darkstar1 Apr 02, 2013 Comments(2)

I must say that in general, China has a pretty generous amount of public holidays. In my mind, we’ve only just come out of Chinese New Year and are already about to enter another one with the morbidly named Tomb Sweeping Festival. After that, it’s the May Day Festival, then the Dragon Boat Festival, the Mid-Autumn Festival and the ... Read More>>

Moonlake Apr 01, 2013 Comments(1)

This topic has been covered quite extensively on this and many other expat sites, and many of the tips are quite generic and can be applied to cross-cultural couples all over the world. But, every now and again it does strike me that there are major differences in attitudes towards marriage between China and the West. Many of these attitudes ... Read More>>

Lolitta2 Mar 28, 2013 Comments(2)

Chinese – and even foreign media to some extent – have been going crazy about China’s First Lady Peng Liyuan, and understandably so. For the first time in China’s modern political history has the spotlight been shone on to the president’s wife. The wives of previous leaders were just some shadow lurking in the ... Read More>>

easyrider Mar 28, 2013 Comments(1)

There are obviously many aspects about life in China that can bring us down, though I have to say I think I’ve done ok so far in controlling my anger/mood and simply looking at all the crazy stuff that goes on here with a twinkle in my eye and a light-hearted smile across my lips. Yesterday I saw a pair of chengguans (street police/thugs) ... Read More>>

darkstar1 Mar 26, 2013 Comments(4)

We all worry about the day when our bodies finally give up on us and we have to reluctantly haul ourselves from the comfort of the toilet bowl to the nearby hospital. I’ve been in China for a while now and I must say aside from a couple of instances of food poisonings, I’ve been pretty lucky so far…well that was until last ... Read More>>

Coffaholic Mar 25, 2013 Comments(6)

Prior to arriving in China, I thought I was moving to the shopping paradise of the globe since EVERYTHING has the ‘Made in China’ tag on it. From funky dresses and accessories at Top Shop to ultra hip shoes from Office and Nine West, everything seemed to originate from the country I was about to move to. But boy was I disappointed. ... Read More>>

easyrider Mar 21, 2013

This has been something that’s been on my mind a lot of late. I recently met up with an old pal of mine who has been living in Switzerland for the past few years and I was really surprised when he told about the extent that Switzerland has had to adapt its tourist market for wealthy Chinese. He told me of little “China ... Read More>>

Coffaholic Mar 21, 2013 Comments(2)

A hilarious post on WeChat caught my attention recently. Basically, it’s a list of English words, the Chinese meaning, and a list of Chinese words that when put together, sound a bit like the English. What makes this is so interesting is the fact that all the Chinese words used to pronounce the English one, are actually related to the ... Read More>>

Moonlake Mar 18, 2013 Comments(17)

My name is Moonlake and I survived a long-distance relationship between China and Europe. In a few months, I intend to walk down the aisle to wed my amazing Chinese fiancé, promising to love, support and cherish him until the end of my days. But this love story wasn’t smooth-sailing all the time. We met while I was studying Chinese ... Read More>>

darkstar1 Mar 18, 2013 Comments(1)

Despite obvious food safety concerns and the like, China is still a culinary paradise for many reasons, and is known for its countless ingenious ways of cooking various types of foods in weird and wonderful ways. I have to say, that prior to my arrival in China I was a bit conservative on the old food front and stuck to my guns regarding what I ... Read More>>

easyrider Mar 15, 2013

I’ve been in this gig for several years now and I can say it’s a pretty fun job most of the time. I have a pretty relaxed schedule, live in a pretty chilled out city and get a decent enough salary to live comfortably and make some considerable savings for potential travelling or whatever. It’s not such a bad life. In our ... Read More>>

Moonlake Mar 14, 2013 Comments(3)

Ever since Ma Nuo’s famous utterance of, what some would term, pure greed and materialism, increasing attention is being placed on young people’s material wants and how it influences China’s dating scene. For those of you who don’t regularly tune into “If You are the One”, a popular dating reality show, Ma ... Read More>>

darkstar1 Mar 13, 2013 Comments(1)

