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Q: What's the hardest part of living in China for you?
I don't want to hear about what you hate about China, as that has been covered in other discussions. What, for you personally, is most challenging about living and working in China as a foreigner?
Food........ the peoples habits i can look away from... but i miss good western food
wenna7:
Poooooor Fritze... But I guess u must loose a lot weight, which is good for ur health...
The most challenging parts are seeing the way, hearing the way and being told the way some foreigners act!
I'm sorry to say everything. Even the simplest of things, the day to day living because of my inability to communicate in Chinese.
woody:
We posted pretty much at the same time. Would love to have a deep converstaion with all my Chinese friends and rellos.
Dealing with the partial isolation caused by my inablity to learn the language. I am a very social person who enjoys so much learning about how others interact and why things are what they are. I also love a joke and a laugh at myself. When I am having a meal and a drink and everyone else is laughing I miss being able to add to the humour or join in the jokes or conversation and have to rely on my partner to translate (poorly) what is happening every now and then.
TedDBayer:
I had trouble making Chinese that did speak English well laugh. I turned off the quick stuff and sarcasm, but still ,having to repeat and explain why something is funny? I met an Austrian couple on the train and I had them rolling in minutes. The biggest laugh I got from Chinese, I kept giggling at the cute " I dunno" and once when I was asked sumtin, I did an immitation that made them laugh.
Woody and Goldenboy, i agree more with both of you. its something i miss more than just food. What isn't nicer to have good conversations and laughter together without repeating 2 to 3 times something what you said before someone catch it. Yea i rather eat what im eating now and have good communication.
For me it is dealing with the locals to some extent... The good ones are GREAT the place is GREAT but the poster children for abortion make it tough at times....
Making new friends. It's hard to find people who are true friends and don't just want to use you to practice English.
People being disappointed with how outgoing I am not. I'm a pretty bookish, boring, quiet person who came to China to pick up some 文言文 and buy some hard-to-find old books before going back to grad school. I thought being a teacher would compliment that personality trait somehow. Now everyone Chinese person acts like it's my personal responsibility to outgoingly entertain them at all times, even passers-by, even my adult students, who are more interested in thumbs up and sunglasses than language learning.
Getting exactly what you want in the quickest way possible.
The idea that nothing can ever be quick and simple.
Definitely communication and that seems to be the thread of most of the posts. Just being in an elevator full of fellow residents of your apartment block, all chatting away and you not understanding any of what they are saying can have a negative impact. Going to the bank, getting a haircut, shopping for good meat, shopping in general, grabbing a taxi, chatting in a restaurant, tossing a bit of road rage at Chinese drivers (and I use the term driver loosely), all these normal, everyday things that you do involve communication. You gotta learn the language! Simple.
The rest of the stuff is tolerable and some quite enjoyable.
Totally agree with "DaqingDevil" . in China mainland the Hardest part is communication .
Communication is certainly the biggest downside.
Dinner with 10 people who are all speaking Chinese all night...sometimes talking about me?
I usually pick out a word here and there.
This is why I am going to learn the language!
Even with my Chinese friends that speak some English, you can NEVER have a real conversation.
Shit, it's even worse with my girlfriend who speaks even less English. Bah
All the stuff about buying a house and a car, get married with a rich/capable man...
making new friends who have common interests like music,sports and stuff.
Find good friends (female or male) where you can talk and share many things the same way I could in my home country. A friendship with a Chinese always come with an underlying interest behind it.
Having to yell every time some Chinese touch my child or give him some strange food without I know who the hell they are.
I think the thing for me .. is the lack of planning. They always do everything at the last minute. Never give you any warning ... 
...yes I agree ... the Language.... I'm married to one of the most beautiful women in Wuhan ... but ... big problems somtimes .... we duing ok .... but now I start to learn some Chinese now .... all the others - in the same boat - good luck! 
sometimes I dont feel like people see me as a person. I'm more like an exotic animal than a person. and people feel free to take advantage of me or treat me like crap at every chance they get because I lack anything like normal social status.
