News
Australian expat in Dongguan tied up in apartment, robbed
According to a local news report, at 8pm on August 9, a 54-year-old Australian man was robbed at knife point in his Dongguan, Guangzhou, apartment.Read More
News
Expat Canadian couple in Dandong investigated for alleged theft of state secrets
A Canadian couple living on the border with North Korea in Dandong, Liaonong, are being investigated by Chinese authorities for allegedly stealing defense military and defense secrets. Originally from Vancouver, Kevin Garratt and his wife Julia Dawn first arrived in China in 1984 and were teaching English in Southern China before opening a coffee shop, …Read More
News
Foreigners in Shanghai mess with locals just for laughs
Some foreigners in Shanghai recently took to the streets to pull off a few Just For Laughs quality gags on the locals.Read More
News
No Pets or Foreigners attempts to capture laowai experience in new sitcom
Possibly coming to a TV or Youku stream near you is a new sitcom called No Pets or Foreigners, which follows the misadventures of Melvin and Larry, two Westerners in Beijing, as well as their brusque Chinese landlord Mr. Li and his materialistic daughter Lingling.Read More
Reviews
Review: How Does One Dress To Buy Dragonfruit? True Stories Of Expat Women In Asia
This new collection from Signal 8 Press brings together 26 stories from the lives of expat women living in Asia. Being an expat woman living in Asia myself, I jumped at the chance to read and review it.Read More
News
American teacher spends 7 months in Chinese jail enduring forced labour
Stuart Foster, a 49-year-old American sociology professor, spent more than seven months in a jail in southern China, where he was forced to assemble Christmas lights for export to the US.Read More
News
Beijing expat’s dog beaten to death in front of him
Stories of roving bands of stick-wielding chengguan beating pets and strays have been hitting the media for a number of years now, but this is the first we’ve heard of it entering the China expat community. These stories are senseless brutal tragedies regardless where the pet’s owner hails from, but I think there’s always been …Read More
Reviews
Review: You Don’t Know China
Telling me I don’t know China is a big claim, and I have to admit my long-term laowai ego caused me to take a serious pause before digging into this book — one of the initial offerings from new expat-run Taiwan-based publisher Camphor Press.
My doubts quickly abated as You Don’t Know China deftly dispelled several misconceptions I had long carried with me. Hubris in check, I found myself thoroughly enjoying John Ross’ witty and well-researched collection of mythbusting the hyperbole surrounding China’s present and past.Read More
China Expat Life
Long-term Canadian expatriates regain voting rights
Approximately 1.4 million Canadians living abroad have been denied the constitutionally-guaranteed right to vote since a 2007 law made residency a requirement. That law was recently overturned, and long-term Canadians expats, regardless of where they reside, will once again be able to vote in federal elections. The rule disenfranchising Canadians abroad for more than five years …Read More
China Expat Rants
US news anchor gets shaken by China, nothing falls out
American Chris Matthews, star of MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews, recently visited China — and it “shook” him. In a piece for his show’s blog entitled, “The 10 Days in China that Shook Me“, Matthews redefines parachute journalism and brings new depth to negative stereotypes surrounding Americans travelling abroad.Read More
News
Laowai lands airplane on road in Sichuan
Imagine the surprise of locals as they watched a small plane land on the relatively barren Liaoning Dadao in Beichuan, Sichuan, and pull into a gas station recently. According to the report at GoChengdoo, the pilot, identified only as “Andy”, was forced to land the plane after experiencing a fuel shortage shortly after takeoff. Travelling …Read More
Special Days
Happy Chinese New Year — Let’s Horse Around
Another Chinese New Year is upon us, my tenth time celebrating the Spring Festival, and before I huddle down and brace for the bombastic bombtastic barrage, I figured I’d share a few links from around the web to help you navigate and enjoy the galloping in of the Year of the Horse.Read More
