I always understood that living in Beijing seemed pretty wild to most people back in the U.S. On visits home I had to make a conscious decision whether to exaggerate or downplay the exoticism.
The truth is that in a big, rapidly developing Chinese city like Beijing or Shanghai it is possible to live a fairly cushy, Western-style life if you so choose. I was intrigued by expats living further off the beaten path.
During my travels, I looked for little pockets of foreigners settling in China's remote corners. In Wuhan, the capital of the central province of Hubei, I met Janie Corum and her husband Ralph, who have lived there for about six years. Ms. Corum estimates there are about 400 Americans and 4,000 resident foreigners in the city of 8.3 million, a ratio she finds attractive.
"I wanted to be some place where there is a smaller foreign community because we really wanted to understand the local culture and have Chinese friends," says Ms. Corum, 58. "In Beijing or Shanghai it would be too easy to be with expats all the time."
They had long wanted to live overseas and finally moved to Taiwan and began studying Chinese nine years ago, with a plan to eventually move to mainland China.
"We began coming to China for service projects in 1993 and always wanted to return longer term," says Ms. Corum. "When we got to Wuhan, we felt strongly it was the right place."
They have seen a lot of changes in Wuhan, where they don't stand out as much as they once did; six years ago they were stared at everywhere they went, which is no longer the case. There was a near total absence of imported products and English signs, both of which are now more common. Yet they have always felt welcome.
"Many locals, especially students, love to practice speaking English with us and parents often encourage their children and grandchildren to do so. Also, because we are older the locals have usually treated us with great respect."
Ms. Corum is the chairman of the newly opened Central China Chapter of the American Chamber of Commerce. She says the group is pioneering the vast region for American businesses, striving to create a more comfortable environment. More foreign businesses will be coming to China's more remote corners, she notes, and she believes she is helping to pave the way.
Another expat who is both settling roots deep in China's interior while establishing a bit of an American foothold is Noah Krieg, an earnest young American running a coffee shop called the Fifth Tone in Changsha, Hunan.
Amongst the 68.5-million Hunanese there are only about 4,000 resident foreigners. Mr. Krieg, like some other Americans I met there, arrived as an English teacher.
"I wanted an American style coffee shop because there wasn't anything like it and I really thought that a lot of Chinese [college] students would enjoy the opportunity to hang out and interact in a relaxed manner," says Mr. Krieg. "And I wanted a place that could serve as a platform for cross culture conversation."
To that end, every Tuesday night, the shop hosts English corners, where Chinese students can hone their language skills, guided by English teachers. The roles are reversed for the following evening's Chinese corners.
"There are a lot of students here who are anxious to speak better English and just have opportunities to interact with foreigners and we provide the setting to do that," says Mr. Krieg.
Jeff Crosby has experienced both sides of the expat equation, originally moving to Kunming, the capital of the Southwestern province of Yunnan, to study Chinese in a university program. He stayed there for six years, moved to Beijing for two and half years and is now back in Kunming. He says that each place has helped him acquire the skill he needed to start his own business translating documents to and from Chinese and managing artists and musicians.
"Starting out in Kunming forced me to learn how to navigate Chinese society for myself much more deeply

Source: Wall Street Journal