News
Big Group, Little Run
In this fast-paced and stressful society, people just need a little encouragement to pick up a better lifestyle. This is the reason why a 5K micro marathon club called “Weima” has become popular throughout the country. First established by 18 running Shenzhen enthusiasts through an online forum in July 2014, the club has expanded rapidly […]
HIV/AIDS Cases Rise
Recording 104,000 new HIV/AIDS infections in 2014, China’s central health authority, according to Xinhua News, reported a14.8 percent increase from the year before. The Dongguan Health Bureau, in data released to the Southern Metropolis Daily, said cases in the city rose by 30 percent. Zhu Jianqiong, a leader at the department of AIDS prevention at […]
Expat Running Problem
A few years after an attempt to start a Dongguan chapter of the Hash House Hashers, a social running club, veteran hasher and co-organizer Liam Donnelly said of a new attempt, “All are welcome, expats and locals alike. The only requirement is the ability to run approx 8 to 10 kilometers across sometime rough terrain, […]
Dongcheng Deliveries
Residents of Dongcheng, at least a 5-sq. kilometer section surrounding New World Garden, can now order for delivery in English, Cantonese or Mandarin from a handful of select restaurants. The company, called Jay’s Delivery, is an expansion by foreign food importer Jay Kasa who has lived in Dongguan for over two years. Kasa’s staff of […]
Around Town
The Challenge of Localizing
An ongoing challenge for many international companies is localization of senior management. Expatriates are far more expensive than locals. The problem is that many local Chinese lack the international experience and expertise necessary for those positions. After all, they’re responsible not only for operations in China, but for coordinating operations with offices around the world. […]
In the Lime Light
If you’ve worked for a Chinese company before, you probably know a thing or two about being put on the spot. Perhaps part of your job title, for visa purposes, is literally “foreign expert,” or perhaps you’ve been perceived as one simply for being non-Chinese. You may even know what it’s like to perform in […]
Red Underwear
When the time comes to wear red underwear, it usually signifies the coming of a fun evening. But in China, they’re meant to ward off an entire year of bad times. The Chinese zodiac cycles through 12 animal signs every 12 years with lots of meanings, but should it happen to be your animal sign […]
Green Road: Century City Bar Crawl
Let’s say you live in Nancheng in the block between Dongguan Avenue and Xinyuan Road, maybe somewhere near the Nancheng Sports Park. Let’s also say that you want to try out one of the many new local watering holes on Green (Luse) Road, but haven’t the disposition to explore on your own. Well, whether you […]
Interests
Learning from Experience: The Hows and Whens of Hiring Interns in China
SHANGHAI – Just like in any other country, companies in China often offer internships to young people looking to enter the job market. Typically, this is a win-win situation: the intern gets valuable work experience and the company is able to shift the work-load of its permanent staff to lower paid interns. But in actuality, […]
Pet Shipping: The Instruction Book
Let’s face it. Your pets are relying on you, and you can’t live without them. To bring them along on the adventure of living overseas, or returning from the odyssey, means that the little bundle of trust and love must often be left in the hands of complete strangers. There is little that we can […]
Breaking Up is Hard to Do: Terminating an Employee in China (Part 2)
Heightened pressure in China’s labor market means that employers are commonly required to terminate employees to optimize their business operations. Legally speaking, however, this is by no means an easy thing to do, especially under the comparatively stringent regulations on terminating employment contracts since 2008. In Part 2 of this two-part article, we detail the […]
Kids Take Over: When the Work becomes Fun
The ground shakes, sirens wail, things fall and children are bewildered. Can they react? Yes. As scrambling for cover begins—the crisis barely managed—sirens sound and a familiar red vehicle whizzes by ejecting half a dozen fire-fighters to bring the blaze under control with water cannons. Scenes from a movie? No, not quite. These fire-fighters were […]
Living Here
Model Mandarin: February 2015
BEAR IN MIND Remember how to speak by saying things you shouldn’t. Throughout China, there are plenty of regional variants of Chinese New Year customs. In some, it is considered inauspicious to get a haircut before the second day of the lunar year (That’s February 20 this year), especially for the guys. Keeping the longer […]
Zhongtang
HISTORY Zhongtang was established as a village more than 1,000 years ago dating back to the Song Dynasty. Thanks to its watery geography, inhabitants cultivated crops with great success, mainly rice. With the males out in the fields, village women, mostly housewives, toiled away de-husking with wooden mortars. The sound of rice husking and pounding […]
Blossoming Trends: The Need to Know of Valentine’s Shopping in China
“If you consider buying a huge bunch of red roses from the flower streets for your girlfriends, you perhaps lived in the Middle Ages,” Ye Haomin, owner of a Dongguan flower shop, said jokingly. Zhu Na, another of the city’s flower shop owners, agrees that over the last few years more Chinese are buying flowers […]
Model Mandarin: January 2015
BEAR IN MIND Remember how to speak by saying things you shouldn’t. In daily communication between girls and boys, it’s always good to know how to express something in a nice way to make a happy conversation. Let’s try these sentences out next time. tīngshuō jīntiān wǎn shang de diànyǐng bú cuò, yǒu kōng yìqǐ […]
Other Recent Posts
BBQ Chicken: A People Pleaser
In the Korean enclave of Dongcheng Walking Street are some of the best chicken strips you can chow down on anywhere. Korean franchise Best of the Best Quality (BBQ) Chicken serves a variety of dishes: salads, pastas, pizzas, chicken and stone pot rice bowls. While this selection is served at many places in Dongguan, BBQ […]
Int’l B-Ball Tourney
Hosting its first ever sporting tournament, coming only the second year since the school has dressed organized sports teams, the International School of Dongguan (ISD) joins the newly formed Silver Division of the Association of China and Mongolia International Schools (ACAMIS). The athletic and arts association brings together students from 68 schools, including those from […]
CBA Season Wrap-Up
The final game of the 2014-15 CBA Season was February 1 and the playoffs race is underway beginning February 6. The Guangdong Southern Tigers were 30-3 at press time, holding on to first place with a two game lead over the Liaoning Hunters (31-5 ). The teams split their regular season meetings with the hometeam […]
Street Food Disturbance
In January, the rise and fall of Zhenhua Road’s night snack market, the heartland of old Guancheng among its historic sotto portico houses, created a sensation for Dongguaners. Over the past three months, nearly 40 mobile food stalls occupied the crossroad with Yuanchong Road, selling snacks and refreshments nightly to hundreds. The location was popularized […]
