The new rule joins a host of other incentives Chinese authorities are using to entice overseas talent to come to China including easier access to permanent residence and a green card.

This fall, a new work visa system will categorize expat workers into three tiers.

The post Shanghai Expats Can Now Open “Free-Trade Accounts“ appeared first on The Nanfang.

Year of Fire Dragons: An American Woman’s Story of Coming of Age in Hong Kong is a new memoir by Hong Kong-based American writer Shannon Young, who is also editor of the anthology How Does One Dress to Buy Dragonfruit?

In Year of the Fire Dragons, Young gets very personal, and begins with the romantic story of meeting a Hong Konger named Ben in London. The long distance relationship continues while she intimately explores the Special Administrative Region.

The book details Young’s time as a NET teacher (Native English Teacher) in her first year in Hong Kong as she figures out how to maneuver the city. With an outsider’s perspective, she gives vivid descriptions of shopping markets, embraces the glamour of Central, learns about tensions with the mainland, discovers cultural differences in teaching, and travels the world.

The prose is often fanciful, with lines such as, “The humidity surrounded me like steam pouring out of a broken dumpling,” and, “As the sun dipped toward the horizon, we fell silent, watching the way it reflected through the quiet ripples marking our passage.”

Young is a talented writer. Her knowledge of food in particular truly gets to the core of Hong Kong culture. However, she can get lost in details at times, with scattered chapters ranging from Cantonese classes to clubbing in Lan Kwai Fong. She repeatedly introduces various friends over drinks and then we never see them again in the course of the book. Of course, it is a memoir and real life often doesn’t translate into novel-style story structure. Still, one of the most intriguing and consistent subplots is about her sister’s expat romance and wedding, which contrasts with Young’s own relationship.

The main bulk of the narrative concerns the challenges of having a long-distance partner, focusing on the tragic irony that her boyfriend Ben is from Hong Kong yet she lives there and he doesn’t. As the book progresses, Young finds it harder and harder to defend the two-year plus relationship to her coworkers and friends. No spoilers how it all turns out, but rest assured Young’s perspective is always optimistic despite tough times.

One of the most interesting parts comes in the midpoint when Young reveals her roots: her father was born in Hong Kong (though not raised there). Quotes from the letters of her Asia-traveling grandparents are included.

From 1955: Actually, Hong Kong is a wonderful place to live—we think. Of course there are many things one could complain about, as there are wherever you go, but we think there are far more things to enjoy and be thankful for.

Truly an amazing find, to see the similarities between expats of that era and those of today!

The book as a whole may not be particularly interesting for old China hands. Experienced expats and English teachers probably won’t learn many new things. But for readers less familiar with Hong Kong and life abroad, this memoir can make the perfect introduction.

Recommended both for Hong Kong newcomers and as a good gift for China-based readers to share with friends back home in order to explain what life is like for expats.

Year of Fire Dragons is published by Blacksmith Books, available in Hong Kong and on Amazon.

Follow Ray Hecht on Twitter @RayofChinarabia

Author Shannon Young

The post Year of Fire Dragons Memoir Documents Expat Life in Hong Kong appeared first on The Nanfang.

A crowd outside the Yongkui supermarket was treated to an unfamiliar sight on July 13 when store employees were seen trying to restrain two women they accused of stealing.

After taking them into custody, police later revealed these women to be from Ukraine and to be working in Chongqing as models. But Chinese media don’t stop there, giving us some extra details about their appearance:

• one women is ‘blonde’, the other a ‘brunette’
• ‘sexy’
• ‘excellent figures’
• wearing jeans shorts and a halter top

One witness was even quoted saying: “They have such good figures! It’s just a pity that they stole two pieces of clothes.”

The report also gives us a lowdown on the awkward back-and-forth between the women and store staff, who were very suspicious from the time the suspects first entered the store. It all culminates with a shoving match in which one of the Ukrainian women is heard to say, “Don’t understand Chinese”.

Store staff said the total cost of stolen outfits was RMB 128 ($21). However you feel about that, the real tragedy for the news media is that these women didn’t decide to wear the stolen clothes out of the store, thus depriving the media of one last chance to describe their looks.

