About China DIY

Do-it-yourself projects have been the cause of vulgarity, insomnia, and nervous breakdowns. Imagine doing a DIY project in a country where you had only a rudimentary grasp of the language. Imagine trying to buy spackle – in say China.

The author of this blog, Intrepid DIYr, a Canadian expatriate, has lived in China for five years. He can speak Mandarin well, as long as his conversations are limited ordering in restaurants or cursing wayward taxi drivers.

He’s from a long-line of DIYrs. His father and grandfather practiced the black art of do-it-yourself home repair. The language such projects caused to spew from their mouths has probably resulted in a lengthy stay in purgatory.

Climb aboard the non-stop frustration expression that is Mr DIYr’s life. Watch (and laugh) as he tries to make a very ugly three-bedroom condo into a Fortress of Solitude in the Middle Kingdom.