Partnership with swapsy.com – article written by Sandi Yu Original article found at https://www.swapsy.com/blog/why-you-should-go-to-china In 1996, Princeton graduate Peter Hessler became one of the first pioneer volunteers of Peace Corps to go to China and teach English. After spending two years in a small town near the Yangtze River, he completed a 400-page manuscript, but…
Vegan Chinese Cooking: Chilli Oil, Mapo Tofu & Scallion Pancakes
After two months back in the UK, I had satisfied my need for all the homecooked favourites that I had missed whilst away and was ready to give in to my ever-growing cravings for Chinese food. I began looking for recipes that I could try at home, without too many complex ingredients, and decided that…
8 Reasons Life in China is the Best
In one of my recent pieces of Chinese homework I wrote the following sentence: 你是否幸福取决在于你对问题所做出的反应，而不在于问题本身。It translates to: ‘your happiness depends on how you react to a problem, not on the problem itself’. The homework involved writing a list of sentences, each containing one of the new grammar structures for that week. This was just one…
我要这个 – A Foreigner’s Experience of Food in China
After my diet for my first few days in China consisted mostly of 奶茶 (milk tea) and whatever vegetarian meal I managed to order (usually not inspiring enough to warrant eating a great deal of), I was hopeful that my time in China would result in losing a bit of weight. Spoiler, this definitely did…
中国加油 – Reflections on how Covid-19 cut short my year abroad in China
A huge amount has changed since my last post back in September. I have returned back to the UK, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic after the best six months in Asia, living in Shanghai for 4 and a half months before 6 weeks of travelling in South East Asia. A flight back to…
Arriving at Fudan
After a 90 minute flight from Changsha to Pudong International Airport, we finally touched down in our home for the next year. As we had gone through customs during our transfer at Changsha, it did not take long before we were sitting in the back of a taxi headed for our hotel for the night….
Flight HU422 – London to Changsha
Writing the first blog post for my Year Abroad in China from flight HU422, London to Changsha! Unfortunately no window seat, particularly disappointing since flying over London at night is always fun and I won’t be seeing the city again for at least 10 months. My seat in the middle section of the plane proved…
China Survive Life Abroad 