I Built a Site to Help Foreigners Navigate Life in China — As a Local Who Sees the Struggle Every Day
I'm Chinese. I work at a foreign company in Shanghai. And I've watched too many foreign colleagues struggle with everyday life in China.
WeChat Pay that doesn't work with their foreign cards. Hospital registration systems they don't understand. Insurance that turns out to be useless. Getting around a city where most signs aren't in English.
I started China Neighbor because I kept being the "helpful neighbor" — explaining things, translating, figuring out solutions. I thought: there should be a place where all of this is properly documented. In English. For foreigners.
That someone ended up being me.
Why "China Neighbor"?
The name came naturally. In China, there's 邻居 — your neighbors, people who help each other out. I wanted to be that for foreigners coming to China.
Not a corporate medical tourism site. Not a generic travel blog. Just... a good neighbor who knows the local stuff.
Where We Are Now
The site: Built with Astro + Cloudflare Pages. Lighthouse 95+. Fast, clean, actually useful.
The content: About 20 articles covering:
- How to pay in China (WeChat Pay, Alipay, cash — what actually works for foreigners)
- Healthcare guide for expats
- Hospital recommendations for international patients
- Emergency medical services in China
- City-specific guides (starting with Wuhan, more coming)
The SEO: Used SEMrush to find real opportunities:
- "is healthcare in china free" — 210 searches/month, KD 39%
- "how to pay in china" — medium competition
- "expat medical insurance china" — 30 searches/month, KD 22%
The backlinks: Just started. Submitted to Launching Next yesterday. Doing dev.to and velog.io this week.
The traffic: Honest answer? Modest. A few organic visits per day. Starting from zero is hard.
The Honest Challenges
1. Content production takes time
Writing real, useful articles about China requires current, accurate information. Visa policies change. Hospital procedures change. Payment systems evolve. Getting it right matters.
2. The backlink chicken-and-egg
You need backlinks to rank. You need traffic to get natural backlinks. Starting from zero is a slow climb.
3. Staying relevant is hard
China moves fast. What works today might be outdated in 6 months. I'm constantly updating content to keep it current.
4. I'm learning SEO as I go
Google Search Console shows impressions, but I don't always know what to make of it. Figuring this out in real time.
5. Monetization is unclear
I have ideas, but nothing concrete. Feels right to focus on building something genuinely useful first.
What I'm Planning
Content
- Expand to 50+ articles by end of Q2
- Build interactive tools (cost calculator, hospital finder)
- Start collecting real expat stories
- City guide series: Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu
Backlinks
- Submit to 50+ directories this month
- Start genuine community engagement on Reddit, Quora
- Explore guest posting opportunities
- Build relationships with expat forums
Growth
- Set up proper analytics
- Maybe experiment with video
- Open to collaboration
What I'd Love Your Advice On
If you've built a content site from scratch, dealt with SEO from zero, or navigated a similar journey — I'd really appreciate your wisdom:
1. Content prioritization
- Go broad (cover everything) or deep (own one niche)?
- When to update old content vs. create new?
2. Backlink strategy on a budget
- Proven tactics that don't require expensive tools?
- Quality vs. quantity — where's the balance?
3. Monetization timing
- When did you start thinking about making money?
- Non-obvious revenue streams for content sites?
4. China/Asia-focused content
- Communities I should be in?
- Anything I should know?
- Want to collaborate? 🙂
This might fail. But I'd rather try and learn than wonder "what if."
Thanks for reading. Would love to hear your thoughts.