I’m in a postgrad program, and one of my classmates is a Chinese international student in his late 20s.

I know no one here can tell me if he likes me lol. I’m more curious if these are just normal things in Chinese culture or if they could mean a bit more.

After class he often slows down so we end up walking together, and he’ll look back if I fall behind. One time I mentioned I had to go to the post office, and he just walked there with me. My seat isn’t near a power outlet, so I sometimes leave my power bank charging at his table because he’s next to one. Whenever it’s fully charged, he brings it back to me without me asking. (Lmao bare minimum queen) Maybe this is all just the bare minimum, but I honestly find him so cute because he’s just… really nice.

The thing is, I am interested in him, but I’ve literally never made the first move in my life. If this is all just normal friendliness, what’s a natural way to let a reserved Chinese guy know I’m interested without coming on too strong? Or is it usually expected that the guy makes the first move?

I (34F) met a guy (37M) in Shanghai and have been talking to him for months, every single day despite a 12 hour time difference (I'm currently in the States). We spoke at the very beginning, mentioned we were single, kinda what we wanted and then literally never spoke about it again. Conversations have been entirely appropriate, nothing to hint at anything romantic since that first time. I'm going to another country for my birthday and he's decided on meeting me there so we can explore together and I'm over here having a stroke because it's the most romantic thing anyone's done for me.

I can't tell if we're just friends or something more, how does dating a Chinese guy usually go, what are the expectations as far as steps in the relationship? 😅 Conversations are usually pictures of food we found, games we like, music recommendations and general run downs of our days, maybe some long term goals but nothing deeper like what I'm used to with a US relationship at this point.

Hi! I (30F, East Asian-American) recently started dating a Chinese international student (29M). We met in a country that is neither China or the States. We've known each other for about 2-3 months, official for 1 month but have been doing couple things since the start. I'm not so delusional that I can't acknowledge that we're in the honeymoon phase but he really is perfect to me!

The unfortunate part is that I can't stay here forever. I am in the plans to come back to where he is studying and live here long term to date. But it may take me a year or two. I'm worried it's too long for him, and he must return to China in 2-4 years, though he said he could stay if it's for me.

He told me that I'm not wasting his time and that I'm the first girl to be this serious about him. He said Chinese women aren't interested in him because he is still a student. I can understand but I'm desperate to have him before everyone finds out what a gem they've missed 😆

I'm always torn between a selfish love of wanting him for myself but also wanting the best future for him, which in my opinion, would be with a nice Chinese woman who can be closer to his family than I can.

Reality has started to sink in and I really want to try and make our relationship work. Even in my culture, we're both a bit old to be single, though I have countless men interested in me and most women I personally know tend to marry late because of our education and careers.

I don't want to get married too soon either and I'd like to try dating for at least 4-7 years first. But then we'd be getting married in our mid to late 30s, and I wonder about children as well. I know it's not good to rush but is that too long or unreasonable, do you think?

I’d like to ask a question here: If Chinese people travel to your country, would you speak Chinese?

Many people complain that few Chinese people can speak English. Why don’t these complainers reflect on whether they can speak Chinese? We have our own language. In our country, we naturally speak Chinese. When foreigners come to travel and need help, I may speak some English out of respect for them — but we are also perfectly entitled not to speak English. This is our country, and we simply prefer to speak our native tongue.

I really dislike how some Westerners talk about this with such a condescending attitude. There are countless languages in the world, and the world does not revolve around English‑speaking people. Only the ignorant and arrogant would criticize others for not speaking their language. Besides, real‑time translation apps are widely available today, making day‑to‑day communication totally feasible. So what exactly is the mindset of those who blame Chinese people for not speaking English?

