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“Do you have brothers and sisters?”
Starting from today, I will publish on a more regular basis. Posts will be published three times weekly – on Tuesdays, Thursdays and on Saturdays. If you don’t want to miss a post, you can also...
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“Is your hair dyed or is this your real color?”
Illustration by Ruth Silbermayr-Song Starting from today I will publish posts three times weekly, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Guest posts will be published every second Saturday. Make sure to...
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Guest post: “I like men”
Today I’m featuring a story from Laura. Laura is a fellow-expat and blogger who is currently living and working in Shanghai. She blogs at Pausa Monk and will marry her Chinese fiancé at the beginning...
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My in-laws’ old house
Illustration by Ruth Silbermayr-Song Four years ago, my in-laws bought an apartment in their hometown Siping in Northeast China’s Jilin province. Two years ago, they should have been able to move into...
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A suitcase filled with string beans
Illustration by Ruth Silbermayr-Song We take the train from Changchun in Northeast China to Shenzhen in Southeast China. Taking more than 36 hours, it’s the longest train ride for me so far. At one of...
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My mother-in-law and the crazy foreigners
Illustration by Ruth Silbermayr-Song A few weeks before our wedding my mother-in-law takes a train to Beijing to help us with some of the red tape. Since it is her first time in Beijing, she also...
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“Who takes care of the kids?”
Illustration by Ruth Silbermayr-Song I have lunch with my new coworker, a woman in her mid-to-late 30s who has a 2-year-old son. She asks me: “Who takes care of young kids in Austria? In China, it’s...
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“There’s not much I and my husband talk about anymore”
Illustration by Ruth Silbermayr-Song My new coworker and I have lunch together. She is a woman in her mid-to-late 30s and has a two-year-old child. After she asks me about marrying Y, it’s my turn to...
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“Did you have to use guns frequently?”
Illustration by Ruth Silbermayr-Song One day in the summer of 2012 I’m in Shangri-la at a restaurant with two acquaintances. My friend has to work and has asked them to take me around town. They have...
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“I always take my bike”
Illustration by Ruth Silbermayr-Song Right across the street from our building is a guy in his 50s who repairs all different kinds of things. One day in the summer of 2013, I take my bike to him to...
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“This is the only thing we can do for a living”
Illustration by Ruth Silbermayr-Song The first time I go to a blind massage place in China in 2013 reminds me of all the reasons why I hadn’t been to one of these places for a few months: It hurts like...
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“Do you speak foreignish?”
Illustration by Ruth Silbermayr-Song I’m at the supermarket. A little girl who’s probably not older than 5 is playing with the cup you usually use for putting rice into a plastic bag. I ask her: “Can I...
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“I’d like to find my son a foreign wife”
Illustration by Ruth Silbermayr-Song One day in March 2013 my fiancé and I go to the hospital to see a Chinese doctor. We sit down to tell her my ailments and while she feels my pulse my fiancé starts...
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“It must be really dangerous working here”
Illustration by Ruth Silbermayr-Song One day after work, Y, another colleague and I go to have dinner at a nearby street side restaurant. The road leading there is surrounded by trees – mainly mango...
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Garden city
Illustration by Ruth Silbermayr-Song Our team was working on an app recently where we needed to do some research on plants. There are quite a few plants in my company, and once every week a young woman...
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“10 years ago you could buy a North Korean woman for 2000 Chinese Yuan”
Illustration by Ruth Silbermayr-Song At the beginning of July 2013, Y and I spend a day in Yanji. Yanji is a city not too far from the North Korean border and is the capital of the Korean autonomous...
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“Your breasts are almost non-existent”
This is part 2 of 2 of a conversation with L, a woman in her mid-twenties working at a massage parlor. Click here for part 1 (“Can pregnant women have massages?”). This post is about women’s issues and...
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“I’m here even when it rains”
I’m climbing Northern Yunnan’s Tiger Leaping Gorge. I’ve met a German and a French on the bus, and we walk up the mountain together. At one point, we come by a lonely stall high up in the mountains...
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Weddings and gifts
This is part 3 of a conversation I had with a taxi driver who took me to the airport in Shenzhen. The conversation was rather long, so I’ve split it into 6 parts. Click here if you’ve missed part 1...
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Chinese Lantern Festival and “you shouldn’t eat too many Tangyuan when pregnant”
Illustration by Ruth Silbermayr-Song (http://ruthsilbermayrsong.com/) On yesterday’s 元宵节 (Yuánxiāojié), translated as Chinese Lantern Festival, which falls on the first full moon of the Chinese New...
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