Collys Life Adventure In China
Collys Life Adventure In China
My friends call me Colly. I am a Canadian and this is my Vlog Channel to post videos about my life in Guangzhou, China. I first started my life in china in 2015. I left for a brief period and returned in 2024. I hope to shed life on what it's like to live in China.
China Vlog / Guangzhou Vlog.
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So informative, Thanks！
must try the bbq oysters with garlic sauce 😋😋😋😋😋when you are in GZ, ~$6 for a dozen 🥰
Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street food court is HUGE and endless choices.
From uk tourist visa about 10 pages to be printed then take to visa office £100 so i gave up went to hong kong but using transit visa next week
That sounds about right. 10 pages of documents that are a bit tricky to navigate. The only positive to it is that it allows you to stay longer than the transit visa. My first Chinese visa was a tourist visa and it was 60 days multi entry that lasted 10 years.
我去英国需要更多的材料和证明。费用1000英镑以上，知足吧先生！
Another great video. To get all the initial documents certified or notarized, would you say we can expect $1000 bucks of expenses? And then a one way flight is about $1000 dollars. And then to rent a place, landlords require at least 3 months rent. So at the bare minimum, people need like $5 grand for start up costs. Just to START teaching.
So the documents, such as degree and criminal record check, will all be authenticated and notarized then translated officially . along with that you need a medical check and to fill out all the applications and have those submitted and yes thats going to run you around $1000 if not a bit more. The flight really depends on what time of year and where you are flying from. Living cost will also depend on what city you live in and what part of that city you live. Land lords do need 3 months rent up from. Lastly you will also need some money to survive off before you get your first pay. All in all I recommend have 5k-10k when moving to china to live and work.
As a Guangzhou local currently living in Vancouver, I'm glad you enjoy the food and life in my hometown, and really nice to see my city through a foreigner's eyes. Keep up the good work!
i never understand why dim sum places switch over to lunch. if they are doing dim sum then do until 3pm because most of these dim sum places usually have mediocre lunch menues
This sounds horrible, God Bless America 🇺🇸
How so? America actually followed China in things like WeChat/WhatsApp, Didi/uber, Alipay/Paypal, debit, Credit Meituan/Uber Eats, and Door Dash. All of the American options cost more and are less efficient.
@@collyslifeadventureinchina typical response, lol. You enjoy China, I will enjoy my freedom, in the United States of America 🇺🇸
@@TomSantinoCorleone I'm Canadian, and there are pros and cons to living in Canada, America, Europe, China, etc. If you really believe you are that much freer or safer in one developed/developing country than the next, you either haven't travelled or are just naive. I understand there is no convincing you. I do hope god blesses America and Canada in their next elections.
@@collyslifeadventureinchina 😂 😆
@@collyslifeadventureinchinathere is no way breaking these people s prejudice honestly. They rather live in a country with non stop mass shooting called freedom... I lived in Colorado for 10 years and love it but soon I m moving to Qingdao. Thanks for the tips! I ve been looking for some apps to use in China
So I thought there was a blanket ebike ban in Guangzhou now? Does it only cover certain areas?
The only place they are banned is heritage sites and some parks. They are also banned to drive on sidewalks but thats fully ignored since people need to park their bikes there anyways.
Thanks good info
Can you tell us more about that first dish you said is the top seller. You mentioned matcha, but can you tell us what the dish is called and what else it contains? Is it sweet or savory? Is there meat or seafood inside? Details please. Thanks!
绿茶甜薄餐 is the name. its a mix between sweet and savoury. I though the inside was some type of almond or nut but it turns out its a form of crispy butter. So basically a match glutinous rice rolls with nice sweet and savoury crispy butter on the inside.
