Hi everyone!

I'm a European woman, and I recently traveled to China for work, where I met a Chinese man who has honestly left me feeling quite confused.

Before I get into the story, I should mention that he's quite internationally experienced. He's lived in the United States, speaks excellent English, and travels extensively around the world. So he's not someone who has only been exposed to Chinese culture, which makes the whole situation a little more difficult for me to interpret.

We got along incredibly well from the beginning. He was exceptionally polite, attentive, considerate, and just an absolute gentleman. There was something about our interactions that felt different to me, almost like an unspoken chemistry.

I genuinely felt that we had a moment together. You know those rare encounters where there's something in the air, but neither person actually says anything? That's exactly how it felt to me.

What confused me the most was our goodbye. He seemed strangely hesitant to let me go, almost as though he wanted to prolong the moment but didn't quite know how. At least, that's how I interpreted it.

Now, I'm wondering whether this is simply a cultural difference.

Are Chinese men generally this attentive and gentlemanly, especially toward women they're interacting with professionally? And when they are attracted to someone, are they typically more reserved or hesitant about expressing it?

I'm back in my home country now, but we're still in contact occasionally for work. Our communication is professional, and usually I'm the one reaching out whenever I have a work-related question. We don't talk on a daily basis.

I genuinely like this man, which is something that hasn't happened to me in quite a while. And although the distance wouldn't be an issue for me personally, since I love traveling, I have absolutely no idea how he feels.

I don't even know whether he's single, although I somehow got the impression that he might be.

Part of me wonders whether he's hesitant because we met through work, because of cultural differences, or simply because he isn't interested in me romantically and was just being kind.

I don't want to put him in an uncomfortable position, especially since we have a professional connection. But at the same time, I can't help wondering whether I should do something or just leave things as they are.

I'd especially love to hear from Chinese men or women who are familiar with dating culture in China, particularly Shenzhen.

Is this kind of gentlemanly, attentive behavior fairly common? How do Chinese men usually express romantic interest when they're trying to remain respectful or professional?

And if a Chinese man genuinely likes a foreign woman but knows she lives abroad, would he typically make a move, or might he hold back?

I'd really appreciate some honest cultural insight because I genuinely don't know whether I experienced something mutual or simply misunderstood a very kind man. 🤍

I wanted a blue hat. Then I wanted to put something on it. Then I wanted to make a somewhat subversive political satire hat. Then I noodled some ideas, did some translating, and ordered this.

Then…I realized that the people who could actually read this hat may not find it as amusing as I do.

I’m American, and definitely not Chinese looking, nor do I read or write or write any other language than English (also supposed to be part of the joke of the hat). What was was not supposed to be part of the joke is any negative connotations for the Chinese people (or frankly even the Chinese government as a whole. ) it’s supposed to be funny political satire, expressing my views on infrastructure, surveillance.

What say you?

I’ve seen quite a few Chinese Americans women who marry white Americans men adopt their husbands’ surnames. I’m wondering if Chinese Americans women marrying Chinese Americans husbands do the same. Technically, they’re all American.

I've been seeing these kinds of videos pop up on my feed lately.

"40 year ols delivery driver with nothing"

"How I spend my days as a day labourer in Shenzen"

Yet, they are speaking English (not fluent, but still good) through out the whole video.

When I lived in Thailand, pretty much everyone that could speak decent English was making around $1000 (30,000 THB) per month. Which is pretty good there.

Why would someone who can speak English clealry, be a delivery driver or a day labourer unless they just wanted to for views or something like that?

中国传统文化，几个字就能诠释哲理，太神奇了

Ideally to learn Chinese also, an exchange of cultures would be cool

Hi guys!

I had to pick a third language to learn at university and picked mandarin since everybody told me how important it was to speak mandarin. However, my professor feels pretty detached (for instance, she doesn't correct us when we don't use the correct tone and I don't know if it's normal). So far, we only had one class and she already gave us an exam coming up in a few weeks. I was wondering if some native speakers could give me some advice about learning mandarin

As foreigner i know japan is kinda rival to china and ACG products influenced from Japanese products.

I've never really heard modern Chinese songs outside of actively looking for them, nor have I seen much discussion about them online. But I'm really curious to know more.

What are some Chinese singers/songwriters right now that young people often enjoy or at least know about?

Good day all, I am 20 years old so this is my first time renewing my passport on my own.

I searched on Google but I can't seem to find the '中国领事' app on the play store.

I'm currently based in Singapore.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

Im not racist and i love all asian cultures. But i linda want to dress up as an old Chinese man like master wu from ninjago and carry around a gourd full of everclear for the functions. Would this be racist or offensive. I think its funny

i am new i dont know any chinese yet and i would spend a little time prolly for 4 years to learn manadrin and i dont want to spend too much for a tutor and if i search online its too overwhelming there are too many stuff so i would love to know what is the best way to learn i mean i dont want to become super good at chinese all i want is just good enough to speak native chinese people and read so what is the best platform or anything like that idk abt AI

One of the interesting things about learning Chinese is that some characters look almost identical but have completely different meanings. Sometimes, the only difference is a single stroke, a small dot, or the direction of a line.

Here are some examples, along with their English meanings. How many of them can you tell apart at a glance?

1. 人 vs. 入

人rén — person

入rù — enter

The first means a human being, while the second means to go in. Their shapes are very similar, but the strokes lean in different directions.

1. 土 vs. 士

土 tǔ— earth; soil

士 shì— scholar; warrior

The difference is the relative length of the horizontal strokes.

