Most study abroad research has predominantly investigated international students studying in Western Anglophone countries, where English is the native language. However, this study shifted the context of study abroad research by exploring Chinese students' experiences studying abroad in Thailand, a unique context where English is regarded as a foreign language and has no colonial history. Utilizing lived intercultural experiences as an analytical lens, we employed a narrative inquiry design with a collage self-portrait method, a type of arts-based qualitative data elicitation, to capture the complex, multimodal, and creative nature of the lived intercultural experiences. Combining the theme-weaving technique and the coding method revealed that Chinese students studying abroad in Thailand reported experiencing academic adaptation between different cultures, embodying fluid translanguaging use, and undergoing complex emotions of living between cultures. These experiences are central to Chinese students' adjustments to a new academic and living environment, which international programs in Thailand must consider when offering myriad kinds of support for Chinese students or other international students coming to study in Thailand.