My life in Jinjiang

　　Foreigners in Jinjiang

By Pike

　　Before coming to Jinjiang 3 Year back, I have been living in China for a long time.

　　I am Indian by Race, British and Canadian by Nationality and Hong Kong as my Residency. Most of my time was spent in Hong Kong. I have been and lived in other cities in China like Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Beijing, Nanjing, Macau etc. but all of them were Metropolis. so most of the time I use to think rest of the cities in China are same as what I have seen. But my thoughts totally changed when I landed Jinjiang.

　　Life in Jinjiang is completely different from what background I come from. It was very difficult for me to accept this kind of life but slowly the city grew on me. I realized that most of the Towns in China is like Jinjiang. The main difference I find is the pace of life. Back in Hong Kong life pace is too fast. People don't have time for themselves but in Jinjiang, I realized that back in Hong Kong we are living an unnatural life.

　　Many things were very strange for me in Jinjiang at first. Such as people drinking Warm Beers, back in Hong Kong we drink Chilled Beers to cool down our body but drinking Beer in Jinjiang was meant to get drunk. Similarly even in Hot Warm Day ,people still drink Hot Water. People taking a nap in afternoon were also something strange for me.

　　As I have lived and traveled many places around the world, Language has never a barrier for me. I found that people are very friendly and helpful in Jinjiang. I made many friends over here and they always help when needed. Many invite to their homes for drinks and dinner. Many of them invite for different activities such as for sports, tea, chit chat etc. The best part is people have time for each other. They care about each other and when someone is in need, they open their hearts to help them.

　　Being a foreigner in Jinjiang sometimes could be funny. When I first came to Jinjiang I had long hairs and bushy beard. Many people use to get confused that I am a Man or a Woman? Later to ease things I shaved off my beard and this made things worse for me. At that time most of the people who did not know me always thought I am a woman. In fact, twice while using a public toilet, I was redirected to Ladies Toilets when I tried entering Gents Toilets.

　　Nevertheless, this place might not have been affected by western culture , the thing I like most is being in a normal Chinese City with rich Chinese Culture and Ethics. When I came first things were strange for me but it did not take me much time to adjust to the local culture and finally call Jinjiang as my Second Home.

　　中文版请点击阅读：我在晋江的生活——Pike的自述