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Comment by msvan | Hacker News Reader

I had beers with the P1 team in Beijing about 3-4 years ago, so I probably met you too :) Seemed like a cool little company at the time. I'm surprised that you were able to get a Z visa (?) as I thought that required a degree?

OP: I can recommend living in China for the experience alone. You'll be treated differently, but xenophobia is not the word I'd use. I'm white and my experience was pretty great, though I'm not sure what it would be like for a non-white person.

I imagine a software engineer would make less than in some Western markets, but the cost of living is also substantially lower. Learning basic Chinese is helpful, but in the biggest cities you can typically get by with English and gestures.

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"Learning basic Chinese is helpful, but in the biggest cities you can typically get by with English and gestures."

Sure, you can 'get by' in the sense that you'll be able to buy food and get around. But if you plan to spend more than 6 months in China, studying Chinese will pay off in a better overall experience.

Nice to meet again :). 3-4 years ago in our company history was a fun time for sure.

For the Z visa, I brought the Pazazz. Or rather I could rattle together 5 years of work experience combined with my age. In my opinion, as long as you are serious to work, and not do the old classic Student/English teacher gig, and the company has good people handling it, there is always a way. For me there was a lot of going to South Korea for one week and get a new Visa there to be able to come back in etc.

For the Chinese language part, yes, learn it, its awesome and opens 5000 doors for you. But I have not mastered it to any degree but have survived very well. Nothing Im proud of, but a lack of it does not mean isolation, usually Chinese people are good at picking my vocabulary and find key words we can combine with gestures.

Pijiu? Dui Bing da ma Dui. Hao!

Done :)

I don't agree. English in Beijing is not so common, but Hong Kong its very common.

My point is not that you will have enlightening discussions in English with the average Beijinger, but that there are lots of people who live in expat areas and mostly hang out with expats and Chinese people who speak decent English. Some spend years in China without knowing a lick of Chinese.

True. You aren't going to be talking about deep politics with a Beijing taxi driver without a good command of Chinese, but you'll totally be able to order a mocha frapiccino in English at Starbucks.

> You aren't going to be talking about deep politics with a Beijing taxi driver without a good command of Chinese

Do people talk politics there? Accidentally let slip the wrong sentence when the wrong pair of ears is around and bam , your life as you know it is over.

Yes, and no, China is not that totalitarian. Chinese will complain about the government all the time, just they don't appreciate foreigners, even residents, doing the same. That would be like a Chinese complaining about the USA while living there....

Not common at all in Hong Kong either... except in hotels and written on restaurant menus and official documents. It's supposed to be a bilingual city... but not in practice. You want English? Go to Singapore or Malaysia.

That wasn't my experience when I was there. While it's true that the average citizen may/will not speak English, it's more common than just in the high end areas that you mentioned.

I was in HK in 2013 for Chinese New Year. Lots of foreigners working there, especially Indians and Australians, but the local population struggled with English. I was in Singapore in 2010. Everyone there spoke fluent English.

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