As a consolation, here’s what the stolen clothing looks like, without a woman wearing it:

The post Chinese Media Drool Over Two “Sexy” Ukrainian Models Arrested for Shoplifting in Chongqing appeared first on The Nanfang.

It all happened when the expat, who goes by a Chinese name of Su Ruiming, was doing laps at the Fanhai public swimming pool. According to him, he had his head down and was swimming when he noticed a toddler float into his lane. Surveillance video (below) shows him stopping, picking up the four-year old girl, Yuanyuan, and dropping her in an adjacent swimming lane.

The Chinese media though, saw it differently. They described Su as being in a “violent fit of rage” when he dropped Yuanyuan into the pool. Reports said the toddler was terrified, first when she encountered the laowai and again when she was “thrown” into the water. Some said the kid’s head was submerged, and she could’ve drowned.

Yuanyuan’s mother, surnamed Zhang, was livid at the treatment of her child. “How can this man be so rough and careless with a four year-old child? What if she got injured?” Zhang said she was not in the pool supervising Yuanyuan because she’s allergic to pool water.

This snowballed into police being called and Zhang demanding a written apology, but Su refused.

However, when interviewed by reporters yesterday, Su had changed his tone. Chinese reports say Su admitted his behavior was wrong, and was now willing to apologize to Yuanyuan and her mother saying he is regretful of his actions.

Su explained that he didn’t see Yuanyuan since his head was in the water while doing laps, and was equally shocked at seeing the girl in his swim lane. “At the time, I was very angry. Why isn’t this girl’s mother by her side? Can children swim by themselves in the pool?” he said.

The Chinese media and Zhang are both convinced that Su is in the wrong because they say Yuanyuan is so small she couldn’t possibly have blocked Su’s way.

Back in 2012, a New Zealand expat named Philips outraged Chinese netizens when he was caught throwing a five year-old girl into a pool when he thought no one was looking. As a result, Philips lost his job at the Shandong University of Finance and Economics and had to pay RMB 20,000 in compensation.

Related:

• Hotels And Universities In List Of Guangzhou’s Unsafe Public Pools
• 40 percent of Dongguan swimming pools fail to meet hygiene standards
• Guangzhou women secretly photographed while swimming

The post Chinese Outraged After Beijing Expat Tosses 4-Year Old Into a Public Pool appeared first on The Nanfang.

READ: Chinese Pedestrians Have No Problem Obeying Laowai Traffic Warden

A foreign exchange student at Beidong University, Asha has been in Shenyang, Liaoning for eight years. Concerned with Shenyang’s growing traffic problems, she decided to be part of the solution and dutifully, aid pedestrians at one of the city’s busy intersections.

Having a unique perspective on Shenyang, Asha has plenty to say about the state of Shenyang’s roads:

In the eight years that I’ve been here, traffic conditions have improved. The major traffic posts are still being manned by police officers directing traffic. As well, city residents are starting to comply with traffic regulations; there aren’t as many pedestrians running red lights as before.

Whether Asha will start a new trend among expats remains to be seen; however, given the traffic situation in most Chinese cities, pedestrians can use all the help they can get.

Related:

• Expat Cyclist Becomes Hero for Blocking Chinese Driver from Beijing Bike Lane
• Foreigner Gets Whipped With A Leather Belt In Beijing Traffic Altercation
• Mainlanders Perplexed by Polite Traffic Etiquette in Macau

Photos: Caijing

The post Russian Expat Working as a Traffic Warden in Liaoning appeared first on The Nanfang.

Police are searching for a foreigner suspected of child abuse after one of his 11 adopted children was admitted to hospital in serious condition.

Eight year-old Phoebe was taken to hospital on November 24 with kidney damage and physical injuries doctors said was caused by an “external force”. It’s the third time she’s been taken to hospital with serious injuries, and she previously told doctors her father hit her. Ray has since disappeared along with his 10 other children.

Doctors say Phoebe is malnourished and underweight for her age. “The weight of this eight year-old girl is not even 20 kilograms. Her arms are not even the diameter of two fingers of an adult,” one caregiver said.

Volunteers who have been in contact with the family say the adoptive parent hasn’t treated the children well.

Xu Qiang (a pseudonym) is a volunteer who had been providing help to the family for a number of years. Xu said the adopted children all have birth defects of some kind, like the cleft palate that Phoebe once suffered from, or suffer from mental disabilities.

