Sapore di Cina

Learn Chinese, Travel or Work in China

How to rent a room or an apartment in Shanghai

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rent apartment in shanghai

This is a complete guide to rent an apartment, or just a room in a shared flat, in Shanghai. You will learn:

  • The best websites to rent an apartment in Shanghai (both in English and Chinese language).
  • The pros and cons of looking for a room or an apartment on the internet.
  • A nice trick to get a better price if you are looking for a room in a shared flat.
  • The pros and cons of using an agency, how to spot an honest agency.
  • What are the expenses beside the monthly rent (security deposit, agency fee, electricity and so on).
  • Why you must ask for a regular contract.
  • The most common scams while renting an apartment in China.
  • Which is the best zone to live in Shanghai if you want to have a social life without spending hours in a cab.

P.s. Click here if you need an hotel for your first days in Shanghai
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Becoming a Certified Teacher While Teaching in China

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Certified Teacher in China

This article has been written by Nicholas Dahlhoff author of All Language Resources

Like many people, I came to China to teach English with basically zero training. I had gotten an online TEFL and had done some volunteer teaching in the past. But, I really didn’t know the first thing about teaching.

It’s been 2.5 years now, and while I’ve improved significantly as a teacher, I’m still learning each day. I’ve also become quite comfortable and content with my life in Beijing and don’t see myself leaving anytime soon.

Because of this, I decided to start looking into how to better position myself and develop professionally. That’s when I discovered an online teacher certification program that I could complete while teaching in China.

Why become a certified teacher?

While I’d love to say that the reason I wanted to become a certified teacher is that I’m passionate about teaching and that its the only thing I’ll ever want to do, this isn’t completely true. [Read more…]

The Top VPNs for China: How to access Facebook and Whatsapp behind the Great Wall

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Best VPN for China

The first part of this article explains what a VPN is and how it can be used to access Facebook, Whatsapp, YouTube and other websites that are currently blocked in China.

The second part is a comparative review of ExpressVPN, VyprVPN, NordVPN and VPN Area, in our opinion one of the best three VPN providers for China. We compare the prices, functionality and performance of the three VPNs. On top of that, you will find multiple sections to help you evaluate and optimize your VPN, short reviews of some of the most popular VPNs and in general which types of websites are blocked in China.

The last section is a list of frequently asked questions on VPN use in China and blocked websites.

Click here if you want to jump directly to the comparison of the best VPN for China!

Important: Due to the increased restrictions to VPNs which came into effect in October 2017, you should always keep your VPN updated in order to make sure it works at its best.

What is a VPN and why do I need one in China?

As you probably already know, the internet doesn’t work like we would like it to in China and a large number of websites are blocked by the “Great Firewall.” Among the websites that you can’t access there are Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube, Twitter and Google+.

There are many other blocked websites, and depending on what you do, it may be virtually impossible for you to work in China without a VPN (Virtual Private Network). The most striking case is probably that of Google.com, which often returns an error message when used from within the Middle Kingdom.

But there is still hope…

In order to solve this problem, you can install a VPN, which masks your I.P. address so that your laptop appears to be connected from the U.S. or Japan even if you are in China.

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Moving to China to Work or Study

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moving to china to work and study

This article is a quick guide to everything you need to know to prepare before moving to China to live and how to take your first steps once you have arrived. Keep in mind that many of the subjects included here have been covered in much more detail in other articles.

In this article, I will discuss the following aspects (you can click on any of them to skip directly to the section that interests you).

Before moving: Relocation agencies, finding a job, visas, vaccines, money and cards, plane tickets, documentation, health insurance, finding lodging for the first days, what to bring, sending your things, finding a school for your children, pets.

First steps in China: Registering with the local police, residency permit, registering with your consulate, opening a bank account, driver’s license, phone cards and internet, finding a place to live.
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Teaching physical education in Shenzhen, China: Interview with Claudio Piani

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Teaching physical education in Shenzhen, China

Today we’ll interview Claudio Piani, who teaches physical education in the city of Shenzhen. You can follow Claudio’s adventures on his blog, Piani per la Cina (?).

If you’re interested in finding a job in China as a teacher (not just for physical education) I think you’ll find this interview extremely interesting!

Finding work in China as a teacher

Claudio, first of all thanks for agreeing to respond to my questions. Let’s get started right away: what gave you the idea to move to and work in China?

