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After 33 years of studying Mandarin across China, Eric Olander, co-founder of the China Global South Project and a longtime China-focused journalist, explains how regional Mandarin accents, chengyu, 了 (le), face, conflict, and cultural fluency shape real Chinese communication and change the way native speakers respond to you as your Mandarin improves.

China Global South Project:https://chinaglobalsouth.com/author/eric/

What You’ll Learn About Advanced Mandarin Chinese, Fluency, and Chinese Culture

• Why regional Mandarin Chinese can be easier to understand than Beijing Mandarin
• How Chinese accents, speaking speed, and vocabulary vary across China
• How chengyu and four-character Chinese idioms improve Mandarin fluency
• How to know when native Chinese speakers see you as fluent in Mandarin
• Whether Mandarin learners should study Cantonese and other Chinese dialects
• How Mandarin Chinese expresses past, present, and future without verb tenses
• How 了 (le) works in Mandarin Chinese grammar
• What face means in Chinese culture, business, and conflict
• Why cultural fluency matters as much as Mandarin vocabulary and grammar
• How advanced Mandarin changes the way Chinese speakers communicate with foreigners

Why Regional Mandarin Chinese Can Be Easier to Understand Than Beijing Mandarin

Eric has travelled through more than 15 Chinese provinces, including Xinjiang, Gansu, Guizhou, and Shanghai. In 1993, he spent about nine months travelling by train through China while reporting for the BBC World Service.

In places such as Kashgar, he heard Mandarin spoken as a second language. Regional accents could be difficult, but slower speech and simpler vocabulary sometimes made these conversations easier than fast native Mandarin in Beijing.

How Chinese Chengyu and Four-Character Idioms Improve Mandarin Fluency

Eric sees chengyu, commonly four-character Chinese idioms, as an important part of advanced Mandarin.

Knowing the characters isn’t enough. Learners also need to understand the larger meaning and know when an expression fits socially and culturally.

Eric keeps a list of chengyu in Evernote and wants to use more idiomatic Chinese as his Mandarin continues to develop.

How to Know When Native Chinese Speakers See You as Fluent in Mandarin

Eric values conversations where nobody comments on his Mandarin.

People stop slowing down, stop switching into English, and stop congratulating him. They simply talk to him normally.

That also changes expectations. Once people believe your Mandarin is strong enough, they may stop giving you the extra latitude they’d give a foreign language learner.

Should Mandarin Learners Study Cantonese and Other Chinese Dialects?

Despite living in Hong Kong, Eric chose not to pursue Cantonese or other Chinese varieties.

Mandarin was already difficult enough. While living in Vietnam, studying Vietnamese began interfering with his Chinese, so he decided to focus on going deeper into Mandarin instead.

How Mandarin Chinese Expresses Past, Present, and Future Without Verb Tenses

Mandarin doesn’t use English-style verb tense changes.

Eric describes 了 (le) through an image of water flowing beneath a bridge. The water on one side isn’t the same water moving beyond it, so something has changed.

That helped him understand 了 as connected to transformation or change of state rather than simply as a past-tense marker.

How 了 (Le) Works in Mandarin Chinese Grammar

For Eric, 了 became easier to understand once he stopped treating it like an English past-tense ending.

The bridge image helped him see it as a marker of change. Mandarin often expresses time through context, particles, and changes of state rather than verb conjugations.

What Face Means in Chinese Culture, Business, and Conflict

Much of Eric’s Mandarin has been used in business, where face, hierarchy, and emotional context matter.

At one VIP meeting, he crossed his legs so the sole of his shoe faced the other person. A protocol officer later told him the gesture had been disrespectful.

The mistake showed that even decades of language learning don’t automatically teach every cultural signal.

Why Cultural Fluency Matters for Advanced Mandarin Chinese

Around 2005, someone aggressively swore at Eric in Chinese. He understood everything and went home angry and upset.

A Chinese friend later pointed out that the woman clearly expected him to understand and was treating him more like another Chinese speaker than a foreigner requiring special handling.

Eric began to see the experience as a strange sign of progress.

How Advanced Mandarin Fluency Changes the Way Chinese Speakers Treat Foreigners

After 33 years of Mandarin learning, Eric’s biggest fluency milestones aren’t only vocabulary or grammar.

They’re whether people can joke, argue, negotiate, use idioms, and speak naturally without adjusting their language because he’s foreign.

Original publication date: march 12, 2019

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Learning Mandarin Chinese through self-study can take years, especially for English speakers learning Chinese characters, Pinyin, reading, vocabulary, and listening at the same time. After five years of Mandarin study, Von explains how intensive reading, Pleco, daily Chinese exposure, and strategic breaks helped him move from spending three hours on five sentences to understanding the gist of Chinese news articles and books.

