Yes , I never forget my first Chinese friend Sandy. She helped me a lot in beginning .

Now I lost her contact .

Yes. I consider myself to be tremendously lucky on people I met and without their help my life would be definitely much tougher here.

Surprisingly all these people were (and are) Chinese - no foreigner. Do not know why but I guess it was influenced by the fact that I did not come to China to live a Western life style but I more opted to learn what it really means to live in Chinese environment.

Even though I do not consider myself altruist so I am definitely ready to help people who need help - be it a simple translation service in the shop or in the bank or providing an advise if I feel the person could benefit from it and of course is receptive to such an approach.

many.  though one in particular was a real blessing-   Hui, my first gf.  helped me with the daily pedestrian issues we all deal with, but more than that, much more, she made me happy to be in China.      ...a lovely person

My employer reserved a flat for me when they hired me. Out of that, I was completely on my own with no hand holding whatsoever. Opening a bank account, getting a phone card, train tickets, I did it on my own. I took 1 months of Mandarin class, it was quite handy, I wonder how I would have done without it !!! My first time asking my way : people moving away from me, or mocking me. Yay.

yes I had a great TA, she did everything. We tried to pay her back by flying to Hk and paying for her expenses,  a little 4 day holiday to show gratitude.  still wasnt enough

I was very fortunate that I was brought over here by the company I was working for in the UK. I'd already been coming for a couple of years on business trips & had one contact in HR who was my "go to" person in case of problems. A very well organized & competent lady. When I was relocated an apartment was supplied & all bills taken care of. Any problems I picked up my phone & called this lady. Wind forward 5 years & I'm a lot more self sufficient & married to a local lady. 

What happened to my "go to" contact? She's now a good friend & married to an ex-colleague here who is also a good friend. 

When i arrived initially, my local Uni contact told me to ask the other FT's for help as she was 'too busy' to do her job.

The other FT's told me which hospital to go to and how to get there for the medical exam., along with the procedure for opening a bank account, as well as helping me with locating my different classrooms - it was a large campus and the were no signs in English - they drew me a map as it was too much trouble for the University to do anything for the FT's (they had all helped each other the same way).

So with each subsequent new arrival, it was a matter helping the newbie, depending on who bumped into them first.

(it was too much trouble for the Uni to share contact info between FT's)

While holidaying at home, i have briefed anyone i knew who was traveling to China, to make their time easier.

Likewise i will help any foreigner in who is in danger of being scammed.

Yes - a few people in fact.

Firstly, before even coming here, I was put in contact with a couple of FT's to tell me about the realities of the place (ie, not a scam). One of those guys made it his job to ensure that the apartment (on campus) had stuff for the new teachers - including food and a bit of money on the electricity meter! (not toilet paper, though :( )

Then, when I did get here, the FA office had allocated some of the 3rd & 4th year students to act as guides, translators, etc. I believe the guy I mentioned before was instrumental in organising/suggesting that as well.

Being the loner than I am, I'm basically not in touch with them any more - though there is the occasional QQ message sent back and forth

When I first arrived I was taken to a KTV and told by the head foreigner of the school that he would pay for my first hooker. I left the KTV after about half an hour and didn't take him up on the offer. He was a nice guy and showed me a lot of restaurants and supermarkets in my area but had a bit of a drinking/hooker problem. 

Yes, in my first year I was teaching German at a university in Beijing, I landed at Capital Airport in the evening and a Chinese lady in her early 20s named Wendy was there holding a paper with my name.

After greetings we headed to the car where the driver mister Huang was waiting for us, I remember his name because he is the one who drove FTs between the three campuses, thus I saw him quite often, I began practicing my Chinese with him at first.

We went to a traditional restaurant named KFC, they serve chicken in the most typical Chinese way. Then we headed to the campus where they showed me my apartment, well furnished but quite tiny, I was told to meet her downstairs the next morning by 10.

The next morning I met Wendy downstairs then we went to the Foreign Affairs Department, the next building from the FTs apartments. There I met David, head of the department, he lived in the US for 20 years, has an American passport (but don't tell Chinese authorities) and speaks nearly native English. They introduced me to various stuff, rules and cultural differences and handed me a "China for the beginners" booklet with various translations, a map of the district with import supermarkets and entertainment places (cinema, KTV, ...) highlighted. Then we went outside with Wendy.

She showed me around the campus, then we headed outside, had a lunch (can't remember where this time), and she showed me how to get around, helped me buying some daily necessities and food. Finally we went back to the campus, she had other tasks to do. So I went on my own exploring the district/city.

Later we began hanging out on weekends or evenings with Wendy, she taught me Chinese, introduced me to so many things on her own not for work, showed me how to avoid common scams, we became good friends and are still in touch 8 years later although I live in Guangdong now.