Hello to all the readers of “Taste of China” and thank you Furio for this motivating interview. I came up with the idea of moving to China to work about two years ago for various reasons. In 2014 I resigned from my job as a sporting operator in Milan to take an overland trip through Asia and Oceania.

The “pilgrimage” unexpectedly lasted for more than two years, in which I had the good fortune to cross China twice, first from north to south (Autumn 2014) and then from West to East (Summer 2016), causing me to fall in love with it.

It was actually during this period that I got the idea to move there to work, supported in part by the Chinese passion for basketball, the sport I taught in Italy.

How did you find a job? Did you use a specific website? An agency? Personal contacts? [Read more…]

Health Insurance for Expats in China

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health insurance expats china

One of the most important things you need to consider before moving to China to live is whether you need to take out health insurance or not, and what type of policy to choose.

Click here if you want to send a request for a free quotation to the broker we recommend at the moment, who specialize in insurances for China

This article is intended to help you understand what you will find in China, and to provide the information necessary for you to be able to decide whether to take out a health insurance policy and how to choose it. To do so, we are going to cover the following topics (you can click on the title to skip directly to the section that you are most interested in):

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How to Choose Your Travel Insurance for China (and why you need it)

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health insurance in china

When I decided to go to China for the first time, finding an affordable and comprehensive health insurance was one of my first concerns, as I knew that, while in my country I was covered by the welfare system, in China I was on my own. This also applies for short-term travelers: unless you have international insurance, you won’t be covered while traveling around Asia.

Why do I need an health insurance when I travel to China?

Health insurance isn’t compulsory when you travel, so you can still go to Asia without any insurance and hope to never get sick, have an accident, lose your luggage or having your flight canceled by a storm.

However I won’t do it myself. It’s too risky. Especially when you consider that a good travel insurance only costs you a couple of USD per day.

Chinese hospitals are business oriented and they won’t help you unless you can pay cash in advance or they can verify that you’re covered by an adequate medical insurance.

I repeat, if you can’t pay nobody will help you. Also, the international hospitals in China (where doctors and nurses can speak English) are often more expensive than hospitals in the U.S.

I’ve heard plenty of horror stories of western tourists or expats that were left to die or lose a foot in an Asian hospital because, after being a victim of an accident or bad food poisoning, they didn’t have insurance or enough cash to pay for the emergency treatments they needed. Can you afford to pay 5,000 or 10,000 USD cash? [Read more…]

Travel to China: Tips and Resources

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travel to china

This guide contains pretty much all the info that you’ll need to prepare your trip to China: VISA requirements, travel insurance, vaccinations, guidebooks, planes and trains, hotels, internet and phone cards.

Also, you’ll find tips on where to eat, what to bring to China, when to travel to China, how to avoid the most common scams and how to bargain.

P.s. If you find this article useful, subscribe to our newsletter using the form at the end of the article to download our free PDF e-Book “Travel to China” (70 pages)

You can jump directly to the section you’re most interested on by clicking on one of the items of this index: [Read more…]

How to get a Chinese VISA in Hong Kong

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chinese visa in hong kong

Need help to get your Chinese visa?
Click here to find out more!

This article is a fairly complete guide to getting a Chinese VISA in Hong Kong or doing a VISA run (in the event that you have a multiple-entry VISA and need to leave China every thirty or sixty days) while spending the smallest possible amount of time and money.

You’ll find the following information:

For more general information on Chinese VISA, I suggest you read Chinese VISA application: A complete guide.

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What it’s like being an English Kindergarten teacher in China

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Kindergarten teacher in China

This excellent article has been written by Casey form Talking Mandarin, Enjoy!

China is becoming an ever-popular destination for people to go teach English. And rightly so. The demand for English teachers is higher than ever, meaning there are plenty of jobs available, and the pay is generally pretty good!

If you’ve decided you want to go over to China to teach English, your next decision will have to be which age group to teach. You might have the option to teach kindergarten, primary school, high school and even university, depending on your qualifications.

After making up my mind to go teach English in China, I was adamant that I DID NOT want to teach young kids. I had it in my mind that young kids would be annoying, hard to discipline and far too energy consuming. On top of that, I had absolutely NO experience teaching/caring for young children.

After having decided I wanted to teach older children, the strangest thing happened… I became a kindergarten teacher!
[Read more…]