Are expats changing China because China changed them?

Are expats changing China because China changed them?

Are expats changing China because China changed them?

Expats living and working in China are now integrating and becoming more involved in local everyday life.

Although it takes some time to get used to China’s difference and diversity, many expats are integrating in a manner they may not have thought possible when they first arrived. It seems that, after an inevitable period of adjustment, expatriates manage to move their lives in a totally different direction, thus keeping pace with the huge country’s amazingly fast development. As a result, they’re not just following the changes, they’re actively helping to shape them.

Some 20 years ago, at a time when foreigners were taking their first, timid steps into China’s culture and mystery, the average Beijing local’s view of expat life would have consisted of watching his foreign neighbour going to study Chinese at a university, admiring Chinese culture and visiting the hutongs out of sheer curiosity. Nowadays it’s very different, with China’s ‘new expats being creative, active, opening bars or restaurants, hosting galas in fluent Chinese, distributing red envelopes at meetings and making wishes for the following year’s success with Chinese friends. Briefly, today’s expatriate community in China is fully aware of and understands the big picture of the country’s global potential.

Shanghai and Beijing are the favoured locations for today’s expats, with over 100,000 living in the capital and over 200,000 in Shanghai. Beijing has everything, from traditional culture through creativity and talent to technology at its most impressive. Shanghai is more ‘yuppified’ as it’s totally business-oriented, multicultural and a home from home for expats in finance and business who’ve been in the country for a while. Whilst the huge, cosmopolitan cities have their attractions, especially for newcomers, China’s second- and third-tier cities are easier to understand and have more opportunities for work.

Kunming and Chengdu are popular destinations for expat pioneers with new business ideas, as both cities are easier to get to grips with as regards everyday life. Present-day expats are now integrating, creating and making their own vibes in local communities, in addition to opening up society with their global vision. In many ways, expat localisation is a parallel of the modernisation of the vast country, with just surviving no longer the goal, having been taken over by higher aims and the forgetting of ‘foreign’ identities in favour of development.

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