🇨🇳 No Foreigners in China!

We have been to China twice — the first time in 2018 as tourists and then in 2020 as teachers, planning to end our stay here in May 2024. Of course, China’s “Zero Covid” policy scared away many foreigners, and even after the restrictions are lifted, they are not rushing back, nor are they choosing to travel to China.

China has always been a mystery to us. It is not just that popular tourist destination with beautiful beaches, cheap, spicy meals, and moonlit parties. We didn’t know what to expect from China. Only after more than three years of living here, we have finally gained a deeper understanding of the country, delving into its fundamental aspects and everyday life.

Yes, we feel special in China. A foreigner simply cannot go unnoticed here, even in the largest Chinese cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai. We are still greeted and asked for photos. That’s how it was in 2018, then during the pandemic, and also after it. Because the Chinese rarely meet a foreigner here!

But why is this so?

1. Visa

This was the first difficult step that had to be taken. We went to the Chinese embassy in Latvia, where, of course, no one spoke Latvian. But even their English did not allow us to communicate easily. The tourist visa was quite expensive and required a stack of paperwork to obtain. No…