Social life and friendships

The starting point

Tier-1 and tier-2 city expats generally find building a social life easier than they expected. The combination of a substantial international community, a friendly Chinese curiosity about foreigners, and the dense urban geography puts a lot of options within reach.

Where people meet people

• Language exchange events — every tier-1 city has weekly Mandarin/English exchange meetups. HelloTalk and Tandem cover the app side; in-person events run via Meetup.com (where unblocked) and WeChat groups.
• Sports clubs and gyms — Pure Yoga, Will's Fitness, Xiulian, plus international-brand chains in tier-1 cities. Football and rugby leagues exist in most major cities; cricket in Beijing and Shanghai.
• Hiking groups — particularly in Beijing (Beijing Hikers), Hong Kong (DB Hikers), Hangzhou.
• University extension classes — language schools run cooking classes, calligraphy, taichi.
• Industry meetups — InternChina-style conferences, AmCham, BritCham, EU Chamber events.
• Bar and live-music nights — Beijing's Drum Tower area, Shanghai's Yongkang Road, Shenzhen's Sea World, Chengdu's Lan Kwai Fong.

Apps that help

• WeChat groups — every interest has one. Get added by attending one event.
• Smartshanghai, The Beijinger, Time Out HK — local English-language event listings.
• Meetup (when accessible) for English-language event listings.
• HelloTalk for language-exchange contacts that translate to real-world meetings.

Making Chinese friends

Easier in workplaces and language schools than in random social situations. The standard friendship-building patterns:

• Repeated low-stakes interactions (lunch, coffee) over months.
• Reciprocal favours.
• A meal at someone's home is a meaningful step.
• KTV (karaoke), board-game cafes, hot-pot dinners — all standard venues for relationship-building.

The 'expat friend group only' pattern is comfortable but isolating; many long-term expats regret not investing in mixed friendships earlier.

Dating

Dating apps work — Tantan (the Chinese Tinder equivalent) is the largest, plus Bumble and Tinder operate via VPN. Inter-cultural relationships are common but come with their own friction (family expectations, bilingualism, eventual relocation decisions).

For the LGBTQ+ scene see the dedicated guide.

What's harder

• Tier-3 cities have far fewer expats. Smaller social circles and a more limited English-language scene.
• Suburb living with school-run schedules. The international-school families build their social life around school events; if you're not in that pattern, you'll need to commute to events.
• Pandemic-era residual habits — the 2020–2022 lockdown years thinned out the expat communities considerably; they have not fully rebuilt in some cities.

Honest note

Friendships in China require investment of time. The expat-community-on-tap experience of, say, Bangkok or Berlin is more available in Shanghai than anywhere else in mainland China. Beijing is comparable. Other cities require more deliberate effort.