Where we are, and how to live there

Guangzhou

Our home base, with Cantonese food, riverfront nights and a small expat scene that is easy to join.

Guangzhou is our home base. Rent is lower than in Beijing and Shanghai, Cantonese food is cheap enough to eat out often, the climate is subtropical and the trade community is deeply international. It is one of the two cities where the crew meets in person. Ten meetup formats start here: parties and networking mixers, food crawls through the old districts and along the river, and language exchange, as well as sports leagues, hikes and cultural experiences.

• parties and networking mixers, food crawls and language exchange
• sports leagues, hikes and weekend getaways, Cantonese cultural experiences
• Old-district food streets in Liwan and Yuexiu
• Riverside bars and nightlife around Zhujiang New Town
• Baiyun Mountain and Shamian Island for a half-day outdoors
• Cantonese spoken daily alongside Mandarin

Cost of living: Living costs sit in the mid range for a Chinese first-tier city, noticeably below Beijing and Shanghai. Yuexiu, Tianhe and Zhujiang New Town are where most newcomers start looking.

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Shanghai

A large, long-established expat community and a wide choice of international restaurants and bars.

Shanghai has a large, long-established expat community, plus a wide choice of international restaurants, bars and professional networks, most of them concentrated in Jing’an, Xuhui and Huangpu. The crew meets in person in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, so members here join the national online groups and the Shanghai city chat. When people do meet up, the ones that are easy to start with are parties, food crawls and language exchange.

• parties and socials: rooftop bars along the Bund and through the old French Concession
• food crawls: street stalls and noodle shops in the old lanes, then Shanghainese dishes and tasting menus
• language exchange: English works almost everywhere here, so daily Mandarin practice takes deliberate effort
• sports, hikes and culture: riverside runs, weekend trips to Hangzhou and Suzhou, and gallery afternoons
• board games, coffee and brunch: a full Western holiday calendar all year round
• English is spoken widely across the city

Cost of living: The most expensive city on this list, especially inside the inner ring. Expect to pay a premium for space and for international schooling.

Guide coming soon

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Beijing

History, hutongs and the Great Wall within reach.

Beijing is where Chinese history is most accessible: hutongs, temples and several Great Wall sections are all within a day trip, and Chaoyang and Dongcheng have been the established expat districts for decades. The crew meets in person in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, so members here join the national online groups and the Beijing city chat.

• parties and socials: Sanlitun and the houhai bar streets, the longest-established expat nightlife in the country
• food crawls: Peking duck, hutong snack streets and skewers in the Muslim-style quarters
• language exchange: plenty of locals who want English practice, and Mandarin closer to the standard you hear on the news
• sports, hikes and culture: Great Wall sections within reach, temple-park walks and calligraphy workshops
• board games, coffee and brunch: museum and art-district weekends, especially around 798
• The embassy areas in Chaoyang have shaped the city’s international scene for decades

Cost of living: Pricier than most of China, though a little below Shanghai. Chaoyang and Dongcheng are the long-established expat districts.

Guide coming soon

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Shenzhen

Tech energy, coastline and a young, mostly newly arrived crowd.

Shenzhen is China’s tech hub and a city that grew up in a single generation, and most residents moved here from somewhere else, which makes people unusually open to meeting new arrivals. It is the second city where the crew meets in person, alongside Guangzhou. The same ten formats start here: parties and socials, seafood and night-market food crawls, and language exchange for people who have just landed.

• parties and socials: Nanshan and Futian, close to Hong Kong and used to international crowds
• food crawls: Cantonese seafood, night-market stalls and hotpot
• language exchange: heavy demand from both sides, locals in tech and newcomers who have just arrived
• sports, hikes and culture: coastal trails, Wutong Mountain and day trips out to Dapeng
• board games, coffee and brunch: board-game nights and coffee meetups suit a city this transient
• Mandarin dominates, though Cantonese is still heard in the older districts

Cost of living: Close to Beijing on cost and rising fast, with Nanshan and Futian the most popular districts.

Guide coming soon

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Chengdu

A slower pace, teahouses and a Sichuan food scene people move here for.

Chengdu runs at a slower pace than the coastal cities, and its teahouses, mahjong tables and Sichuan food are local institutions rather than tourist attractions. The crew meets in person in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, so members here join the national online groups and the Chengdu city chat.

