I got this email today.
I found your blog in Google. It is a very interesting and informative web site. My salute to you.
My wife and I are both Chinese living in the U.S. We are planning to move to shanghai early next year. When I talked with my family about the move, they all said it’s a very bad idea. They said to live comfortably in Shanghai you have to at least earn 500,000 RMB yearly. Also, unlike in the U.S. people in China usually work harder and with a lot of overtime. Is it
really true that you have to earn that much? How does people with average income manage their life then? How do you think about it? My wife already got an offer from a top fortune 500 company to be research scientist. I have yet to find my job but it probable will be in IT or computer software field. The work hard and overtime part really scares me. I don’t mind
work hard but to be forced to work hard will be another story. Here I work as a software engineer in a small company in a small collage town. Life is really slow and peaceful. Can you post something about your life and work? I mean, when do you go to work, how late will you come home, is your boss pushy, are you coworkers work abnormally hard, how do you spend you weed ends, evenings, Do you write all your post at work? It doesn’t have to be about yourself, just the life of regular white collar worker will be very helpful to us.
Going back to China is a hot topic among overseas Chinese these years. It is as hot as the topics of going aboard in the previous years. It is due to the booming economy in China and the big changes in the country. I have many close friends who just came back to Shanghai. This is what I heard and what I saw.
How Comfortable do you Mean by “Comfortable”
“Does it need 500,000 RMB annual income to lead comfortable lives in Shanghai?” Maybe yes, maybe no. It depends on how you define “comfortable” life. What is your standard?
Think about how much $$$$ 500,000 RMB is in a city where the overall average annual salary 17,904 RMB (1492 RMB * 12) (src). That is 30 times more than the city’s average income. Even the white collar’s average salary just reached 38,447 (src).
Many people with 1400 RMB income claim they are leading comfortable life already. But I guess you may think they are leading miserable life according to your standard.
Does an apartment of 150 sq. meter for a family means comfortable?
- You can buy some good apartment at 7000 RMB/sq. meter or some nice apartment at 10,000 RMB/sq. meter. Monthly payment is about 7000 RMB for 20 years… Use this calculator. People with 1000 RMB per month don’t buy houses. They rent.
Is a car included in your definition of comfortable life?
- Budge for 100,000 – 200,000 RMB. If you take public transportation, 2 RMB per ride for many buses, and 3 RMB on Metro.
Do you think you have to send your child to really good schools?
- Local schools charge 1000 – 2000 RMB per semester. Meanwhile in the same city, some good American schools charges 15,000 – 50,000 RMB. My friend spent 1000 USD on the school bus for his child alone, not to mention the tuition. So, it is all about your own choice.
Do you want to eat the foreign way or the local way?
- Local white collars go to BigBite (or Dashidai). The average cost per meal is 20 RMB. 50 RMB per person is considered reasonable price in restaurants. Poorer people go to cheap food stores. They charge 5 – 6 RMB per meal. They don’t go to restaurants.
If you want to eat the foreign way, there are many places a cup of ice water costs you 75 RMB. An average working lunch costs 70 – 150 RMB. I went to one in Xintiandi before. The life in that restaraunt is really too expensive to be comfortable for me. Where to eat and how well you eat is all about your choice again.
Do you want to dress the local way or the “international” way?
- 150 – 300 RMB for woman dress (white collar) is considered good, or common (ladies, correct me if I am wrong here). White collars buy it. Parkson Shopping Center claimed their major targeted customers are young ladies with monthly income around 6000 RMB. People with 1000 RMB income buy clothes at 30 RMB to 50 RMB at places like Tianlin Road, where I have lived nearby. All the brands are local. If you want to dress up like you do in New York, or Paris, just go directly to Armani in the Three on the Bund. A shirt can easily cost you 2000 RMB. If you call it comfortable life, 500,000 RMB does not look like a decent number. What is your choice?
Want movies? Want bars? Want drama?
