LoPair Au Pair China: Learn. Care. Explore.

It’s hard to describe this experience with words, but I will do my best to share with you my feelings about it.

It was my first time as an au pair, and I couldn’t have had a better experience than that. My host family was amazing. Even if I couldn’t communicate much with the parents because they couldn’t speak any English and my Chinese wasn’t better, I could feel how generous and supportive they were. I learned so much about the Chinese culture with them and their daughter and I always felt at home. It’s crazy to think that people that you have never met before, that doesn’t share the same culture and language, can in the end become your friend or family.

It was very challenging to live in such a different culture, but amazing for personal growth.

I also discovered a real passion for Chinese painting and Chinese calligraphy. I had one lesson per week with a private teacher and we had such a great time sharing each other's culture.

Because my au pair program with LoPair was also that, discovering the culture together. We did many activities with the other au pairs and Mickey from LoPair to experience the Chinese culture.
I would say that the highlights of my journey as an au pair in China were :
- My host parents and their daughter, who were such generous and amazing people
- My calligraphy and Chinese painting classes with an incredible teacher
- All the encounters I had, both with the other au pairs and with Chinese friends

I will never forget this experience, I wish for everyone to be this lucky and to discover this amazing culture like I did.

My name is Rachele and I’m a 19-year-old girl from northeast Italy. After graduating from Highschool I was stilln’t sure what to study in university, and since I had studied Chinese for five years, I decided that nothing would be better than going to China for some time. I thought that by being an Au Pair I would have gotten a much better chance to experience China as a local, and see its culture “from within”, and let me tell you, I was not disappointed!

Thanks to my Italian agency, I had the chance to meet the LoPair staff, who helped me throughout my six-month stay in Hangzhou. From the matching process to helping me solve everyday issues like registering for AliPay and other apps, they were always ready to help me out. And how can I forget the monthly cultural activities they organized for us: lots of local food, tea, and arts and crafts!

Being in a country so different and far away from my home can sometimes be a challenge, but I can say that China is a very welcoming place, where its beauty and history can be felt every day, no matter which city or which time of the year.

The six months I spent in Hangzhou helped me grow up and learn more about myself and the world around me, and I was able to create everlasting memories with all the beautiful people I met there, my host family, my friends, the LoPair staff, and my Chinese teacher.

Even though I will soon start studying design in Venice, I don’t want to leave China behind, and I look forward to going back and meeting up with everyone once more!

Thank you, LoPair, for this amazing experience! <3

I think these were the most exciting and interesting six months I’ve had so far!

This program offers a lot, language courses, cultural activities and a lot of support. The whole application process was very easy and smooth. The only thing one has to consider is that it’s always a bit unpredictable if it’s going to work out with your first host family.

I’ve had the experience of changing families, and I have to say that LoPair offered me a lot of help and support during that time. I didn’t feel alone and always had my local coordinator, Mickey by my side.

In the end I had such a lovely host family, I couldn’t have wished for a better match. They introduced me to the Chinese culture and showed me a lot of new places. I got to see many different places in China, with my host family and on my own!

I think if you decide to join such a program, you need to be able to communicate openly and in a good way. It’s always about keeping an open mind and communication. Especially since one is entering a totally new environment and culture. Some cultural differences are normal!

This program also offers a few cultural activities. For Christmas, the agency invited the Au Pairs and their host families to a bakery to bake cakes. Overall, I just wish we had a few more cultural activities.

The language courses that are offered vary from the time of one's application. A few of my fellow Au Pairs went to a language school, while me and another Au Pair could attend a language course at a University. My first semester I had uni mostly in the morning for three hours every day. The course was intense but very fun! I got to meet so many new people from all countries. It’s such a good opportunity to meet and connect with people. So if one has the chance to take the course at Uni, I definitely suggest taking it! It will be a bit more time-consuming, but it’s worth it!

Overall, I would say this program is perfect for people who are looking for a new environment and experience. I can recommend going with LoPair to China!

