China is a country full of culture and history. It is a place that everyone should travel to at least once in their lives, even live there if you are interested. Not convinced? In this article, we are going to take a look at just 5 of the reasons that you should consider living and traveling in China.

1. Rich History

China has a rich history that you can only really comprehend by seeing it for yourself. Throughout the centuries, China was ruled by dynasties, each coming with their own unique era of Chinese history. Now known as the People’s Republic of China, this switch wasn’t made until 1949 with the Chinese Revolution, a piece of history that can be felt in the country even today.

The point is, there’s a lot about China that you don’t know until you’re there. If you are just traveling, take some time to visit one of the many museums the country has to offer or even historical landmarks. If you are going to live there, take some time to study your new home country. What you find won’t cease to amaze and surprise you.

2. Beautiful Language

Mandarin is the most widely spoken version of Chinese in the world, especially the People’s Republic of China. It is also a very old language, showing up as early as 4,000 years ago! The sound of the language is beautiful but the history and story of the language is gorgeous as well.

The language consists of an excess of 40,000 symbols, each one representing a syllable or concept rather than a phonetic sound, like in English. This is how it has been throughout its history and it is only recently that it has been attempted to simplify the language and give it a more phonetic approach. Still, to be considered literate in the language, you have to be able to read and use 3,000 of the language’s symbols.

Another interesting fact is that Chinese is a tonal language. This means that words may have different meanings depending on the tone used to say them. The language uses four tones and each one gives certain words new meaning. However, other dialects can feature up to nine tones, so in this case Chinese is slightly simpler.

3. Diverse People

China is full of diverse people as well. Home to more than 55 minorities, you will meet many different kinds of people as you travel about China. This allows you to make friends of different ethnicities with no problem and learn from the people around you as well as from museums and studying.

4. High Standard of Living

China has relatively low wages for work but don’t let that deter you from living there. This is because the cost of living is so low that you don’t need to earn high wages to live comfortably like in the United States or elsewhere.

To give you an example, an average (and filling) Chinese meal out costs around $1.50 in US dollars. This makes living and eating out on a budget much easier in China than in other countries thanks to the higher standard of living.

5. Try Something New

Finally, you should move to or travel to China to change up your routine. Moving or traveling to a new country is a great way to learn new things and experience things you have never experienced before. Even if it is just to travel there for a few days, China will give you an experience you won’t forget anytime soon.

This is further expanded by all the new people you’ll meet. With the rise of social media, this is becoming easier and easier. You can join Facebook groups or find out about groups and meetings in your area to learn new things and experience things you might not have thought to do before or just couldn’t do in your home country.

Conclusion

There are plenty of reasons why visiting or living in China is a fantastic option. From new things to learn to experiencing China’s high standard of living to learning Mandarin by total submersion, there is no end to the opportunities it offers you. So, travel to China and stay for a few days or a few years, you won’t regret your visit or the years you live there. There is plenty to see and plenty to do to teach you about the history of China or even just entertain you in your day-to-day life.

This article was submitted by guest author and ISC member: David Smith
“David Smith is a blogger and world traveler, with experience in China’s manufacturing industry, as well as social media marketing in his hometown of Los Angeles, California. When not staring at a computer screen, David is an avid badminton player and photographer of natural landscapes.”