What are your experiences being an American living in China?

Question

I am going to be moving to China sometime during the next year. I am an American. What were your expereinces being a stranger to the country. Was it easy to travel, did you face discrimination, do you have any "must do's" while I'm there? (Places to visit, food to try, etc).

P.S I will be living in Shanghai

Answer 1

I'm not but I know because my friend once told me.

At first it will be kinda awkward being the only american around, and then you will start to adapt with the environment. You will then feel more comfortable being around chinese than americans. As well as there are a lot of chinese, there are also loads of americans.

Well...apart from the fact that not a lot of Chinese even understand english... Once I WAS IN macdonalds and i said sausage burger and they were like 'what!?' so i had to say it in chinese. Once in pricerite i even saw someone who had to translate between this woman and shopkeeper.

Places you must go to:-
-THE GREAT WALL
-Nanjing Road
-Jin Mao Tower
-Shanghai Museum
-Yu Yuan Garden
-Qibao Ancient Town
-Shanghai Wild Animal Park...(More from these websites)

There are also many seafood restaurants. Although i do like some of the food, there are quite a few i dislike (having developed my western taste for food) Well, if you don't like...there are always loads of western restaurants.

Or try some more si chuan like food. You can find loads of these small restaurants where there are small tables put up. There are soy bean milk (yummy!), some kinda fried noodles (translated: soy sauce yellow fried noodles), or even soup noodles! (my favourite!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Try some mooncakes on the mooncake festival, dumplings on dragon boat festival. Oh! on chinese new year, eat those those those...rice noodles, radish cakes, and stuff.

Answer 2

I've lived in Northeast China for 3 years and I really hate Shanghai, although not as much as Beijing. They are both too big, too expensive, and too international. If you look foreign, expect to be charged too much for things. Watch your belongings when you go out. Pick pockets are everywhere...and they are good at what they do. Keep your backpack in front of you when you go out because they will slice the bottom sometimes. Always keep track of your bag when you travel and keep your passport on your body. I and two of my friends had our bags stolen at seperate times this last year. It seems to have become a big problem in the last year. It wasn't so bad in my city before last year.

Be prepared to get pushy. Chinese aren't known for standing in line at most places. You will need to set Western politeness aside at times.

Travel is fairly easy most of the year, except when the whole country is on holiday at the same time. Train tickets in particular are difficult to come by then. The bus system is just as good and sometimes faster. Personally, I prefer the bus to the train. Avoid hard seat train tickets whenever possible. Hard seat is where the standing room only ticket holders stand. It can get really crowded and makes it near impossible to walk up the aisle to get to the toilet, or W.C. as it is known by in English here.

Must do's: The Great Wall- Go to Mo Tian Yu. Ba Da Ling is a tourist trap.

Terra Cotta Warriors- excellent. Check out the shopping near the Islamic Mosque and the traditional crafts market. I think it's near one of the old city gates in Xi'an.

Suzhou- the canals and gardens are lovely in the spring. It's only a couple hours from Shanghai by bus.

For even more info check out www.shanghaiexpat.com.

If you want to learn about the real China, get away from the city center, and venture into the hutongs and the countryside villages. That is where you will find the heart and soul of China.

Answer 3

Welcome to China!

You don't need to worry about being a stranger there! I have a lot of American friends living in China and enjoy their lives there! Of course, the key thing is you can't expect the same as in the US. The more open and adjustable you are, the easier and more you will gain from the experience! There are many difference in cultures between two countries. Be humble and polite, you will find a lot of people there are very friendly and generous!

Which city are you going? There are so many must-do and must -sees. If you can tell me more about your itinerary, I can help you: [e-mail]

Answer 4

I spent a semester in college there, and a year teaching English in Chengdu. You are so lucky! Everyone was so kind to me, and little to no discrimination. Of course there are the "must do" sites like the Great Wall and the Three Gorges Dam...

But honestly the best time I had was just hanging out in bars with the locals. The main liquor is the rubbing-alcohol type drink called baijiu and everyone yells "Gunbai!" and drinks it.

Good times are in store for you!

Oh yeah I almost forgot, the Olympics will be there soon!

Answer 5

I am an American and have visited China several times but
never lived there...
China is a big country...
You can find whatever you are looking for...
Poverty, Wealth, Big Cities, Farms, Forests, Deserts, etc.etc.
People are friendly & many read & write english but speak poorly.

Answer 6

i won't manage to talk at as quickly as approximately China yet i will inform you that it became right into a lot much less confusing for me and my spouse to undertake as quickly as we lived in India. It took us approximately 6 weeks and basically value approximately $800 US. I point out the money basically because of the fact if I did it from residing house it could have value closer to $30 ok. In our case we had to abide with the aid of the countries adoption rules which meant that we had to be residing in united states of america for a minimum of a twelve months in the previous shall we undertake. After that it became into basically a remember of having the place of work work executed with the aid of their courts. I had a chum who did the comparable element in China so i could anticipate it relatively is totally comparable. Why no longer touch the counselor place of work on the Embassy there and ask them for any information they could have?

Answer 7

You need to learn some simple Chinese.

The food in China is great. China has different kinds of food, I prefer Sichuan food, which is spicy and tasty.

Shanghai is a little bit cold in winter, and humid all year round, but it's a great city.

Answer 8

I have never been to Shang-hai, but I am a Chinese so I know about the food. Must try in Shang-hai...

Xiao Long Bao... the best ever it's my favourite. Word of warning make sure you don't put the whole thing in your mouth or it will burn. This is because it is a dumpling that contains soup in it so becareful. Xiao long bao <3