- Movie costs 30 – 60 RMB. Average cost in bars varies from 10 RMB (beer) to 100. Drama costs 100 – 200 RMB. Make a plan of how many times you want to go there and you get the number yourself.
What else?
I just listed some costs for your life, in the order of money needed. Please note: this is only in Shanghai. Keep in mind that Shanghai is among the most expensive cities in China already. Beijing is similar. If you want to try smaller cities, like Luoyang, where I was born, life is completely different again. I can guarantee you that with 1500 RMB, you can lead very nice life there. The “very nice life” is by the local standard, not the Shanghai standard, not the western standard….
Do I Have a Conclusion?
To answer your question about whether 500,000 is good enough, basically, it is good enough. If you know the average monthly salary for a 4-year university undergraduate is 1800 – 3000 RMB, or 3000 – 5000 RMB for graduates (masters); if you also know that MBA’s salary is only half of the number you gave, you may have the idea of whether it can lead a comfortable life.
Going Back? A Bad Idea?
At least from all my friends who just returned, it turned out to be very good idea to get back. I had a friend who returned to Shanghai months ago. He came back and had a two week vacation in Shanghai. Soon after he returned to U.S., he relocated his whole family to Shanghai. The only thing he regretted was he didn’t buy a house during the two weeks in Shanghai. The price raise in the 6 months surprised him a lot.
Work Hard?
In IT industry, undergraduate students have to work hard to earn 36,000 RMB per year, and I don’t know how hard you need to work if you aim at making 500,000 RMB or higher. :-D
Shanghai is such an interesting city. The pay is not the same for the same work. The best situation to relocate back to Shanghai is to find a position in U.S. company and the company send the person to China, typically, the person will enjoy the U.S. pay (sometimes higher due to the relocation package), which is much higher than China. These positions generally do not need you to work hard. From what I heard, many of the positions are just a local representative of the head quarter, and there is no real work to do. (I do not mean to offend anybody. It is the conclusion of my limited survey to some friends). Go to haiguinet.com for more information. Many returnees are there.
It is not about Comfortable Life. It is about Opportunities
If you want comfortable life – in the U.S. Standard, stay there. If you want to reach exactly the same standard of life in Shanghai, the cost is higher than in U.S. For example, I read a foreigner didn’t want to use the local water from the pipeline because it does not reach “his standard”, he built the private water supplying system and feed the system with canned purified water. He is just crazy and I bet his water is more expensive than in his hometown.
If you want to embrace the change and opportunity, come back. China is a huge market and there are so few players on so many fields. Let me try to show you some examples:
- It is not easy to rent a car yet. There is no good rental company like Avis.
- It is not easy to book train tickets online (like Amtrak, or Eurorail);
- There is almost no local good canned cat food (this is the problem the two cats brought me);
- Something that costs 0.5 RMB are traded at several Euro in Europe (I am talking about the decoration balls on the X’mas tree);
- More and more people coming to China but there is no good service to help them (the reason why this website became popular);
- In IT industry, there is no good broad band application yet, although near 20 million people are connected to the Internet already. Miracles like Shanda (SNDA) emerge every day..
The blank areas need some one who knows the land to fill in. My friend who just came back told me: “I can clearly see what I look like after 30 years if I stay in U.S. – everything is well planned and preciously calculated. However, I don’t have any idea of what my life will be in 5 years in China. It started to change everyday from day one after I set my foot back to this land.” I agree.
If you are not interested in these, stay where you are now.
My Work? My Life?
If you want to know my work and life, take some time to check this blog if you have time. I have more than 800 articles like this one on my blog. There are 181 articles in Life category.
In the articles, I talked about my Car, my Friends, interesting things in my life, and where I go during weekends, and Holidays. I also included new things I Learn. I guess you know better about Me from the articles.
Last Question
“Do you write all your post at work?” I don’t, most of the time. It does take me quite some time every night to write something. I sometimes sleep as late as 2:00 AM. It is 1:58 am already and I have spent one hour on this article.
