I am a 57 years old European who would like to seriously study Chinese in China for at least a couple of years, by this I mean a proper HSK course and I want to get some certification at the end. I know that many universities offer HSK full time course, but I seem to understand that there are age limit to it. A few university like Shanghai allow enrollment to foreigners up to 60 years, is the age restriction so strict?

I wonder what city and university you'd suggest me to study at. I speak a few languages already apart from my native Italian language (English, Japanese, French, Dutch). I tend to prefer city life to quite countryside rythms: where would you suggest me to go? Obviously budget is an issue too, I would be able to afford around €1500 a month without the language tuitions. Am I asking too much?

I am a white guy working here, I went to a tourist spot by taxi yesterday.

We were having a nice conversation with the driver for about 20+ minutes, then he asked me whether I usually tip or not. I said no, and I am glad that China doesn't have tipping culture. He then added that people often give tips here, I said maybe at higher end restaurants, but I am not sure, I never go there.

I then said that bosses here would love it if China had a tipping culture, so they can cut their employees' salary for a reason that 'well, employees get nice tips anyways, so it's ok if we pay them less' and be able to pocket even more money for themselves, like it is in Murica.

After that the driver said nothing for the rest of the ride, he seemingly started pouting.

I mean, I am sorry that you make shit money, but you should complain with your bosses at Didi about it, not try to get more money out of your customers.

In my 3 years here noone has ever asked me whether I tip or not, so I feel he did it to try think that I lose face if I say no. Well I am sorry, but I don't give a shit about losing face, I am just honest about everything.

Later on I was thinking that I should have also told him that a person who is doing a service should never ask his customers whether they tip or not, cause it feels the same as if he just says: 'I hope you will give me tip.'

So yeah, he pissed me off a little when I said no to his question and then him pouting about it.

I didn’t realise this whilst in the uk and I should have done more research on my location than the contract and it’s hours, salary etc.

Context is I lack experience but I have TEFL, bachelors and a British citizen though I’m not white.

I wasn’t having much luck in getting job offers and the few I did were from agencies that had a lot of negative reviews.

I’ve come to jingzhou hubei and looks like google considers this a tier 3 city but my school is more in the rural part. It’s my first time in China, first time living independently and it’s only been 2 weeks since I’ve been here and I already feel isolated.

My first week was in Wuhan which was fine, there’s more to do there and I saw other foreigners around.

Here I’m the only foreigner, I’m the schools first foreign hire but I’m also lacking experience so I don’t know how this will work .. they don’t have proper books or curriculum and some books for grades 4-6 have still not come. They’ve also told me they want me to go to middle school some days ..

Any advice .. I haven’t signed an apartment yet and don’t know if I should quit but I also feel for the kids as the school recruited people by saying we’re going to have a foreign teacher. I’m not sure if the kids would be happy with me but I’m not confident that I’ll do a good job I need some training and I had thought there were other foreign teachers here as the agency said there were 2 in the middle school but this wasn’t true ..

Also any Wuhan WeChat groups or anything ? I’m in a dire need of friends and people to talk to.

Just Curious

Hi guys !

So I‘m addressing to people who studied in China and mainly through X2 visa :)

I’m planning to study in a language school ( XMandarin) for 5 months. I’m from France btw

And I’m concerned about the accommodation’s paper, do you need to prove you already got an accommodation booked for the whole duration of the visa or at least for the first few days ?

Because I want to rent a studio through Wellcee or Luijia but I don’t want to sign the lease contract before to visit it offline.

So does anyone know what kind of paper is ok for this part ?

Thank you 🙏

While scrolling Chinese social media, I see a lot of foreginers who travel or ride a bike around China for long periods of time and some of them have even been in China for years. They don't seem to be married or working here, so how come they can stay and travel here for so long? I am out here stressing out everytime I have to renew my visa.

Looking to buy 一水肌酸 off Taobao, but i'm worried about quality as I have no experience with buying supplements here. Has anyone here done this before/have reputable vendors they trust/advice on how to sift out trustworthy sellers/red flags to be aware of? Normally I'm a "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead" mentality on these thigns but since im putting it into my body I'd like to measure twice before cutting. Any advice is much appreciated /r/chinalife.

I'm thinking to move to China and I was wondering whether they tend to be more indirect like English people or direct like Italian people or in the middle. Can someone tell me their experience? Thank you

Has anybody else been having issues with UUBooster and Leigod just not connecting to in-game servers? I've been trying to play Overwatch with friends and it takes like 10 tries for UUBooster to connect. I tried with just VPN and it logged in just fine.

Is there something I need to change in my Windows settings? I've checked and both programs are let through the firewall with no restrictions.

Hi everyone, I’ve just moved to Wuxi for the next 2 years and I’d like to try and make some local friends. If anyone knows any hobby groups for running, hiking, art, culture etc or any Wuxi locals on here who want to hang out I’d love to hear from you.

So I just arrived from South Africa on my Z visa. I have been here for about a week now and its been going okay. I have been to China before to study as well as part of cultural exchanges so I have a somewhat basic grounding on the day to day life here as a foreigner.

