Comments on: Report: China Is The Best Place To Be An Expat

By: jahar

jahar — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 03:45:43 +0000

A clever, well worded retort, if I ever heard one.

By: Alan

Alan — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 10:20:45 +0000

That is rot. An impossible and perplexing fluid visa situation, no residency granted to expats, and little to no hope of ever becoming one.

By: plorf

plorf — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 08:52:52 +0000

I think at this point the main thing going for China is the money you can make here (assuming you don’t work as a teacher or for a local company). Other than that I don’t see any objective advantages (other than personal preferences/culture) living as an expat in China.
Prices for good quality in most fields are very high, international education is incredibly expensive, bad environment/nature. I like living here at the moment, but I’m certainly not deluded enough to think that it’s the best place to be for expats – nobody was jealous back home when I told them I’m going to live and work in Beijing. Now if I told them I’d be going to Sydney, or Bangkok, or even boring Singapore that would be something different..

By: mike

mike — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 07:21:34 +0000

“sends their kids to international schools, and never comes into contact with the real China.”

A-fucking-men! My jaw was on the floor when my friends took me to a giant Hotel Swimming Pool in 浦东, surrounded by giant 大厦s. Most of the people in the pool were foreigners and had (amazingly) western wives! They were actually living… dare I say it.. normal lives. Reason being: they were totally loaded, living in the nearby palaces, and would never set foot in ‘real’ China during their time in the middle Kingdom. I doubt they spoke a word of Chinese either. Ignorance is bliss.

By: mike

mike — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 07:13:14 +0000

This thing is totally insane. Forget the air pollution and lack of a legal system (Good god, who would raise Children in China?! It’s practically immoral at this point). Can we just talk about the snickering, pointing and gawking you’ll get when you visit the illustrious middle kingdom. All I can say is, God help you if you ever 学会中文. God what a disappointment.

The Expat era in China ended in 2008 and the nail was pounded in the coffin with the 2012 Foreigner “Social Insurance” (wink wink nudge nudge) policy.

By: mfw13

mfw13 — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 02:30:37 +0000

Given the fact that the article doesn’t even mention air pollution, its hard to take it seriously.

Certainly China is a decent place for the type of expat who lives in a 5-BR, 3-BA villa in Lido, gets driven everywhere in a BMW/Audi/Mercedes, gets a huge pay boost, sends their kids to international schools, and never comes into contact with the real China.

But for expats who are not executives working for corporate multinationals, the picture isn’t quite as rosy…

By: wafflestomp

wafflestomp — Mon, 04 Nov 2013 18:43:16 +0000

You first.

By: herman

herman — Mon, 04 Nov 2013 15:06:31 +0000

shut the hell up

By: jacob

jacob — Mon, 04 Nov 2013 14:51:03 +0000

The Hong Kong Shanghai Bank says China is bestest! Sino-solipsism. (yes, I know it’s based in London)
Local media here in Korea routinely cite articles proclaiming Seoul as the best place to live for expats.
Same self congratulatory guff when I lived in Tokyo.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the local Kinshasa papers had similar articles, right next to the most recent increase in murder/rape stats.

By: wafflestomp

wafflestomp — Mon, 04 Nov 2013 14:50:29 +0000

Better education in China? What did they poll Sri Lanka or something?

This report smells like BULLSHIT.

By: Jive madra

Jive madra — Mon, 04 Nov 2013 12:09:28 +0000

“…bird watching…” where, in a rotisserie?! If there’s an actual place, please do tell. Unless if by “birds” you mean girls…