The Beijinger reports that the expat’s name is Ray. He has apparently been raising these children in various apartments around Beijing, most recently at the Capital Paradise apartments in Shunyi. The family has frequently been seen at local cafes were Ray has been seen mistreating his children. Other resident of the area says the children have been seen rummaging through garbage in order to look for food.

Xu said Ray either found the children at train stations or they were brought to him. Ray raises money on a website to help pay for their corrective surgeries.

Ray is approximately 50 years-old, has lived in China for around 30 years, and speaks fluent Chinese. His adopted children are said to be more fluent in English than Chinese as a result of being home-schooled.

Police are now frantically searching for Ray and the other children.

Photos: ynet

h/t @MissXQ

The post Police Searching for Foreigner in China Who May Have Badly Abused Adopted Daughter appeared first on The Nanfang.

READ: Chinese Pedestrians Have No Problem Obeying Laowai Traffic Warden

This all started when a Weibo user took several photos on Yaojiayuan Road that show a cyclist blocking a car from using the bike lane.

We don’t know much about this guy, but we do know he’s probably frustrated at the continuing use of bike lanes by drivers in the capital.

READ: No More Free Rides: Expats “Lose Face” Trying to Sneak Bikes
onto Beijing Metro

We also don’t know who retreated first, as photos don’t show the driver or the cyclist backing down.  All we can tell from the pictures is that the driver is sheepish at having been caught driving in the bike lane, and that another cyclist, perhaps a local, was completely caught up in watching the proceedings.

Online reaction has been largely supportive, commending the man for taking a stand. But many wonder why it was left to a laowai to take matters into his own hands.

The Weibo account of a police morality squad pointedly asked: “In confronting uncivilized acts, would we (Chinese) be as brave as him?” Meanwhile, netizens had an assortment of comments, like the following:

五楼的鱼维：
(I don’t) dare to do this (myself) because I’m not a laowai. A Chinese (who did this) would surely get beaten up. [angry.emoji]

京城郎叔：
I’m guessing this laowai has been in the capital for under a year.

MM_傑：
The life of regular Chinese people is cheap. They don’t dare to start a fight with the higher-ups.

乱飞扑的Becks懒得理你什么世界：
If a Chinese national blocked the car, he would surely be badly beaten…

homer-BB：
(Is this foreigner) interfering with the internal affairs of our country?

狂人9号：
Fortunately it’s a laowai, otherwise he’d be beaten up.

菁华108：
We should learn from the good side of this foreign guy. [thumbsup.emoji]

别逗俺丶俺会打你的丶：
Good thing it’s not Li Gang’s son. (An infamous case in which a driver who had struck and killed pedestrians was adamant he was above the law by telling police officers, “My dad is Li Gang!”)

LQL奇妙之旅：
It’s all because he is a laowai.

As pointed out by China Daily, expats have previously been involved in instances of blocking cars. In June 2012, an expat in Chengdu blocked others cars at an intersection in order to allow an ambulance to get through. In April 2011, an expat in Guangzhou blocked a car that was driving the wrong way down a road.

Related:

• American With Good Intentions Ridiculed For Helping Victim In China
• Foreigner Gets Whipped With A Leather Belt In Beijing Traffic Altercation
• Expat A Bit Too Tense, Tackles Chinese Woman Over Innocuous Comment
• Foreigner In Chengdu Grabs Steering Wheel of Moving Bus, Assaults Driver

Photos: Southern Daily

The post Expat Cyclist Becomes Hero for Blocking Chinese Driver from Beijing Bike Lane appeared first on The Nanfang.

Two years after getting married to Mark, Tan was forced to get a divorce after she spent the majority of their marriage by herself.

Tan met Mark online in July 2011, and the two met a year later when Mark came to visit her in China in November 2012. It must have been a good visit, because the two got married that same month.. Neither could communicate with each other well, and Tan later said she carelessly married Mark in order to leave China.

However, Mark left in December 2012 because his visa expired, leaving Tan, who lived in Liuzhou, on her own. Then the pair began fighting and holding grudges against each other, and grew distant

When seeking a divorce from Mark in June of this year, Tan ran into problems because her husband was not present. To process the divorce, the courts required Mark’s visa and marriage certificate.