What You’ll Learn About Learning Mandarin Chinese Through Self-Study

• Why Mandarin can take years for English speakers
• How intensive Chinese reading builds vocabulary
• When Mandarin learners should move beyond Pinyin
• How Pleco helps with Chinese character lookups
• Why Chinese characters and words aren’t the same
• How to manage Mandarin study burnout
• How changing your phone to Chinese creates immersion
• Why learning Mandarin still matters with AI translation

Why Mandarin Self-Study Can Work Differently From Language Classes

Von studied Spanish for about four years in high school and continued in college but never felt able to use it comfortably.

Mandarin became different. Years of teaching himself tricking, a mix of martial arts, gymnastics, and acrobatics, had already shown him that difficult skills could improve through independent practice.

Why Intensive Chinese Reading Builds Mandarin Vocabulary

Reading became Von’s main Mandarin study method. His first serious attempt took about three hours to work through roughly five sentences, leaving his brain feeling “on fire.”

Five years later, he can open a Chinese book or news article and understand the general direction, although serious reading still involves many dictionary lookups.

When Mandarin Learners Should Move Beyond Pinyin

Von began with audio lessons, native-speaker recordings, repetition, and Pinyin. After several months, homophones and similar-sounding terms began blending into what he calls a “muddy soup.”

Chinese characters supplied information sound alone couldn’t. He started with simplified characters and later explored traditional ones.

How to Use Pleco for Chinese Character Lookups

Von first used DimSum on his computer but found it cumbersome for constant searches. Pleco made reading faster, especially when he could draw an unfamiliar character instead of needing to know its pronunciation first.

Why Mandarin Can Take Longer Than Spanish for English Speakers

At times, Von studied Mandarin around six hours a day and still struggled to read, listen, and understand how characters combined into words.

He describes Mandarin as an exercise in diligence and patience. After roughly five years, enough pieces had accumulated for reading to become much more usable.

How to Manage Burnout While Learning Mandarin

Von sometimes studies intensely for about two weeks before reaching a point where even thinking about Mandarin feels exhausting.

He takes a break until curiosity returns. Seeing Chinese he doesn’t understand often pulls him back into another study cycle.

How Changing Your Phone to Chinese Creates Daily Immersion

Around six to eight months after starting, Von switched his phone and computer browsers to Chinese and subscribed to Chinese-language channels.

Mandarin stayed visible even during study breaks, making it easier for curiosity to pull him back.

Why Learning Mandarin Still Matters in the Age of AI Translation

Von works in IT and asks whether learning languages still matters if AI can translate and hold conversations for us.

His answer is yes. The challenge itself has value, while Steph adds that learning Mandarin provides cultural perspectives that translation alone can’t fully reproduce.

Von’s experience offers a realistic model for long-term Mandarin learning: study, take breaks when necessary, keep Chinese around you, and follow curiosity when it brings you back.

Original publication date: December 27, 2018

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Learning Mandarin Chinese in China requires more than textbook vocabulary. Matthew Boyle shows how practical phrases, repeat conversations, regional Chinese accents, private tutoring, bilingual children’s books, and language games can improve Mandarin speaking, listening, reading, and long-term motivation.

Matthew’s interest in China began with a book of Zen parables that came with a miniature Zen garden given to his father. He later studied Mandarin for one year at university, moved to Guilin in 2011, and discovered that the Chinese he needed for daily life looked very different from the language in his textbook.

What You’ll Learn About Learning Mandarin Chinese in China

• How real-life Mandarin differs from textbook Chinese
• Which Mandarin phrases help with shopping, water, and vegetarian food
• How repeat conversations with local people improve Chinese speaking
• How to practice Mandarin tones through listening and imitation
• Why regional Chinese accents improve Mandarin comprehension
• How private Mandarin tutoring can follow your interests
• Why forgetting Chinese vocabulary is part of language learning
• How bilingual children’s books help adults read Chinese
• How learning Mandarin can make Cantonese easier to approach
• How language-learning games support intermediate Chinese learners

Why Textbook Mandarin Doesn’t Prepare Learners for Daily Life in China

Matthew’s university classes focused on vocabulary, pronunciation, speaking, and textbook dialogues. After moving to Guilin, he needed Chinese for refusing persistent sellers, buying bottled water, explaining that he was vegetarian, and ordering food without hidden meat.

He recorded these needs in a small notebook. Daily life created a personal Mandarin curriculum that no first textbook chapter had provided.

Which Practical Mandarin Phrases Help After Moving to China

One of Matthew’s first phrases was 不要，谢谢, meaning “I don’t want it, thank you.” As a vegetarian, he also learned 一点肉也不要 and 一点点肉也不要 to stress that he didn’t want even a small amount of meat.

As he learned which dishes and restaurants were reliable, ordering became easier.

How Repeat Conversations With Local People Improve Mandarin Speaking

Matthew’s favorite practice is drinking tea and talking in local tea shops. He recommends returning to the same dumpling shop, baozi shop, or small business so each conversation can build on the last.

