Chinese Students’ Intercultural Adaptation in the UK – Honeymoon, Challenges, Struggles, and Adjustments

ABSTRACT Drawing on Holliday’s theory of cultural blocks and threads (2016a), this qualitative study explores Chinese students’ intercultural (re)adaptation during and after studying in the UK. It demonstrates a non-linear broad pattern: honeymoon, academic challenges, social struggles, and adjustment phases, with individual experiences varying. Using the photo interview and an online photo exhibition, the study identifies three approaches to cultural understanding: essentialist, non-essentialist, and a combination of both. The findings highlight how students’ intercultural attitudes fundamentally shaped their adaptive pathways, with the length of cultural immersion influencing their intercultural performances and reflections on both home and receiving cultures.