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RE: Is It Difficult to Make Friends in CHINA?
If you are alone, this happens a lot, especially in tourist areas.
I haven't had those awkward conversations in years though, I don't have patience for people who ask inane questions, like "Do you like Chinese food?"
I'm fortunate that most of my friends speak halfway decent English, or are fellow expats.
One advantage in northern China, is that most people speak Mandarin well enough that its easier to understand, the farther south you go, the more difficult it gets.
Shanghainese, Cantonese, and lots of other local dialects, makes conversation more difficult. (for me anyway)
Yeah the dialects are difficult. I remember when I first arrived in China an expat colleague of mine boasting that he spoke better Chinese than most Chinese. I thought, wow that's pretty arrogant. Once you've been there a while and learned the language you find out that in many situations it's true!
Yup. Go to Guangzhou and you'll find many people that can't speak Mandarin properly.
I live in a city that has one of the hardest dialects in China, they are harder most of the time. But for me my wife is from here (Wenzhou) so its been beneficial and fun to learn. Now I find it easier to make local friends because it breaks down the barriers
You are right. The further down south you go from Beijing, the more dialects and divergence you hear from standard Mandarin Chinese. Eventually you hear nothing but Cantonese at times.