For the past year, Nanjing Expat has been conducting a survey of the foreign population in Nanjing, in the interests of the population at large, and to better cater for them through its range of media products.
The survey, hosted on the Nanjing Expat website, examined why we choose to come to Nanjing, for what purpose, from where and for how long. It also revealed where we live, work, how we get around and, most importantly, our level of contentment. It should be noted however, that like all surveys, it is only a dipstick sample of the population, and as such the numbers revealed herein will have varying degrees of accuracy.
Let’s get started. Overall, Nanjing Expats are a happy bunch. 87 percent of respondents claimed to be happy with their life in Nanjing. The survey did not include a “don’t know” option. Such contentment was manifest by the fact that 48 percent of participants said they planned on staying in Nanjing for at least the next 3 years.
According to Nanjing Daily, in 2014, Nanjing hosted approximately twenty-four thousand foreigners who have lived here for more than 6 months. With the Nanjing Expat survey further revealing that 12 percent have been here for less than 6 months, we can at long last put a pretty accurate figure on Nanjing’s foreign population, namely 26,880, give or take.
For the rest of us, in what is one of the survey’s most interesting statistics, 25 percent have been in Nanjing for five years or more. A further 22 percent have lived here for 3-4 years and 15 percent for 1-2 years.
The Nanjing Daily also reported the nearly half of the foreigners in Nanjing are students and/or teachers, correlating fairly well with our survey which put the combined number at 45 percent, broken down as teachers at 31 percent and students at 14 percent.
Still with our occupations, the erstwhile foreign engineers for which Nanjing and China are so well known are the next largest vocation, accounting for 13 percent of survey respondents. Further down the list we find Businesspeople/Entrepreneurs (7 percent), Project Managers (5 percent), Media/Advertising/Marketing (3 percent) and Trainers/Instructors (2 percent).
The entity for whom we toll was next up on the 2015 Nanjing Expat Survey. While it is to be expected that many of us work for a Wholly Owned Foreign Enterprise (31 percent), it is a sign of the times in which we live and of China’s economic advancement that a good 19 percent of foreigners in Nanjing now work for a Chinese company. Those of us working for a Joint Venture were next in the lineup (16 percent), then of course there are the students, then come those working for a university (6 percent) and those with their own company (also 6 percent).
As to our origins, the survey revealed no surprises. The Americans came out on top, represented by 24 percent of respondents, followed by Australia on 15 percent, the UK and Canada on 12 percent each and Germany on 8 percent. It should however be noted that it was an English survey presented on an English website. Countries with a phobia to the English language, such as France (2 percent), hardly appear, yet we know there are plenty French people in Nanjing.
The men are also on top, again to little surprise, with the exact figure being 63-38 percent male to female. Yet, the average Nanjing Expat has a youthful heart; some 68 percent of us are under 40, with the 20-29 age group in the majority, at 37 percent.
Where we choose to lay our hat was one area in which the survey revealed a surprise, specifically the popularity of the new Hexi area of Nanjing as a place to live; 13 percent of respondents said they live west of the Qinhuai River. Nevertheless, it will be some time before the new area can challenge the supremacy of Jiangning, Xianlin, Xinjiekou and the Shanghai Lu area as top spot for foreigners to set up home. With a breakdown of 17, 16, 16 and 15 percent respectively, almost two thirds of us are to be found living in these four areas.
When it comes to getting around, it is good to report that Nanjing’s foreigners have a fairly green outlook. A good 22 percent of us state the metro is their primary form of transport, while for 33 percent it is the second choice. 17 percent of us hop on their bicycle each morning, 10 percent their e-bike and 4 percent their moped, while 11 percent of us head for the bus stop. The most environmentally friendly of us, the walkers, account for 12 percent of survey participants, while the least, those with their own cars or driver, make up 26 percent of us. Tut tut.
Finally, just why on Earth have we chosen to come to Nanjing? For 21 percent of us, it is for study. For 7 percent, to be with their family, but for a whopping 67 percent, it is of course for work (“other” amounted to 4 percent). So while most of us have had to make Nanjing home in order to relentlessly labour away, for the overwhelming majority, it is a choice they are happy to have made.
