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Speaking of China

Speaking of China

A blog about love, family and relationships in China, including interracial and intercultural love. 洋媳妇谈中国

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chinese countryside

Stories about the happiness and hardships of the Chinese countryside, from one Western woman with a Chinese husband from China’s countryside.

Articles 

On my first funeral in China, and the loss of my first close Chinese family member

June 9, 2014June 8, 2014 Jocelyn Eikenburg 37 Comments China, chinese countryside, Chinese family, Chinese funeral, Chinese grandfather, Chinese grandmother, foreigners in China, funeral in China

When you’re married to a Chinese national, there are the experiences you get to be privilege to — and wish you weren’t. Like a funeral in China.

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Articles 

The power of a smile in China’s countryside

May 12, 2014September 15, 2014 Jocelyn Eikenburg 35 Comments China, chinese countryside, Chinese culture, Favorites, Hangzhou, Zhejiang

It’s amazing how a simple walk through my husband’s village in rural Zhejiang suddenly opens up unexpected doors and hearts.

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Articles 

Finding a magical piece of China’s long history in my husband’s backyard

April 14, 2014April 14, 2014 Jocelyn Eikenburg 12 Comments China, chinese countryside, Hangzhou, Zhejiang

It’s one thing to see China’s history in a museum and another to find a 5,000-year-old site right in my husband’s village in China.

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Articles 

Things I’ve Learned from My Chinese Family: 3 Amazing Wild Edible Plants

April 7, 2014April 6, 2014 Jocelyn Eikenburg 28 Comments bamboo shoots, China, chinese countryside, Chinese family, fiddlehead ferns, Hangzhou, life in China, mugwort, Zhejiang

Three amazing wild edible plants here in Zhejiang, China that have enchanted me and my Chinese family this Spring — and landed on our daily menu at home.

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Articles 

8 Surprising Things I’ve Learned from Living in China’s Countryside

March 24, 2014April 2, 2014 Jocelyn Eikenburg 49 Comments China, China life, chinese countryside, Chinese family, Chinese husband, Favorites, foreigners in China, life in China

I was raised in the Midwestern US. Yet now I live in China’s countryside with my Chinese husband and his family, where I’ve learned some surprising things.

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Articles 

To learn dialect or not? When your Chinese family doesn’t speak Mandarin Chinese

February 17, 2014April 2, 2014 Jocelyn Eikenburg 69 Comments China, chinese countryside, Chinese family, Chinese language, Favorites, Mandarin Chinese, Wu Chinese

I invested years of my life studying Mandarin Chinese, only to marry a man whose local dialect is a different language. I wondered, should I learn it?

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Articles 

On Invitations and the Dinner We Never Expected

January 27, 2014January 26, 2014 Jocelyn Eikenburg 11 Comments China, China life, chinese countryside, Chinese culture, Chinese family, foreigners in China, Hangzhou, life in China, Zhejiang

Though I still equate the word “invitation” with notice, I’m learning to appreciate the beauty in a sudden invite, like my big uncle’s dinner in China.

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Articles 

Another Friend, Another Divorce in China

January 21, 2013January 21, 2013 Jocelyn Eikenburg 37 Comments China life, chinese countryside, Chinese friend, Chinese men, divorce in china, Hangzhou, Marriage in China, Zhejiang

“The feelings between my wife and I were not so harmonious. So…we officially divorced.” Our friend Huizhong became another “divorce in China” statistic.

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Articles 

How I Broke Chinese Family Etiquette To Save A Baby Mobile

April 2, 2012April 1, 2012 Jocelyn Eikenburg 16 Comments China, chinese countryside, Chinese culture, Chinese etiquette, Chinese family, chinese father-in-law, Chinese husband, Chinese mother-in-law, Chinese parents, life in China

I went against the Chinese family etiquette to save a baby mobile. But maybe a foreigner’s ignorance sometimes comes in handy in China?

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Ask the Yangxifu 

Ask the Yangxifu: On Being Vegan in a Chinese Family

October 28, 2011March 26, 2012 Jocelyn Eikenburg 14 Comments China, China life, chinese countryside, Chinese culture, Chinese family, chinese father-in-law, Chinese husband, Chinese men, Chinese mother-in-law, Chinese parents, life in China, Marriage in China, vegan, vegan in China

A reader asks me how my husband and Chinese family reacted to my vegan diet. Was it always happily vegan every after for us?

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Published Works

Dragonfruit Front Cover
Buy a copy of the fabulous 2014 anthology How Does One Dress to Buy Dragonfruit? and read my essay "Huangshan Honeymoon"!

My essay "Red Couplets" is also included in the 2013 China expat travel anthology Unsavory Elements.

10 Most Popular Posts

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Recent Posts

  • Christmas on Taobao: 5 Most Popular Online Holiday Goods in China – Pub’d on WWAM BAM
  • Actor, Model Godfrey Gao, 35, Died While Filming a Reality Show in China. What Happened?
  • The Huotong: A Seat of Warmth and Ingenuity at the Table – Pub’d on China Daily
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Your Comments on Speaking of China

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