It’s hard to decide to pick up and move overseas. The thing that makes change hard is fear, specifically fear of the unknown. We like things that are predictable. It’s the reason that Starbucks is much more appealing to me in China than it is in America. Everywhere in the world, Starbucks stores have the same green and brown color scheme and the clean, modern atmosphere. It’s familiar and it reminds me of America, which is comforting. When I go to Starbucks in America it reminds me of mediocre coffee and how I wish I was at Caribou Coffee.
To westerners, China is the epitome of the great unknown. We worry about what to bring with us, what won’t we have access to, what we’re going to have to give up, and what we’ll have to do without, and it starts to make living overseas seem like a big sacrifice. Usually it’s little things (like our favorite brands of shampoo or Taco Bell) that we miss, but really, giving up those sorts of things isn’t that hard. The great thing about moving to China is that when you get here you start to find things you love that you don’t have access to in your home country.
This is my list of things that I love that I couldn’t have if I lived in America:
- An Electric Bicycle. I love riding my e-bike to work and around the city in the summer time. I love that it’s quiet and fast (comparatively) and that when I get to work I’m not all sweaty like I used to be when I rode my regular bike.
- Hot/Cold Water Dispenser. Everyone here uses large Culligan-style water jugs for their drinking water. We’ve got a great dispenser that dispenses cold water for drinking or hot water for tea, both of which are already on-tap 24/7.*
- Gong Bao Ji Ding (Kung Pow Chicken—the real stuff). There are a lot of different food dishes that I could name, but truly I have never found authentically-good gong bao in America, and when I lived there I constantly craved it.
- Watson-Brand Ginger Ale. When I was growing up, I thought ginger ale was just another name for Sprite, but when I tasted Watson’s Ginger Ale, I realized I had been deceived. Let me just say that ginger ale should taste like ginger. Shame on you, Canada Dry.**
- No sales tax or tipping. No offense to restaurant servers—you guys work hard and deserve the tips that you earn, no question—but I love being able to walk into a restaurant here, look at the menu, see that my guacamole caesar steak wrap is going to be 52 RMB, and know that when I leave, I will have spent 52 RMB (plus 12RMB for my Watson’s Ginger Ale). No tax, no tip—just the price on the menu.
You’re always going to miss out of some of things that you loved about wherever you used to live, but you’ll gain new things wherever you end up. It just takes some faith to go and trust that there will be good things when you arrive, even if you don’t know what those things are yet.
For those of you who live in or have lived in China, what’s the best perk to life here?
*I know you can get water dispensers like that in the States, too, but I think if the tap water is drinkable, it’s an unnecessary luxury.
** I know that there are good ginger ales available in America, but here you can get Watson’s Ginger Ale at most restaurants that have any significant foreign patronage.
The things I enjoy having in China that I can’t in the UK…
My bicycle (I suppose I have one in England but its better in Beijing as the roads are flat).
3 kuai egg pancakes (jian bing) in the street
黑人 toothpaste (wonderfully politically incorrect)
A cleaner
The occasional taxi
Having a housekeeper definitely rates highly, as does the sheer range of awesome food available at affordable prices. Living in two languages is awesome too. I think the biggest great thing about living in China, for me, has been the opportunity to meet people from literally all over the world – to get to know more about their nations, languages, cultures, and all that. So good!
Fun fact – the gong bao ji ding is different in the US (and Australia too) because until the mid-90s it was illegal to import Sichuan peppers because of fears of citrus cankers. By the time they were legal, people were used to the type of gong bao they make over there.
I’m reverse to many of you, born and raised in Beijing, and been living in Sydney, Australia for 7 years, and naturalised here, I have to say I miss Beijing’s public transport, cheap and efficient; sure, the subway trains are often crowded, but it’s 2 yuan to anywhere of the subway system; and 0.4 yuan on buses within the 3rd ring road.
Some of the shopping centres are so posh that they look more western than Sydney.
My Ayi has an apple orchard and she brings me the prunings for my Grill. Apple Wood smoked ribs and pork shoulder are the bomb! Sometimes, I cook my BBQ sauce on the grill too so it picks up the smoke. Gotta work the system…..Not something I’d be able to have delivered to my house in the states for free.
Definitely a very personal appreciation of the author. I believe that China has many good things but what makes a good comfortable lifestyle are not material things, its the community , the place where Foreigners choose to live that makes the difference and the interaction with Chinese culture is so different or oppsite that makes difficult to live as one would like.
Living in Shanghai for 4 years I also used to ride cycle, but in a year I have suffered the robbery of 2 bikes and also riding by the streets is too dangerous that it is not comfortable at all unless you ride by a residential area, so i gave up riding.
i think is you have a wide social circle of friends with Chinese and foreigners your life in China could be fine but it´s not a great place to live in my opinion.