an Americanish life in backwater China

Tag Chinese culture

Here’s How 28 Jeopardy Questions Change After You’ve Lived in China

We all have cultural assumptions about objects, food, etiquette, and more. It’s amazing how many of those assumptions change when you’ve lived in another land. If you were competing on Jeopardy, here’s how 28 of your questions would change from… Continue Reading →

You Don’t Know What You Want. The Chinese Seamstress Know What You Want.

Way back when our daughter was in preschool, we decided to get a princess dress made as a Christmas present for her. This was long before Taobao or ToysRUs, so a seamstress was basically our only option. I asked around… Continue Reading →

50 Smells You Can’t Forget if You’ve Lived in China

They say smell is the sense most closely tied to memory. If I could make your screen scratch-n-sniff, I would, and you’d be instantly transported back to the Middle Kingdom. Chou doufu Mosquito coils Getting caught in a cloud of… Continue Reading →

Mooncakes by Mail

A couple of years ago, I was happy and proud that we made our own mooncakes for Mid-Autumn Festival. From scratch. By hand. 100% homemade. Like Martha Stewart, but in Asia and without felony charges. They were pretty tasty and… Continue Reading →

9 Preschool Safety Tips from Chinese Youeryuan

I was sorting through a box of old books and happened upon some of the workbooks my kids used in youeryuan (Chinese preschool). One of the books was called Safety Education. It teaches kids some basic safety tips with illustrations… Continue Reading →

To Win Chinese New Year, You Must Master Snacks

If you want to host a Chinese New Year’s party, you’ll find plenty of tips and how-to’s online about what dishes to serve, what decorations to use, different Spring Festival greetings to use, how to accumulate enough fireworks to start… Continue Reading →

Today Marks 10 Years in China

Today is the 10th anniversary of our family’s arrival in China. It came and went with much less fanfare than it would have received had I been more prepared. There probably would have been fireworks. But I did pause to… Continue Reading →

10 Chinese Customs We Should Import to the U.S.

Although every culture has customs that seem crazy to outsiders (throwing rice at the bride and groom, anyone?) every culture also has customs that just plain make sense. Here are the wonderfully logical customs I would love for my passport… Continue Reading →

5 Surprises You’ll Encounter When You Travel to China

Today, I’m pleased to share a guest post with you, written by Yang Yang from Learn Mandarin Now. I’m sure if you have been to China, you can relate to these, and add some of your own. Enjoy! 5 Surprises You’ll… Continue Reading →

Americans drive on the left and other truths I’ve learned

Years ago, I was having a conversation with my Malaysian friend, and we started talking about how Malaysia has a lot of British influence. “We drive on the right like they do,” my friend explained. “Wait, what?” I thought I… Continue Reading →

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