Looks like you are not having real Cantonese food. BBQ pork, goose, duck, chicken, ribs, 叉烧，干炒牛河，and tons of rice plates that will give you plenty of meat and veggies for cheap and good taste plus freshness. Great video 👍
I did not want to have just cantonese food. I tried to have a different provinces food each day. In the future I might do one where I only eat cantonese food since I am in Guangzhou. I still find with goos, duck, and chicken you get tons of bones and less meat than if you had a chicken breast. BBQ pork/ sticky pork or crispy pork usually give a decent amount of meat.
👍👍👍
Guangzhou has only been in the Michelin Guide since 2018 - I see Beiyuan in there as selected but it never had a star.
I could be wrong. I cant see past years stars and when I looked at the recent one it isnt. I got my information from trip advisor. never the less some times the star rating isnt about how good the food is but the atmosphere and cutlery as well. I will eventually go to one of the currently rated places but they seem to all the at expensive hotels such as the white swan.
@@collyslifeadventureinchina that'll explain it then, TripAdvisor is often no more than hearsay on those sort of things! The star ratings are always about the food - Michelin have a separate knife and fork rating that covers service and ambience etc. I see quite a few starred restaurants in Guangzhou rated at ¥¥ rather than ¥¥¥¥ that could be worth a visit - Imperial Treasure Fine Teochew is on my list for a potential visit to Singapore and I see there is one in Guangzhou with a star too. I do recommend splurging sometime and trying them out - in more than 50 visits to stars from 1 to 3***, I've only had two that I felt didn't deserve any at all. Looks like an interesting food scene there, carry on trying it all out for us!
I went to a similar place to that in Guangzhou - had the outside garden area and everything. Was pretty tasty but a bit overpriced.
The over priced places I would say are at the hotels. Even though they have 2 or 3 stars i rather go to a place that is on the select or one star that is a fair price. still really good.
Thank you for that video. Bei Yuan is a really nice restaurant. Your youtube channel makes me revisit Guangzhou!
Chill dude 🎉🎉
You can always get some kind of discount for the restaurant through apps like"大众点评“ or “美团”
Double the total cost if you had the devils lettuce BEFORE you ate lol
I wish but cant over here. Cant wait for a visit back to Canada in a few years.
I have been enjoying your youtube. What is the location of the first, second, and Hong Kong-style restaurants? Next time, I go to Guangzhou, I would like to visit there.
I have a way better dim sum place I am releasing a video about this week, so wait for that. Hong Kong-style places are all over, so it it won't be hard to find one close to you.
This video was so helpful. Thank you. Do you have any suggestions on what VPN providers work best in China? I've heard some people had issues with expressvpn for example when they were in China.
Express vpn no longer works here. I used it 2015-2020 but not anymore. Astrill is what some people use, but it is better to find a private VPN provider inside China. Ask around once you get here.
@@collyslifeadventureinchina thank you so much for your response and the advice!
@@edisagreen6626use proxy master vpn, its free and works
no rider is doing jailtime for modding the speed limiter. If it is a shop doing it for profit, that would be a different story. 25km/h is too slow. The police does not normally stop people for that. You just need to be on the lookout and do not go crazy in busy streets.
I have a friend who had his bike taken away years ago, and in order to get it back, they wanted him to do 7 days in jail, which is madness, so he never got that bike back. In Guangzhou, I have only seen stops a few times, and it has been to make people who are wearing helmet walk their bikes. Everyone walks 100. meters, then get right back on. 25km/h is pretty slow 40-50 would be ideal, and this is what you can get once the limiter has been removed. However, I have been in Guangzhou long enough to know that the police randomly sweep and crackdown. You could be good all year, then boom, one week, they are on their shit. I have seen them pull up to a Walmart with a flatbed and fill it up with unregistered bikes and bikes that were modded too much. I will probably buy a second bike different model and maybe even different brand and change the speed on it.
Looks Dope! Got to get that upgraded struts! 👍
Really great to see this video, was reeally informative, I live in Beijing and I'm planning to purchase this exact model or the new Umax version. Can I ask where you got the law details, simple baidu search ? If you don't mind a break down of the upgrade cost too. Either way great vid.
