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 Welcome to Expats in China, a new web site established by Chinese Business World (CBW) to serve the needs of the international community in China and its Chinese and foreign participants. Dr. Albert Lai, chairman of Los Angeles, California-based ASM Overseas Corporation and president of Asia System Media (ASM) in Beijing, said the web site was designed to serve as an on-line community center for expatriates and those with whom they interact. ASM has been active on the Beijing and Chinese business scene since 1984. Lai, an expatriate resident of China from Taiwan by way of Los Angeles, said, "People can meet at Expats in China to gather information, discuss things, share experiences or seek help. We hope we can help make their stays in China more comfortable and fulfilling, while helping them improve their communications with the Chinese people and their colleagues. "We hope Chinese who work in the international community will come here to learn more about the concerns of foreign visitors, workers and businesspeople.? Expats in China project leader Charles J. Dukes* said, "The role of the expatriate in China is changing. The withdrawal of the so-called iron rice bowl is affecting foreign workers and businessmen just as it is affecting ordinary Chinese people. Therefore, most of us were concentrated in large cities and had a danwei (work unit) to help us get through the day. Now, you can find foreigners working in the most rural of rural areas, often on their own with marginal institutional support. Many of those people are cut off from the day-to-day conveniences of urban life, but more than that, after a while, they want other people to visit with about the problems they are experiencing in China. Isolation and boredom have become problems for long-term residents. Dukes said the plight of a Wisconsin woman he met at the Embassy of the United States in Beijing epitomizes what Expats in China hopes to accomplish. "In our brief conversation, I learned she was from the northern United States and was living in or near XiAn with her husband. She was pregnant, but was completely ignorant of medical care available to her in Beijing, the name of a medical clinic, or an obstetrical or gynecological doctor. The quote she had received from her medical provider for delivering her child was twice what she was expecting. She had no one to discuss her pregnancy with and said she felt isolated. "I told her about Expats in Chinas news, community, and services, and asked her if she thought this would be of use to her. She said, That would be a godsend." Lai said, "Making life better in China is what were all about. We hope people will enjoy the site, contribute to it and make it theirs, just like our International Community in China web site we opened in 1997, but better. Dukes said, "We wanted to bring together a variety of expatriate information available on the web, plus add useful and unique services. Here we have a one-call-does-all site where people can discover whats happening in the expatriate community, find resources not found on other web sites in China, local and world news, other useful information and a travel planner. They can use it to make hotel or travel reservations, post messages or chat with others. "It is a site that can help meet the needs of those planning to come to China and current residents of all ages. It is a place where those who have left China can return to again and again to keep up with developments affecting life in Beijing and to express their views on New China. He said, "The site is another representation of ASMs long-standing commitment to China, members of the foreign business and diplomatic communities and their families, students, foreign employees of foreign and Chinese firms, and tourists. "We encourage the international community in China to make this community center work for them. We welcome suggestions from our sponsors and viewers about story ideas, things that should be added to make the web site better and more responsive to their personal needs in China," Lai said. |
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