Girlfriend moving to China

So I met a girl in University in the UK last year, and we started going out officially in January. She is from Spain and I am from the UK. Both mide 20s. We have been going out now for 5 months but she has taken an internship in China for 6 months which is expensive to visit occasionally from the UK.

I would say it is serious as it is both our longest relationship and the 'meet the parents' has been ticked. Yeh 5 months is short in some opinions. But we love each each other and are thrilled to share our new experiences.

However my issue is how do we/I cope with this. I am saving up for a trip to China in the next 1-2 months so their will be a physical meeting soon. It is just the parts inbetween. We should meet in October and Christmas but again the parts inbetween.

Any advice will help

I'm in a long distance relationship... Trust me, there is a lot you can do. Although the distance is definitely tough sometimes, as long as you stay positive and travel to meet each other the 6 mths will be over in no time. My boyfriend and I have regular phone/Skype calls each week (although he very occasionally just calls randomly throughout the day, which is always awesome too), we message or text several times a day (mostly at night), send selfies/pics and short videos of where we are and what we're doing or just to show ourselves saying "Hi" and "I miss you" -

Facebook messenger and Snapchat are good for these things. With technology these days you can share quite a lot. All of the selfies/pics/videos stuff can be translated into...sexual stuff too, if you're both open to that - but you should clarify her comfort levels before you try and exchange anything.

Technology has improved significantly for LDRs. But it will not help you if she is in China where they got super restrictive censorship laws. The government will monitor every activity she does. Social media networks are blocked. I got friends living there temporarily and they cannot access any social media accounts OR YouTube.

I strongly DO NOT recommend sexting while in China. It will land her in so much legal trouble over there.

Skype, you will only get to voice chat. That's it. No movie streaming or ANYTHING sexual. If she downloads Skype inside China, they will give her a special surveillance version to spy on her.

I will be the first person to admit that sometimes my advice is garbage.

I will be the first person to admit that sometimes my advice is garbage.

Not necessarily. The advice is great for LDRs in general. It's what I would recommend in many LDR cases (and I have been in LDRs with my husband on and off). Unfortunately this happens to be a special case because the girlfriend is going to live in a crazy censorship country... it's why Chinese companies are offering special "incentives" like no where else to young professionals who hope and pray they don't research their censorship laws.

OP, sorry to be a Debbie downer. The only way to stay in touch is through voice chat. You have to be extra careful what you talk about because the Chinese government will be listening in. I got one friend who is having a blast in China while another one cannot wait to get out and be finished with her job contract, lol. This trip maybe a rude awakening for your girlfriend depending on how she takes it.

Thanks for the advice, it is getting better now that we are creating a routine. Had a crap first 2 days because it goes from something you get used to and comfortable with to a realization that you wont see them again for a while, social ife shifts as well.

Haha Chinese censorship, haha cheers for that comment, never thought of that. How does your girlfriend explain that to her parents "I have been arrested", "Why?"

".....ummm I send my boob"

Haha Chinese censorship, haha cheers for that comment, never thought of that. How does your girlfriend explain that to her parents "I have been arrested", "Why?"

".....ummm I send my boob"

You laugh, but Otto died today... All for taking down a poster in North Korea. No it's not China, but they are both communist countries. She is a foreigner with no rights over there, and she must play it safe.