Part Six of the Expat ‘From Struggle To Success’ Series considers that when no one else is setting the rules, we pretty much have to set our own. 

Your new life abroad stretches out in front of you like a glorious blank canvas –…

Part Five of the Expat ‘From Struggle To Success’ Series looks at ‘landing’ like an expert.  Today is World Art Day, so I encourage you to celebrate the work of art that is YOU.

Check YOU out, you sexy expat thing you – meeeooooowww!  Yes you, with the eyes….reading this, looking at my letters, words, spaces and all, you are…

Many years ago I read a story which has stayed with me a long time.  A man was travelling home on a train with his young children.  The children were boisterous, loud and people around them were getting annoyed by their behaviour.  Their father did nothing, and just sat there, ignoring the…

Find The IRS Before They Find You



This is the last US tax filing season for American expats to become current with the IRS before new laws come into play that will reveal your identity, location and foreign accounts to the US government. Now is the last best chance for Americans living abroad to become current with your US tax filing. With new US FATCA laws (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) coming online, your local foreign bank will now be required to…

HI! I recently moved to Chengdu and I was warned about fake alcohol and I'm always very scared to buy alcohol anywhere. Any tips on how to make sure I'm not getting fake alcohol?!? thank you!!

I am looking for magazines in china simalure to what we have in the west

but i have had no luck so it would be nice to hear if anyone knows of any

specifically i am looking for the ones that cover housing and buildings

residential and commerical target

things like architectual digest, interior design and style, real estate topics, construction or building

bascially anything on buildings

condos, villas, office buildings, shopping centers, or any type…

Going to be a good game!!  A female co-worker and I are very interested in getting up at 7am and watching it live!  Any suggestions on where and how we can do that?  

Thanks a mil ---- Michael

As a Mandarin teacher,I have some tips for all expats on Chinese learning,hope that they can be helpful in your daily life:P

一.Listening: Never be upset with your listening understanding only after one or two years' mandarin learning,3 locals may have 4 accents, you may have a good teacher,but when you go to wu'ai market or restaurants, don't expect the shop owners or the waitress speak the same language!

1 . NUMBER:for the numbers:4 and 10 sometimes are pronounced alike,some…

Hallo to everyone! We are currently in Shenyang to look for Kindergarten and for a house/flat. We are a german-spanish family and our daugther is 3,5 years old. We´ll move to Shenyang beginning of March and I hope to meet a lot of you soon and to make new friends.

We finally decided to bring our daughter to the Internationa Mary¨s Oasis Kindergarten and we´ll live in the New Worlds Garten Compound.

Is there some expats with similar background???

Nice to meet you soon in…

An international move does not come cheap. In such situations, it is only natural that people usually look for the best deal they can get. Rogue international movers know this full well, entrapping unsuspecting customers with an unusually low quote at first, only to scam customers into paying more by holding their goods hostage. This is just one scenario among many.



So how would you protect yourself against unscrupulous international movers out to trick you into parting with your…

Hello,this is joyce, a native of Dongguan. I finished my postgraduate in London and came back to Dongguan last year. 

When I was in London, I had a wonderful experience with meeting a diverse range of people and exploring different cultures in such an amazing and international city. I got involved a lot with some NGOs to help people adjust and settle in London in various…

As a long term expat here in happy old China, I as most of us do, feel a little excited that every year China is adopting a more western stand when it comes to Christmas. Each year it dose tend to feel a little more like home and certain Xmas stuff we know and love is becoming easier to find.

BUT, are they really understanding what its all about?

Today here in Dongguan I went for a tasty Subway lunch at the One Mall in Nan Cheng and to my horror, this has appeared outside in…

Hello Everyone

My name is Theodor and I am a brand new arrival to the expat group of Dongguan :) . I got here around a month ago and slowly I have been adapting to the lifestyle of this city which was not as difficult as I thought. I am working in the Hyatt Regency Dongguan, which is in the Song Shan Lake District and I will be here for many more months.

From what I have noticed so far, is that many of the expats in Dongguan are a bit older than me. Are there any people here…

Hey! I need your help:I might come to work in Dongguan next August but I need to know how I can bring my cat with me.Is it difficult? How? And to bring him back to France after?
Thanks in advance.

The United States Treasury Department is now actively working with more than 50 nations to share Americans’ personal financial data that will reveal who is tax compliant, including American expats living overseas. The effort is in support of new FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) laws that require foreign financial entities to report Americans’ account information to US authorities and to undertake mandatory withholding from them to assure compliance with American income tax…

Day one of Movember. Trying to raise awareness, some cash and annoy Silly all at the same time. Would love it if you could donate any spare change you've got. Look deep in the the cushions of that nasty ol' couch you got. I'm sure there's some down there.

Head on over to http://mobro.co/electricbrain and pitch in.