#外国人在中国
The First Time I Entered a Chinese Bank Alone, I Learned to Take a Number Before Looking for a Counter
The first time I walked alone into a Chinese bank branch, I made a mistake that now feels almost textbook: I assumed the most efficient way to handle a task was to go straight to t
After I Learned to Understand the Scrap Collector’s Call Below My Chinese Apartment, I Stopped Hearing It as Noise for the First Time
That afternoon, I was editing drafts by the window in the compound where I live in China. The wind was light, but the sounds from downstairs kept rising in waves. What reached me f
The First Time at a Chinese Metro Security Check, I Learned to Hold My Thermos Before I Reached the Belt
What truly overwhelmed me the first time was not just how many people were in the Shanghai metro during rush hour, but the nonstop rhythm of the security checkpoint itself. I had a
The Ten Minutes I Walked Backward with Strangers in a Chinese Park Was the First Time I Stopped Rushing to Explain Myself
That morning, I had only planned to take a walk in the park. Dawn had just arrived. The pebble path still held a little moisture from the night, the leaves touched one another in a
The First Time at a Chinese Breakfast Stall, I Learned to Tear Open a Hot Baozi First to Let the Steam Out
Winter mornings in China have a very specific kind of pull, especially when you have not even fully seen the breakfast stall yet and only notice the steam first. That morning I lef
At a Chinese Scenic Shuttle Queue, I First Learned to Look for Shade Instead of Charging to the Front
The first time I lined up for a scenic shuttle in China, I acted on a very instinctive and very tourist-like assumption: if I rushed to the very front, I could not possibly be maki
The First Time I Bought Cold Medicine in a Chinese Pharmacy, I Learned to Describe Symptoms Before Looking at Brands
It had rained that evening, and when I came out of the subway station, the soles of my shoes still lifted a little damp dust from the ground. The convenience store on the corner wa
The First Time I Waited Outside a Chinese Compound Gate, I Learned to Stand to the Side Instead of Pressing Up Against the Access Door
The first time I stood outside a Chinese residential compound gate at night waiting for a friend to come down and let me in, I thought I was already being considerate. It was fairl
The First Time I Bought Watermelon in a Chinese Fruit Shop, I Learned to Say Whether I Wanted It Cut to Eat Now or Taken Home
The first time I bought watermelon from a street-side fruit shop in China, my plan was extremely simple: choose a piece that looked red, weigh it, pay, and leave. It was a humid su
The First Time I Learned at a Chinese Breakfast Stall to Ask Whether the Soy Milk Was Sweet
It was very early in the morning, before the sky had fully opened into daylight, and yet the street corner was already full of steam and the smell of youtiao. On the road near wher