What I Wish I’d Known Before I Moved to Beijing

A discussion among our colleagues in the beijingkids office had them wondering what advice expats wish they’d been given before moving to Beijing. So they did what everyone does here when they have a question that needs answering: they took to WeChat and asked in their networks. The responses were many and varied. Here are some of the best.

“I wish I’d taken the time to learn more Chinese.”
To this, we’d also add: Mandarin is hard for English speakers, especially if you’ve not been learning it from a young age, so don’t beat yourself up if you’re not fluent overnight. But while there are plenty of English-language signs and a big community, there’s no doubt you’ll get a lot more out of your time here if you can chat with the locals and read a few hanzi (characters). Find a good teacher, learn words and characters, and take HSK tests so you can measure your progress.

“If you’re shipping stuff over, make sure you fill out the customs forms!”
This can seem like an irritating minor task when you have a hundred other things to think about preparing for your move. But if you don’t, expect to have your possessions held up at Customs, to have to make a trip out to the airport to sort the problem out, and to end up paying huge sums of money on import duties (often more than the goods are worth.) Any reputable shipping company should supply you with the forms. As so often in China, just do the paperwork, no matter how pointless and tedious it seems.

“Download WeChat and connect with interest groups in advance. They are priceless for activity info and advice/help,” and “Try to have a bank card as soon as possible (if you want to join a big group in WeChat) in order to have access to expat groups very soon.”
See our WeChat guide about how to do this. WeChat limits access to the bigger groups unless you have a bank card linked to your account, so it’s worth setting up a local bank account even if you don’t expect to use it much.

“I did a decent amount of research before moving here but somehow missed that you can’t drink tap water.”
The authorities insist that tap water is safe to drink, and it may well be when it leaves the purification plant; but most people are skeptical about water supply pipes, and only drink bottled water.

“You aren’t supposed to flush toilet paper!”
Others reported that they’d been told toilet paper was unavailable here and arrived with a year’s supply. Of course, you can buy it in any supermarket, but don’t expect to find it in public toilets; it’s worth making sure you always have some with you, and wet wipes too. Public toilets can be a shock in other ways: the smell is often strong, even when they’re spotlessly clean, and for some older Beijingers defecation is a social activity, not a private one. Elsewhere Western-style plumbing is on the increase (though scientific evidence says that squatting is actually better for you.) But in many places you can’t flush paper down the toilet, you’re expected to put it in a bin at the side.

“Look in all directions when attempting to cross the road.”
Cars generally obey the rules of the road, apart from when they’re turning right at red lights and driving up bike lanes. (And pulling out without signaling, changing lanes erratically, or driving slowly down the road with their hazard lights flashing for no apparent reason.) The myriad of other forms of wheeled transport on Beijing’s roads though could be coming from any direction, at any speed, in any place on the carriageway or sidewalk, often with the driver more interested in their phone than the road. Be careful out there.

“If you ask directions, don’t assume the local is sending you the right way.”
“Face” is still a hugely important concept in Chinese society. If you ask for directions from someone who doesn’t know the answer, they might make something up rather than risk looking foolish. Alternatively, they might completely ignore you and walk away. The safest thing is to use your phone to navigate around; that’s what the locals do.

“When you first arrive, you’ll be a target for scammers. Know the usual cons, and be wary till you’ve settled in.”
Street crime in Beijing is astonishingly rare; you’re safer to walk around here, any time of day or night, than almost anywhere in the world. (Though you should always keep your wits about you.) However, there’s a couple of well-known scams which are regularly practiced on new arrivals. Beware of any stranger enthusiastically engaging you in conversation, “to improve their English,” especially if they suggest you go to a nearby teahouse or restaurant to sample local cuisine. They’ll vanish, and you’ll be left with a huge bill, and little choice but to pay it. Also, fake RMB 100 notes are rife. Watch for the taxi driver who switches your real bill for his fake one, then complains and makes you pay again. (Fake notes can be avoided by doing as the locals do and paying for everything using your phone.)

“Expect bureaucracy: If you get a red stamp it’s sorted. Anything else and it isn’t.”
A Confucian reverence for process and authority still underpins day to day life in China. If the person who handles your particular issue is not at work on the day you turn up, don’t expect that one of their colleagues will help you. You’ll just have to come back another day. Get all your paperwork in order, don’t question the reason for any of it, and you may be fortunate enough to get a “chop” – an official stamp with red ink which means you have triumphed against the bureaucracy, for one day at least, and come away with a victory.

“Have at least one good Chinese friend who you’d trust with your life.”
Obviously, it takes time to build up a friendship like this. But if there’s someone who can help you with navigating the complexities of life in Beijing, then that can make an enormous difference. Getting things done is very much easier when you have a personal connection – guanxi – with someone involved. Many Chinese people will be happy to help you in return for help with their English, but they’ll expect you to do favors for them in return. It’s impossible to separate business and personal relationships here.

“You may have a list of rights where you live, here you basically have diddly squat.”
Until recently the police turned a blind eye to whatever foreigners got up to, as long as it didn’t involve violence or espionage. That’s all changed, and laws about drugs and visas are strictly enforced. You can be subject to “punitive detention” without charge or representation, and a Chinese prison is not a place you want to be. However, there have been recent cases of teachers being imprisoned for visa offenses when they had been assured by their schools that everything was above board. We advise you to err on the side of caution, and not to risk any entanglement with the local legal system.

“Public transport and Didi aren’t expensive, so don’t worry if you don’t have a car here.”
In fact, we’d say that very few people will benefit from having a car in Beijing. There are many restrictions on driving within central Beijing, and even so, the traffic is often terrible. The subway is an inexpensive way of getting around, although uncomfortably crowded at peak times, and Didi Dache (an Uber-like ride-hailing service) will provide you with a car and driver to take you more or less anywhere, anytime, at low cost.

“Don’t be offended too easily, when people cut in line, spit/shoot snot/urinate, etc in public. It’s how they got accustomed to behaving due to the lack of resources they had to overcome in the past.”
Beijingers’ notoriously poor conduct in public is changing fast. Many of the younger generation would never dream of spitting on the street. For some older locals though, it’s a defiant expression of belonging, and they may even make a point of doing it when they see a foreigner passing. So when your taxi driver hawks up some phlegm, rolls down the window, and ejects it onto the road, look the other way and think of fluffy kittens.

“Don’t assume that people who’ve been here for a while know what they are talking about. There are many clueless people living in their own little bubble.”
Beijing is so big that most people only really live within a small section of the city, bounded by school, work, shopping mall, and favorite places to have fun. Not all the advice you’re given will be helpful, or even true. Use WeChat groups to get a wide range of opinions, and of course, make use of trustworthy resources like beijingkids and the Beijinger.

“Don’t expect China to change for you; be prepared to adapt or stay home,” and “Don’t ask ‘Why?’ more than once a day. You’ll drive yourself crazy looking through the lens of your own background trying to make sense of things here.”
China is different. That’s what makes it exciting, surprising, and fun. It helps though if you can cultivate an attitude of acceptance when dealing with some of the more frustrating aspects of life here. An angry insistence that the western way of doing things is better, is unlikely to help your blood pressure or get things done. Be patient, be respectful, don’t put people in an embarrassing position, accept that some things take time, and you’ll begin to relax and enjoy your time here.

An alternative version of this article first appeared in our sister publication beijingkids.

Photo: travelnews.ch, wikipedia.com, pexels.com, Didi