1. 未 vs. 末

未 wèi— not yet

末 mò— end; tip

The upper horizontal stroke is shorter in 未 and longer in 末.

1. 己 vs. 已 vs. 巳

己jǐ — oneself

已yǐ — already

巳sì— the sixth Earthly Branch

These three characters are particularly easy to mix up because their shapes differ only slightly.

1. 日 vs. 曰

日rì — sun; day

曰yuē— say; speak (mainly in classical Chinese)

The second character is usually flatter and wider.

1. 拔 vs. 拨

拔bá— pull out

拨bō— dial; allocate

A small change in the component on the right produces a different character and meaning.

1. 晴 vs. 睛 vs. 情 vs. 清

晴qíng— sunny

睛jīng— eyeball

情qíng— feeling

清qīng— clear

The right-hand component is the same, but changing the left-hand component changes the meaning.

Hello Everyone,

I'm 31 and would like to move to China for 1 year from Canada.

I've done some research on my own, but I need some help from people with recent experience.

I have a bachelor's degree in Exercise Science, and I've been working as a soccer coach for a few years now at the university varsity level, but also for development ages from 6-16 years old.

I've also been working as a substitute teacher in public schools for about a year now.

I've started my UEFA coaching licenses, and I'm a native English speaker; however, I don’t speak any Chinese.

I also have a 35kg Belgian Malinois, which I see is banned in most Chinese cities. I have the option to leave my dog with a family member (worst-case scenario)

I want to move because I see competitive salaries, and I've always wanted to live in China for a bit.

I plan to work as a gym teacher in an international school and, in the afternoons, find a job as a coach at a local soccer club.

I'm currently looking for jobs at eChinacities.com. Are there any alternatives to this website?

The pay I'm seeing for teachers ranges from 2.5k-5k USD per month. I'm looking for something closer to 4k USD and above.

Is this realistic? Any recommendations or advice from people in China or people who have done something similar are greatly appreciated.

Thanks

If I would visit China one day as a waigouren tourist, would the security be verifying my iPhone? I have asked on chatGBT and wish to have a confirmation on whether it’s true or false, because I don’t like to have my privacy to be violated. So, if I would want to visit East Turkistan(or Xinjiang as you say), would there be any problem if I have an Athan app so I can track my daily prayers at private hotel room? Is it true that China doesn’t let Uyghurs to permanently leave the country but establish a guarantoer so he/she will return? Would there be any problem in there if I draw on a paper the flags of East Turkistan and Bod Shen Po without causing any problem but only keep it as casual hobby? I often draw stuff like that. How does CCP treats a Kuwaiti Muslim if they have relationships with Gulf? Do they know that some Muslims are peaceful? Can CCP ever let Uyghurs to safely practice their religion?

NOTE: I asked these questions so to be precautious and know what I can and what I cannot, not to be provocative or anything. In the country where I live, I do those things as casual topics and drawings, not to make problems. So sorry if some people think that I’m being provocative. I just want to learn my limits. I don’t understand how things work in China. I’m not the kind of person to enjoy making problems. I just want to avoid making problems.

Hi everyone,

I’m planning to study Chinese in China for around 5 months in Spring 2027, and I’m deciding between Tsinghua in Beijing and Fudan in Shanghai.

I’m mainly wondering which city would be better in terms of student life, socializing, meeting new people, and the overall experience.

I’d also love to travel around China and visit nearby Asian countries.

If you’ve lived or studied in either city, which would you choose and why?

Planning to travel to CN. But someone we know started to share with us about rumors on Weixin about plague cases in BJ and SH. I have tried to do my due dilligence and check all reputable sources about it. So far: Contained case, health checks instituted at RU/CN border. But can anyone in Shanghai, Beijiing, Anhui province (specifically, Ma Anshan), or Nanjing provide some insight?

TY TY TY

Im looking for anyone who can connect me with suppliers in china for cooking gas accessories. This is specifically for African market. I have other things i buy from china so i understand the logistics involved. Anyone who can help? Thanks!!!

hi. i want to receive 15% Shanghai state subsidy discount for macbook air m5 on Taobao. How i can do that? or maybe you know some applications which provide such services?

Hi everyone! I learned English from zero just by watching anime with subtitles for 4 years...so over the last few months I made an Android app that tries the same for Chinese: LanLan (懒懒, a very lazy panda). You scroll real Chinese videos with hanzi, pinyin and English under every line, and you can tap any word to save it as a flashcard.

But I'm not Chinese, so I'm picking the videos as an outsider comedy skits, variety and rap shows, street food, 赶海 and explainers like 小Lin说. is this what people actually watch in China? What would you add as a local to make the feed feel real?

also funny thing: textbooks skip 离谱 but it keeps popping up everywhere in real videos. What words do you say all the time that textbooks never teach?

Android -> LanLan: Learn Chinese Lazily

If you're interested just DM me! I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post the link here.

Feel free to roast it, there's still a lot to fix, but most importantly have fun doomscrolling!

Hello everyone 😊

I was wondering if someone could please tell me what this bracelet says?

It was gifted from my Opa to my Oma, and then to me when she passed away. I have worn it every day for the last 15 years without actually knowing what it says...

Thanks very much!

UM SORRY THESE ARE UPSIDE DOWN 😭

Cheers to everyone for taking the time to translate for me. I'm actually super happy with how wholesome this bracelet is & I love it even more now!