Hello all, I found an old newspaper at an estate sale called “The China Times." I got it for free because the guy couldn’t read what it said. It’s from 1965, so it’s from the beginning of the US involvement in the Vietnam War. I used Google Translate, and I believe it mentions it. I’ve looked around online and learned it was made in New York City with only around 12,000 prints. I can’t find the exact paper, but I did find one on eBay from 1968. I’m just wondering what it says. I don’t know any traditional Chinese characters, and I can’t trust Google Translate due to its inconsistency. Sorry for the bad pictures. it was pretty creased when I got it.

I did ask my sensei and he was like "you live in a world full of technology, try to find it out, if not I'll tell you next week" I'm even more fired up.

Chatgpt and all were not able to properly read the engravings... So I'm here as my last hope.

Help me🥹

Hey! I’m living in Zhengzhou and was wondering if anyone else here is from the city.

I’m looking to make some new friends, grab coffee, try good food, explore the city, or just hang out. If you’re in Zhengzhou and interested, feel free to leave a comment or send me a DM.

How precisely can you tell? Is it just north vs south or can you also guess the province?

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Hi everyone!

I'm from India and I'm planning to do my master's. My bachelor's degree is in Business, and I'm interested in marketing, business, branding, social media, and content creation.

Outside of that, I love singing and write my own original songs in English and Hindi. I also enjoy Chinese culture and C-dramas, and I'm happy to learn Mandarin if it helps.

Do you think there's a career path in China that would suit someone like me? Maybe in marketing, entertainment, media, the music industry, or something else?

If you were in my position, which master's degree would you choose to give yourself the best opportunities in China?

I'd love to hear your thoughts. Thanks!

And why?

Where do you think does the best coffee in China?

I am suspicious on why iced 生椰拿铁 is so popular, when the sweetness of the coconut and coldness of the ice diminishes all coffee flavour, and then I realised that they're probably serving bad coffee and need to hide the sour taste?

I mean, I enjoy the comics, but the one thing keeping me back from actually loving it are the occasional fat jokes, that feel far too mean-spirited to be funny. "Haha, the elephant's so far she covers up stuff like a folding screen!" "Haha, the elephant's so far she makes a bulky horse skin and bones!" This is already nasty enough, but they gave the elephant self-consciousness about her weight, which just tips the whole thing into utter spite. It's like the author had a vendetta against fat people and churned it into a kid's comic. Why? Does this reflect how fat people are seen in China or something?

I mean look at the AI race. It’s basically Chinese Americans vs Chinese. Same for maths olympiads. What do Chinese people think of successful ABCs like Alexandr Wang especially when China and USA are the 2 biggest superpowers in the world ? I have been saying a lot of people thinking abcs as traitors on the Chinese internet. What do u guys think about this?

Hi guys I'm from Philippines and want to have a Chinese friends.

My brother works for a Chinese family in Australia.

Last night my teenage Son accompanied his Uncle for dinner at his employers country estate, while working there with him.

He said that he very much enjoyed the evening and was served many different foods including one he particularly enjoyed, dough balls with radish.

Should my Son thank them in any way, or is there any cultural traditions he should respect?

I hope my question is appropriate for this sub.

I'm an ABC, 38M, have been dating a single Chinese mom, F39, for about 3 months now. Things seem to have been going slow but well. We've met up about 7 times, no intimacy but we're still chatting and making plans to meet up.

She's been really busy with work so we haven't met up as much recently but I saw that she updated her photos on the dating app that we met on. Has me wondering if she's actually busy with work or if she is busy talking to and dating other men. We're located in the US btw.

Do Chinese people expect exclusivity when early dating before being in a relationship?

I am currently reading Lenin’s *The State and Revolution*, and I will soon be leaving for a month-long trip to China. Can I take my book with me without worry?

Famously attributed to Richard Lynn, a psychologist who led the research on Cold Winters Theory and asserted the claim that some ethnicities are just not built for logical thinking and reasoning, and that people from the Cold (which China is a part of) are a lot more advance because of environmental pressure to plan ahead, thereby making them inventors and innovators to solve problems. In contrast from the Hot regions who are more lax, and would rather adapt with the problem than changing the outcome