However, Mark finally showed up and agreed to the divorce.

Tan was never able to fulfill her dream of leaving China. It is not known if she is now looking for foreigners for other opportunities.

Photo: China.com

The post UK Expat Visits China, Marries Girl, Then Skips Town Without Her appeared first on The Nanfang.

Sunday:

• Tropical Storm Hagibis to Hit China Later Today

Monday:

• G-String Condom Invented by Guangzhou Students Becomes Retail Product
• Strikes On The Rise as Workers Set To Be Replaced By Robots
• SOHO CEO Now Apologizes for Striking Shenzhen Airport Staffer
• Parents Protest Opening of New Confucius Institute in Toronto

Tuesday:

• Man Goes For A Massage In Shenzhen, Leaves Paralyzed
• Foreigner Stabbed to Death Outside a Nightclub in Fujian
• Guangdong Has The Worst Public Image Of All Provinces In China
• Comment: Hong Kong Risks Losing Freedoms If It Pushes Too Hard

Wednesday:

• Report Suspected Terrorist Activity in Shenzhen and Win Big Money!
• The Forgotten Story of…Shenzhen’s Disappearing Coastline
• Shenzhen Metro To Start Rolling Out Free Wi-Fi In July
• Beijingers Can Live a Healthy Life Into Their Late 50s, According To New Study

Thursday:

• Guangdong Student Stabs Teacher 10 Times In Ambush Attack 
• It Happened: Controversial Yulin Dog Eating Festival Held Early To Avoid Attention
• Beijing-Guangdong Train Derailed by Landslide
• Guangdong Protests Against Waste Incinerators Turn Violent

Friday:

• Yunlin Dog Sellers Openly Taunt Dog Lovers: “Buy The Dog Or It Dies!” 
• Hong Kong Independence Activist Assaulted Outside Courthouse
• China’s First Museum of Design To Open in Shenzhen
• “The Incarnations” Is a Gripping Novel Set in China Packed with Historical Insight

Saturday:

• Weekend Gallery: Humungous Marilyn Monroe Statue Taken to The Dump
• Yulin Dog Eating Festival: “The More You Protest, The Better Our Business Is”
• Survey: Chinese and Western Rich Want Different Things

Be sure to check out our Twitter feed @thenanfang as well as our Facebook page!

Photos: the Nanfang

The post Nanfang Week in Review: June 15-June 21 appeared first on The Nanfang.

China has courted controversy with its growing relations with many African countries by being accused of exploiting its many resources and people. While this may result in conflicting feelings among the sizable African expat community in Guangzhou, Festus Uzoma Mbisiogu is more determined than ever to get a new Nigerian consulate built in the city to serve the country’s growing diaspora.

Mbisiogu is the Coordinator of the Good Governance Initiative and CEO of Blue Diamond Logistics (China), and he believes having a local consulate in Guangzhou is necessary to take away the need to travel to Beijing for consular services. Furthermore, it is simply good for business.

Mbisiogu asserts that “Nigerian businessmen in China are the backbone of the nation’s foreign policy with China,” reports All Africa.

To emphasize this importance, Mbisiogu makes the following claim:

Nigerian businessmen in China contribute over 70% of China’s growing economy.

Now, that’s a backbone; but we think Mbigiogu just got his numbers backwards. According to China Daily, trade between Nigeria and China nearly topped US$13 billion in 2013, with 70% of Nigeria’s development headed by investment from China.

And yet, Mbisiogu hasn’t forgotten about the Nigerian expat community that lives in Guangzhou:

While noting that Nigerians in China almost lost touch (with) inherent gains of the growing Sino-Nigeria relations, the business mogul, who also owns one of the largest manufacturing companies in Nigeria, implored all to leverage on the high volume of business transactions between China and Africa, particularly Nigeria, and ensure continuous business prospects.

There is no firm number of Africans in Guangzhou, but at least 50,000 of them call the city home.

Related:

• Africans in China website
• Xiaobeilu: Photographic Project on Africans in Guangzhou
• Africans Block Traffic in Guangzhou After Foreigner Dies in Police Custody
• Exclusive Interview with Nigerian Protester, More Details on What Went Down

Photo: NY Post

The post Nigerian Businessman On Mission To Get Consulate in Guangzhou appeared first on The Nanfang.