(Top secret: I will change the time for this post to November 11, 23:mm, to make sure this post still falls into the previous day. I am trying to keep the one post every day rule. Some previous entires posted at 23:mm are very likely to be posted later than that time. :-D)
The choice is yours.
Mr. Wang,
What is the income tax rate presently applied to the working class.
Stephen
Amid the recent disappointing election results in the US, I bet a lot of people are thinking about moving to China now. :) But in all seriousness, it is the precisely the “opportunity factor” that made me NOT wanting to move back at this time — In China, there are a lot opportunities to make money and sell to the Chinese audience. But there are yet little opportunity to make an impact on a larger scale.
The research projects in most Chinese firms and universities are a step behind their western counterparts. In the IT industry, few truly innovative products bear the name of a Chinese company (or even foreign company’s research centers in China). Most of the work in China seems to be focused on application and implementation rather than innovation. Even in the field where China is leading the world — mobile phones — it took a full year to translate and publish my book in China.
So, I guess for many people, the US provides a more intellectually stimulating environment to come up with ideas that have truly global impact.
It has been said that you can have a similar level of living standard in China if you earn about 30% of your US salary. So what 500,000 RMB could bring to that guy in Shanghai may be very close to what he would have in US with a salary of 180,000 USD. Although this “equation” may not be very accurate, many returnees have found it is quite true. Of course there are many elements in the “living standard”, and the similar standard is not exact same standard. For example in China you may find playing golf, or buying a foreign-made car is more expensive than that in US. on the other hand, you easily can hire one full-time nanny if you make a half million RMB annually (how much do you have to make if you want to do this in US?). Therefore, how you feel about your new living standard in China will heavily depend on what your emphases are :-)
i was born and grew up in shanghai. now it’s the 6th year i’m away from home. when i first came here, i was told: if you want to live a *shanghai life*, new york city is probably the only place to be in north america. from my point of view, to go back or not is more like choosing a life style.
in north america, you are most likely a middle-class. you live in a house instead of an apartment. and you have a car that you can drive around, without being stuck in the middle of the street. during the year, you fly to mexico or cuba for 1 week vacation. the social system, the employer (in most cases) and others treat you with respect. respect in a way that ppl make rules and decisions, with you in their mind (again, in most cases).
on the other hand, if you are in shanghai, you might work harder to stay in the middle class range. (i restrict my comparison btw average white collars.) you eagerly follow the trend. you show you know how to live by hunting for fancy restaurants and coffee shops. you try new things because they are in. ppl appreciate you being all dressed up, rather than glare at you. most of all, the food is good, by all means =O
to me, at first, i just couldn’t wait to go back. but the longer i stayed here, the more i started to embrace the life style. i believe you can fall in love with shanghai at first sight. but, you see why western world is more advanced by digging deeper.
in conclusion, comfortable or not, it’s more of an attitude, not measurable by $$ =D
Hi Jianshuo,
I was wondering if the title should read as “Coming back / Returning to China” instead, as it is a post from your viewpoint.
anyway, i just read something which really made me sit up.
” NY declares Chinese New Year a holiday
FROM next year, people living in New York state will enjoy an extra public holiday – the Chinese New Year.
A new Bill making this a gazetted holiday was passed on Monday in recognition of the great contributions to New York state made by Asian immigrants, reported Xinhuanet yesterday.
There is now also hope among Chinese residents in other states that the New York move will spread.
New Yorkers currently enjoy 10 days of public holiday while Singaporeans have 11 days, of which two days are for the Chinese New Year.
Other countries that designate a public holiday for this festival include Malaysia, China, South Korea, Vietnam and other Asian countries.
The Chinese festival, usually highlighted with fire crackers and lion dances, will be celebrated at all New York schools and organisations, and will be used as a platform to promote the Asian culture. Currently, 28 per cent of the 18 million residents of New York State are Asians.
