on the plane. It included a sweet note which made me well up, some Friends references (she knows me too well) and a little red origami crane I'd once given her when we all went our separate ways for uni.

I'm aware of some of the challenges that lie ahead of me during my time in China, which I'll be sure to talk about in later posts. But for now, this little red crane will act as a constant reminder of all the positive reasons I decided to travel half way across the world and that ultimately, this will be a good year.

I hope to blog fairly regularly on my life here in China, so stay tuned to hear more about my adventures.

Until then!

Annie x