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Welcome to Donggaun!

Dongguan - A Place We Love to Hate, or Hate to Love - Pt 1

Rants and Raves: a reader's commentary on experience in New World Gardens

Be Careful Out There - Personal safety and crime awareness!

Beat the Heat

Learn "American English" ... say what???

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Welcome to Dongguann

The Chinese New Year has come and gone, and with the ringing in of the new year comes many new additions to the Dongguan expatriate community.   This was brought home to this writer recently as he walked around New World Gardens, and watched a couple of groups of new residents exploring the shops and restaurants around the complex.  To all our new residents, I want to extend a hearty welcome, and hope your stay here is a pleasant experience.

In that spirit, we at That’s Dongguan would like to provide you with some quick tidbits of helpful information. 

Emergency number - dial 110 for police etc.  May or may not have English speakers on the other line.

Dongguan has recently undergone a phone number change, increasing from 7 digits long to 8 digits long for land lines.  You’ll see a lot of numbers on billboards, signs etc with just 7 digits, so if so, and the number begins with “2”  then add another “2” in front.  If the number begins with any other number, than add an “8” in front.

Western groceries are Number 1 Market and Oliver’s at New World Garden,  Corner’s Deli at New Century Garden, and Premium Meats in New World Garden

Plenty of western restaurants of all types of Cuisine except “Traditional American”   You can get Portuguese, Brazilian, Italian, Mexican, Spanish, Middle Eastern, and Indian cuisine,  but forget about anything that slightly resembles American diner style cuisine.

That having been said, seems the American community here is a pretty apathetic lot, we like to whine about stuff but no one actually does anything to change it, and if someone does make an attempt in the form of a restaurant or such, we don’t support it.  Apparently it’s not politically correct to be an American anymore. 

News can be best found online, there are no English Language newspapers widely distributed in Dongguan.  Here Dongguan prints a free monthly magazine, with features, calendar and directory.   For more up to the minute happenings, That’s Dongguan regularly updates with news items as it happens, and as I can get out and find out what’s going on.   That’s Dongguan also has a community forum where you can ask questions, exchange ideas and get to know others in the community.

Another aspect of life in Dongguan, and one that’s not the pleasant side is personal safety.  Remember, this city in any other country would be classified as a major city, with a permanent resident population of approximately 1.8 million people, and a recorded transient resident population of about 6 million people.  Figure that there is about another million migrant workers “off the radar.”   Also remember that those 6-7 million migrant workers make on the average less that $125 U.S. dollars a month, and consider all foreigners to be wealthy.   As such, foreigners have recently become targets for petty street crimes such as purse snatching, muggings, etc.  In addition, Dongguan isn’t as foreigner friendly as the other cities such as Guangzhou to the north, and Shenzhen to the south, both of which have had large expat populations for many years.  Dongguan on the other hand has only had a large expat population for the last 4 to 6 years. 

Thus, one should exercise the same amount of caution with regards to personal safety as one normally would in a city of this size with a large transient population.  Always be aware of your surroundings,  keep track of your personal belongings and  don’t go out at night alone to places not normally frequented by expat population.

The previous couple of paragraphs are not meant to care you all, but just to keep you safe. 

On the bright side, you can make some new life long friends here, and be exposed to a lot of new cultures and communities if you keep an open mind.  So, please explore, make new friends, and enjoy your stay.