Once people know you’re learning, they may slow down, choose simpler words, or continue an earlier topic. The exchange becomes a relationship rather than a language test.

How to Practise Mandarin Tones Through Listening and Imitation

Tones intimidated Matthew because every word seemed to require another detail to memorise. His method is to repeat a word using the tone the speaker just used.

Instead of searching for a tone number, he copies the sound he has just heard. Steph describes this as listening for the “music” in someone’s speech.

Why Regional Chinese Accents Improve Mandarin Listening Comprehension

The Mandarin Matthew heard in Guilin differed from textbook recordings. Local speakers blended sounds, reduced the northern R sound, and sometimes shifted F and H sounds.

Some students told him to ignore Guilinhua and focus only on Putonghua. Matthew stayed open to regional speech and sometimes understood local speakers better than people who had decided not to listen.

How Interest-Led Private Tutoring Makes Mandarin Lessons More Effective

Matthew bought about 50 or 60 private lessons after arriving in China. He brought books, songs, music, and poetry to his tutor, Mu Peijun.

They used a textbook but often went “off the trail and into the woods.” Because the material interested him, the lessons stayed useful and memorable.

Why Forgetting Chinese Vocabulary Doesn’t Mean You’re Failing

Matthew says he’s now “playing with Chinese” rather than following a strict study plan. He explores tea, poetry, philosophy, songs, and stories.

When he finds a word or sentence he loves, he saves it on his phone or writes it down. He lets less important language go and trusts useful expressions to return.

How Bilingual Children’s Books Help Adults Learn to Read Chinese

Matthew found children’s books at an outdoor market where he normally bought vegetables. They cost about five yuan each, so he returned daily and collected close to 100.

Many were familiar English-language stories with Chinese replacing the original text. A known plot and familiar pictures made the Chinese easier to interpret.

How Learning Mandarin Creates a Foundation for Cantonese

After about six years of Mandarin, Matthew moved to Guangdong and found himself surrounded by Cantonese. Mandarin gave him a starting point because some sentence structures and characters overlap.

His goal is conversation, not perfect writing or an exam score, so listening and speaking come first.

How Language-Learning Games Help Intermediate Mandarin Learners

Matthew created Chinese Champions because he wanted something more complex than beginner flashcards. Chinese Champions 2 includes his travel photography, Chinese stories, and vocabulary drawn from different parts of China.

His experience shows that Mandarin doesn’t have to remain a school subject. It can become part of the people, books, games, places, and ideas we already care about.

Original publication date: December 6, 2018

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Learning Mandarin Chinese through self-study means balancing Chinese characters, Pinyin, reading, listening, speaking, handwriting, and regional accents that rarely improve together. Ian shows how flashcards, Pleco, graded readers, bilingual news, and living in China helped him reach approximately 3,000 characters, read Chinese newspapers, and keep progressing when familiar methods stopped working.

The first time I met Ian, we were walking around Shanghai during a work event and discussing the challenges of learning Mandarin. When he mentioned a Chinese cursive handwriting book he had to special order, I immediately made a mental note to invite him onto the podcast. Thankfully, he agreed.

What You’ll Learn About Self-Studying Mandarin Chinese

• How to memorize Chinese characters without relying only on Pinyin
• Why handwriting improves Chinese character recognition
• Which Mandarin apps support reading and listening
• Why Mandarin skills develop at different speeds
• How bilingual news helps learners read Chinese newspapers
• Why regional accents and cursive Hanzi create new challenges

Why Chinese Characters Motivate Learners to Study Mandarin

Ian became interested in hanzi characters during a 2003 trip to Hong Kong. Frustrated that he couldn’t read the signs, he bought all three volumes of Fun with Chinese Characters.

Back in the UK, he studied with a Colloquial Chinese textbook and listened to the dialogues during long drives. Mandarin’s writing system and internal logic felt completely different from French and German, which he already had experience learning.

How Flashcards and Handwriting Support Chinese Character Learning

Pinyin alone didn’t help Ian remember vocabulary. Hanzi gave each word a visual structure and helped him distinguish between homophones, words that sound the same but look different (in English "close" and "clothes" are an example) 

He first learned about 800 characters from one book and reached close to 1,000 before moving to China. He later used Tuttle’s Chinese in a Flash cards and created extra cards for missing HSK characters.

Over several years, Ian reached approximately 3,000 characters. When similar-looking Hanzi began blending together, handwriting practice helped him notice the components that made each character different.

Why Pinyin Can Make Chinese Reading Harder

In graded readers, Ian’s eyes were pulled toward familiar Roman letters instead of Chinese characters. He thinks of Pinyin as a voice whispering the meaning of a word. 

Pleco helped by letting him read Hanzi without visible Pinyin, tap unfamiliar characters for definitions, and use text-to-speech. He has also used ChinesePod, Skritter, Anki, Du Chinese, and The Chairman’s Bao.

