How I ended up living in China and what I can say about this country after 3 years

Back in 2015 I have got my first Chinese stamp in my passport. That time I thought I won’t stay here any longer than 6-9 month. But the thing is - you never know, right? If someone told me back in the day that in 2018 I will be writing this post, I would hardly believe it. So what has been keeping me here for 3 years? Well, there are quite a few reasons for that, even though there are also some things that I do not really like about this country. Let me explain myself.
After finishing my university I was looking for some new and unique experience and self-development opportunities. Then after some of those days of brainstorming, I found out that one of my friends lives in China. For me, it was something incredible at that time and meanwhile, I got that feeling that this is it. We all know that China is a developing country and it is growing amazingly fast in all aspects. Realizing, that it could be a big step in my life towards learning something new and developing new skills, I told my parents about my intentions. First, they thought that it is crazy and not the best idea. They kept telling me that I could have chosen some better place to go to. But eventually, they understood that I have already made up my mind and could nothing to do but support me. At the time when I was preparing for the trip, my friend has already got married to a Japanese guy and moved to Japan. Therefore I had to take care of everything by myself and prepare myself for any worst-case scenario. New country, new people, new language, food, culture, everything is totally different from where I grew up. That is what fascinated me and scared me at the same time. The decision had been made, job interview passed, and flights booked.
Here I go China! First, few month were not very easy, to say the least. Renting a house, meeting a lot of new people ( even though I’m very friendly, it still was a bit of a stress), getting used to a new food, and a bunch of other things. But I expected that and knew that it was coming, so I was completely fine with all these.
So far, I have made many new friends and good business connections. Got used to everything that was new to me several years ago, have learned Chinese on the pre-intermediate level, got involved in international trading, traveled a lot, and just enjoyed my life here.
But now, let me summarize all that I have experienced here and break it down to The Good, the Bad , and the Ugly.

Life in China:

The Good.

I think when you move to another country the most important is - local people. Here in China, I can’t complain about that. People are nice and friendly. Although, in order to feel completely comfortable and confident you must understand their mentality and social culture.
Traveling. It has never been more convenient and comfortable to travel around China with their transport infrastructure. High-speed train system here - is the king.
Shopping. I can write a lot about this but I will keep it short. The first thing that I must mention - is payment system. As long as you have your phone with installed Wechat on it, you could NEVER use cash here…ever. Which makes your life way more convenient. But don’t forget to charge your phone though! :)
For online shopping, I usually choose between Taobao and Tmall. The last is a bit more expensive but you will less likely end up getting a fake stuff.

The Bad.

Even though local people are very nice and friendly, sometimes their attempts to become your friend could be too intrusive. Mostly not because they are genuinely interested in your personality but only because you are a foreigner. After first chance, they would send some pictures with you to their social networks and friends. Often you can see random people are taking pictures or even video of you somewhere in the supermarket or gym. I’m not saying that it happens everyday or that all people here like that. No, most of the people are completely adequate and nice but it still happens and it could be quite annoying. The funny thing is that very often you can hear from some random kids on the street “laoshi hao” which means “hello teacher”. That is because most of the foreigners here work in the education field.
Eating culture. I’m very sensitive to different kinds of sounds that people make when they eat. Unfortunately, I must say, that 90% of Chinese people eat terribly and disgustingly. I know, I might sound rude and arrogant but it is goddamn true!

The ugly.

Only one thing bothers me here - pollution.
Sometimes, air pollution could be as high that you can’t even see anything within 2 meters. Due to the investigations, one day with this kind of pollution is equal to 2-4 packs of cigarettes smoked per day. Of course, only a few days a year like this, but still many other days are quietly polluted. Instead of blue sky you just see fog. It always makes me feel bad mentally and sometimes physically.
Dirty streets, I would put together with pollution, as well as with Chinese culture. It is normal thing here to through a trash out of the car’s window. Or just to pee on the street…or smoke in the shopping mall or hospital.

Again, all I mentioned above is just my personal experience and opinion. It is very subjective. I still love China for its opportunities, old culture, people and adventures that I have had here.

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