Date Night China: Lisa Alleyne of Thrive Beijing Talks Taxi Chat-Ups

This article comes from Date Night China (WeChat ID: datenightchina), your guide to dating in China, from love to lust, first dates to worst dates, hilarious stories, and top tips to avoid (or steer into) disaster. Single in the city? Listen to their podcast.

Part online magazine and part community, Thrive Beijing was started by three Beijing expats in 2017, aiming to bring together a community of friendly, open-minded, and ambitious young people living in Beijing by sharing stories about people who are loving life in the city. 

We talked to Lisa Alleyne, Founder of Thrive Beijing, who answers questions about dating and her experience fostering a community in the Capital.

Meet Lisa, co-founder of Thrive Beijing

My name is Lisa Alleyne. I’m from Toronto, Canada. I came to Beijing in 2015 to work at an international school as the Activities Coordinator. In 2018 I left my job to pursue freelance writing full-time.

How has your dating experience in China been?

It’s been weird. When I left Canada to come to China, I imagined I’d find the love of my life out here. In my mind, I saw myself meeting a full-of-life individual who liked living abroad as much as I did. We’d elope and the rest would be history…

*Laughs* China had other plans for me. I’ve been caught in weird love triangles, had an ex deported while we were dating, and just entertained guys who weren’t good matches for me at all.

It’s easy to meet people and have fun in Beijing but it’s been hard for me to find something more serious.

As odd as my experiences have been, I don’t think they are unique to me. Many of my friends have had similar experiences. Some have crazier stories to tell.

Best date experience you’ve had in China?

Roaming the city on the back of a guy’s scooter in the summer. I don’t own one. The experience was a novelty.

Craziest date experience you’ve had in China?

A few summers ago, I was sitting in a taxi, stuck in traffic near Taikoo Li. My window was rolled down, and I was daydreaming. A guy walking by, noticed me, and started chatting me up through the window. I was weary. But he was handsome.

When traffic started to move the guy opened the taxi door to stop the driver from going. The taxi driver wasn’t having it. He kept driving. The guy tried to keep pace for a bit, insisting I give him my number.

I had no idea what my phone number was. Who calls anyone in Beijing? But this guy was full beard, beautiful smile, clean-cut — handsome.

So, as the taxi drove away, I shouted my WeChat ID at him. And he got it!

Texting over WeChat, he told me he lived in another city and was only in town for the weekend. We were both too busy to meet. We didn’t keep in touch, until a year or more later out of the blue he sent me a message to say he was in Beijing for work. We met up at the Red Dog for drinks and it ended up being a great night.

Tell us about Thrive Beijing.

Thrive Beijing is part online magazine and part community. We officially launched in 2017. I started Thrive Beijing with two friends, Nichole Alexis and Boithabiso Mokoena.

The three of us are big fans of living in Beijing. We started Thrive Beijing because while we were loving our experiences here, we noticed that many other foreigners were not. We believed the reason others weren’t happy here was simply that they hadn’t experienced Beijing the way we had. We were always meeting interesting people, attending cool events, and our lives were fairly easy to live because we had found resources and hacks that helped us. 

We created Thrive Beijing to show others what was out there so they too could live better in Beijing.

In our online magazine, we write about people who are thriving in Beijing as a source of inspiration for others who want to make the most out of their time abroad. We also use the platform to share events, hacks, and anything that will help people live better here.

In 2018 we started hosting our signature event called Beijing Monologues. It’s a live storytelling event where people come together and share stories about their experiences in Beijing. Some stories are touching, others are funny, and some are crazy.

Are there opportunities at Thrive Beijing events to meet people/find people to date?

We aren’t a dating platform, but our events are meant to be social. If you’re looking to meet some new people in a very casual way, then you should come by. 

We are trying to bring together a community of friendly, open-minded, and ambitious young people living in Beijing. While we intend to foster friendship and career connections there may be some eligible bachelors and bachelorettes in our community.

Any Thrive Beijing events for dating? And any events that are great for couples/date nights?

We do plan on expanding our event offerings in the future. What we currently have in mind for future events are more opportunities for people to meet socially than for dating, however, couples are always welcome, and Beijing Monologues can make a great date night.

Our goal with Thrive Beijing is always to serve our readers, so if people start requesting dating events from us, then we will get creative and make something happen.

Any advice you’d give to China Daters?

I wish I had great wisdom to offer on dating in this country, but I don’t.

May the odds be in your favor and if it doesn’t work out, don’t let it weigh you down. There are too many amazing opportunities out here to waste time being upset. If you’re struggling to meet people just go out or sign up for a sport. I’ve met some cool and genuine people through playing sports in Beijing. I imagine this may be a good scene where friendships could turn into something more.

Find Out More About Thrive Beijing:

• Follow on IG: ThriveBeijing

• Website: www.thrivebj.com

• Wechat: Scan QR code below

If you want to share a story at the next Beijing Monologues event, get in touch with Lisa (WeChat ID: lisejanada).

READ: Date Night China: Get Connected With the Female Expats in Beijing Group

Images courtesy of Lisa Alleyne and Thrive Beijing