We truly believe there is no better way to learn about a new city, new country or a new culture than living there. Our Living Abroad series
is designed to tell stories of living overseas and show people that the
world is really not such a scary place. We hope it inspires more people
to pack up their bags, travel slow and see what it’s really like to
live in a different place. If you’d like to tell your story, there’s
more information at the end of Helen’s story. Living in Hangzhou
I am originally from Bristol in the UK. Since graduating I’ve worked in various jobs, mainly customer service, retail, and the theater.
However, in 2014 I started traveling and haven’t stopped (much) since.
It was September 2015 that my boyfriend and I moved to Hangzhou.
What is it like to live in Hangzhou as an expat/ foreigner?
I think living anywhere is very different to simply traveling somewhere. We live in a very local community so we stand out a lot from
everyone and get some very funny looks sometimes. Overall, though,
people are very friendly, and it’s been very useful to learn some basic
mandarin to get by.
I worked as a primary school English teacher, although it was part-time hours, I would wake up early at 6.15am every day as classes
started at 8am. An average day for me has 4 classes with some time in
between to relax and prepare lessons. Every day is different with
teaching which is why I love it. The classes and topics vary. With
primary students, I had to make sure I had lots of activities planned to
keep all the children engaged!
In the evenings, my boyfriend and I would go out to eat in the local restaurants and do some work for our other jobs online. I’d also keep
everyone up to date with my blog and we’d plan some trips for our weeks
and National holidays as we loved exploring more of China.
Why did you choose Hangzhou?
We knew that we wanted to travel and teach somewhere in Asia (very broad!). However, it was when we were in Poland last year that we met a
guy who lived in Hangzhou for 4 years. He really recommended the city
and set us up with some contacts who helped us to get our jobs.
What did you love about living in Hangzhou?
I love the hospitality I received and the support and kindness from the other teachers. I made some wonderful friends and loved trying lots
of new food (I wasn’t a fan of all the food!). I mostly loved that it
was a totally different culture to anywhere else I’d ever been, and
living there means I got a real insight into what life was like.
What are the local people like?
The locals were very friendly, despite our very basic mandarin speaking skills. The language was definitely challenging though when we
first arrived and it was difficult to communicate with neighbors and
when ordering food. I think they appreciated us trying, though.
What is the cost of living in Hangzhou?
Our teaching agency paid for our flat which was approximately 2000 RMB a month (about £200) – it was a very basic flat, though! As for
everything else, the cost of living is super low. If you use public
transport and eat locally you can easily get by on 2000 RMB a month. Of
course, we enjoyed meeting up with others for drinks on the weekend and
traveling so we spent more like 4000 RMB a month. This is still very low
compared to the cost of living in London.
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