Why Mandarin Skills Develop at Different Speeds

Ian describes reading, handwriting, listening, and speaking as partly separate systems. Focusing on one often means another receives less attention.

His learning moves in waves. He may focus on characters, return to grammar, or increase listening practice after a difficult conversation. Uneven progress can create study guilt, but it doesn’t mean the learner is failing.

How to Start Reading Chinese Newspapers

Chinese newspapers remained difficult because they use formal vocabulary, four-character idioms, cultural references, and structures connected to Classical Chinese.

Ian improved during 18 months back in the UK by reading BBC Chinese and bilingual New York Times articles. He read the Chinese first, checked the English, then returned to identify what he had missed.

Why Living in China Doesn’t Guarantee Mandarin Listening Fluency

Even after years in China, listening remained one of Ian’s weakest skills. Regional accents, tones, homophones, local vocabulary, and Shanghainese made everyday speech difficult to decode.

Taxi drivers in Changsha once laughed at the northern accent he’d picked up in Beijing. Later, native speakers said his pronunciation had shifted toward his girlfriend’s southern Mandarin.

Why Cursive Hanzi Is Difficult to Read

Printed Chinese didn’t prepare Ian for handwritten notes. Native speakers join strokes, reduce components, and use forms resembling shorthand.

He found an out-of-print book called Learning Chinese Script to understand recurring patterns. Before that, a barber in rural Hunan tried to say his haircut was finished using both a local dialect and a handwritten note. Ian couldn’t understand either one.

His journey shows that Mandarin progress doesn’t require one perfect method. It requires enough curiosity and persistence to return when the next plateau appears.

Original publication date: October 21, 2018

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Foreigners who plan to live or work in China can’t afford to postpone learning Mandarin. After more than 30 years of Chinese language study, Eric Olander explains why English-only professionals are increasingly being excluded from meetings, emails, and workplace decisions, and what serious Mandarin learners need to do now.

What Eric Olander Shares About Learning Mandarin and Working in China

• How studying Mandarin in Taipei connected textbooks with real life
• Why traditional Chinese characters can help beginners
• How Bopomofo improves Mandarin pronunciation
• Why long breaks can erase years of progress
• How private tutors and online lessons support advanced learners
• Why Chinese textbooks often fail Western adults
• How Weibo became a practical Mandarin learning tool
• Why apps can’t replace memorising Chinese characters
• How Mandarin affects jobs, meetings, and visas in China
• Why internet slang and chengyu still challenge advanced learners

How Studying Mandarin in Taiwan Made the Language Click

Eric began studying Chinese in 1985 after his boarding school encouraged students to choose Russian, Japanese, or Chinese as a “strategic language.” He originally wanted Spanish and didn’t immediately enjoy Mandarin.

The language finally became real when he moved to Taipei for a gap year in 1989. At the Mandarin Training Center at Taiwan Normal University, he used Chinese while taking buses, shopping, renting housing, and managing daily life.

Eric preferred Taiwan’s practical lessons to the political textbook dialogues available elsewhere. Learning how to mail a letter or rent an apartment helped him connect classroom language with the world around him.

Why Traditional Characters and Bopomofo Help Beginners

Eric started with traditional Chinese characters because their additional visual components helped him understand how characters developed. He later switched to simplified characters for work and typing, but his foundation allowed him to read writing used in Taiwan and Hong Kong.

He also learned Zhuyin Fuhao, commonly called Bopomofo. Because Pinyin uses Roman letters, Western learners may pronounce Mandarin through familiar English sounds.

Bopomofo forced Eric to learn each sound without relying on English spelling habits. He no longer uses it regularly, but credits it with strengthening his early pronunciation.

Why Learning Mandarin Requires Lifelong Consistency

Across roughly 32 years, Eric’s longest break from Chinese was about three months. He continued studying while living in cities including Chicago, Paris, Kinshasa, Saigon, and Shanghai.

Wherever he moved, he found a tutor and studied two or three times a week. He warns that a learner can fall from around HSK 3 to HSK 1 after only six or seven weeks without practice.

Eric’s advice is direct: Mandarin isn’t a course that becomes permanently complete. Learners must decide whether they’re prepared to keep going for years.

How Private Tutors and Weibo Supported Long-Term Progress

Eric left formal Chinese classes after his first year at UC Berkeley because he disliked the dated Practical Chinese Reader textbook. He hired a teaching assistant privately and began studying news, newspapers, and practical vocabulary.

He later moved his lessons online and scheduled Skype sessions at 6 a.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays. This made consistent study easier to maintain before work.

For approximately eight years, Eric also used Weibo as a learning tool. He worked with his tutor on posts about family, travel, and everyday life, then replied to comments from Chinese followers.

His account reached around 1,200 followers. The value wasn’t influence. It gave him real readers, practical feedback, and a reason to communicate beyond classroom exercises.

Why Mandarin Apps Can’t Replace Character Practice

Eric rejects the idea that one app or online course can create professional fluency. Digital tools can support repetition, but they can’t remove the need to memorise characters.

