I don't know if anyone remembers the thread, but last year I started travelling around the world (I'm from Aus) and asked for some tips, which was pretty helpful. Anyways, after using all my funds, I've recently moved to Chengdu, China to work as an English Teacher for a year. Does anyone have tips about meeting other foreigners, joining in on b-ball pick-up games or whatever words of wisdom you'd like to impart to me. It's a bit of an isolating experience so far.
Don't drink the tap water... boiling it is not enough. Mineral water might be worth the expense. Same goes with questioning where the water comes from when you're out dining...ice, juice, etc.
Holy **** man, thanks. That's a solid tip. I just bought a kettle yesterday and was going to just boil tap water and drink it. I would rep you, but I've never had the power to rep. So this is my figurative rep.
I played some kids in pickup ball in a slum in Jinan when I was there two years ago. I grew up in Alief over in Houston so I can basically out-dribble any of them even when I'm out of practice. My shot is terrible though when I'm not playing regularly...I played a few days and then once this kid did a spin move right at me and busted my nose, I think intentionally. I got better but stopped playing after that lol. I'm in my late 20's now, it feels so old! Be careful out there. To answer your question, there are tons of ex-pats in all the major Chinese cities. You can either head for the foreigner part of town, which is a cop-out if you ask me, or you can just ask around in the school you're at and see where the other English teachers go. I'm sure you'll come across a few. I highly recommend that you learn Chinese as actively as you can, as almost every part of China worth participating in involves not a lick of English. For the most part, I didn't like the foreigners I came across when I was there. Most of them seemed to congregate together and treat the remainder of the city's culture as something beneath them. I was in Guangzhou for another month and ran into a middle-aged man from Houston at this random Western bar one night. He told me, "Lucy Liu costs $50 here," and that's when I realized that all middle-aged men in China for business are pigs. Well, I don't think I've helped you at all have I. Don't drink wine in China, it's terrible, they have no idea what it's supposed to taste like. Instead, hang around outside with the commoners drinking tons of beer and eating Chinese bbq off skewers cooked on the sidewalk grills--that was my favorite late night activity. Clubs are cool to visit but not frequent. Most of that scene resembles a Western knockoff with exorbitant prices to serve as a social barrier to the non-upper class. There's a lot of rich snobby young people in China, kids of the government officials--doesn't mean that their nights are any cooler than anyone else's. As a foreigner you will have access to their world, but only superficially. Give it a go one night, but it gets boring fast.
I've bought bottled water only to find the cap is suspiciously loose (i.e. they just picked up old bottles and refilled them with god know what water).
Drink Coke--don't worry you will lose weight because a lot of Chinese food outside of the fast food restaurants lacks the kind of nutritional fortification you're used to, seriously the street food on pushcarts has been shown to sometimes contain cardboard in it--and buy the large bottles of water from the grocery store to keep yourself going. For protein, and to not lose what muscle mass you have going in, your best friend will be the KFC Spicy Chicken Sandwich (香辣鸡腿堡). It's nothing like Western KFC's. KFC in China is more popular than McDonalds (although McD is catching up), and it tastes 10x better than the KFC here. I would never touch KFC, or any fast food, in America, but in China just watch the weight melt off you if you eat only traditional Chinese food. Also, you might want to become real good at using www.baidu.com. Google, and gmail by proxy, are banned in China, and just overall not great even if you can get hold of a VPN that can bypass it so you could use google.hk or something. You'll catch onto the pinyin and vocab recognition quickly. The tough part for Westerners I think is pronunciation.
I don't particularly have any efficient advice, sorry, but i just wanted to say, I hope it works out for you. I've wanted to teach English in Japan or China for the past few years, temporarily of course, and never found the courage to just go do it.
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If you're white and not bad looking, ez pz to get girls in Asia. Damn, Chengdu is the bomb. Great spicy food and the girls are amazingly hot. There's only two places in China that's known for good looking girls and one of them is Chengdu/Sichuan.
I frequently travel to Wuxi and a few other places for business/family. Besides what others have said, learn the language as soon as possible. In other countries, knowing English will get you by. China, when you're not in places like Shanghai or Hong Kong, it is very hard to adapt without Mandarin. Speak loud and angrily if you wish to be heard, and don't mind if others shout angrily around you. If you someone pays for your dinner, protest loudly. Be dramatic otherwise they will be insulted. Also please, please be very careful when socializing at bars and such places. I got hit by a bottle and stabbed because one of the locals grabbed my friend's wife. It became a Chinese vs Ex-Pat fight. Very dirty fighters too. Women will approach you frequently, but lower your standards considerably. Living in America (or Australia in your case, OP), we're spoiled by personality, beauty, and mixed cultures/attitudes. Women there are very materialistic and blunt. Don't be surprised if several ask you how much you make, how much you have saved, etc. Furthermore, you will be disappointed when having sex because they aren't very involved or energetic or creative. Be wary of eating food on the street. I recall one time the plates being dunked in a filthy bucket with brown water without being washed with soap or anything. Several of the chicken were eating food crawling with maggots and flies. It was very repellent. The bigger cities are better in this regard. Carry towelette wipes because bathrooms often are extremely unsanitary and without toilet paper or paper towels. People often sneeze and cough without covering their mouth. Wear face masks as often as you can. Decrease your personal space bubble expectations. People stand very close to you, watch you text over your shoulder, lead you by the arm to places, etc. Throw some elbows when using crowded mass transit or elevators because you will never get on by being polite. That being said, don't jump the queue either. Wear sturdy shoes that can withstand lots of abuse. I ruined some prized Bruno Maglis because I didn't know any better. Rubber soles are much better than leather because you'll be walking on beautiful granite and then step in concrete that was recently poured. No warning sign. Nothing to indicate it's there. Lastly, if you're driving use your international driver's permit and head to the local vehicle license bureau. I paid one of the officials 300 RMB (~ $50 AUD) and he waived my test. I got a local license after I showed him my int'l permit. On the roads, you have to be super careful and defensive. I ride motorcycles and drive in Pakistan so I'm used to defensive driving. In China, it's horrible if you're coming from an advanced country like Australia. Driving used to be much worse 15 years ago, but now the culture is improving as are the cars you'll see. Find online ex-pat communities and meet up in person when feeling homesick. Make Chinese friends too. There's a lot to discover there. China is a wonderful place even though it's very different. The country has done phenomenal things in the last 40 years, and it's a work in progress. Good luck!
If you like Kung Fu and enjoy exotic dishes and bicycles I think you will be okay. If you think Chinese American food is good wait until you try the mother land of all Chinese food.
Why boil water when you can just buy it? Dude this isn't 1837 man, it's all made available to buy!!!!
Chick who looks like Lucy Lui for $50? If I was young and single that would be extremely tempting lol. My wife's brother absolutely loves it there. He goes by himself and doesn't have much of a problem overall. He moved to New York 10 years ago which helped him learn to deal with other cultures, especially China. If a black man in his 30s from Texas can do it, I know you can.
Some Tim Ferriss vids on his trip to China. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_cq_d6DLVE http://vimeo.com/8084099 http://fourhourworkweek.com/2009/10/08/random-episode-6-how-kevin-rose-and-glenn-mcelhose-got-scammed-in-china-ha/ If you liked these, you can google for some more, I guess.
I've never understood why Americans hate money enough to spend $3/bottle for one of Earth's most abundant resources. However, having lived in other countries, I understand that situations change. Gotta do what you gotta do.
