Moving to a new country is already a big deal. But for Westerner expats, relocating to Asia can be extra intimidating! This post covers some living in China pros and cons, from my view as a 5-year expat in Beijing.
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So you’re thinking of moving to China? Great! Honestly, so many of the expats I’ve talked to love most everything about living in China. Does it take a lot of adjusting? Sure. But most would agree, it’s well worth it.
A quick disclaimer before you get started: I am just one person, who has lived in just one city of China. So while I can share my insight with you, I can’t speak for everyone, or give you a perfect idea of what life here is like.
However, some insight is better than none! So read on to hear about my person thoughts on the pros and cons of living in China.
Apartments & Living In China Pros and Cons:
Apartments & Living: Pros
There are many! The cost of living is quite low, unless you live smack-dab in the middle of a big city. Thanks to apps like Ziroom, you can do the entire process of finding and leasing an apartment in big cities via the app.
It’s fairly easy to find apartments to rent which come fully furnished. For someone like me, who doesn’t plan to stay here forever, this is a major pro.
Neighbors can also be a pro! (Please note: I said ‘can’). Personally, I’ve found that my elderly neighbors are usually quite pleasant.
A few lucky friends of mine have even said their elderly neighbors would invite them in for a bowl of “hangover noodles” if they caught them coming back in the morning after a big night out. We love our “ayi’s” (aunties)!
Apartments & Living: Cons
Neighbors can be a pro, but they can also be the biggest con of all. Some neighbors are very opposed to having foreigners next door, and will voice this if they see you visiting an apartment with a landlord, or after moving in.
I had one apartment which I had to move out of due to a crazy neighbor. My Chinese friends told me that they thought she must have mental problems, because she was calling the police on me for ‘walking loudly’ at 7pm.
And that leads to the con of soundproofing! Apartments here seem to have much worse soundproofing than apartments in the US. And this isn’t an issue of high quality complex vs. old, crusty complex. It’s all the same.
So for me, neighbors and soundproofing are the biggest cons of renting in China. Occasional issues with appliances, cockroaches, and leaks here or there happen. But those are usually handled by the landlord.
Adapting to Chinese Culture Pros and Cons
Cultural & Atmosphere: Pros
The vast majority of Chinese folks are incredibly kind and helpful. Most younger people speak some level of English, so if you’re really in a pinch, it’s not too hard to find some help.
Chinese culture cares very much about “saving face” which basically means not losing your dignity. This can be tricky to navigate, but ultimately means that people are not quick to laugh at you or embarrass you.
When moving to a new country, humility is something you HAVE to learn quickly. It’s humbling messing up with language, being so helpless, and needing lots of support. I had to learn to get over myself REAL fast.
Due to China’s “saving face” mentality, people here tend to be very kind and give lots of grace. And I have appreciated that a lot as I’ve clumsily found my footing in China over the years.
Culture & Atmosphere: Cons
So the “saving face” concept goes both ways. When there’s a problem at your workplace, for example, you can’t just dump the blame on someone, even if they ‘deserve’ it. You can’t point fingers or make accusations.
Sometimes the preservation of dignity goes much too far, in my opinion. You feel trapped because you can’t express your actual opinions to someone due to the risk of causing them to lose face. It’s tricky.
Also, there are the occasional non-friendly locals who aren’t too happy to see foreign faces. This can be devastating, especially when you become so comfortable in China that you don’t feel like an outsider anymore.
No matter how much language, history, and culture I learn, Chinese people still see me as a “laowai” (slang for foreigner). This does make me sad, as I feel so at home here, but will never be ‘one of them’.
Quality of Life Pros and Cons
Quality of Life: Pros
A massive, massive pro of living in China: it’s very safe. Crime is low. Streets are safe to walk on at all hours of the night, no matter which city you live in. Pretty much the biggest danger comes from crazy driving/drivers.
Of course, there are the occasional stories of someone getting robbed/cheated or having an unpleasant encounter. Still, these stories are rare, and for the most part, China is extremely safe. Much safer than the USA.
Living doesn’t get much more convenient than it in in China. Once you have WeChat and Alipay set up, your world becomes easier than ever before.
