[Communities] Introducing the Shanghai Expatriate Association

Welcome to Shanghai: the city where you can trip over three yoga studios, a crypto meet-up, and a Dungeons & Dragons guild on your way to buy imported cheese. This series, Communities, is our humble attempt to map the social undercurrent of this town – the clubs, cliques and curious collectives that make Shanghai less of a sprawl and more of a pulse. From vegan potlucks, to runners' guilds, to board game nights, to small meetups up to large WeChat groups, we're seeing what's on offer. If you're looking for a place to start, this is it.

The Shanghai Expatriate Association (SEA) has been around for forty years. Forty. Years. In Shanghai. Entirely volunteer-run, zero paid staff, zero profit motive, just a group of non-PRC passport holders who decided, sometime in 1986, that this city was going to need some help holding itself together socially, and that they were the people to do it.

Over the years, the nationality-specific clubs that once defined Shanghai expat social life have come and gone. The American one, the Swedish one, the British one – the landscape has shifted considerably, let's put it that way. SEA is still here. Still running. Still hosting coffee mornings and day trips and mahjong sessions and, apparently, fancy teas at Dolce & Gabbana. This is what forty years looks like when nobody quits.

We found them on a Friday afternoon at Tacolicious in Puxi, a Mexican restaurant whose owner was the one who told us about them.

"You know, there are a bunch of expat's who come in every two weeks, to play Mahjong" Logan said. He made the connection.

We sat down with Debbie Foster, SEA's president, a South African who landed seven years ago with a husband, two small children, and absolutely no intention of loving it here as much as she does ("I miss home, but it's amazing" is basically the Shanghai expat motto, and Debbie has lived it). And with Fiona Aas, a Scotswoman who runs the mahjong group, married to a Finn, living in Jing'an. Fiona first came to Shanghai at thirteen, and it was in high school in Shanghai, that she met her future husband. She spent years away. Came back. Because apparently Shanghai gets into the operating system at thirteen and it just stays there.

Debbie also runs the welcome program at her kids' school, where she personally greets 80 to 90 new families every six months and tells them about SEA. So in a very meaningful sense, if you have ever walked into a coffee morning in this city and felt slightly less alone than you expected to: it might be her fault.

Here's the mahjong games we crashed before the interview:

CNS: Debbie, Fiona – introduce yourselves. How did you each end up in Shanghai?

Debbie: My name is Debbie Foster. I'm from South Africa. We've been here for seven years – I came with my husband; he's a chemical engineer at a German textile company. I have two kids. They were 3 and 5 when we arrived; now they're ten and eleven. We love living in China. I miss home, but it's amazing.

Fiona: My name is Fiona Aas. I'm Scottish, married to a Finn. We came here for his job as well. But here's the twist – we both actually went to high school here. We met when we were thirteen, at the American school. So coming back was like... coming home, in a way. Two separate journeys, but the city pulled us both back. I've been here nearly two years this time, though I was here for five years before. We live in Jing'an, no kids, so it really is the perfect location for us.

CNS: For people who haven't heard of SEA, what is it?

Debbie: So SEA is turning 40 this year – which is actually a perfect time to talk about it. At heart, it's a community builder. Nobody makes money; all the volunteers are unpaid. And it's obviously changed over the years – when I arrived in 2018, there were a lot more international organizations: the American Club, the Swedish Club, the British Club. None of them are really functioning anymore. And that's probably where SEA has the upper hand. We're international. We're not relying on a small group of British people or a small group of South Africans. We represent over 20 nationalities, and we've been going for 40 years.

Before my time, SEA was very well known for its magazine – The Courier. In the old days before Taobao and WeChat, The Courier was legendary: companies advertised in it, new arrivals depended on it. It stopped when I arrived in 2018. So we don't have that anymore, which means we also have a lot less funding – but we manage, because we run lean.

Fiona: And it's a really broad community. The structure is: day trips around Shanghai and surrounding areas, bigger group events, and then you've got the small groups. That's really where the magic is.

CNS: Tell us about the small groups.

Debbie: If you have a passion for something – knitting, running, walking, golf, fishing – you raise your hand, say "I love this," and you run the group. That's it. We have about ten or eleven groups right now, and they cover a huge range.

We do try to make sure we have a Chinese connection, because we're all foreigners here, but we want to learn about the culture of where we're living. We are guests, and China is our host. We want to be respectful and know things about this country. [Laughs] Which is quite funny, because none of my Chinese friends will play mahjong with me. They say you need to be retired to earn the right to play mahjong. I did convince one friend once, and she made me promise: "No photos, don't post anything on your Moments – my mother cannot see this." I said, "It's not even connected to your mother." She didn't care.

Fiona: The small groups are what make SEA what it is, I think. Especially for new expats, for trailing spouses. People come to Shanghai not knowing anyone, in a city of 25 million, and the small groups give you an instant community. Something to show up to. The pop-up coffees, the day events – it all fills a real void.

Debbie: Even for me – I'm from South Africa, six hours behind. For the first part of every day, until noon, nobody back home was awake. There's a loneliness in that. You walk around a market hoping to hear another language – any language – just to feel less alone. A lot of trailing spouses know exactly what I'm talking about.

