Black Female UK Travel Bloggers, My Tribe: Where Are You?

 

What a delight to find this old favourite (HP Sauce) becoming more common across China’s big cities. See, just another crazy thing to note in a blog post. 

 

Any prolific blogger who’s making waves across the virtual world will tell you that there’s strength in unified blogging, as in uniting with other bloggers.

They advise that blogging solo without connects, contacts, partners and other cyber-space peers is akin to a slow death by search- engine.

I don’t really know why they advocate partnerships to be honest, especially as I’ve never been much of a group kind of gal. However, these ‘experts’ insist that being noticed, gaining views and increasing your email list / fan base / loyal readers, is a basic necessity for successful transition from small time blogger to bigwig with influence.

Another benefit is the comfort of knowing that you’re not the only one doing what you do. Kind of like holding hands around the web.

Well, okay then. Here’s to internet solidarity.

However, there is a proviso – natch.

Apparently bloggers of a feather flock together (forgive the artistic license, I couldn’t help myself) and with good reason. It makes sense to partner with writers who come under the same umbrella as yourself.

If I suddenly started making references to my mate Jim who blogs about the green frogs of Tanzania (it’s a real thing, look it up. The green frogs, not Jim), with links to his blog and urging you to spend time reading his posts you’d probably wonder why and with good reason as our topics are poles apart.

If you did want to know about green frogs you wouldn’t be here would you? You’d be off finding Jim all on your own.

 

See? Everybody’s searching for black British female travel bloggers. 

 

As I mentioned earlier, I’ve never been much of a group / partnership / let’s all come and work together person, but prior to starting this blog I did check out (and still do) blogs by other black women, with a particular but obvious lean towards black women living and thriving in China.

There’s a quite a few out there, which is great. But what I’d really like to do is dig down even further and link with other black female, British travel bloggers.

We could swap links and readers, form a club, maybe meet up once a year or every five years, build a community and promote each other’s brilliance, but so far my longing is for naught as I can’t find any.

But there must be some!

I am one hundred percent convinced that I am not the only one with a story to tell and the will to commit to opening up a WordPress site and posting on a semi-regular basis.

So (cue violins),  I’ll keep searching and hoping.

In the meantime, if you come across any would you let me know? Ta

 

 

 

You Know It’s Holiday Time In China When…..

 

Every year thousands, or perhaps millions, of holiday-makers flock to China’s wonderful and beautiful heritage spots. But sadly, judging from the picture above, seems like they’re more likely to get a shot of the back of someone’s head than anything else.

You see, when everyone is off work at the same time this is what happens.

This is ‘golden week’ in China. They occur twice a year initially in Spring for the Chinese New Year and of course, now at the start of Autumn which heralds China’s national week. It’s good to have a change of scenery, but surely the whole point of a break is to reduce stress, not to keep it going?

I wonder what happens when you’re in the middle of such a crowd and you develop a pressing need for the washroom? Or your baby’s crying, or you fall ill, or your granny has a heat stroke? What to do?

Still, my Chinese friends are surprised when they ask me what I’m doing for the holidays and I reply that I’m staying at home where I can enjoy the peace and quiet of my neighbourhood.

Meanwhile, all credit to these brave souls who went for it anyway!  I hope they do have a good time in-between the squashy bits and traffic jams )-:

Credit to ‘That’s PRD’ magazine. Click here for the full article:

http://www.thatsmags.com/guangzhou/post/15647/photos-october-holiday-crowds-swarm-tourist-sites

This is why the Great Wall of China is great (in my humble and almost meaningless opinion). What other structure could withstand such hoards several times a year, year after year without crumbling?

Did you know that the wall was built during the Ming Dynasty? (not that I’m claiming credit or anything…. well maybe a little……okay. just kidding (-: )

New Rules On Chinese Work Visas

After much speculation, news recently broke about definitive changes to the working visa for foreigners wishing to work and live in China.

The government has revised the procedures and created an Integrated Work Permit in an effort to simplify and also unify the process, which has to be good news.

Although things have become easier in many aspects over the last few years, generally speaking there are still many grey areas open to interpretation by different provinces and government departments. In addition, many foreign workers feel that the rules are too strict with no room for exceptions.

In recognition of creating a fairer, more level and easier to access platform, the new Visa rules are initially being trialed across major areas such as Beijing, Sichuan, Guangdong and Shanghai before being extended to the whole of the country at a later date, assuming the success of the pilot project. It’s expected that the unified foreigner’s work permit system will become effective across China from April 1 2017.

Previously and at the time of writing there are two visas, the Foreigner Employment Permit and the Foreign Expert Work Permit, which cover foreigners working in China however, within those visas are a myriad of complicated rules and regulations which can be misinterpreted. With these new rules the two certificates will be no longer be distanced,instead they’ll essentially becoming one.

The full declaration is  a  little confusing in places however I’ve found a couple of English speaking Chinese websites which break it down, so I’ll be using them as my source.

It All Begins on November 1 2016

This is when the government classifies foreigners who wish to work in China in three categories instead of the multiple ones used previously.

These categories are; 

Class A: Top professional, innovative and creative talent. High end personnel.These talents will be encouraged. The paperwork for applying for this visa has been greatly reduced along with the response time.

Class B: Teachers, managers, technicians and other professionals who fit in with China’s economic development plans on a short term basis. These talents will be controlled.

Class C: Unskilled, seasonal or service industry workers whose intake will be strictly limited.

Visas for students and those wishing to set up a business remain unchanged.

In order to determine which Class is most suitable for applicants, points will be assigned according to salary, education level, Chinese language ability, skills and age. 85 points must be achieved to qualify for Class A,  a minimum of 60 for Class B and fewer than 60 for Class C.

The changes have been generally hailed as good news by most expats.

So, if you’re hoping to live and work in China for a while and want the most hassle free route, aim for a Class A or a Class B visa.

Good luck!

Refs: Guide In China. Expats Express

For more reading on this, written previously to these new rules but still holding a lot of relevance, check out my article on Hub Pages; https://wanderwisdom.com/travel-destinations/Which-Visa-Do-I-Need-To-Live-And-Work-In-China