Survival Chinese may be enough to order jianbing or handle simple transactions. Business meetings, internal emails, and complex conversations require years of reading, writing, listening, and speaking.

Why Mandarin Is Becoming Essential for Working in China

Eric’s view changed when meetings at his international company increasingly shifted from English into Chinese. Colleagues who couldn’t follow Mandarin began missing emails, information, meetings, and decisions.

His human resources director warned that foreigners without Chinese would find it increasingly difficult to work in China. Mandarin ability could also influence visa assessments alongside education, experience, and specialised skills.

Even after more than 30 years, Eric still studies internet slang, coded expressions, and chengyu. For anyone serious about living or working in China, his message is clear: start now, expect the process to take years, and don’t stop.

• The China Project:https://thechinaproject.com/
• Da Shan's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Dashan/videos
• MamaHuhu: https://www.youtube.com/watch

Original publication date: September 18, 2018

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 After ten months of full-time Mandarin classes in Shanghai, German language learner Angie could decode “sparkling wine” from a Chinese menu, speak with Didi drivers, and understand why “Have you eaten?” can express care rather than hunger. Listen to hear what those breakthroughs reveal about Chinese listening, Hanzi, grammar, confidence, humour, and daily life in China. 

What Angie Shares About Learning Mandarin in Shanghai

• How full-time Mandarin classes in China work
• Why Chinese listening was harder than reading or speaking
• Why Chinese characters became essential after Pinyin
• How speaking practice built confidence in daily life
• Why European languages didn’t make Mandarin easier
• Why Chinese grammar isn’t as simple as people claim
• How measure words improve everyday communication
• Why handwritten flashcards worked better than apps
• How Mandarin revealed Chinese culture and humour

What Full-Time Mandarin Study Requires

Angie attended four 45-minute university lessons each day and spent around two more hours reviewing vocabulary and preparing for class. Her programme included reading and writing, speaking, and listening.

Listening was the hardest subject for Angie and many of her classmates. One male voice in their recordings was especially difficult, so her most helpful teacher paused the audio and asked students exactly what they had heard.

Why Chinese Characters Become Essential

Pinyin gradually disappeared from Angie’s textbooks, forcing students to rely more heavily on Chinese characters. She sometimes recognised a character’s meaning without remembering how to pronounce it.

Writing was also difficult because some characters looked almost identical. Angie found that connecting them to complete words and personal memory cues made them easier to separate.

How Speaking Practice Builds Confidence

Speaking was Angie’s favourite class because students acted out situations instead of only translating texts. Saying jìn lái, or “come in,” while someone entered the room helped connect the words to movement and meaning.

As an introvert, Angie valued having a safe place to make mistakes before speaking with strangers. She gradually became more comfortable using Mandarin with restaurant staff, shop employees, and Didi drivers.

How Everyday Conversations Show Progress

One breakthrough happened when Angie examined the characters for sparkling wine on a menu. She interpreted the term as something close to “air bubble alcohol” and confirmed the Mandarin word with the waiter.

At a beauty shop, employees later used a translation app to tell her, “Your pronunciation is very standard.” Their smiles showed her that it was a compliment.

How Mandarin Reveals Chinese Culture

Learning Mandarin helped Angie understand expressions that can confuse foreigners. “Have you eaten?” may communicate care or function as a greeting rather than introduce a literal conversation about food.

She also became more aware of the short sounds Chinese speakers use to agree, react, or show understanding. Meaning often came through tone, rhythm, and context rather than vocabulary alone.

Angie’s long-term goal became more specific than fluency. She wanted to understand cultural references well enough to make jokes in Mandarin.

Why Mandarin Grammar Isn’t Actually Simple

People often told Angie that Chinese grammar was easy because verbs don’t conjugate like German or English verbs. She found that Mandarin replaced those challenges with particles, time words, sentence structures, and specialised vocabulary.

Even the English word “full” requires different Mandarin words depending on whether a bag has no more space or a person has eaten enough.

Why Handwritten Flashcards Worked Better Than Apps

Angie preferred small ring-bound flashcards with Hanzi on one side and Pinyin and the translation on the other. Writing the characters helped her remember them more effectively than vocabulary apps.

She also recommended finding a language partner and speaking before feeling fully prepared. These exchanges exposed learners to natural speed, humour, and vocabulary that didn’t always appear in textbooks.

For Angie, Mandarin became more than a university subject. Each character, conversation, misunderstanding, and successful exchange helped her understand Chinese culture while learning more about how she herself learns.

Angie's YouTube channel, T(h)ree of books, about books and bookstores: 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6LBSm1HZjecZt7EVnyUImw

Original publication date: June 23, 2018

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Seven years of living in Suzhou, China pushed Italian author Antonella Moretti to confront cultural stereotypes, rebuild her identity, and turn the lives of expat women into a book called Parsley and Coriander. This conversation gives you a direct look at culture shock, marriage abroad, writing across languages, and the costly mistake expats make when they try to recreate home instead of learning how to live where they are.