I heard about the laws from a friend who had a bike for a long time. I've seen police set up where they check bikes, and I've seen them take people. I asked my wife about the laws, and she looked them up. You could ask at your local police office that you register at but the people at the xiao niu shop will also inform you of what is illegal to do to the bike. Many shops will still make the illegal changes if you ask but you risk your bike being taken away, and I don't want to lose that decent chunk of change. As per the breakdown, the UQI is a model you can upgrade and make your own however, some models, like the Umax dont have many upgrades to be done. Possibly a battery upgrade but the body is pretty solid with the long seat and im not sure if you can change the suspension on it as well. The suspension was the highest cost of my bike upgrade, and I still didn't get the front one done, which would be another 5k RMB.
@@collyslifeadventureinchina Thanks so much, heading to a near Niu store this sunday. Safe riding!
I feel so weir to seeing that you are knowing Guangzhou much more than I do and the fact is I was born and raised in Guangzhou. When I went back to visit family back in April, I was totally lost in many ways. I should ask your advice first when I come back to visit next time.
You just need to spend time exploring. Things change so often here. Really just need to learn how to work with modern technology.
When you first showed up to China, how much Chinese were you able to understand and speak?
Pretty much none.
@@collyslifeadventureinchina well the reason I ask is, how much preparation do you recommend for someone moving to China to work? Did you get your job through an English speaking agency?
@@dannybee6677 When I arrived in late 2015, things were a lot different. Back then, I got my job through an agency, but this time, I got my job through contacts. Depending on the job you have, you will need a different set of skills. Many jobs dont require any Chinese, but many jobs also require you to be pretty fluent. Before, many people would come here and work illegally, but the government has really cracked down, and from what I am hearing from non-native speakers and people who aren't qualified, it's very hard for them to find work, and many are leaving. A lot fewer Russians here now.
Someone is disgustingly obnoxious here!!!
Cant please everyone.
@@collyslifeadventureinchina Not about pleasing, but about behaving!
@@lifejourney08 I did not break any laws. "behaving" really...
@@collyslifeadventureinchina of course it is not you, you are cool!
Two things you need: A proper visa and a Chinese app linking your fat credit/debit cards for payments. Everything you learn on the fly. That is what makes a trip an adventure. The beauty of China is it is the only country near 100% sovereign by using its own made products in just about everything. Others are depending on, using western, predominantly the U.S.' apps. Something no other countries can claim.
Or you could go somewhere else where Visa is accepted directly and perfectly normally. All these rules just scream surveilance state.
Full surveillance means next to no crime. Do you really think that if a country in the West wants to watch you, they can't?
pepole look angry when they see your tattoos?
Chinese see tattoos are stupid dirty smudges that ruin the human natural body.
No, there is a better attitude towards tattoos these days. Many young Chinese have them. People 40 and up might still think tattoos mean gangster, but I walk around with my ink showing and often get smiles. Many Chinese people also say how cool or beautiful they are.
I highly recommend NOT to install any of these Chinese apps. Most of these will steal the data from your phone. You can pay with cash almost anywhere. If you HAVE to install Alipay or any of these other apps, at least use a separate phone that has no personal data on it.
Steal data like how Google, Play Store apps, Android, Microsoft software, Windows, iTunes, iPhone, Apple IOS stole your data? 😂
不知道哪里来的优越感😅😅
Liar spread lies.
You are full of B.S. I am an American who visits China regularly, this is my advice: Get a sim card that works in China, Tmobile lets you roam for free, get VPN, and Alipay.
Literally, every app developed steals some sort of data. That's how they make money by giving you a free app. If you have sensitive data, then yes, that should be on a work phone with no apps except the ones you use for work. Basically, it should be a phone to send messages and make calls. If someone really wants your data there are many ways of compromising devices.