Ok, I’m about to open a can of political worms with this one, though who doesn’t savour the opportunity to be an armchair pundit with almost no expertise on a subject which has been widely discussed by experts across the world? I certainly don’t, and this has been something on my mind of late. Yes China – I’m asking ... Read More>>

OwainLW Mar 11, 2013

Being British, many people would assume that a love of good food isn’t something that stifles its way into my thoughts too often, and I would say that most of the time, they’re right. I like my curry, my pizza, my Cantonese…it’s all good but I’ve never been too fussy about exactly it is I eat (save for the fact ... Read More>>

Coffaholic Mar 08, 2013 Comments(1)

I’m sure you’ve heard about the horrific murder of the 2-month baby boy in Changchun by now. If not, let me remind you. On Mar 4, Mr. Xu pulled up his car beside his convenience store and ran in to turn on the heating. He left the motor on as he didn’t intend to stay in the shop long. At that moment, a man saw an opportunity ... Read More>>

darkstar1 Mar 08, 2013

I recall an evening roughly a year ago where I was with a group of friends heading back home after a night out in one of the many chilled out bars located around Beijing’s Gulou area. In a turn of events that would surely contradict any perception of construction safety anywhere outside of China, we were approached by these bar owners who ... Read More>>

Amazingchina Mar 07, 2013

My tears was full of my eyes, wet my face, again and again, My heart was touched by a great man with unordinary life, Jean Valjean, from a prisoner that is full of hate and despair, Turn into a brave man with kindness, forgiveness and love for humanity. Nowadays, where is another Jean Valjean ? I think we generation are still selfish, cold and ... Read More>>

Moonlake Mar 07, 2013

China’s dating scene can be complicated for the best and most enthusiastic of people. Being an LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) individual can make dating seem like even more of an obstacle filled battlefield. While homosexuality is no longer illegal (made legal in 1997) and no longer considered a mental illness (definition ... Read More>>

OwainLW Mar 06, 2013

First things first, although living in China does provide me with enough annoyances and frustrations to keep me going until I’m well and truly in the grave, there are some things which keep me happy here and remind me of my decision to come to China in the first place. They usually revolve around aesthetic things such as food, landscape, ... Read More>>

Moonlake Mar 05, 2013

China is extremely couple-y. I seriously cannot go anywhere without seeing couples. And boy, are they in love. Couples in other countries can get a little creepy in public with overly touchy public displays of affection. PDA is popular in China as well, but in very different forms than in the rest of the world (thank god). A big part of Chinese ... Read More>>

darkstar1 Mar 04, 2013

I’ve been living in Beijing for a few years now, and though I don’t think it can quite claim to have full “international city” status in the why that Hong Kong or possibly Shanghai do, it’s still pretty modern and forward-thinking enough for a dumbass foreigner like me to maraud their way around relatively ... Read More>>

leonelle Mar 01, 2013

It is an unprecedented move for Chinese state TV to cover the execution of criminals live, especially when foreigners are involved, although the scenes of execution were not shown on the screen. Since CCTV is controlled by the Chinese authorities, there is no doubt that the green light was given by top government officials. It seems that the ... Read More>>

Coffaholic Mar 01, 2013 Comments(8)

Most of my male Chinese acquaintances have received sexual services at a bathhouse or brothel at one stage or another in their life. Most of them see this experience as harmless and as something you get out of your system when you start exploring your sexuality in your mid teens. I was sitting around a table of guys recently when the ... Read More>>

easyrider Mar 01, 2013

Well it’s been a couple of days and I’m back! Did you miss you me? Huh? Oh… Well whatever. I’ve got an afternoon off and it’s still pretty chilly outside so what better thing to do than share my expert (ahem) critiques of various Chinese beers I’ve sampled during my time here. Last time, I gave you a brief ... Read More>>

leonelle Feb 28, 2013

Bryant posted a photo of himself in a blue suit and the message: "Valentine's day sneaks ready to break Clippers hearts. Big game tonight." The message appeared on Friday, hours before his team, the Los Angeles Lakers, were to play the Clippers. Bryant, who is popular in China, already has at least 326,000 followers. Sina Weibo, which says it ... Read More>>