Why I Live in China

Things I’ve gotten used to living in China that make it hard to leave

-My students are an incredible cohort, many of them are deeply intellectually interested, they are honest, real, and they are very bright (my advanced class has an average SAT of 1510), I feel as if my teaching methods have largely developed to work well with the clay I have now and I am always afraid it wouldn’t port well to different clay…

-I can get anything I want, like anything off Taobao. Is Taobao better than Amazon? Let me put it this way, I bought a book once on Taobao, it came in Amazon packaging turns out it was from Amazon’s taobao store…

-I can bike anywhere and feel pretty safe (well so long as the air isn’t poison on that day, which is less and less often!), but taking a taxi across town through an app is extremely fast and cheap, going to my friend’s place 22km away is usually about 10 dollars or less. I have had countless days of just totally randomly exploring the cities and the nearby mountains without ever having to concern about my safety (other than the whole avoid cars thing which since there are so many people on bikes here is easier than most places).

-I can get any groceries delivered to me in 30 minutes, vegetables are so much cheaper, and groceries in general are much cheaper than they would be in most countries.
-My phone is all the money I ever need, carrying cash or cards just feels… like an unnecessary hindrance at this point.

-Medical costs are unfathomably lower than in the USA

-China’s free trade agreement with Australia means I get to be knee deep in delicious Australian meat!

-One problem I had in Japan and Korea is they are so very polite, but it doesn’t come off overly genuine… I have met countless warm genuine people in China, maybe not always so polite or orderly, but warm and real. I have more Chinese friends than foreign at this point though… (I don’t have many friends)

-It is very hard for me to stand for any significant period of time due to medical problems, I also can’t eat outside because… different medical problems! So I have a lot of dishes that need cleaning but that would require a lot of standing to clean. Luckily I can have a really nice person handle all my deliveries and clean my dishes and do my laundry for me who has worked with me for seven years and whom I have  a genuine friendship with(for instance once when I was sick and she thought I was sleeping(I felt too miserable to try to speak Chinese), she tucked me in).

-This is a small thing but I don’t have to wear a seatbelt, I know that is unsafe, I have even read some studies on the matter but… it isn’t in my nature to prioritize safety, and I always feel really resentful when I am forced to do things “for my own good” not saying this won’t eventually change but in general, not having to worry about “health and safety” regulations is a thing I do appreciate though I could understand how many others would be horrified.
-Of course there are a bunch of annoyances and downsides of living in China in general and Beijing in particular. But while they might be the focus of western media, to be honest they don’t effect day to day life all that much, some just require small adjustments don’t publicly discuss politics, stay inside with air filters on bad air days etc. Others you just deal with, the fact it is 30c indoors during the winter probably bugs me the most, oh and the umm internet intranet, the occasional cultural difference, having to deal with the odd flare up of nationalism. No place is perfect but for me the scales tip heavily in favor of living in China. I recognize that is partially my privilege in being who I am in China, but this isn’t a list of why it is great to be a random person in China, instead it is a list of why I find it so hard to leave even after this being my 8^th year here.