Brook Tate (left) and two portraits of people from Lijiang, Yunnan province he made. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Brook Tate, a 21-year-old from the UK, arrived in China nine months ago. He now learns Chinese and paints portraits in Shanghai. His subject is "Oriental people".

"The environment of such a big city provides a lot of inspiration and with so many chances to make connections, your opportunities increase very quickly," Tate says.

Beijing and Shanghai are the two top places, where you can get to know many Chinese and foreigners, the expatriates interviewed in person and over e-mail say.