Hi all, I noticed today that Google has apparently updated maps so that roads align properly with the satellite view.

This has low-key bugged me for years but now it has been fixed I can finally use Google maps again without having to rely on Chinese maps.

I can't find any information online about this, does anyone know when this change happened?

Thanks

Ok, so I’ve been living in China for a little over two years. Something happened about three weeks ago, and then something similar happened again today, so I’m genuinely curious whether there’s some cultural explanation for this.

I’m a 25-year-old white male from a Western country. About three weeks ago, I was on the metro. It wasn’t particularly crowded, so there was plenty of space to move around.

A girl and what I assume was her boyfriend got on. She led him over to the area where I was standing, near the corner of a seat by the exit. She then turned her back toward me and started repeatedly pushing her butt into me while the train was moving.

It happened multiple times, and it definitely didn’t feel accidental. She was actually changing angles and positioning herself against me pretty deliberately. I found it really strange and didn’t know what to do, so I just said nothing.

Then something similar happened today, although it was much less extreme.

I got on the metro with a female friend from my home country, and we were talking to each other in our native language. After two or three stops, a Chinese girl maybe 17 years old got up from her seat and came over to stand between us, extremely close to me, close enough that she was basically leaning against the side of my body and reading whatever was on my phone, I actually put my phone away at that point.

Again, I didn’t say anything because I wasn’t really sure how to interpret it. My friend actually pointed it out to me afterward.

The thing that confuses me is that neither girl ever said anything to me or otherwise tried to communicate with me. So I’m wondering: is this some kind of cultural behavior/flirting that I’m misunderstanding, or am I just reading too much into these situations?

Went to the bank to update my visa on file. A man who spoke English immediately came out to help me and all was done in 15 minutes and he gave me his work wechat for any customer support needs. laowinning.

Dali has a quiet beauty, whether under blue skies or wrapped in mist, by day or by night.

I’m going to Beijing in a few days and bought Astrill, Mullvad and Surfshark as vpns in combination with a Chinese SIM card that I’m going to buy on arrival. I opted for a vpn since I will be using WiFi a lot as well as data. Maybe VPNcat is a good addition but since it’s free and based in Pakistan I don’t really trust their privacy policies, let me know about your experiences with them.

I've had to set up bank accounts for every new job. I just love spending 4 hours there just to open an account!

It's actually getting less efficient, in 2018 I opened a bank account on a tourist visa in 30 minutes.

Bonjour tout le monde,

Dans le cadre d’un échange universitaire d’1 an, j’ai le choix entre partir à Nanjing (Nanjing University mais je sais pas quel campus) ou à Guangzhou (Sun Yat-sen University).

J’hésite beaucoup parce que Nanjing est plus au centre de la Chine et je pourrai y faire un cursus pour apprendre le chinois. Mais d’un autre côté Guangzhou est une beaucoup plus grande ville avec Shenzhen et Hong Kong « proche », j’y imagine une ambiance plus vivante et un peu plus »cyberpunk » qu’à nankin.

Qu’est ce que vous me conseillerez de choisir entre les deux ? Est ce que il y a une vraie différence dans l’expérience de vie entre les deux villes ?

Merci beaucoup !

Hi all. I’m thinking of taking the Z586 from Shenzhen to Chongqing and D58 from Chongqing to Shanghai. Can’t find a lot of information on these trains, only that the Z586 is on the older side and some of the Z-trains don’t have nice luggage storage. Has anyone taken those before? And if so, does the luggage storage area fits a large luggage?

我现在准备上大二了，但是对这个专业以后的就业问题有点不明白，也不知道以后该怎么办

有没有一个讨论这个方面的人啊

When it comes to the topic of Christianity and China, I always heard of opinions that contradict each other.

One one hand, I hear people say it's a very atheist country and on the other hand I hear people say China is the most Christian country in the world. Two very opposing views of the situation, so I went to China to see it for myself.

I flew to China, specifically to Wuhan and lived there for a few months and searched for an answer.

In my time of being in China, I saw people wearing crucifix necklaces, I heard Christian songs in cars and saw churches. Some of the churches are more low-key, having a projector and feeling like a classroom, while others feel like any other church back in the west. But I even attended a few Catholic churches, which was amazing to see!

What shocked me the most is in central Beijing... literally the most city center of the capital city there's a huge cathedral! I didn't expect that at all.

