Warm welcomes and WeChat: A Brit's tale of finding home in Wuxi

My school had assigned me an assistant who spoke excellent English. Honestly, I would have been lost without her and wouldn't have known where to start. She helped me find an apartment, set up a bank account and get the all-important SIM card for my phone. She also showed me the basics of WeChat, Alipay and TaoBao – essential tools for life in China! So, I began to set up home in Wuxi. At first, this was a challenge. I remember going to a small convenience store to buy some batteries for my TV remote. I went to pay at the counter but the lady said something in Chinese. After a while, I realized that she wanted me to use an automatic payment machine. I scanned the package and the machine displayed a message in Chinese, which of course I couldn't read. So I stood there feeling a bit silly, with people queueing behind me. And of course, I was immediately rescued by those very same people. They were so friendly and helpful, showing me how to access my payment code on WeChat and scan the little window on the machine. Of course, at first, I felt a little apprehensive, letting complete strangers go through my phone. I am from the UK, and I half expected my bank account to have been emptied and my identity stolen. And that, right there, as I was to discover, is the difference. Wuxi people are so extraordinarily helpful, friendly and trustworthy! I had never experienced such a safe, welcoming place full of warm and helpful people. Although I was stared at in the street, it was never rude or threatening. It was fascination. My wife calls it 'staring curiously'. (Indeed, I stare at Lao Wai's myself now, if I don't recognise them!). It is safe to walk through the streets at midnight. It is safe to leave your phone on a table by mistake, and when you go back, it will still be there. At home it would be gone within a minute.