Bring your own deodorant. Bring your own coffee. Get used to the smell of urine. Smile, a lot. Learn how to say where your from. Understand that it’s not rude if someone asks how much money you make. Listen to music. Read. Be patient. Don’t drink tap water. Try everything at least once, especially the stuff that grosses you out, it will make for a better story. Get out there and do stuff, try not to use the train of thought “Well, I deserve this,” too often. If you’re a man, carry a pack of cigarettes with you and offer them to any man you meet. They will most likely not take one, even if they do smoke, but they will appreciate the sentiment.
Try not to think in terms of right or wrong, rude or polite, dirty or clean. Ask as many questions as you can. Don’t talk about politics. Eat lots of noodles. Eat lots of fruit, but always clean them before hand. Don’t be shy. Go to karaoke. Don’t talk about Japan. If you like basketball play a pick up game with some strangers. Despite the fact that they don’t, look both ways before crossing the street. Bring your own ear plugs. Bring your own dental floss. Never pay full price. Don’t expect to get laid. Don’t do anything that could land you in jail. Find out what can and can’t land you in jail, you’ll be surprised.
Don’t freak out when someone invades your personal space. Try not to eat Western food, it’s expensive and often times unsatisfying. Visit the Great Wall, the Terra Cotta Warriors, the Summer Palace, but don’t linger. Get off the beaten path. Get lost. Take your time. Man zou. Walk slowly. Learn how to use chopsticks. Buy or rent a bike. Weaving in and out of traffic, dodging taxis and donkey pulled carts, and ringing your bell at pedestrians in your way will make you feel like you’re one of them. Don’t go in the water. Get used to sleeping on a rock hard bed.
Try not to reserve “thank you” for times when people really do help you, and try to reserve “I’m sorry,” for times when you’ve truly inconvenienced someone. It will only make them laugh if you over use it. If you learn to read any characters, learn foods first. Don’t worry about table manors. Talk with your mouth full of food. Burp. Slurp your tea as loud as you can. Go to a teahouse and try as many different kinds as you want.
You’ll want to buy a lot of crap, but by the end of your journey you’ll realize that most of it just that, crap. Reserve days for doing nothing. Make lots of jokes. Don’t sleep in too often, Chinese people are early risers and you might miss a lot of the action. Don’t go to many temples. You’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.
Keep your eyes open. Don’t get discouraged. It will be hard, but try not to think about home. Remind yourself that every day you’ve somehow ended up on the other side of the world, in the oldest civilization in the world. Ask yourself unanswerable questions and find satisfaction in this. Go fly a kite. It’s not just for kids.
Enjoy this post????? Read the follow up, How to Make the Most out of Your Time in China…A few repeats here and there, but only the really important ones!
May 10, 2010 at 1:30 pm
Love this one!
May 10, 2010 at 1:40 pm
Definitely a helpful post! I’ll be in China in less than a month!
May 11, 2010 at 12:35 am
Glad to hear it! What will you be doing? Where will you be?
May 15, 2010 at 11:30 pm
I’ll be working for China.org.cn in the English department in Beijing. It’s just a summer internship, but hopefully I’ll be back after graduation to travel more.
May 10, 2010 at 5:52 pm
Great post! I’ve only been to China twice, but I’ve experienced almost everything you wrote about and I agree. To appreciate a different culture you have to go experience it. Well done Chris.
May 10, 2010 at 8:00 pm
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Dan Harris , Bill / 葛威, Devin T. Stewart, Aaron Posehn, Aaron Posehn and others. Aaron Posehn said: RT @billglover: RT @DanHarris: How to survive in China as a foreigner: http://is.gd/c2CSD […]
May 11, 2010 at 1:20 am
Yeah man good insight. I’ll be in China in 3 months and hopefully I’ll use some of the advice!
May 11, 2010 at 2:46 pm
[…] ran across this recent blog entry posted by Chris Biddle, an American student living in China. It’s short, sweet and to the […]
May 12, 2010 at 11:18 pm
Wicked post.
Nice work.
May 13, 2010 at 10:23 am
I would add “keep a journal”. Makes for hilarious and poignant reading five years in China later.
June 2, 2010 at 3:04 am
I was going to say that you might as well write a blog instead of a journal, but I think a journal by nature is more personal and helps with self discovery…you make a good point.
May 13, 2010 at 3:07 pm
Great post, I’ve been to China once and this is great advice for when I go back.
May 14, 2010 at 12:50 am
hey man, i just moved back to the US after two years in china. I was in Shanghai, and I TOTALLY GET “don’t talk about Japan.” I don’t talk about Taiwan either.
I always got a big kick out of pointing out that Bruce Lee was Asian American from Seattle… like me! That kind of blew their minds.
