At Ojisu, it is our mission to deliver homestay experiences that are cherished by both the host family and their guest. Through this, we strive to help form lifelong friendships between hosts and students. However, we know that keeping in touch after the duration of a homestay can be tricky if your guest is residing in mainland China – but don’t fear! Check out these helpful tips to keep your friendship thriving across the Pacific.

Adapting Your Social Media Arsenal

Since almost all social media channels popular in the US (Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Whatsapp, etc) are blocked in China, keeping in touch with a friend who is living there can be tough. It’s possible that your guest has access to these platforms via a proxy or VPN, but if they don’t it is up to you to dive into some good ol’ Chinese social media!

Wechat (or Wei Xin in Chinese) is by far the most widely used communication tool in China. It’s similar to Whatsapp in the way that it is primarily a smartphone app that revolves around an internet-based instant messaging platform, but offers many more “social media-like” capabilities also. If you’re looking to get even more involved in Chinese social networking, you can also try Weibo (a Facebook and Twitter equivalent) or Tencent QQ (another instant messenger). Last but not least, email is always a fine option too (keeping in mind that Gmail accounts are inherently inaccessible in China because Google is blocked).

Phone Call Alternatives

       Unfortunately, (and as many of us have learned the hard way) long distance calls can quickly ring up quite the phone bill. But thanks to many free and freemium applications, there are some nice alternatives to making traditional phone calls. Although internet-based call connectivity in China can be slow at times, Skype, Wechat, and even Facetime (if you both have Apple devices), are all great options for some live, web interaction. All of these mediums offer both audio and video call capabilities. Now get dialling!

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