JOVITA Tjandra could easily be mistaken for a Chinese woman, despite being born and bred in Indonesia. But maybe that is because she has integrated herself into Shanghainese life after six years of living in this vibrant city, not to mention some Chinese heritage.

Tjandra has lived in several different countries before coming to China, such as Singapore and the United States. But she grew bored and “wanted to explore something new.” Shanghai was her chosen destination and she hasn’t looked back since.

Born in Jakarta, Tjandra moved to Singapore when she was 10 years of age before finding herself in the US after finishing high school. After five years at Boston University, she moved back to Asia.

“I was done with America, so I moved back to Singapore. But I was only there for a few months before realizing that I wanted to do something else — to try something new,” she says. “Back then, I was single, no kids, so I just wanted to explore. I decided on Shanghai so I could see the Chinese mainland.”

Now, after several years, Tjandra has come to see Shanghai as her second home after falling in love with the city and its convenience.

“With high technology and rapid development, I can stay in my house for a month, because anything can be sent to me and everything comes so fast,” she says excitedly.

The marketing director has big plans. She wants to build and set up schools for women who can’t get an education for one reason or another.

“I hope that everything can be free for them; after they leave my school, they can be a part of the society, not just staying at home and raising kids. It doesn’t matter where it is, I can start it anywhere. I hope I can achieve that.”

Q: There are so many other choices, like Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Beijing. Why did you pick Shanghai as a place to explore? And what impressed you most here?

A: At the time my sister was here. I am not a big fan of Beijing. I visited both and prefered Shanghai, although I didn’t like my first month here — it was a bit of a culture shock. I guess it’s the language issue — it was hard to talk to anybody. Now, more and more people speak English.

I love this country, and I am not saying this just because I am being interviewed. I truly think that China does an amazing job for its people. Not many countries do that. A lot of governments don’t help their people as much as the Chinese government does.

Foreigners are welcome to live and work in China. But there are also some inconveniences. For instance, like selling on Taobao, anybody with a smartphone can sell things there. But foreigners can’t do it unless they use Alipay which requires a local bank card.

And no country in the world has developed an infrastructure up to this scale in such a short period of time. A lot of people ask me why I choose to live in China. I ask them, “Have you ever been to China?” A lot of people still think everyone here is a poor farmer and it hasn’t evolved.

Q: But you didn’t know this until you arrived here, right? And in terms of your friends’ question, why Shanghai and not Singapore?

A: I will live in Singapore in the future because it is my home. But I want to go outside and explore first. When I finish exploring, then I will go back home. An interesting thing is that every time I go out in Shanghai, I always see a new building — the speed of development is amazing!

Q: You’ve been here for six years. What are the differences between now and the time you just arrived in Shanghai?

A: Very different. It is more expensive (laughing). I love eating local food and street food. I love malatang (a Sichuan-style dish with meat and vegetables boiled in spicy soup) and the barbecue on the street. I feel like when I first came here there was so many, but now it is different.

Q: Which place in Shanghai do you like most. Why?

A: Tianzifang is one of my favorite places — as an adult, a mom or a woman. I like going to the Tianzifang area and just sit down. After dinner, just have a beer or something. Before it wasn’t so commercialized, now there are more tourists.

Before that, you could see a lot of local artists drawing pictures. That was nice, I don’t think you see much of it in Shanghai anymore. I am hoping that it still maintains the local culture and arts because it is important.

I feel like Shanghai is gradually losing some of that local feeling and becoming more international. It is no different from Europe, Singapore or other big cities.

For the family, I would say our favorite place is around Century Park. That is a nice area. It is a big park with a lot of activities. My husband and I love taking our kids there. There are so many family-friendly places suitable for the kids.

Q: What do you love in Shanghai?

A: The convenience. Every supermarket does delivery now, and I don’t think any other country has that convenience. Even if I am unable to make time to cook, there are mobile apps for ordering take-away food, such as Baidu Take-away (百度外卖), Meituan (美团), Ele.me (饿了么). There are so many options now from very cheap street food to fancy restaurants.

Even my kids know this and they ask me to order ice creams or pizzas for them. I cannot really read Chinese, but I memorize the location (which button to press). The only thing I get very upset about is when they upgrade the app, which is inconvenient.

I love Taobao, although I spend too much on it. But there are so many things which are cute and so cheap. How could I not buy? And it makes me happy, because every day I receive a parcel. It feels like it is my birthday.

Q: What do you hate about Shanghai?

A: There is nothing I really hate about Shanghai. Most people here are open-minded. Other cites aren’t so much, and not as welcoming as Shanghai. And I feel safe in Shanghai. I can walk around at midnight.

One thing for myself is that I don’t speak enough Chinese. I wish I could speak more. I want to, but with work and kids, I don’t have enough time. I just talk to my ayi (domestic helper), and she said that my Chinese is better than when she first met me.

If I had to choose one thing I don’t like about Shanghai, it’s probably that it moves too fast. I can’t slow it down. I don’t know, maybe because of the pace.

Q: Compared with your country, are there any shortages in Shanghai? Do you have any suggestions?

A: My husband always makes fun of me because I don’t have a home. I move between so many different areas. I can’t compare Shanghai with Singapore, because Singapore has a very close personal relationship with my heart.

If I compare it with America, to make it short, I don’t want to move there, I am staying here.

Although living here is not so easy, it is getting harder and harder every day with tougher regulations and expensive prices, I still enjoy living here. I know that things are growing greater in Shanghai because I know the government has not stopped moving and developing. So I think we are just at the beginning.

I see things have changed a lot. When I first came, I complained so much about the driving. People were driving so carelessly and fast, now it is much better. The government is doing many things to improve it. If I say I don’t like this or that, it will be unfair because I know they will do something about it later.

One thing for foreigners like me who have lived here more than five or 10 years, maybe we can get a few benefits. Don’t just treat us the same as foreigners who have just arrived in China. I feel like we have no extra benefits for being here for a longer period of time.