What Antonella Moretti Reveals About Expat Life in China

• How moving from Italy to Suzhou gave Antonella time to become a writer
• Why books about China helped her understand her host country
• How the Inspector Chen novels portray social change in Shanghai
• Why Kindle and English-language books became essential abroad
• How expat women inspired Parsley and Coriander
• Why Antonella chose fiction instead of memoir
• How coriander became a metaphor for culture shock
• Why living abroad challenged her cultural stereotypes
• How expats can build a new life instead of recreating home

How Moving to China Changed Antonella’s Reading Life

Antonella hadn’t read books about China before moving there. Once she arrived, she became fascinated by the country’s history, society, and cultural complexity.

She recommends Qiu Xiaolong’s Inspector Chen crime novels, which portray Shanghai during the rapid changes of the early 1990s. She also began reading complete books in English, something she had found too difficult in Italy.

Kindle made reading easier because she couldn’t carry a large collection of Italian books between countries. She read almost anywhere, including while stirring risotto, and broke two devices through constant use.

How Expat Life Inspired the book Parsley and Coriander

Antonella began writing soon after arriving in China, when Suzhou still felt unfamiliar, exciting, and sometimes frightening.

She met expat women who responded to China differently. Some adapted and found new opportunities, while others remained isolated or angry.

The novel follows Luisella, Astrid, and Emma over one year. Their stories explore marriage, motherhood, loneliness, friendship, new careers, and living far from family.

Why Antonella Chose Fiction Instead of Memoir for Her Living In China Book

Fiction allowed Antonella to combine details from many women without making anyone directly recognizable. 

The original draft consisted of emails between several characters. After an Italian publisher warned that the structure would confuse readers, Antonella rewrote the book around three central perspectives.

How Culture Shock Can Change Over Time

During her first weeks in China, Antonella bought what she believed was parsley for an Italian dish. It was coriander, and she initially hated the smell.

She gradually became accustomed to it and eventually used it in Chinese-style dishes. The experience became a metaphor for how unfamiliar parts of life abroad can move from discomfort to affection.

How Living Abroad Challenges Cultural Stereotypes

Before leaving Italy, Antonella criticized Chinese immigrants in her hometown for staying together and eating Chinese food.

In Suzhou, she saw Italians doing the same thing. They socialized with Italians, searched for familiar ingredients, and preserved their routines.

The comparison forced her to reconsider her assumptions and focus on individual people instead of treating “the Chinese” as one group.

Why Expats Struggle to Recreate Home Abroad

Antonella believes expats become frustrated when they try to transfer their old life directly into a new country.

In China, she drank hot water and tea. In Italy, she drank more coffee and followed a different rhythm.

Adaptation didn’t mean rejecting Italy. It meant allowing China to become its own life rather than an incomplete copy of home.

Who Is Antonella Moretti?

Antonella Moretti is an Italian author who lived in Suzhou with her husband and three children. She wrote Parsley and Coriander, a novel about Italian expat women navigating culture, marriage, identity, friendship, and daily life in China.

Antonella’s book page: https://www.facebook.com/parsleyandcoriander

Original publication date: June 28, 2019

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American writer Summer shares how online communities helped her build connection, protect her privacy, and create a stronger sense of home after moving from the United States to Nuremberg, Germany. We explore how expats can use social media more intentionally, find community abroad, navigate culture shock, and document their lives without turning every ordinary moment into a performance.

What Summer Shares About Moving to Germany and Using Social Media Abroad

• How early internet chat rooms helped Summer build online communities
• Meeting her first boyfriend through a Ford Probe car forum
• How Facebook groups support writers, freelancers, digital nomads, and expats
• Why WhatsApp is essential for everyday communication in Germany
• Using Twitter to connect with English-speaking expats in Germany
• Why moving to Nuremberg felt more like finding home than starting over
• Moving from the United States to Germany without major culture shock
• Starting a food and travel blog while living abroad
• Why expats feel pressure to make life abroad look exciting online
• How Instagram Stories make ordinary moments easier to share
• Whether social media posts create a form of digital autobiography
• How curiosity shaped Summer’s internet use, travel, and expat life

How Early Internet Communities Shaped Summer’s Life Before Moving Abroad

Summer began using the internet at eleven or twelve, first researching goldfish even though she didn’t own one. She later joined an mIRC chat room for people who showed dogs.

After becoming interested in her first car, a 1993 Ford Probe GT, she found ProbeTalk.com. She met her first boyfriend through the forum while living in Oregon and later moved with him to South Carolina.

Summer eventually met her Swedish husband through their work in sign manufacturing. After travelling regularly between South Carolina, Nuremberg, and Stockholm, she moved to Germany in 2015.

How Moving to Germany Changed the Way Summer Used Social Media

WhatsApp quickly became essential because asking for someone’s number in Germany often meant asking for their WhatsApp contact.