~ from Streats 12 Nov 2004″
ps: I know that i owe someone a translated post of Wendy’s article. I’ll try my best to complete the task by this weekend. my sincere apologies for the delay- have been caught up with work.
Man, this emailer’s wacked. If he’s really from China, then asking a question like if 500k RMB/year will provide a comfortable life in Shanghai is playing retarded. Even if he left the PRC long ago (my dad left Beijing in 1981), he should still realize that 500,000 RMB is a huge amount! FYI: University professors made ~100 RMB a month in the 1980s, and foods like oil, eggs, meat were rationed. Frankly, his family back home sound pretty arrogant, and with their apparent standard, life in China must be extremely depressing and lonely. Here’s an advice: Appreciate, find a hobby, donate some money, and you’ll feel more comfortable regardless of US or China. P.S. Keep up the good work Jian Shuo Wang! Your reply is democratic and objective.
Just to add to what cg posted. For those reading in China, they should remember that New York is not representative of a normal N. American city. Certaintly if you are middle-class, then there’s no way you’ll have a house in this city. The average apartment price in Manhattan (i.e. what most people in China know as New York city) is around 1 million USD. I forgot what the townhouse prices are (maybe someone can correct me?) but I remember it to be something close to 4 million USD. Sucks, but true, you have to be unquestionably rich to afford a house in a white neighbourhood in the city. Even Hollywood celebrities only have apartments in Manhattan.
Mr. Wang,
When I see this subject, I really have mixed feeling, repatriation has become popular among the Chinese immigrate community, many people left their family here and return China to seek fortune.
I was a volunteer few years ago and came across few cases of these man made single families. At the end, many families were seperated or divorced and the children really suffered from the consequence.
Today, it still remains a serious social problem among the Chinese community.
I personally do not against anyone to seek fortune in China, but family value should come before wealth, always have the family by their side!
Stephen
Hi Jianshuo, can’t you see, that this email is just WAY out of proportions ?
Not worth to answer in my opinion.
You know my qingaide, Xiuying.
Her parents makes 5000 RMB a year from the rice fields.
How about your own family’s income ?
Can’t you see ?
carsten,
The gap between the rich and poor has polarized in China, there is nothing we can do about it nor the government wish to change the situation. Just make sure you stay on the right side.
Stephen
Fantastic topic! My boyfriend and I had just returned from a 2 week backp[acking trip to China. We were both very impressed by it.
We had small discusions about possibly relocate to China to work for a few years to save up money (provide if we can earn the same amount as we do int eh UK).
From what I can see the relative living cost is more expensive than the UK in some areas and cheaper in others (food etc.)
If we can earn UK wages (average white collar wages) then we can lead a better life in China than in the UK due to lower cost and high exchange rate.
I want to find a possible job in management in software industry while Michael my bf want to teach English and drama. He is scared he doesn’t speak any mandarin for now tho.
Hi Jianshuo,
Are any of your friends graphic designers? I’m interested in what a graphic designer who’s graduated from a college in China would earn in Shanghai, early on in their career. I know this question is very specific and you might not know the answer, but one of your readers might.
I’m an American living in Shanghai. My salary comes to something like 150,000 rmb/yr. With that pay, my standard of living seems pretty similar to the standard of living I had when I lived in San Francisco, USA and earned about US$80,000/yr.
In terms of life quality, I miss things like employer-provided health insurance (and cheap Haagen Daazs ice cream). On the other hand, my Shanghai apartment is the nicer than any apartment I rented in San Francisco.
I agree with the 30% rule for comparing actual BUYING POWER of rmb vs. US$. I have tried to determine this, and I always come up with a general figure between 25% and 33%. Imported things (e.g. electronics, foreign foods) will cost disproportionately more, local labor-intensive things (e.g. haircuts, having something repaired or delivered) disproportionately less
Wow! 500K RMB annual salary. I think he as a software engieer in small company in small town, should expect 50K RMB in China. So there is a big gap between his expection and the reality. I think he really shouldn’t go back China.