• parties and socials: a dense, cheap nightlife centerd on the city center and the river
• food crawls: Sichuan hotpot, skewers and dumplings, and a food scene people move here for
• language exchange: locals are curious about newcomers and slower to switch into English
• sports, hikes and culture: teahouse afternoons, mahjong lessons and day hikes on Qingcheng Mountain
• board games, coffee and brunch: the cafe scene suits a low-commitment first meetup
• Panda base trips and the Leshan Giant Buddha are the standard errand when friends visit

Cost of living: Rents and food sit well below the coastal first-tier cities, with a slower pace and a food scene people move here for.

Guide coming soon

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Hangzhou

Hangzhou has West Lake, tea hills on the edge of the city and a tech scene that keeps pulling newcomers in, so the crowd here skews young and recently arrived. The crew meets in person in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, so members here join the national online groups and the Hangzhou city chat.

• parties and socials: lakeside bars and the strips along the river near the CBD
• food crawls: Hangzhou-style dishes and the noodle shops tucked into the old streets
• language exchange: plenty of locals who came for tech work and want English practice
• sports, hikes and culture: running and cycling loops around West Lake, the tea hills above it, and tea-ceremony workshops
• board games, coffee and brunch: an easy city for a low-key first coffee
• Close enough to Shanghai that the two scenes overlap on weekends

Cost of living: Cheaper than Shanghai but not cheap, and popular with tech professionals.

Guide coming soon

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Chongqing

Chongqing is a vertical city of hotpot, fog and river views, where getting around often means stairs rather than blocks. The crew meets in person in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, so members here join the national online groups and the Chongqing city chat.

• parties and socials: nightlife spread across Jiefangbei and along the riverfront
• food crawls: Chongqing hotpot and the small-noodle shops the city runs on
• language exchange: fewer English speakers than Shanghai, so Mandarin practice goes further
• sports, hikes and culture: stair climbs, hillside walks and karst country out at Wulong
• board games, coffee and brunch: night-view photography walks suit this skyline better than most
• River cruises on the Yangtze and Jialing are the standard introduction to the city

Cost of living: Low rents by Chinese big-city standards, with and a distinctive local food culture.

Guide coming soon

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Suzhou

Suzhou trades on classical gardens, canals and water towns, and sits at the center of a large international manufacturing community just outside Shanghai. The crew meets in person in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, so members here join the national online groups and the Suzhou city chat.

• parties and socials: garden-side and canal-side drinking, plus the bar streets in the industrial park
• food crawls: Jiangnan dishes, river crab in season and the old-town snack streets
• language exchange: plenty of demand from engineers and their families, alongside Shanghainese-accented Mandarin
• sports, hikes and culture: lakeside cycling, silk workshops and calligraphy sessions
• board games, coffee and brunch: brunch around Jinji Lake is where most first meetings happen
• Under half an hour from Shanghai by high-speed rail, so the two scenes overlap heavily

Cost of living: Moderate costs, a short train ride from Shanghai, with a large manufacturing and expat base.

Guide coming soon

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Qingdao

Qingdao has beaches, German-era architecture and the Tsingtao brewery, and fills up with visitors every summer. The crew meets in person in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, so members here join the national online groups and the Qingdao city chat.

• parties and socials: beach bars and beer halls, including the brewery itself
• food crawls: seafood, street stalls and the night markets running along the coast
• language exchange: a smaller expat pool, which tends to make friendships form faster
• sports, hikes and culture: coastal hikes, Laoshan day trips and old-town walks through the former concession
• board games, coffee and brunch: summer carries most of the social year here
• Winters are colder than most southern cities, so the calendar thins out after October

Cost of living: Moderate for a coastal city, busy in summer, with a long-standing Korean community.

Guide coming soon

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Xi’an

Xi’an pairs the Terracotta Army and a walkable Ming-era city wall with a dense, long-standing street-food scene. The crew meets in person in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, so members here join the national online groups and the Xi’an city chat.

• parties and socials: the bar streets inside and just beside the city wall
• food crawls: Muslim Quarter street food, roujiamo and hand-pulled noodles
• language exchange: Mandarin here is close to the standard taught in textbooks
• sports, hikes and culture: walking the city wall, Mount Hua day trips and Tang-dynasty sites
• board games, coffee and brunch: courtyard cafes make a quiet place for a first conversation
• The center is compact, so crossing town rarely takes long

Cost of living: Affordable by first-tier standards, with a large student population and deep history.

Guide coming soon

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Tianjin

Tianjin sits about half an hour from Beijing by high-speed rail, with European-style concessions along the Haihe and a port that keeps pulling in international businesses. The crew meets in person in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, so members here join the national online groups and the Tianjin city chat.

