Way back in 2009, I setup an account on SKYPE
I paid for service to allow me to "CALL" all telephone numbers in North America (US and Canada) for $32 a year,
and for an additional $32 a year I could reserve a phone number so people could "CALL" me back.
It was essentially  "Voice Over IP" service or VOIP .... which means phone calls using the internet ...

Worked great, and I picked a number with the same area code as where my children lived ....
I kept that service and that number active from 2009 until NOW.....

It was a good deal, for $64 a year I could make phone calls out, receive phone calls in, with no LIMIT on minutes, and send/get text messages without LIMIT as well.

Microsoft bought Skype on May 10, 2011.

And left it to die, rather than work tp promote/improve it .... it was ZOOM before ZOOM was created
but it seems clear now Microsoft killed it because as of

May 2025, SKYPE is dead, and my account is GONE .... thanks a lot, Billy Gates 

I was able to claim my phone number that I grabbed in 2009, and move it to a cell phone

That number is important to me, I used it on EVERYTHING, saying it was my "home" number
people assumed it was an old-fashioned LAND-LINE, DIAL PHONE
not exactly ... but I never corrected them

I still use VOIP service, as I like taking/ getting calls on my computers (more than 3) .... but I am now using
a new whiz-bang service that does VOIP called GOOGLE VOICE ....  go figure

google voice is free, but I am not certain they will allow me to keep the random number they handed to me
to use for the account (a google account, with gmail, etc ..)

in any case Rest In Peace SKYPE .... you had so much potential, and $MSFT killed you

I've been living in Asia for 15 years (2 years in Hong Kong, 5 years in Chongqing, China, and now 8 years back in Hong Kong). Retiring at 65 in 3 years (have to at 65). Retirement in Hong Kong is too expensive without a good paying job, even though it is a great place to live and I have permanent residence. China has many advantages, it is affordable and there are so many workarounds if you understand the system to allow you to live a relatively free life. However my wife's home town has too many money-grabbing relatives who treat us like a walking bank when we visit. And we want our bi-lingual son (who will be 15 in 3 years) to continue his excellent Hong Kong education in the UK, going to a UK university (if he wants to) and the world will be his oyster. In the UK, I can also get a couple of pensions that will keep pace with inflation. So, bye-bye Asia. So long and thank for all the spice.

Mike , you might look into Thailand, Vietnam , or the Philippines. I think you would feel more secure in those countries and still be just a short flight from mainland China!

GREAT IDEAS !

Thailand, and the Philippines, are OFF the list,
but
Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, and Japan are ON the list of possibilities.

I like the idea of Japan, with visits to China as an option .... but there is still time to figure it all out

--Mike

The idea crosses my mind from time to time.  My wife still wants for me to retire there.

Thanks

So I am ready to retire soon, and my wife has also suggested we retire there.
Along with a long list of other places. too many to list here, LOL

I am not against it, and open to exploring this ....

--Mike

It has been since 2014 since anyone has posted about retirement in China. Unfortunately Willie is no longer with us. (Great guy)  To the best of my knowledge no one is living in China.  So I am asking.  Is there anyone living in China that would talk about living in China.  I mean the good, the bad and the ugly.  Please include the legal issues too.

The idea crosses my mind from time to time.  My wife still wants for me to retire there.

Thanks