Be realistic, I think his whole family (/w his wife’s income) can expect to have 200K RMB annual income. I think this amount can live a decent life in China already
I sent the original question and it is nice that Wang wrote such a detailed and objective answer.
I realize now that 500k is certainly an unrealistic number, and it apparently is even an offending number to a few of the posters. My family is not rich, they may even never be able to earn such a shocking amount in there lifetime. They might have made up the number just to scare me off the idea.
Like Wang Jianshuo said, the choice is mine. I thank all the posters for helping me makeing this choice.
I guess you will go back if your wife take the offer from China. Salary is one thing, if you want opportunity, you should go back. Your current job is a dead end. IMHO
I am currently negotiating with my company on compensation package to move back to Shanghai and start a subsidiary there. I would love to have your advice on the following:
1. Tax implication for a US citizen living in Shanghai? Do I expect to be double taxed (paying tax to both the US and China? Is there a bilateral tax agreement between the US and China?
2. My company would like me to relocate to Shanghai with the market value of a local executive, this means that I would actually take a paycut but with incentives such as additional stock options. I would like to know what is a typical company executive makes in China?
3. As a US citizen, I am afraid that I will be forced to pay a premium price on almost everything vs the locals (i.e. much higher rent payment, auto-payment, etc) and therefore my cost will be much greater than a local executive with the same standard of living. Is this true and what should be my expectation?
Your timely response to the above questions would be greatly appreciated to help me make a better decision regarding the position.
Jacob, regarding question 1 on tax, I am not sure how you pay tax. You’d better consult your company on this. I guess some expat readers here can help to answer it.
Question 2 on the executive payment, it is also a question very hard to answer. It depends on the industry, the company and many other factors. I heard of some survey data on this, but I don’t have.
Question 3 are the only question I have an answer. In China, U.S. citizen does pay higher than local residents. I guess it is because there are two seperate arket. For example, rent an apartment generally cost 1000 RMB for local resident, but costs 1000 – 2000 USD in average for my foreign friends. But the trick is, they are two different kinds of apartments. Most of foreigners like to live in the best location with gyms, sports facilities, but people in Shanghai don’t need that. The life that is OK for many U.S. citizen is just way too luxrious for local people and a very good apartment in the local market is called miserable by my foreign friends. So the conclusion is, the price for foreigners is much higher, but much worth the value.
Hey Wang,
First I have to say that you have the most fastinating blog about Shanghai. I am loving it. It sure really gives me a lot of insider information…
And to you Jacob,
As for foreigners and Chinese, we pay as the same percentage when it comes to income, but the tax free amount for foreigners is actually higher. Take Shanghai as an example, the first RMB4000 you make every month will be tax free, while for local chinese, the amount is only RMB1000. Sorry that I really don’t remember the percentage, since last time I touched this issue was like almost one year ago…
I hope this help.
Cheers,
K.
Going Back to the China Was the best decision Me and my Wife made. We are both originaly Chinese and we came to the US as students and then started working here. The question of Cost is a not really significant if to considere the cost of living in china is lot less then Living in the US. But most inportantly in CHINA you will get opportunities you counl not dream about in the US, like startin up a business. THe government is very helpful and you could find excellent talent at a fraction of the cost of the US. Espically in the IT/hardware and soon in the bio tech fields. low taxes and no discrimination unlike the US.
BOTTOM line if you are a CHINESE in America you will allway be a second calss worker to you American boss. NO matter how hard you work, no matter how stupid you boss is! WHY because you are chinese
IN CHina IF you work hard You can BE number #1
In U.S., We pay a large amount of money as Income Tax. For example, a person who is single and earning $70,000 a year can only get approximate $50,000 in the end because of all types of Tax (i.e. Federal Income Tax, Social Security Tax, Medicare Tax, State and Local Tax). I wonder how much tax a person in China earning 500,000 RMB pays. Also, what about an average IT professional earning 160,000 RMB in China? Thanks.