Hey Colly! I made it to China and found my apartment here in Guangzhou, got a good vpn so thanks! What’s your instagram @? Btw I love it here in Guangzhou so far!!!! No complaints.
nice..
nice..
would recommend Ctrip for train ticket /flight booking if you are travelling between cities. and yes these apps mentioned basically have all your needs covered in China
Good content for china travelers.
Thanks. I was addressing the main questions people have been asking me about.
I went to China last summer and took advantage all of these apps mentioned. Great video for first-timers in China!
Its what I use daily. I maybe forgot to add in tantan for single people looking to date but I think I nailed it when talking about apps my friends, co-workers, and self use on the daily.
Another good and helpful video my friend
hello. i am japanese. i enjoy your videoｓ every time.are you planning to live in china for a long team？Thanks．
Yes I will be here for a very long time. Thanks for watching.
可以买个二手的😅
I can afford to buy a new one and wanted one that was only mine with the upgrades I wanted.
The best mall in China in terms of diversity, openness, perfume scent, bathroom cleaness, location … love taikuhui
Grandview mall and parc central rival it now. They are just around the corner so makes sense.
@@collyslifeadventureinchina yeah, but personally I love that dim yellowish lightening in taikoohui(old money hk style) , and I remember bathrooms in taikoohui are equipped with Dyson stuff. And AC could also be felt even in bathroom haha(I guess I really love its bathrooms haha). And idkw taikoohui upgraded their bathrooms like every 6 months. service like this cannot be found in 天环广场，天环is all about guiding people to buy stuff.
i went to tau koohui everyday during year 2017-2019 miss there❤it always has a special place in my heart. I saw lots of new stores in your video. There were no shake shack, nike before.
Shake shack is fairly new. I think 2021 maybe 2022. I went all the way to shanghai before to try it and now I can go on my days off.
@@collyslifeadventureinchina yeah. when I was there I just dined in wagas, Shanghai also has that though. Not a fan of overpriced burger haha
so nice to see you back in China living your life. I hope you are feeling healthy and confident now!
So great to be back. We didnt get to meet up in Toronto but if you take a trip out here one day lets meet up.
@@collyslifeadventureinchina a huevo! I’m living and working in Seattle now, so it’s possible I come sometime
Keep pushing your content 🙌🏽🔥
Thanks for the support. I'm trying for 2 videos a month.
please enjoy riding your e bike.
Already having a great time with it.
Colly how is the English teaching situation in Guangzhou? Is there plenty of work? Teacher shortages?
Because they tightened up on the illegals, there are plenty of jobs. The requirements for the work visa are kinda ridiculous. I understand having to be from a native-speaking country, but the fact they don't just require a bachelor's degree anymore is what makes it hard for most people who want to come. You need two years of teaching experience as well, and for most people, if they start teaching in a Western country, they usually don't want to drop everything and leave. Also, the initial cost of all the documents being notarized, authenticated, and translated to get your first visa is also a pain. With all that being said the wage is decent and fair compared to what it use to be and there are multiple work opportunities.
@@collyslifeadventureinchina thank you for the reply. Well if you ever run out of topics to VLOG about, you can elaborate on getting the complexities of getting a visa.
I will do a visa video in a bit.
That's trippy that you walked right through the security gate with your camera on. lol.
It's more to make sure you don't have a weapon or explosives, not for privacy.
Make a video on your job and how much money you can save after all expenses. I am looking to teach English in china . 🇨🇳
In a few weeks, I will be making a monthly cost of living video in China. In that video, I will also be doing a full week of only eating dinner at restaurants. I will include my salary after taxes and all my expenses, so stay tuned.
@collyslifeadventureinchina thank you . Once you make this video, I will surely subscribe . Also, please share more info on your job . Work contract and general duties at work.
I will one day make a video about my job and jobs I know others do.
get a Better Mic - your voice does not come through very clear - sounds like you have marbles in your mouth
Jo Malone makes incredible colognes.