I have spoken at some length about being fat in the past. Fat fashion, being fat in London and you guys seem to enjoy reading about my experiences and I hope that on some level you can relate with them.

I decided to talk about being fat in in China because it is so different to any experience I have ever had before. I have never felt like so much of an alien before. But I don’t mind it.

Being fat and ginger in a society full of slim people with dark hair can be a little daunting at times. People stare at you, all the time. People will remark on your weight as openly as your eye colour and it presents a whole new set of quirky little experiences that I have noticed.

For one, as I have mentioned, people are going to stare, all the time. Men are going to almost fall off of their bikes staring, some brave souls might even snap a pic. Now, this is all normal for a foreigner. It just feels that maybe, when you’re big it happens even more. My colleague once said to me “You are like a foreigner plus one” and I think that is a really good way of putting it.

Also, when people first meet you, they might just out and say “You’re fat.” or “You’re big”. If they don’t speak English, they might poke your belly and laugh. This seems to be a normal occurrence here in China and you pretty much have to learn to live with it.

This has been my attitude to the difficulties that I have faced being fat in China. I feel like all of my years in London have really been preparation for my time in China and if I hadn’t have felt defeated and picked myself up so many times, I think I would have really struggled with the extra, sometimes negative, attention.

The attention doesn’t always come from others. I think if I hadn’t built a wall of self confidence in the last few years then I would be susceptible to wanting to change myself to meet the local beauty standards. But I say screw that! If people are already staring because I’m a foreigner, then let them stare because I am fat!

I have so much more to say on this topic. But I think my concluding point for this blog post is that I actually think it is easier to be fat in China than it can be in the UK. Because, in China, people will stare and make comments and be open and upfront with you. You don't have to second guess if they are looking at you, because they definitely are. So, once you come to terms with that, life here is a lot easier.