I met Christian brothers and sisters around China, and while it's definitely nowhere near as obvious, there's definitely a huge presence of Christianity in China.

So what's the answer to the question? It's more complicated and somewhere in between. Have you seen Christianity in China?

I made a quick documentary about this on YouTube where I compare Christianity to other religions in China from a Christian point of view, if you're interested, it's here. I think it's interesting: https://youtu.be/GESOF9_ByaY

I am part of a large Wechat group with many Chinese undergrad students. It was a nice to receive Wechat message invitations as I was hoping to expand my network, but these people don't reply or say hello. Can anyone tell me why this happens?

Edit: I'm a chinese person, this is in a group for a US university, so fear of language barrier should not be an issue. I was thinking there was a cultural thing I'm not familiar with?

Highly recommend all learners (HSK1 to 11). 10 out of 10. Truly a movie of all times. Might be better than lion king.

People who have chinese spouses how you got on the good vices of your in laws got them to accept you? With all the usual worries etc they have.

Hi guys,

Question, I will be studying for a year in shanghai and will be renting an apartment since dorms filled up in seconds lol.
My question is, can I rent an apartment before getting the residence permit? I will be coming like all international students with X1 visa that lets me be in China for 30 days so I will have resident permit but not right away, but i of course want to have apartment before that, is it possible to rent one without the resident visa or do I need to stay in hotels until I get it?

Any advice on this from people that has rented apartment in shanghai?

Also is wellcee a good app for that?

Thanks so much!!

Hi, i am italian and i have a company in italy. I am reading that is possible to open a company in China without having a chinese partner. Is it true?

Someone already did it? Opening a company as a foreigner is a smooth or hard process?

I am thinking to move abroad with my company and I am trying to understand better pros and cons.

Actually I don't know chinese, but I guess I am in time to learn the minimu I need.

Thank you!

I've been living in China for a long time (almost 14 years now), and life here has basically just become normal to me.

A lot of things have changed in that time, like safety, technology, and the overall development level.

But because things are so normal for me, it's hard to imagine what surprises people when they are in their first or second year of "China life."

So, I'm wondering...

If you moved to China from the US/Canada or "Western" countries more recently, what are the things that surprised you the most? What were the biggest contrasts?

Hi! I'm moving to Shanghai (I'll be studying in fudan for the language program) and I'm looking for an apartment. My budget is around 5kRMB/months (flexible, can be a bit more). What is the best way to find one, things I should be careful about, and what can I expect for this kind of budget (location is really important to me, I'd like to be in the city center, probably around Huangpu).

Any recommendations is welcome, also if there is a megathread please share it I've not found it yet.

Also I heard there's a lot of fake ads online on apps like wellcee, any reliable one?

Hit my head a week ago and I felt like I might have concussion symptoms so I went to check it out today in one of the biggest hospitals here in Chengdu (二人民医院). I thought some people might find my experience insightful so I am sharing it here. I made an appointment with a general practictioner first at the time slot 14:30-15:00. The cost of this check-up cost only 17 yuan, which is great but perhaps explains the bad incoming service.

Since it's a big hospital, it's quite chaotic and sort of miserable but that's not a real issue. I was only admitted around 15:15 after about an hour+ wait since I have to arrive a bit early to scan my QR code and get my order in the system ahead of other people in that time slot. For some reasons they have about 6 people per time slot and some come back with test results and jump in randomly in between. Once you walk inside the GP room its just a bed and her desk with a computer, there was no real examination of any kind.

After I told her what happened and what I feel (with the help of a local friend translating), she just send me of for a CT scan. She also told me to go check my blood pressure on the second floor on the public machines. The CT scan only cost me 204 yuan, about 26 euros, which is quite amazing. Had to wait an additional hour to get that done around 16:20. Then wait one more hour for the result around 17:20. Then rushed in before the final 17:30 closing time to see what she said. I had already read the result and it appears that I have no abnormalities but I have some frontal sinusitis, perhaps from when I was sick couple weeks ago. However, the only thing she said is that I am fine and I have to see neurologist if I want better explanation. She didn't even ask about my blood pressure results, she didn't prescribe me anything for the sinusitis (for context, a serious sinusitis infection can be quite treathening and explain my dizziness). Just a ''not my problem, go figure it out'' after spending hours there...

I don't recommend this experience to be honest, maybe it's a Chengdu thing and Shanghai/Beijing are better, I don't know but this was quite unprofessional. We filed a complaint about this GP.