Society

If you are a foreigner living in China, you may find yourself trapped inside what has come to be known as an "expat bubble," where you mingle only with other foreigners, shop only at foreign stores and restaurants and seldom communicate with local people or explore their culture. So what causes these bubbles and how can expats "pop" out of them?

A too-friendly social environment can be a double-edged sword. It helps newbies adapt to their new surroundings, but tends to keep them trapped inside their comfort zone. This kind of situation has been encountered by many foreigners in Beijing, which boasts a thriving expat community.

At least five officials from the Wuxi Tax Bureau have been punished for ‘poor management’ of the Fan Bingbing tax evasion case, according to Xinhua News.

Ding Yuan, the head of the Wuxi Taxation Bureau, along with four other high-ranking taxmen in the city, were amongst those singled out for mismanagement. Punishment for the five officials came in the forms of administrative warnings, admonishing conversations, position removal and imposing demerits.

Legal aid working offices have been set up in all detention houses and courts across the country to offer free legal services to suspects and defendants in a bid to protect their legal rights. [Photo/VCG]

Legal aid working offices have been set up in all detention houses and courts across the country to offer free legal services to suspects and defendants in a bid to protect their legal rights, a senior official from the Ministry of Justice said.

The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge under construction.

Cross-border buses operated by Hong Kong companies on Friday started trial runs on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) in preparation for the bridge's upcoming opening.

The trial runs, jointly arranged by the governments of the Chinese mainland, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) and the Macao SAR, would last for three days and aimed at testing the readiness of boundary crossing facilities of the three places, the Hong Kong SAR government's Transport and Housing Bureau told Xinhua.