CNS: How does membership work, and who is SEA for?

Debbie: It's 400 yuan for the year – and that covers you, your partner, and any children under 18 still living at home. A family membership. Some events are included in that, and the money goes right back into running the organization.

We're open to any non-PRC passport holder. We skew toward trailing spouses – which is why most events happen during the day on weekdays – but we do our best to have some evening and weekend events too, so the whole family can get involved. We have a welcome-back brunch at the start of the year, on a weekend, so that the working partners can come and meet people as well.

Fiona: To be part of a small group, you need to be a member – though you're very welcome to come once as a trial, just to see how it feels.

CNS: How do people find SEA? How do they join?

Fiona: [Laughs] Honestly? Word of mouth. Almost entirely. If you search "SEA Shanghai," the search results just show you pictures of the ocean. It's a branding challenge.

Debbie: Word of mouth is everything. I first heard about SEA because The Courier was still circulating in the schools. Now it's mostly people telling people. I actually work at my kids' school greeting new families – I'm the person who welcomes new arrivals – and we're bringing in around 80 to 90 new families every six months. I mention SEA, and that's how a lot of people hear about it.

I think the expat community in Shanghai is growing again, and the visa-free policy is helping enormously. Families can have visitors from home, people feel more connected, and more people are taking the leap.

CNS: Now – tell us about the mahjong group. Because this place is absolutely buzzing. How did it get started?

Fiona: As far as we know, it was started by a man called Evan – an American, which I love. He was passionate about mahjong and a brilliant teacher. He'd come every session not to play, but just to teach. So some of these players have known the rules for years now. They can drink, talk about their week, eat – and play mahjong – all at the same time. It's a serious multitasking skill set.

Debbie: The group has moved around a bit. The first mahjong I ever played was at a pub in Xujiahui, then we moved to a teahouse in Jing'an, and now we're here at Tacolicious – in a Mexican restaurant, under Day of the Dead murals, playing China's most iconic tile game. It makes complete sense.

Fiona: And it's genuinely one of the only places that lets us play! Because we're not gambling, not dealing in money, most venues are actually fine with it. But I think the setting adds something. You sit down, you start shuffling tiles, and within twenty minutes you're talking about your week, your kids, your life – and someone at the table has been through exactly the same thing.

Debbie: Mahjong is also just… very Chinese. I think that matters. We're guests here. And there's something genuinely special about being a foreigner in China and actually learning it properly – not the matching-tile computer game version. The real thing.

CNS: And the group has expanded?

Fiona: Yes! In the past six months we've opened a Pudong group, which meets on Thursdays. It takes a long time to get across the city, and a lot of people live out east. That group is thriving – some people come to both, but they've got their own regulars now. Both groups sit anywhere between four and twelve people on any given week.

Debbie: The Pudong ladies used to complain that everything happens in Puxi. And then we said: initiate it. And they did. And now they're almost the same size as us.

CNS: What else does SEA get up to? Walk us through the events.

Fiona: The special events change every month – one-off things that anyone can sign up for. We've done indigo fabric dyeing, out at the actual factory, where you come home with your own piece of dyed cloth. We have Julie Chen, who gives brilliant talks on Chinese art, architecture, history – same people sign up every single time. We've done a Chinese philosophy series, a monthly Mandarin class, calligraphy, tea ceremonies, gin infusions, limoncello making. One member who'd worked on cruise ships got us access to one of the largest shipyards in the world – we went behind the scenes on an actual cruise liner.

Debbie: My personal favorite was when someone came to us wanting to do a fancy tea experience at some of Shanghai's most beautiful venues. I thought: "Really? Tea?" – and it sold out every time. We've done teas at Louis Vuitton, at Dolce & Gabbana. It is the most wonderfully unexpected thing.

And the beauty of it being volunteer-led is that you genuinely never know what's coming. Someone might show up and say "I want to organize a pottery class," and we say: you run it. It's that simple. If you have a passion and you're willing to show up for it, SEA will back you.

Beyond the small groups, we have two big family events of the year: a welcome-back brunch in September, when everyone brings their partners and kids, and a Christmas brunch at the end of the year. And this year – because it's our 40th – we are throwing a Ruby Soirée. Forty years is ruby. We're doing it properly.

CNS: One last question: what would you say to someone in Shanghai who hasn't joined SEA yet?

Fiona: Don't wait until you feel settled to join. Join before you feel settled. That's the whole point – to find your people while you're still figuring the city out. Mahjong, every Friday at noon, is a very easy first step.

Debbie: Come. Just come. The first coffee might feel a bit daunting, but within five minutes you'll find someone who moved from the same city as you, or whose kids go to the same school, or who went through exactly what you're going through right now. That connection is real, and it lasts. I've made lifelong friendships here – not just "Shanghai friends." Actual, lifelong friends.

There's something I always say to new families: once people come and see what Shanghai is, they never want to leave. The city does that to you. SEA is just the thing that gets you there a little faster.