What's It Like to Live in Beijing (China) as an Expat

I’ve lived in China for the past five years working as an English teacher. Although I used to live in other cities in China, I now live in Beijing and I love it.

Beijing is one of the best cities in China for foreigners to live in. The expat lifestyle in Beijing is for people who love cultural exploration and adventure, but who also want the perks of a very modern and safe city.

In addition to the places and events on offer, Beijing locals are friendly and used to foreigners, so people are generally comfortable interacting with foreigners, even those who are still developing their Chinese language skills like me.

In this article, I would like to share why I moved to China, what I like about the expat life in Beijing, and what I dislike about living in Beijing.

Table of Contents
Why I Moved to China
Pros of Living in Beijing as an Expat
Cons of Living in Beijing as an Expat
Conclusion

Why I Moved to China

The first places I wanted to go were South Korea or Japan, but I found that China had many more opportunities, and the schools here offered me a much better package, with a salary comparable to my salary at home, as well as great benefits, including housing and a yearly flight home.

What is more, as a woman of color in China, I felt that international schools in China were more welcoming toward racial diversity.

Pros of Living in Beijing as an Expat

In addition to the normal headliner destinations such as The Great Wall and the Forbidden City, there are plenty of local cultural opportunities as well. Just last week, my husband and I went for a date to the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA). We had a free Friday evening and were able to choose between four different shows, all happening in the various venues at the enormous center.

We started our evening with a vegan buffet at Vege Tiger and then walked to the NCPA to see a percussion show, which absolutely blew us away with moving modern xylophone pieces as well as some cool Asian-style drumming pieces.

If you're into history and cool sites, you might also enjoy these hidden gems of Beijing!

Learn Chinese

The other thing I love about living in Beijing is how convenient studying Chinese has become. Before I moved, I had never even considered learning Chinese because it just seemed unachievable.

However, once I arrived, I quickly realized that although you can survive in Beijing without knowing Chinese, it significantly improves your quality of life and your ability to explore local culture to speak some Chinese.

Despite its challenges, I love learning Chinese! This is in part because when out-and-about, all I have to do is make an effort to speak Chinese and everyone is incredibly supportive. Even when I was just starting to learn (and I know I sounded terrible), people would still give me a smile and say, “good job”.

Due to the supportive strangers in my neighborhood and my amazing Chinese teacher, in about a year, I was able to learn enough Chinese to order food at restaurants without an English menu, have simple conversations with taxi drivers, and ask some basic questions when I needed help.

Ready to improve your Chinese as well? Check out our Chinese courses here.

Cons of Living in Beijing as an Expat

Many of the international schools are located in the distant suburbs of Beijing, which can make it hard to balance finding a cool place to live and being near work. Many international workplaces do provide buses for their employees, but the staff bus at my school only goes through Shunyi.

My Apartment in Beijing

Many expat families in Beijing love living in the Shunyi area because it’s more spacious and kid friendly, but for my husband and me, Shunyi felt a little uneventful. So, we chose to live in a neighborhood called Wangjing which is a little closer to the city.

My apartment is a very comfortable two-bedroom apartment and is just as nice as the apartment I had back home in the US. Apartments in Beijing are a little smaller and more expensive than other cities (think big city apartments like New York or San Francisco), but I was still able to find something that I’m happy with.

For transportation each day, I take a Didi (similar to Uber) to work. I leave for work early in the morning around 6:50am, and it takes me about 25 minutes door-to-door from my apartment to my workplace. On the way home, I normally leave around 4:30pm but because of traffic, it takes around 40 minutes.

My neighborhood and apartment community both feel incredibly safe, with friendly guards at the gates and people always around. I’ve also never felt uncomfortable or unsafe walking around in Beijing, even when I’m alone at night.

Not sure how to find an apartment in Beijing? You may find this guide to apartment hunting in China helpful.

My Neighborhood in Beijing

Even though transportation to work can be a bit sticky, I absolutely love my neighborhood!

Wangjing is a highly underrated neighborhood of Beijing. From Wangjing to the center of the city, you can take the metro or public bus quite easily. It’s known as the “Koreatown” of Beijing, home to one of the largest Korean expat communities in the world, which means there are tons of delicious restaurants, including Western-style pubs like Jing-A and of course, authentic Korean BBQ joints.

You also have your choice of nice coffee places, ranging from international brands like Peet’s Coffee and Tim Horton’s to smaller places which are well-known to Beijingers, like Metal Hands and Manner Coffee.

Another great perk of living in Wangjing is that since it is a cross between a residential and business district, it doesn’t flood with tourists during the national holidays.

Living in Wangjing, on my holidays, I can still enjoy a peaceful cup of coffee and a walk in the park before heading into the city to brave the holiday crowds (often referred to by the Chinese idiom, rénshānrénhǎi 人山人海, or “people mountain, people sea”, meaning that everywhere you look, all you see is people).

Conclusion

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