Shopping apps, such as Taobao and Jingdong, make shopping incredibly easy. Taobao carries tons of imported items as well, so it’s possible to find a lot of shampoos, cosmetics, and other items from home.
Delivery in China is cheap, and that also goes for food! Apps like Meituan make food delivery insanely quick and easy (dangerously so).
Cabs can be also easily called with apps such as Didi or Amap, and rates are low compared to the US. As I said before, things don’t get much more convenient than they are in China.
Quality of Life: Cons
Three factors come to mind immediately: road safety, a lack of ‘street smarts’ from cars/pedestrians, and air quality.
Drivers here are notoriously crazy. If you end up driving in China (which you can only do with a Chinese drivers license), you’ll need to be equally aggressive. If you aren’t, you’ll just be footballed around by other drivers.
In general, the pedestrian/small vehicles situation here is a nightmare. Elderly people will drive every kind of wheeled-contraption possible, and it’s not uncommon for them to drive in the OPPOSITE direction.
Scooters, bicycles, mini electric cars, motorcycles turned into pickup carts, and other oddities crowd the street’s shoulder and create all kinds of traffic. Sometimes they go onto sidewalks and weave around people.
In general, the streets tend to be ‘anything goes’. As either driver or pedestrian, you have to quickly come to terms with the fact that NOTHING ever guarantees you right of way. You’ll always have to be on your guard.
Air Quality
Lastly, air quality can definitely impact the quality of life here. After five years of living in Beijing, my lungs have started to show some long-term issues from years of smog.
Not every day is polluted, but the stretches of pollution can go on for weeks sometimes, if we’re not lucky.
While I use air purifiers at home, and N95 masks when going outside, there is no question that air quality impacts not just health, but mood.
Seeing a gray haze for a month on end can bring “seasonal” depression. But those blue skies will make you happy unlike anything else, once they return.
If you’re planning to move to China, I HIGHLY recommend investing in an air purifier for your home. It’s a must, for your health and safety. I personally use Xiaomi’s air filters, and they’re wonderful.
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Making friends in China Pros and Cons
Making friends in China: Pros
As I’ve mentioned a few times, people in China are usually quite friendly. Many of them are interested in foreigners, or eager to practice their English, so it’s easy to find those quick connections.
If you live in a city like Beijing which has lots of expat hubs (I wrote about some of those in this post), it’s also not too hard to get plugged into the expat community and find friends there.
Thanks to WeChat, there are COUNTLESS groups for foreigners in China. Groups for people with pets, people who want to travel around China, board game get togethers…you name it. There’s a group for everything.
Somehow, you meet people, they add you to groups, and slowly but surely, it happens. WeChat groups turn into networking, turn into friend-making, and soon enough, you have a community.
Making friends in China: Cons
You can make a million surface friendships in China, but it’s very very difficult to get into those deeper relationships. And this is not only my opinion, but one that’s held by many expats here.
A lot of my Chinese friends are super willing to chat, grab a meal, and enjoy lots of small talk. But getting to those deep, soul-connecting conversations takes a really, really long time. And a lot of effort.
I think it’s cultural for Chinese people to hold their deepest feelings and experiences close to themselves. But as an American who loves deep conversations, this was a difficult adjustment to make.
I have just one or two friends in China that I can have really deep conversations with. Other than that, most of my late-night heart spills happen with my expat friends here.
Summing Up the Pros and Cons of Living in China
Do some of the cons in this post scare you? Honestly, I don’t think they should!
Every country has its own pros and cons, it’s just a matter of which pros you can’t live without, and which cons you can live with.
Personally, I find the pros of living in China far outweigh the cons. It takes time and effort to adjust, and there is always a day here or there that can make me feel really frustrated with all of these differences.
But in the end, I’m grateful to live here, and I really do enjoy my life here. I’m able to save a lot, work a job I enjoy, spend lots of time with my fiancé and our friends, and enjoy a different country and culture.
Did this list help you get a better grasp of life in China? Are there any other living in China pros or cons you’d add to this list? Let me know in the comments!
You may also like:
China Travel Guide Books: A Beijing Expat’s Top Recommendations
How To Travel Cheap in China: An Expat’s Advice