Summer also began using Facebook mainly for writing, freelance, digital nomad, and expat groups. Twitter helped her connect with English-speaking expats, including people she later met at a gathering in Germany.

As an introvert, she wasn’t urgently searching for friends. She valued access to people who understood life outside their passport country.

Why Moving to Nuremberg Felt More Like Finding Home Than Starting Over

Summer didn’t experience the move as a major cultural disruption. Nuremberg already felt more comfortable than the United States, and returning to the US after European trips often left her waiting for the next one.

She had planned to blog about culture shock, but the move felt too natural for that story. By the interview, she and her husband had bought an apartment in Nuremberg, and Summer hoped to hold an EU passport one day.

How Food and Travel Blogging Helped Summer Document Her Life Abroad

Summer created Eat Something, Go Somewhere to write about food, travel, and personal reflections. She hoped it could lead to paid work and press trips, but her creative energy came in cycles.

She uses her permanent Instagram feed for photographs she wants to preserve and Stories for ordinary moments that disappear after twenty-four hours.

Why Social Media Makes Ordinary Expat Life Difficult to Share

Stephanie and Summer discuss how social media rewards beautiful travel photographs, dramatic experiences, sadness, mess, and vulnerability.

Ordinary days are harder to post because “everything is fine” rarely feels valuable enough to share. Instagram Stories gave Summer a lower-pressure place for photographs and moments that didn’t need to remain on her permanent feed.

Can Social Media Posts Become a Form of Digital Autobiography?

Stephanie and Summer ask whether years of tweets, photographs, and updates eventually become a kind of autobiography.

Social posts lack the distance and reflection of memoir, but jokes, meals, travel photographs, and small observations still create a record of a life.

For Summer, the internet and moving abroad are connected by curiosity. They didn’t create it, but they gave it more communities and places to explore.

Who Is Summer, the American Writer Living in Nuremberg, Germany?

Summer is an American writer originally from Oregon who lived in South Carolina before moving to Nuremberg, Germany, in 2015.

Summer’s blog: https://eatsomethinggosomewhere.com/

Original publication date: June 4, 2019

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Mo Sibyl, a Nigerian-born podcaster, pharmacist, researcher, and cultural commentator revisits Facebook posts and quotations from her first years abroad. Together, Mo and Stephanie explore language assumptions, homesickness, graduate school, friendship, boundaries, organ donation, mathematics, and the emotional work of rebuilding a life in another country.

What Mo Sibyl Shares About Moving From Nigeria to the United States

• Why strangers’ questions about her accent, clothing, and English became frustrating
• How she learned to separate genuine cultural curiosity from judgment
• Moving from a successful pharmacy career in Nigeria to a US graduate student stipend
• The loneliness of leaving friends behind and starting over socially
• Why relationships often change after migration
• English, Yoruba identity, and the linguistic diversity of Nigeria
• How the right teacher transformed her relationship with mathematics
• Why an organ donation question raised deeper questions about immigration and belonging
• Learning to set boundaries without becoming distrustful
• Why intention matters more than finding the perfect question to ask an immigrant

Why Nigerians Speak English and How Language Assumptions Affect Immigrants

Soon after arriving in the US, Mo noticed that strangers often expressed surprise that she and her husband spoke English. At the time, she responded with sarcasm. Looking back, she sees that some people were likely curious about the Nigerian clothing she wore and wanted to know more.

Today, she focuses on the intention behind the question. She doesn’t believe immigrants should accept every intrusive comment, but she also doesn’t want fear of saying the wrong thing to stop people from learning about one another.

The Financial and Emotional Reality of Starting Over Abroad

Before leaving Nigeria, Mo worked as a pharmacist and was financially established. Graduate school in the US meant living on a stipend, relying on buses, and adjusting to a lower standard of living. She also struggled with homesickness. At first, friends called regularly. Over time, time differences, work, and changing lives created distance.

Mo describes leaving Nigeria and rebuilding her life in her twenties as one of the bravest things she has done. Language, Education, and Identity Mo is Yoruba and explains that English is Nigeria’s official language, while Yoruba, Hausa, and Igbo are among the country’s major Indigenous languages.

Although she later built a career around statistics and research, she was once afraid of mathematics. The right tutor helped her understand the logic behind it, changing both her confidence and academic path.

Immigration, Organ Donation, and Belonging

When Mo applied for a US driver’s license, she was unexpectedly asked whether she wanted to become an organ donor. The question made her think about belonging. She could be excluded from legal status and other parts of American life while still being asked to donate her organs.

She initially declined because she wanted more time to think. Her views have since changed, but she still believes the decision deserves more context than a checkbox at the DMV.

Friendship, Boundaries, and Cultural Curiosity

A painful betrayal taught Mo that kindness doesn’t require giving everyone unlimited access to her life. She now approaches both relationships and cultural questions with more patience and discernment.