Hi..im just a stranger from Internet..landing suddenly here.
Im a Chinese-kiwi(Chinese living in New Zealand)..i sometimes hear my parents discussing that..whether returning to China or not.personally donnt mind at all actually, whatever decisions they make(im only 17 so ve 2 follow) I love China and i really think it’s a great land based on the experience ive got last year that the whole family made a trip there. My younger brother,particularly loved it as he found it was so fun to pretend he could speak Chinese but actually he couldnt.Chinese people were very very friendly..that was really great and the warm welcome they brought 2 us was the one you couldnt enjoy in other countries,such as UK,U.S,Japan etc. Maybe it was just becoz I immigrated 2 NZ since 5 and i still held a bit memories about the land ive used 2 live (though i couldnt speak the language now).Now im going 2 U.S for university and I think I will come back after finishing the univ education, i think i really do.
I would like to go to China or Taiwan, and find a wife.
I love America, but can’t stand the Californian women. (white or Asian)
any tips on how to do this, and where to go.
Any information would be appreciated.
To: Finess3
Just use ur charm if u have any. Otherwise I guess $$$ works for most Chinese women and having a white skin will automatically “attract” Taiwanese women (in general).
hi i just returned from china on july 9, 2006 i was there for 2 week. i think life in china is not so bad. need some improvement but its ok . i have a question if anyone can help me out.
#1 if i decide to buy a house in china. what are the china government requirement? i am a u.s. citizen (but im asian chinese/american) can i buy house in china?
#2 if i married a chinese girl and later if divorced. do i have to pay spousal support to her and give her half of my everything?
#3 how to get citizenship in china?
a) do i have to married to a chinese girl? if so how long before i can be qualified for the citizenship?
b) i want to keep my U.S.A. citizenship and also would like to obtain a China citizenship. can this be done?
To: BAB
Contact the American Consulate General in Shanghai (www.usembassy-china.org.cn). They can answer your legal questions. I spend about four months/year in China for business. The Chinese are great people and China has a lot to offer.
I go to Seoul korea 15 sept. 2007 now travel China and Japon. information is ok. I am ecuatorian from Quito ecuador in south america, mi email is laracarmen56@hotmail.com.
Hi, I’m a genuine “laowai” moving to china with my wife and after two months, I’m still at lost. Sometimes I hear “laowai” and sometimes “LAOWAI!” that’s about all I can relate to when talking about my experience with the nice Chinese people.
I’ve tried to pick up Chinese but it’s hard, simple because no one want to talk with me, or listen for that matter. I have successfully learned languages before by living in other countries and talking with people, and I found this to be a great experience of adventure to me, and i love to do that… However Chinese people do not seem to be good people to me! My impression is that they only care about making money, and they never care for things as health or keeping clean. What they want is climbing the ladder or just feeling superior for being Chinese, and me as “look-at” laowai is a great way to keep their imagination intact.
I’ve tried to compensate my stay here by getting a nice flat, but after a few days i see it’s completely superficial, and by that i mean the material stuff. It’s just not well crafted, nothing here can live up to the standard I’m used too. But the Chinese craftsmen sure seems to think so, or they somehow think that superficial quality is the state of the art. They seem to have no idea how to do it right or for that matter how much it should cost.
Everything superficially good is desired by their craftmenship, for instance putting 18 layers of gravitational lacquer is the best, never mind that the wood is light as bambo and good for nothing it seems!
The western understanding of everlasting quality is just not here. Only flashy things with a stupid price tag, oh and this is something i’ve noticed, everything can be stupidly priced, not for any reason, just that’s it highly priced and that’s it, that’s the top-of-the-game, spend money and you’re cool! Wohaa!
