A Fat Girl’s Guide to Surviving China

It’s easier than you think

I’ve been living and working in China for the past five and a half years. Whenever I get the chance, I travel. When I’m not traveling or working, I’ll go on different facebook groups geared towards fat women and travel. I’ve talked to a lot of women that want to go to China, but they’re afraid China isn’t fat-friendly. That the people will make fun of them. They won’t find the clothes they like, and they won’t like the food.

Being a fat girl myself, I can say with confidence that China’s a more fat-friendly place than people give it credit for. Anyone can live comfortably in China, regardless of their size. These are some skills I’ve learned to survive China.

It’s getting easier to navigate the country without knowing the language.

I came to China already knowing a good chunk of the language, but a majority of people that come don’t know Chinese at all. Major cities, like Beijing and Shanghai, make it pretty easy to navigate by having bilingual signs everywhere. In Shanghai, most people will see a foreign face and automatically speak English. In smaller cities, like Chengdu, Nanjing, or Tianjin, you have to work a little harder to live if you can’t hire a Chinese teacher right away.