TAS ChinaAbout
A house for families whose lives cross borders.
TAS stands for Together and Stronger. TAS China is its house for Chinese families around the world, and a free place of orientation for people from other countries who live in China.
Who we are
An organisation of members and associations.
Together and Stronger is a membership organisation for people whose lives cross borders: those who have left the place where they were born, those who have arrived in a new one, and the families that stretch between the two.
TAS China serves Chinese people living abroad and families of Chinese heritage around the world: students and professionals, business owners, parents who have joined their children overseas, and the generations born abroad. For people from other countries who live in China it offers free guides and orientation, and they join through the house of their home region.
It is an organisation of members and associations, not of personalities. What speaks for it is what a member holds: a card, twelve areas of benefit, and a community that stands with them.
The idea
The law of large numbers, put to work for ordinary households.
A household that negotiates alone accepts the terms it is given. Many households that negotiate together set the terms. It is the oldest idea in mutual aid, and the one on which the great membership organisations of the last century were built.
We apply it to people no one had gathered before. A family abroad buys the same flights, transfers, phone plans, insurance and schooling as its neighbours, and it buys them twice: once where it lives and once for the family at home. Gathered into one membership, those families carry real weight.
- 11.7 million
- people born in China live abroad, among the three largest such communities in the world (2024).
- 304 million
- people worldwide live outside the country where they were born (mid-2024).
Sources: United Nations (UN DESA), 2024. These figures describe the communities we serve, not our membership.
One card
One card, recognised by every house.
The family has a member organisation for the Americas and seven regional houses: Europe, Canada, India, China, Africa, East Asia and West Asia. Each house speaks the languages of its people and knows the systems they live under. All of them issue the same card.
A member who moves from Vancouver to Singapore, or from London to Dubai, keeps the membership and is received by the house of the new home. TAS Member Services negotiates and runs the benefit programmes for every house. TAS Foundation gives free first help to everyone, and fuller support in hardship to card-holding members.
What we believe
What we believe.
Stronger communities.
An association that has lasted a hundred years has something to teach, and a student who arrived last month has something to ask. We bring them into the same room.
Always stronger together.
The student, the grandmother and the shopkeeper want different things. They win them by standing in the same line.
Together we stay strong.
Distance wears at a family slowly: a missed festival, a parent who does not mention being ill. Membership is built to keep the threads from fraying.
Together we stand.
When a member falls ill, loses work or dies far from home, they are not left to strangers.
Together, we get things done — beautifully.
Carefully, on time, and with respect for the people we serve. How a thing is done is part of what is done.
Our standards
The standards we hold ourselves to.
We never ask about status.
Not on the membership form, and not on the card. No benefit turns on it.
We never sell personal data.
Members’ information is stored outside mainland China and is used only to serve them.
Membership is free.
One membership per adult, with children under 18 on a parent’s membership.
Associations never pay.
An association joins at no cost and keeps its name, its money and its independence.
Every programme is plainly marked.
With your member card, or free to everyone. There is no third kind.
We give no legal, immigration, tax or financial advice.
Our guides are general information, and we refer members to qualified professionals.
Membership is not insurance.
Insurance is offered through licensed providers. The Mutual Aid Compact is not insurance and creates no right to payment.
We are independent.
TAS China is not a government body, embassy or public authority, and is not affiliated with any.
Languages and service
The languages we serve members in.
We serve members in Chinese and in English. This site is published in Simplified Chinese and in English, and members write to us in either.
Those who serve.
Much of what a member meets in their own city is the work of members who give their time: community ambassadors, association liaisons, interpreters, guide writers and welcomers. It is an honour open to any member living outside mainland China.
Serve with usThe family
One family of houses.
TAS China is one house of Together and Stronger. A card issued by any house is recognised by all of them.
Sister organisations
- Together and StrongerThe member organisation for the Americas.
- TAS Member ServicesNegotiates and runs the benefit programmes for every house.
- TAS FoundationFree first help for everyone; fuller support in hardship for card-holding members.
- TAS WorldThe map of every region and every house.
The seven regional houses
- TAS EuropeFor people who have made Europe home, and for Europeans abroad.
- TAS CanadaFor newcomers to Canada, and for Canadians around the world.
- TAS IndiaFor overseas Indians, and for people from elsewhere who live in India.
- TAS AfricaOne continent-wide house, for families within Africa and abroad.
- TAS East AsiaFor families across East and Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
- TAS West AsiaFor the families who live and work across the Gulf and West Asia.
- TAS ChinaThis house: for Chinese families around the world.
Independence and office
Independence.
TAS China (Together and Stronger China) is an independent membership organisation. It is not a government body, embassy or public authority, and is not affiliated with any. It speaks for its members, and for no one else.
The international office.
International office, by appointment
5150 E Pacific Coast Hwy, 2nd Floor
Long Beach, CA 90804, USA
Mailing address
6285 E Spring St, #516
Long Beach, CA 90808, USA