There’s no perfect alternative to “Where are you from?” What matters is whether the question is asked with genuine interest, respect, and a willingness to listen.

About Mo Sibyl

Mo Sibyl is a Nigerian-born, US-educated, Korean-speaking pharmacist, researcher, podcaster, and cultural commentator.

Her work explores culture, identity, migration, and the lives of people who move between communities and countries.

Mo's podcast: https://www.mosibyl.com/

Original publication date: March 19, 2018

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Hannah came to Hangzhou because of a snake. While researching Chinese ghost stories for her college thesis in Iowa, she discovered the legend of Madam White Snake, a shape-shifting spirit whose story is tied to Hangzhou’s West Lake, Broken Bridge, and Leifeng Pagoda.

The legend helped draw Hannah to China after graduation. But when she arrived at 22, she found a modern city filled with factories, high-rise apartments, crowded buses, concrete walkways, shopping centres, escalators, and millions of people.

Years later, Hannah wrote In Search of White Snake, a creative nonfiction essay about Chinese mythology, culture shock, disillusionment, vulnerability, and the gap between the life we imagine abroad and the one we actually find.

What happens when the place that inspired your move doesn’t look anything like the story that brought you there?

Original publication date: November 26, 2018

Links:

Hannah: https://hannahlund.com/

In Search of White Snake https://www.shanghailiterary.com/tslr-online-collection/2018/12/31/in-search-of-white-snake

In this episode

• Hannah reads In Search of White Snake and explains how Chinese mythology drew her to Hangzhou
• Moving from Minnesota to China at 22 and discovering a modern city instead of the mystical place she imagined
• Visiting West Lake, Broken Bridge, Leifeng Pagoda, and Hangzhou Zoo in search of traces of Madam White Snake
• The gap between romanticizing a place and learning to live with its everyday reality
• How culture shock, mistakes, and asking for help changed Hannah’s idea of independence
• Learning Mandarin, misunderstanding strangers, and becoming more comfortable with embarrassment
• The pressure to “live the dream” abroad while friends built careers back home
• Recognizing Orientalist assumptions and the problem with treating China as one uniform culture
• How editing revealed the deeper coming-of-age story inside Hannah’s essay
• Moving from Hangzhou to Shanghai and building a life around writing, editing, translation, and literary community
• Chinese ghost stories, strange spirits, haunted writers, and the stories that still shape Hannah’s imagination

About Hannah

Hannah is originally from Minnesota in the United States. She studied at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, where she researched Chinese mythology and ghost stories.

After graduating, she moved to Hangzhou in September 2012. She taught English and later completed graduate study at Zhejiang University in Chinese.

Hannah lived in Hangzhou on and off for approximately six years before moving to Shanghai, where she studied comparative literature, worked as an editor at Sixth Tone, and became involved in literary, poetry, writing, and translation communities.

Her essay In Search of White Snake was published in the Shanghai Literary Review’s special edition, Concrete.

From Mythical Hangzhou to Modern China

Before arriving, Hannah imagined Hangzhou as ancient, poetic, quiet, and mysterious. She pictured willow trees, pagodas, spirits, and traces of mythology around West Lake.

Instead, she moved to Xiasha, an industrial area filled with factories, apartment towers, shopping centres, and crowded streets.

Her visits to West Lake and Leifeng Pagoda challenged the version of Hangzhou she had created. The pagoda connected with Madam White Snake’s imprisonment had escalators, tourist displays, and reconstructed foundations beneath glass.

From a distance, it looked like part of a legend. Up close, it felt like a memorial.

Learning to Work With Failure

Hannah arrived in China seeing herself as fiercely independent. She believed she should solve problems alone, remain in control, and avoid appearing vulnerable.

Living abroad gradually changed that.

She got lost, misunderstood strangers, struggled through classes, and discovered that her Mandarin listening skills weren’t as strong as she believed.

In one memorable moment, a man tried to warn her about a crack in the pavement. Hannah assumed he was asking where she came from, answered “I’m American,” and then tripped over it.

She eventually began using the phrase “work with the failure.”

Instead of treating every mistake as evidence that she was incapable, she learned to laugh, ask for help, and accept that not every difficult experience needed to become a triumph or poetic lesson.

Writing, Transformation, and Madam White Snake

Hannah came to see a connection between herself and Madam White Snake.

Both left a familiar world, entered a place with different rules, and changed through the experience.

The transformation Hannah experienced wasn’t the glamorous adventure she had imagined at 22. It happened through buses, classrooms, mistakes, friendships, language learning, writing, and ordinary daily life.

The essay’s discarded snakeskin became a metaphor for the identity she had outgrown.

Hannah never found Madam White Snake in the form she expected. Instead, she found her throughout Hangzhou in stories, performances, postcards, tourism, public memory, and her own transformation.

The legend didn’t lead Hannah to the city she imagined.

It led her to the life she needed to live.

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