• parties and socials: concession-era streets and riverside bars along the Haihe
• food crawls: Tianjin breakfast, street stalls and Bohai seafood
• language exchange: the local dialect is famously far from textbook Mandarin
• sports, hikes and culture: riverside walks, concession architecture walks and trips into the northern hills
• board games, coffee and brunch: close enough to Beijing that the two overlap socially
• A cheaper base than Beijing for people working across both cities

Cost of living: Moderate costs, and a short train ride from Beijing.

Guide coming soon

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Xiamen

Xiamen is an island city of mild weather, seafood and a creative crowd, with a largely pedestrian center that makes meeting up straightforward. The crew meets in person in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, so members here join the national online groups and the Xiamen city chat.

• parties and socials: beachfront bars and the old-villa lanes on Gulangyu
• food crawls: Fujian seafood, night markets and the local peanut-soup breakfasts
• language exchange: Minnan dialect dominates at home, Mandarin is what you use out
• sports, hikes and culture: coastal cycling along Huandao Road and day trips inland to the tulou
• board games, coffee and brunch: the cafe culture is established enough to plan a whole day around
• Typhoon season aside, people can meet outdoors most of the year

Cost of living: Moderate for a coastal city with a mild climate and a noticeably relaxed pace.

Guide coming soon

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Guilin

Guilin trades on karst mountains and the Li River, and draws teachers, photographers and remote workers looking for somewhere slower. The crew meets in person in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, so members here join the national online groups and the Guilin city chat.

• parties and socials: small bar streets around the pedestrian center
• food crawls: Guilin rice noodles, river fish and the night markets
• language exchange: fewer English speakers, so a little Mandarin goes a long way
• sports, hikes and culture: karst hikes, Li River trips and the cormorant-fishing villages
• board games, coffee and brunch: photography walks make more sense here than most formats
• Yangshuo downriver is where most of the outdoor options actually are

Cost of living: Cheap by Chinese big-city standards, known for scenery rather than for salaries.

Guide coming soon

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Kunming

Kunming is the capital of Yunnan and the province’s main gateway, with mild weather all year round, a large student population and the rail and road links west to Dali and Lijiang. The crew meets in person in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, so members here join the national online groups and the Kunming city chat.

• parties and socials: nightlife around the city center and the university districts
• food crawls: crossing-the-bridge noodles, wild mushrooms in season and street skewers
• language exchange: plenty of locals who want English practice, and Mandarin close to the textbook standard
• sports, hikes and culture: day trips to the Stone Forest, Western Hills walks and minority-culture villages
• board games, coffee and brunch: a cafe scene built partly around students and remote workers
• Most of the province is reachable from here, so it is a common first stop in Yunnan

Cost of living: Rents sit well below the coastal cities, with a mild climate all year round.

Guide coming soon

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Dali

Dali sits between Erhai Lake and the Cangshan mountains, with an established remote-work community alongside Bai minority culture in the old town and around the lake. The crew meets in person in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, so members here join the national online groups and the Dali city chat.

• parties and socials: old-town bars and lakeside places around Erhai
• food crawls: Yunnan dishes, mushroom season and the Bai markets around the lake
• language exchange: long-stay foreigners and locals mixed together, so English and Mandarin both get used daily
• sports, hikes and culture: cycling the Erhai loop, Cangshan trails and Bai villages
• board games, coffee and brunch: the cafe culture here suits a low-key first meetup
• The old town is small enough that people run into each other without planning to

Cost of living: Cheap by most standards, though the popular spots around Erhai have risen with the inflow of remote workers.

Guide coming soon

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Lijiang

Lijiang is the old town at the foot of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, with cobbled lanes, Naxi culture and trailheads for serious hiking in the province. The crew meets in person in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, so members here join the national online groups and the Lijiang city chat.

• parties and socials: bars along the old-town canals and quieter places in the newer districts
• food crawls: Naxi dishes, yak hotpot and the old-town snack streets
• language exchange: a steady flow of visitors and long-stayers, so practice is easy to find
• sports, hikes and culture: Tiger Leaping Gorge, Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and Naxi cultural sites
• board games, coffee and brunch: guesthouse courtyards are where most first conversations happen
• Most people come for a few days and end up staying longer than they planned

Cost of living: Affordable, but the old town is tourist-heavy and seasonal, and most long-stayers end up in the newer districts.

Guide coming soon

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