Anyhow, for a long hike in the mountains i wanted to have water proofed clothes, right? Well, I’ve grown to like waterproof cotton, it simply works like wonders. Even the astronauts feels it’s the right stuff!. So, I’m very found of the Swedishly manufactured Eta-proof cotton. So I’ve asked around if I can found some fabric that’s like tightly weaved cotton from Egypt, or for that any matter, any cotton that is waterproof. Well I got nothing, just ignorance. What i’ve got adviced to check into is plastic material like goretex. Well how funny, mind you that they never even had goretex!
That adventure ended with taking my casual clothes and a bad mood :-) !
The story continues with me being at home searching for some HiFi to calm my mood. Sure HiFi in China can be far developed so i looked at their brands, and what I’ve found is that their all stupidly imitations of JM-Lab (french) or English manufactures! And it’s just in the shape as I can see not the thought of why or what components to use, so i mean, “Come on!” do something with your minds!
Well, just isn’t any now..I’ve found that it’s all about the money and no actual thought to pleasure to people who really want quality!
Now while here, I’m trying to stop to even think of it. I’m going to buy farmer dresses and be pleased by having clothes, that’s it, my house will be heated by the weather and beyond that it’s just superficial and with no real point here.
For your sake, 500.000RMB will be enough to see what’s great in China, like Xian and Tibet in west of China, but that’s about it. I’d say keep the money and don’t spend on the mediocre service in China! YOU WILL GET BAD MOOD!
@Ni De Lao Wai – wow… maybe you should just go home?
…and you should call yourself by your nationality rather than ‘laowai’. :p
Hi guy, help me with this.
I am 25% chinese, i love to live in China but i dont know how much it cost to buy a house in China(which is not in shanghai or beijing) how easy to get a job over there(which is enough to have a decent life), and plus i dont really speak chinese( only english), but i understand few chinese. So is it consider a bad idea to live in china? please help me cuz i can not wait to go to china. i love it….
Very interesting and informative web site about home relocation! gives a thumb up on SU!!
I’m from Shanghai, and I’m studing in Seattle now. However, I really want to go back to Shanghai. I really really want to go back to China. I love that kind of life.
Hi,
My name is Liu Yong Jian who have been in US for about 18 years. I am planning to move back to China permenantly in 2012. Right now, I am trading stock and commodity markets. And I am doing some planning to move back to China. My destination is Shan Dong Province.
My questions is what are the best ways to ship my stuff back to China? How should I go about the re-entry precedures? And what else I should be aware of?
I appreciate your help!
Liu Yong Jian
I have the same question as Liu Yong Jian. I’m a Canadian Caucasian who just got back to Toronto after 2 years of living and working in China as an Art Director for Chinese Marketing Company. I came back after the end of my contract a month ago and I’ve been experiencing the worst case of reverse culture shock. Though I’m glad to see my friends there is nothing else that is keeping me here. I really miss the life I had in China, my friends there and the most amazing variety of food anywhere in the world, and of course I don’t want to lose what Mandarin I’ve already learned.
All this to say that I really just came back to sell some of my things rent out the apartment I’d been paying for the last couple of years, cash in my investments and head back to China as fast as I can.
So, yes I would also really like to know how I can ship almost an apartments worth of things to China
Thanks for your help
Uhan
PS I have no idea what kind of China the other Lao Wai a few posts ago was talking about but it certainly was not the China I lived in the last couple of years. I found the people there to be among the friendliest and most helpful in the world. Unlike my fellow Canadians who purposely avoid eye contact when passing you on the street, you can literally say hello or “Ni hao” rather, to almost anyone in China and they will gladly greet you back if not start a conversation. I loved my job and my company was very progressive with western like working hours, extremely well treat employees and so many company social activities that kept every one interested and inspired. I can’t say enough about China or the Chinese people and their culture other than to say that I want to go back and make it my permanent home.
And, about the products in China, well as in most anywhere else in the world you can find inferior things and world class products as well, in fact when you take cities like Shanghai, Bejing and Hong Kong, I believe that if you can’t find it there, it doesn’t exist. This is coming from one very happy Lao Wai.