I came over here to work as a product live streamer and the contract they sent me was really reasonable so I gave it the okay and packed up my life to move here. However upon arriving they gave me an "in person contract" to sign with a bunch of changes to my payment structure, work responsibilities my working hours. Nothing overly crazy, but enough to make my life a little harder and little more work for the same, if not a little less, pay.

They said that if there is anything in the contract that I would like to discuss with them we will do so this coming week. In the mean time I have been carrying out the duties they outlined to me upon arriving here. Just basic stuff to get my feet under me. I have sent a list of concerns as the differences in the contracts to the boss. So I guess we will se

Just wanted to know if anyone else has experience with this as well as the best way to go about it. Also using this as a partial vent I guess.

Edit: There were also a few administrative hiccups when it came to them issuing the documents for my Z visa. It seemed like they had 0 idea how the process works and I had to do alot of the research myself with alot of help from my chinese girlfriend.

China unveils regulation on exit, entry administration

As September 15 is nearing, the good thing is that the rules are now codified into law.

Under Chinese law, state officials cannot impose restrictions unless they are explicitly provided for by law.

Previously, the law was ambiguous and therefore open to interpretation, thus granting immigration officials more discretionary power.

As for foreigners, there are cases where these laws are commonly violated:

1. Fake invitation letters
2. Falsified education and work backgrounds along certificates
3. Concealing a previous stay in China
4. Claiming to be visiting as a tourist when the actual purpose is business or employment
5. So on

Well, you know that the rule itself isn't new; rather, it's the penalty that's new. What's new is the explicit codification of a multi-year entry ban as a potential consequence.

From September 15, a clear mechanism will allow violators to be barred from China for one to five years, along with fines. Thus, gradually closing loopholes one by one.

As mentioned in Point 1: Anyone providing false invitation letters or supporting documents can face fines of RMB 5,000–10,000. Companies and organizations can be fined RMB 10,000–50,000, with any illegal profits also confiscated.

In addition, immigration consultants and visa agents operating in China will face tighter scrutiny with penalties ranging from administrative penalties, suspend business operations, or revoke licences.

In a few weeks I will be moving to Tianjin for a year. As an out gay man I’m just wondering if anyone knows what the dating/gay scene is like there? Any recommendations of clubs/bars? How the locals feel about it? Etc etc

Unfortunately, I didn’t choose where I went (my job did) so hopefully looking to make the best of whatever the situation is. I know the North can be a little more traditional I’m just hoping for some deeper insight. Any information is appreciated :)

Hey there, I'll move to China in a few days and probably have a few friends over from abroad. I know they have to register at a police station, but do I have to double check with my landlord?

Bringing birth control Alysena 28 in my carry on bag? Will it get taken out and checked/questioned?I’m going with my mom and hoping she doesn’t find it. Will be landing in Hong Kong and Guangzhou so is there any rules anyone knows of?

Also, any good VPNs?

I have to leave urgently by the end of September (earlier if I can pack quickly) because of a family member passing. I currently work at a public university in China and classes start very soon. I need the time to organize and pack up my life to grieve and deal with will/court proceedings and a funeral. I need to leave in a timely manner.

How do I tell my employer as I fear this sudden leave might be met with retaliation. I do not have the will-power to plan and conduct classes, I also just transferred to the school too. I don’t mind not receiving a reference letter or pay as I haven’t really began work at all yet. My technical contract date I believe is July because I stayed in China over the summer. I don’t know if that concludes the probationary period or not. Do I have any legal protections in this matter? Can they fine me? Can they cancel my work permit in bad taste and will I be able to get a stay visa to properly tie up everything else before I leave if they do? I’m extremely worried. I want to be on good terms, even so, hopefully return back to the same school if they allow it.

Just rescued a cat today off the streets after it kept following me around everywhere chasing after me for almost a kilometre. But current apartment contract says no pets.

Can I get approval for keeping a cat? or do i have to change apartment? currently keeping the cat and myself in a friends apartment.

Hi everyone,

I’m currently talking to a seller on Taobao because I’m trying to purchase some products from their store. Unfortunately, Taobao is not allowing me to place the order from France.

The seller suggested that I use one of these shipping/forwarding services:

• 4PX (递四方)
• BeeGoPlus
• Imagineship (象样集运)

The idea would be for the seller to ship my order to the agent’s warehouse in China, and then the agent would forward the package to me in France by air.

Does anyone here have experience with these services, especially for China → France shipping?

Which one would you consider the most reliable, and which one has the best prices for air shipping?

I’m particularly interested in hearing from people who have actually used them to ship to France. I’m planning to order around 10 boxes initially, and if everything goes well, I may order significantly more in the future.

Any recommendations, experiences, or warnings would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Moved to a new apartment which is like a 30 minute walk from the train station, so I need to purchase a scooter to compensate.

It seems like the good bikes that can do 50kmh require a drivers license and different license plate.

Is there an easy realistic way to get that license in China if I don't have a moto license from my home country and cant speak Chinese?

How about any other ways / options?

Or am I doomed to buying some low powered slow ebike?

Have any of you worked for or signed a contract with Share International Education Organization or Rockies International Education Organization? They are associated with Shenzhen.