By Kristan Hoffman & Family
Ni hao! That means “hello,” from southeast China!
On August 1, our little family of four relocated from Ohio all the way across the globe to Guangzhou. We will be living here for the next three years, due to my husband’s work.
Before this assignment I knew basically nothing about Guangzhou (which can be pronounced like “Gwong Joe”). But after four months of fasttracked preparations and moving, I now know a lot more, and I keep learning new things every day!
The climate here is similar to Houston’s: hot, muggy, and buggy. To work up a good sweat, you need only to step outside your door. That’s because the city is located about an hour’s drive from the coast, and along the same latitude as the middle of Mexico.
For roughly 2,000 years, Guangzhou has been an important port and trading hub, even anchoring the infamous Silk Road. Together with the nearby cities of Hong Kong, Macau, and Shenzhen, it makes up the largest urban area in the world. Roughly 86 million people! 27 million of those belong to greater Guangzhou.
Hearing those numbers, I expected the city to feel crowded and noisy, but our neighborhood is not at all. We live in Zhujiang New Town, which was designed by the local government to serve as a new cultural and commercial center. The area features gleaming skyscrapers and high-rise apartments, as well as ancient city gates and historical buildings, all bordered by generous sidewalks, and lush with flowers and greenery. Many consulates and corporate offices are located here, which creates a very foreigner-friendly environment.
Even within our “expat bubble,” many aspects of living in China are wildly different from the United States. First and foremost, the language. Mandarin is the official language of China, although here in Guangzhou, the Cantonese dialect is also widely spoken. My kids and I know some Mandarin, because my mom is from Taiwan, but still the learning curve has been steep. My hope is that by the time we leave in a few years, we can be conversationally fluent.
Another big difference is that nearly everything in China is done by app. Whether you are paying your utility bills or ordering takeout, riding the subway or hailing a Didi (their version of Uber), you need only your phone. Cash is technically usable, but in reality, almost all payments are processed via QR codes within China’s most famous app, WeChat.
On the one hand, this hyper-digitalization is super convenient; on the other, it’s a bit tricky when you are unable to read the local language. Thankfully nowadays there are apps for that too! We can take photos or screenshots of the Chinese characters, then run them through translators.
Anyway, after a few weeks, we are mostly settled in, but still learning our way around our new home city. We are also very much looking forward to exploring other cities and countries on this side of the world while it’s more convenient. These three years could be the greatest adventure our family will ever have together!
Iris’s Insights: I love China but… Cincinnati will always be my home. I miss being closer to my family and my friends. China is an amazing place to be, because of the art, the food, the shops — just to name a few. And my school is amazing too. But it will never replace the old! And I hope my friends will notice how much I miss them.
So there are ups and downs to living abroad but… it’s really cool.
Reed’s Report: P.E. is my favorite class because I play games with my friends.