How to make friends in China

I am French and I live in Shanghai now. I moved here 2 years ago and have been through this experience of making friends with the Chinese. The main issue here is not just cultural differences but also language barrier. Chinese are actually quite nice people and they like to make friends with foreigners. But the main problem is they dont really speak good English. MOst of them can write english very well because of the education system in China which forces all the students to learn English grammer and etc for exams.  Their exams are one of the toughest to pass.

I am a merchandiser here in China and I have to deal with many factories too.  I try to use internet to make friends with them and it works quite well.

Here are a few good websites for you to use:

http://www.alibaba.com is to connect with businesses

http://www.ecpod.com is to connect you with chinese, make friends and meet in real life

“But the main problem is they dont really speak good English.”I agree with you.I'm Chinese, in Shanghai.Glad to meet you.
As you say,speaking English still be disfluency for many Chinese. I relize deeply it not easy to talk with foreigners speaking English.The different mode of thinking between Western people and chinese people is one of the key points.
I think almost of chinese people are welcome foreigners all over the world.May be shy,however,the small grammars and vocabularys are the barriers.
In a word, we're the world. Weclome and wish you make many friends in China!

hi i am debasish satapathy. i was in china from feb/2008 to dec 2008. i am indian.i was in tianjin. i agree that chinese are weak in english. but young chinese are very much interested to learn english. so they make friendship with foreigners. so to make friendship one best messenger is QQ. you can make many friends here. i am still using this. and if u r interested to learn chinese language then so many local friends can make. chinese peoples are simple,friendly, helpfull,...

my name is anzel some people call me angel,i dream about liveing in china when i was 10y i was bron in china laft when i was 3y now i live in the usa i wish i can make new friend in china in live in china.

Hi anzel > welcome to Expat.com!

Hi there
here Andro American Egyptian my father American and mother Egyptian   I was living in Beijing and zhuhai and guangzhou was working in travel industry tour leader I love china so much it's really sweet country I'm far away from china from almost one year now traveling over world I found u in just landed website and I'm looking to back again to china to start new life I'm 31 years old male love music and dancing and easy going person I searching to make friends in china because almost my friends in china they moved back to other countries and contacts lose and something like that so I wish if you can accept me as a friend and let me know more about you because really I can not back china again without no friends , I spoke english and Chinese and Arabic
And also here is my number 00201001966082 incase u want to call me or send me message is will be my pleasure
Waiting your kind reply
Andro
[email protected]

Hello Andro and welcome to Expat.com!

Aurélie

Don't sit at home all day and night but go and attend one of the myriad of events.

Events organised by Expat-bloggers, events organised by Chambers of Commerce, participate in a sports club, bridge club, religious meeting, quiz night or whatever.

You won't find friends by staying at home.

I can't agree with Manlin more!    Don't stay shut up in your apartment all the time, and you have more chances to achieve your goal.

My personal experience can be concluded here:

1, Learn Chinese. The language barrier is the most difficult challenge when you'd like to make friends with local people. Learning Chinese, or improving on what you already know, will definitely leverage your experience in China.  Most Chinese will be very impressed if you are making an effort to learn their language.


Bear in mind though that communication skills doesn't only refer to language skills, but also your ability to make conversations interesting.

2, Boost your interests. It will be much easier for you to make friends if you're interested in music, art, design and everything else you like. Join interesting events, there will be a lot of foreigners who are willing to share ideas and make friends over there.


3. Be open-minded and respectable. Be prepared to challenge your own assumptions. In my experience, some of my notions about China were right, others were wrong, and most of the time, things were just a lot more complex than I realized after lived in China. I deeply realized and accepted that saying "When in China, do as the Chinese do. " Chinese people usually seem to appreciate it if you first show that you are interested in learning about them, their country, and culture, and if you have some humility about your own ideas. Once you get to know someone, often they will want to honestly know what you think about different issues, even controversial things, but in my experience it's usually best to wait for the other person to bring it up, then try to be as respectful as possible when saying what you think.

If I think of anything else later, I'll update my answer and add on to the list.

That being said: making friends with locals is incredibly rewarding and totally worth it! You'll get so much more out of your time in China and really expand your worldview.

Hello everyone.
We moved here just 2 weeks ago and my husband is working every day so I am on my own in the apartment. I am interested in joining groupsto get to know people and also learning the language but it is difficult to know where to begin. I have no idea about the transportation and cant work it out due to not understanding any Mandarin. I can't get to a class to learn any because I wouldn't be able to work out how to get there!! So I feel a little isolated and in a bit of a catch 22 situation at the moment. I know it will pass, but I wonder if anyone has any advice for someone in my position?
Thanks in advance
Ang