Hi Guys,
Thought I'd drop by to see how you guys were doing.
The old guard might remember me - I was quite active here back in 2009, until it all crashed and burned
One day I thought it might be a good idea to find a Chinese wife, so I signed up to Chnlove, met a girl I liked, then went to visit her in Wuhan.
Well seriously I had bitten off way more than I could ever chew!
So Miss Woo entered my life, turned it upside down them went off to marry a rich American dude with 6 cars. My world ended for a few months, but she was confined to history the day I dated a gorgeous curly haired Japanese girl.
Since then... well I have gone on to have a truly momentous couple of years.
Anyway, I had some great help from this board at the time. Maybe I drove a few guys mad, but we really were pioneers at the time. It's still very rare for Chinese women to marry foreigners. Still, at least my Chnlove girl actually existed, and I had a truly extraordinary time visiting her.
Back then, Willy's adventures living in China stuck a chord. And I began to realise that trying to look for a wife in a 2 week vacation was just not possible.
So here I am...
Earlier this year, I quit my job, sold most of my possessions and I am now living in China.
I've been in Guangzhou for 2 months now, and I'm loving every minute of it!
Why Guangzhou? My first visit to China was to Wuhan, and I really didn't like that city. There was nothing to do there really, and I kept getting sick all the time.
By contrast, Guangzhou is an amazing city, and most foreigners who come here love the place. It's a shame I didn't come here on my first visit to China. In fact I nearly did back in 2009, but Miss Woo couldn't find a train ticket, so I ended up visiting her in Hubei instead.
I visited Guangzhou twice in 2011. Now I am a resident here.
So what am I doing here?
As you guys might have found out, it's really hard to get a Chinese visa now. Since the government here changed, they've really cracked down.
Your best options for a long term stay are to come here as a student, or to come here with a job offer.
I chose to enrol here as a student at a University, and I'm learning Mandarin. I have 10x 80 minute classes a week from 3 different teachers. The cost is around 9000RMB a semester (2 per year).
By being a student I've been able to rent a pretty cheap 2 bedroom student apartment (1200RMB/month excl. bills). By comparison most apartments here are 3000-5000RMB/month, although they're mostly 2-3 bedroom places. Most apartments here are quite big, and designed for families.
My apartment is quite basic, and the Chinese WC doesn't even have a flush. I'm also fighting a constant battle with the wildlife. Who knew cockroaches could fly? Yikes!!! Also the mosquitoes that come down from the mountain are also the biggest I've ever seen. They find ever more creative ways of sneaking into my apartment, and I've caught at least one hiding in my shopping bag.
If you don't want to study, then demand for English teachers here is very high. I've turned down all job offers so far - learning Mandarin is hard enough work, and so is finding ladies to date. Plus working on a student visa is not recommended.
As far as ladies go, I've met quite a few now. Last week was a watershed moment, because my Mandarin was better than the girl's English.
Current frontrunner is Miss Xiang. She is a princess for sure, but now I'm here I can take my time and woo the most desirable ladies of all.
I am very impressed with the quality of lady I've met in China now. Every lady has been a graduate, and most have spoke fluent English. A couple have also been very wealthy, so they're not marrying for money. Most ladies I've met have have been Cantonese or from Hunan.
One interesting factoid is that in 2 months here I've seen less than a dozen foreigners with Chinese wives/girlfriends. Dating a foreigner here is still groundbreaking, and very novel.
As to my own future, well I feel like a refugee from the UK. Reading the news from home is often a depressing experience. Additionally, given how hard it is to get a marriage visa for a foreign spouse, I might end up just living here instead. And of course it cuts out any visa hunters. Not that I've met too many of them.
Anyway, if any of you guys are thinking of living here for a while... just do it!
Every day is action packed here. Today my friend and I went to a Chinese singles party! 150 single Chinese girls and I was the only foreigner. And it didn't cost us a single RMB.
But this is China, so there had to be some chaos thrown in of course! Coming back home, the bus got stuck in traffic. Fortunately the bus driver let us out, and we went in search of a metro station. So we were walking through 3 lanes of traffic like people routinely do in China, and at one point I got my umbrella caught on the roof of a moving bus... yikes. To make matters worse all this took place in a good old traditional Guangzhou thunderstorm! Anyway, in the rush to get out of the rain and avoid ruining my shoes I jumped out of the road and ended up standing in wet cement!!! Only in China...
Maybe tomorrow I'll return to see what I ruined!
Anyway, if any of you guys are thinking of coming here and need assistance then I'll be only to happy to help. I'm living in Baiyun district and I'm only 20 minutes from the airport. I also know a long list of good hotels, English translators and of course single ladies! I also know the city pretty well and can tell you where to buy anything from an Alligator to Heinz Baked Beans. The majority of Western expats don't dare come up to this part of the city, but if you do venture here, well the ladies are out of this world
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And if you have any questions about what it's like to live here, ask away...