I’ve spent just a few months in Shanghai as an au pair. It’s been a rollercoaster of emotions with some of the most exciting and fun new experiences whilst simultaneously being one of the most challenging things I’ve ever done. If you’re looking for an easy holiday, this programme probably isn’t for you (30 hours isn’t all that far off a full time job and you will likely be asked to be flexible sometimes - but if you make this work for you, you can compensate working extra by having more time off to travel!) But if you come with a positive mindset and good communication skills to navigate life working with a host family, it can be the experience of a lifetime. Aside from Shanghai, I’ve been lucky enough to travel to Beijing, Suzhou, Hangzhou, and even to Huangshan. Also, I think Lopair has an edge over other similar opportunities/programmes in the sense that you can be in frequent contact with helpful programme coordinators if need be, have clear expectations of the working hours from the outset, plus Chinese classes are included (make sure you check with Lopair exactly how many a week you have if this is important to you as this can vary). Finally I would recommend a short ish programme length since you can always extend it, but leaving early is more complicated. Overall I am so so happy that I chose this programme and and recommend to anyone looking for an adventure/learning experience! Thank you Lopair 💖

There aren’t enough words to describe what an incredible experience I lived in my stay in China. The six months I spent in Shanghai passed by in a blink of an eye, my days where filled with so many new things to do, to learn that I couldn’t feel the time quickly flowing. Being an Au pair in china hasn’t been just a life experience, but a whole mesmerising, thrilling adventure. Thanks to my host family I had the chance to travel a lot all around the country, and during these travels I found myself more and more in awe of this enthralling land that is China with its traditions, customs and language. I’ve dive into Chinese tea culture in Shanghai, lost myself in Guilin peaceful landscapes, ate insects in one of Dali’s ancient markets, jumped back in time to the Tang dynasty in Xian, transformed into a beautiful ancient China princess in Hangzhou ( I completely fell in love with the Hanfu 😁), I tried Chinese traditional hotpot, barbecue sticks and walk my feet off in the thriving Chinese capital. Not only did I have the chance to discover and bath in Chinese culture but also to make a lot of friends from all over the world that added to my experience the possibility to exchange opinions and learn from each other. All of this of course wouldn’t have been possible if not for the Lopair program that organised my six months here in China and helped me throughout the whole journey, being always ready to solve problems and set up awesome activities that became awesome memories.
I thank everyone that supported me and helped me during this journey and all the awesome people I've met, and for all the newcomers I strongly recommend you to jump right into this new adventure 😉💕

I stayed for six months in Shanghai with a lovely host family who were super kindhearted and always willing to teach me more about Chinese culture and way of life. My host family had one 12-year-old boy whom I helped with English homework and sometimes played badminton and golf with. I attended Mandarin Chinese classes every week, which helped me to improve my language skills greatly. I also had the opportunity to experience traditional holidays such as the Chinese New Year, as well as travel around China a little bit.

Lopair agency was very helpful and friendly with me. I really enjoyed the cultural activities they organized, such as a Chinese traditional tea ceremony and museum visits. I was lucky enough not to encounter many problems during my stay, but for the difficulties I did have, Lopair did their best to solve them quickly.

Overall, I had a really positive experience with the program and China, and I am already planning to return soon. I would recommend the program to anyone who wishes to gain a closer look at Chinese culture and everyday life. Living with a local family is an excellent opportunity to get to know the country. I am very grateful for the great experience. A big thank you to Lopair for a well-organized and memorable program!

It might sound cliche but it really was the best ever experience of my life. I can't wait to come back to China again soon.

Thank you to Lopair I had the opportunity to live the experience that I was not able to have in University due to the pandemic situation. All the staff was extremely helpful through the process and helped me in times of difficulty.

I highly recommend this experience to someone who wants to have a powerful insight into Chinese culture and the daily lives of Chinese people. Depending on the city and the family the experience can vary a lot from person to person so it's important to ask the right questions at the beginning to the staff who is always very kind and ready to answer your concerns.

I am so grateful to the agency for making this experience possible!

During the summer of the year 2023 I took part of this program and spent 3 months in Beijing China with an amazing family who took me in their house and treated as their own. I really enjoyed my time there and had great adventures and experiences. I had to take care of the younger brother who was 11 years old, and luckily we clicked with each other. I recommend this experience to everyone who wants to do an aupair and to whom wants to discover Chinese traditions and culture. Only suggestion I can give is to study before Chinese because starting from scratch would be very difficult, for me it still was even though I studied Chinese at university for 3 years. Overall a very good experience!