Now that I’ve moved in Japan and have a bit of hindsight and perspective I thought I’d share my thoughts for those of you considering making the big move to Shanghai, or perhaps elsewhere in China. I moved to China for a teaching position at an international school at very short notice and had an…
Category: Culture Clash
Xi’An – China’s Great Ancient Capital
We have learned so much during almost 2 years in Shanghai and yet, broke the most important rule: Do not travel in China during national holidays. However, the 1st of May holiday was our last long weekend left in China (we will reveal soon where we’re going next…) and it seemed like a no-brainer to…
How to find the right apartment in Shanghai
Many new expats are put off by the thought of having to find an apartment or house by themselves, often in a very short time frame. Finding an apartment can be fairly easy, as there’s a lot of choice, but you need to decide quickly as new apartments on the market could go within days or even hours. This is my guideline based on personal experience to help you find the right apartment or house in Shanghai –
My birthday weekend in Hangzhou
Having talked about going to Hangzhou for easily a year, my birthday weekend seemed like the perfect occasion for a short getaway. Together with friends, we booked rooms at the Wyndham Grand Plaza Royale (sounds fancy, right?) which is situated at the top of Hangzhou’s main attraction and UNESCO world heritage sight: the West Lake….
Your checklist for moving to China
Now that we’ve lived for almost a year in Shanghai, I would like to share my knowledge with newbies who are about to move to China. Especially all those things I wanted to know and couldn’t find out before we left! Apps to download for China Translator, Pleco & Google Translate It’s extremely important…
Living in Shanghai is like…
#1 International Literature Getting really exciting about finding a bookshop only to realise while browsing inside, that they only sell Chinese books. #2 Being a Foreigner People either staring at you in fascination or ignoring/being rude to you, because you’re a foreigner. #3 Fake Everything When you don’t believe any branded items to be real…
Misconceptions about Chinese New Year
Happy Chinese New Year! It was beginning to feel a lot like… well for me Christmas… but in general the big festive season! Our compound and work place has decorated everything nicely with fairy lights outside and red Chinese decorations on the walls and windows. (I swear, I smelled mulled wine on the streets of…
Culture Clash ‘No.’
This post just outlines one of the many culture clashes and is my story of being told ‘no’. The first time I encountered this was at the Hyatt on the Bund in Shanghai, when we visited the bar with a couple of friends, it was my turn to order and I pointed at the menu…
Street Life
One of the things I love about Shanghai so far is that even living so far out of the centre the city is always busy and vibrant with a multitude of crazy sights to absorb. People driving ridiculous scooters balancing anything from furniture to children and fruit, shops open all hours of the day and…
Jitensha Adventure 