June 2, 2010 at 3:05 am
JP, Bruce Lee came up in conversation yesterday and I told them about his citizen status. They didn’t believe me and I had to prove it. They were blown away!
May 14, 2010 at 3:00 am
[…] Biddle, an American student in China, tells you how: Bring your own deodorant. Bring your own coffee. Get used to the smell of urine. Smile, a lot. […]
May 15, 2010 at 11:12 pm
Good post man!
Deodorant is available, but it’s expensive.
Trying to quit smoking is not easy in China… 😦
May 17, 2010 at 12:34 pm
I’m not sure… maybe it’s the crowd I hang with, maybe it’s the fact that I live in Shanghai, but a few of these don’t quite “click” with me. For example, I have found myself eating Western food more than a few times and have yet to be disappointed. My experience with a bicycle ended abruptly when an old lady walked into me. Never again, too much risk involved, especially for my commute to campus (almost 20km, can’t bring bicycles on the subway anymore either). Walk and take public transport, that’s mostly it for me. I’m going through driver’s ed but that’s just for “bragging rights”, I’d say. Driving here? No way. But back to the crowd I hang with bit- Japan comes up in conversation all the time and the worst complaint I’ve heard is “too expensive to go to on a student’s budget”. I have an idea what you mean, but it’s not going to come up if you’re careful about who you talk about it with (avoid old people who have lived through the 30s, avoid people that push politics on you).
Just some thoughts from a long-time resident (came here in 2004) of China.
May 17, 2010 at 10:29 pm
Yeah, Shanghai really might as well be another planet compared to where I live, a much more traditional city. The problem is that most expats who read this live in either Shanghai or Beijing, far more Westernized cities than the vast majority of China. If you get the chance I would get out of the city and do some real rugged traveling.
May 18, 2010 at 12:02 am
Chris, I live in one of these small cities like yours and I get exactly what you’re talking about. Shanghai and Beijing, while incredible cities in their own right, actually are on another planet in comparison! (I’m glad to see you kept the “real/not real China” comparison out of it.) It is not always an easy thing to live in the hinterland.
May 18, 2010 at 12:35 am
Glad you picked up on that…you should read my next post for sure. It gets into that very topic.
May 19, 2010 at 11:19 pm
“Find out what can and can’t land you in jail, you’ll be surprised.” I gottta say, there may still be things which will surprise you. I mean, I lived here forever, right now I can be surprised more than often!
June 2, 2010 at 3:08 am
I threw that one in there because of the lack of traffic and safety laws compared to that of the United States, as well as things like copyright laws and false advertising. What, in your opinion, as a Chinese national, is the most surprising law?
July 17, 2010 at 1:00 am
[…] Somewhat related, but not really, I liked this guy’s post on How to Survive in China as a Foreigner. […]
September 13, 2010 at 3:17 pm
LOL, You right sir,
I lived in China 2 years, some months at Shanghai, one year at Guangzhou, and worked at Dalian, Linyi, Hangzhou, etc…
The French-Canadian that i’m, i missing China to much! Different city differents chinese peoples and coutume.
But they are fantastic peoples! You can get back 500 years in Chine, only take a 2 hours flight or some hours by taxi…lol
To compare China to others Asian country…. another planet…
Salut à tous!
Alain
February 29, 2012 at 3:50 am
[…] detailing foreigners’ frustrations with China. A charmingly grumpy selection can be found here, here, here and here. After a leisurely browse, I then went about sifting through all the complaints […]
October 7, 2012 at 1:34 am
[…] an interesting essay on how to survive in China posted on Shanghaiist and drawn from this blog (I imagine I could write something similar, adding a few more pointers from the female point of […]
November 11, 2012 at 2:59 pm
Brilliant, love it.
February 25, 2013 at 9:41 pm
Ha! Nice article. I like the flowing list style of it. Kinda of reminds me of the Baz Luhrmann song “Everybody’s Free To Wear Sunscreen.”
If you ever wanted to do a blog swap or share, we also write about China Questions? English Answers. over at our blog http://trip-per.com/blog/index.php/new-to-china-adjusting-to-a-different-status-quo/
Thanks a lot!
May 27, 2013 at 3:03 am
Best best best over read about chain! Been here 3 months… Spot on!!
June 21, 2014 at 9:09 am
I LOVE IT ! VERY HELPFUL !
July 22, 2014 at 2:41 am
am so glad that I found your blog, I’ve been google-ing about studying and living in china tips.. am going on a scholarship to china next month and guess what,, to liaocheng !! lol.. reading this made me both scared and excited. but I believe its gonna be a great experience so why the hell not 😀
thanks a lot 😀