These Signs Mean You've Been Living in China Long-Term

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You Genuinely Enjoy Drinking Warm Water

The occasional glass of warm water is nice, don't you think so? 

During winter, it warms you up from inside out. 

If you find yourself drinking hot water during a China summer you've gone full native.

You don't think twice about walking home alone at 2 AM

China is widely accepted as one of the safest countries to live in, as evidenced by a 24.3% drop in its number of criminal cases between 2016 and 2019. This improvement was announced in a work report published on Monday by the State Council on the law enforcement of public security organs during an ongoing session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature.

China has witnessed a steady fall in the number of major criminal cases such as homicides, rapes and kidnappings. The report also adds that the number of such specific cases, within the overall decline in criminal cases mentioned earlier, was down a promising 34.9% in that same 2016-2019 period.

The case number of crimes against property, including theft and robbery, fell 48.5%.

But beyond official reports and stats, how do foreign residents in China really feel about personal safety?

This question has been raised on the forum platform, Quora:

Many TV channels and internet blogs have gone out to the streets to interview foreigners about whether they feel safe in China, and all confirmed the same answer: Yes.

After all, there are security checkpoints in every train and subway facility across the country! China has also banned the use of guns, unlike other Western nations where homicides are reported on a far-too-often basis.

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You place your bag on the chair/table

Chinese people rarely place their bags or backpacks on the ground. 

They usually place them on a chair or desk. 

Squat toilet don't scare you anymore

No more splashing and slipping, you've got this down-pat now.

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You drive a hard bargain

Bargaining is acceptable in most Chinese stores, except in the supermarket or some shopping malls in which the goods have clear fixed prices and the staff are not allowed to grant discretionary markdowns. 

To overcome the language obstacles when communicating with the Chinese shopkeeper, you will benefit from learning some everyday Chinese phrases about shopping like 'nǐ hǎo（你好）' (Hello!), 'duō shǎo qián?（多少钱）' (How much?) as well as 'piányi diǎn （便宜点）?' (Can you give me this for cheaper?). 

You call yourself a foreigner 

When you came to China, you thought of the Chinese people as foreigners. Anyone not from your own country was, in your mind, a foreigner. After living in China for a while, you begin to see yourself as the foreigner(laowai 老外). Suddenly you are referring to any person that is not Chinese as a foreigner, even when you go home. 

Editor: CH

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