Despite a strong showing in the "Top 10 attractive cities to foreigners" list, a new report indicates that no Mainland first-tier cities are suitable for habitation.
The report on China's urban competitiveness, from Chinese think tank the National Academy of Economic Strategy under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, states that the metropolises of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou all failed to rank as "hab…
After my last post for Lost Laowai, where I expressed my annoyance with the irritating and pointless public announcements in Chinese public transport, I will now move on to another aspect of life in China which I find irritating: the tendency of the Chinese to address foreigners in English even when it would be easier for both to speak Chinese.
This particular irritation is perhaps not shared by all the foreig…
In response to "What tips and tricks have you learned that have made it easier to live in China?" recently asked on Quora, long-time China expat and Beijing resident Kaiser Kuo dished out some fantastic advice -- his last one, quite possibly the toughest to follow, is my fav.
Stay tuned after Kaiser's advice for a couple items of my own, but really these pretty much nail it:
Read Quote of Kaiser Kuo's answer to…
As a bit of a follow-up to my post the other day, Tighter visa restrictions or just more of the same?, here is a link to a guest post by Gary Chodorow at the Shanghaiist which outlines everything you need to know about China's new Exit-Entry Law:
All you need to know about China's new Exit-Entry Law
You can also check out Gary's comment on the post mentioned above, as well as his blog.…
According to Shanghai Daily, the National People's Congress Standing Committee is currently discussing a draft law that will shorten the minimum stay for foreigners who come to China to 90 days, with the residence permits ranging in validity from six months to five years.
The draft law was designed with the aim of curbing the illegal entry, stay and employment of foreigners and stipulating harsher punishments for …
Because living in China didn't feel uneasy enough, a new draft law currently under review will require any foreigners staying longer than 6 months in China to have their fingerprints taken by the Entry & Exit Bureau and kept on file.
China Daily: Foreigners who stay in China for more than six months will be required to give their fingerprints to local police when applying for residence certificates, according to a…
According to a post on Global Voices, Sven Englund, a Swede studying in Shanghai's Fudan University, has been interrogated and has had his passport confiscated by Shanghai police after writing a "letter" to the Chinese President Hu Jintao in his Chinese-language blog.
Not wishing to bring any undue wrath down on me or mine, I'll not re-post Sven's letter, which GV has translated. Essentially it asks China's presid…
The game Scruples; that's the first thing I thought of when I read "Plea for help to get sick Aussie home" in the Canberra Times this morning.
The Department of Foreign Affairs has refused to fund the repatriation of a former air force serviceman who has been in a coma in a Chinese hospital for 116 days.
Relatives of Thomas Barry Moore have been warned that the 70-year-old Australian would be ''removed'' fr…
For what feels like forever, I've been tinkering away at a new feature here at Lost Laowai, and I finally feel its at a stage where I can announce it. It's called "Laowai Answers" and it operates pretty much on the same principle as any of the many of other "Q&A" sites out there -- most notably Yahoo Answers and Answers.com -- except Laowai Answers is completely China-focused.
The concept is simple -- have a quest…
© RickenbackerI was standing on the street corner the other day waiting for a taxi beside a middle-aged foreigner doing the same. This isn't uncommon, I live in a rather laowai-saturated area of Suzhou. The corner also works as an impromptu parking spot for people looking to dash over to the bakery, or pick up a bit of food from the long line of restaurants.
As we were waiting, in our awkward expat silence, a…
Return to Top ▲
Lost Laowai
GabrielC
Ryan