Living in China brings along being exposed to the good and bad habits of Chinese people all the time. And what can be better than taking over the good ones? I wrote down three good habits I think taking over is a good choice.
Do you live in China and already took over some good habits? Let me know what these are in the comment section below!
1. Doing your own thing not thinking about others
Living in China means you are 1 out of nearly 1,400,000,000 citizen. No matter now big your fears, your joy, your anxiety, your will power or what ever is: it doesn’t matter. Nobody cares about you, except your employer and your closets relatives. Guessing these are 50 people (which is extremely high), there are around 1,399,999,950 people that don’t care about you at all.
That leads to the fact, that you can do what ever you want in China. Nobody cares about your style, your hair, your clothes. When out on the street in one of the mega cities you might see 100,000 people a day or more. You just don’t have to opportunity to judge people, because they pass by so fast.
Doing your own thing and not caring about others doesn’t mean Chinese laws doesn’t apply to you and that you should not take care of anyone. But it means you can be what every you want to be. A lot of expats tell me this fact and I feel it is very good for self development and finding out who you actually are.
2. Learning to value the family
Chinese people are known to care about their family over all. Family is the center of everything. This comes from a time, where emperor could judge and decide what ever they wanted. Having a strong family background could save your life back then! And as culture doesn’t change that fast, it is still the same. It’s not uncommon that Chinese people live with their parents until they marry or that the family moves together with the newly married couple. As well it is not uncommon that a family shares valuables such as watches or cars. If anyone is in need to make a good impression he or she just borrows the car from the family.
I am German. Of course I take care of my family, but there are times I don’t see my parents or other relatives over the course of months. This could only barely happen in China, if the family lives that close, that my family lives with me. The government even made a law that forces ever son or daughter to visit their family even once a year. With or without law: I learned that taking care and visiting the family more often is a very good custom to accept.
3. Start saving money
Chinese people are known to be masters when it comes to saving money. That leads so far government is concerned about how much money is laying on saving accounts instead of being spend and fuelling the economy.
How can Chinese save that much? They know economy wasn’t that booming all the time. And life is made of changes. In the west I feel people think life goes on as always. But in China I can feel that the world is actually changing everyday. And Chinese people know this. One day they may have a stable income and on the next day everything can change.
On the other hand cost of living can still be very cheap in China. Sure, the mega cities are expensive. But looking at the second, third or fourth tier cities prices drop dramatically. Looking at food, even the mega cities provide you cheap dishes for a reasonable price. You don’t have to be a big earner to make a decent living and still having enough money at the end of the month to put aside.
Coming to China for work and living can be a good way to save some money to invest in future. Some teachers can save up to 70% of their income of 2,000-3,000$/month. A lot of universities offer free housing and free or very cheap meal in a canteen. Taking advantage of this can lead to a big pot of money at the end of your China journey. And don’t forget: As a foreigner you can get all the money you have to put into your personal pension account out, if you leave China within 15 years of stay. I already calculated this on my Instagram account: Earning 15,000 RMB a month and paying 8% into your account every month (which is mandatory) you get a pay out of nearly 11,000$ when you leave China after 5 years. Imagine earning even more and/or leaving China after a longer stay. That is a massive amount of money you can take back home. Did you know this? Please let me know in the comment section.
Doing what ever you want, taking care of your family and saving a lot of money are just 3 good habits I wanted to point out on my first post about this series. There are tons of positive stuff you can learn about China. Stay tuned for the next blog post about the next three habits I love about China that you maybe like as well.
