Working in China



Missed this - been here since 2008 lived in Beijing, Lanzhou and now Shanghai. Xuzhou is (bear with me here) relatively small only 8.5 million people and about 3 hours from Shanghai, been there once or twice and it is a pretty nice place all told. XCMG are a big outfit we use a bunch of their cranes on site so should be alright to work for, if it was me I would give it a go, the worst that can happen is it is crap and you leave. One thing I would say is if you are working for a Chinese company make sure your contract is water tight and everything written down and signed off in English and Chinese (get someone to read and check the Chinese for you as this will be the legally binding bit normally) and make sure everything you want is written down. I would also be careful about people you work with helping you with housing as you may find your housing budget goes 50% to the the apartment and 50% into someones pocket. Personally I think it is a great country to work in and if you can put up with the inevitable bizarre times you can get a lot done and earn decent cash (the cost of living is likely pretty low in Xuzhou too) thought it will seem to be utter chaos at times.
 
Where do you go?

Ningbo and a few days in Shanghai.
Made a laugh out of it the best I can The 3 memories of the Ningbo restaurants were:
1. The restaurants looked like aquariums.
2. Prepare for the smell.
3. My dog has better table manners :)

Followed that by a work trip to a Chicago which was heaven.
Swindon has a similar feel to an industrial chinese town

More like a lord of the rings film set.
 
Ningbo and a few days in Shanghai.
Made a laugh out of it the best I can The 3 memories of the Ningbo restaurants were:
1. The restaurants looked like aquariums.
2. Prepare for the smell.
3. My dog has better table manners :)

Followed that by a work trip to a Chicago which was heaven.


More like a lord of the rings film set.

I love the madness if China. Shanghai is a top city mind
 
Ignore the haters. China is an incredible opportunity. I have lived in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing- I still have business in the latter.

Of course, there are some things you need to adapt to but every moment of life has been fun, exciting and engaging.

Some tips for mainland PRC:

-For mainland China, learn Mandarin. English is not widely spoken. This needs to be a serious commitment, it takes time and patience
-Be on guard for some scams in the major cities and be cynical of people who approach you out of the blue (Think, what is "the agenda"?)
-Don't rely on public toilets (men have a bat habit of smoking in them and leave the tab ends on the floor, plus many public ones are infamous Asian "squat" holes)- Seek out shopping malls and decent hotels if you really want a shite...
-Get a local simcard, bank account and get Alipay (this is the foremost local convenience)
-Be prepared for near chaotic scenes at metros at rush hour, people are not afraid to push! And it gets very... very crowded.
-Building on that, in some circumstances the public have a habit of not forming lines (you need to assert yourself- British habits leave you out in the cold)
-Download Wechat as your main medium of communication with local contacts
-Get a VPN
-Get used to being referred to by locals as "Laowai" 老外 (colloquial for foreigner)- It will surprise them if you understand this, as they tend to say it around you assuming you can't!
-Don't be surprised if whoever you work for has a couple of dodgy practices or "Bends the rules" sometimes.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Ignore the haters. China is an incredible opportunity. I have lived in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing- I still have business in the latter.

Of course, there are some things you need to adapt to but every moment of life has been fun, exciting and engaging.

Some tips for mainland PRC:

-For mainland China, learn Mandarin. English is not widely spoken. This needs to be a serious commitment, it takes time and patience
-
I was there for nigh on ten years and still can’t communicate in Mandarin
 
Ignore the haters. China is an incredible opportunity. I have lived in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing- I still have business in the latter.

Of course, there are some things you need to adapt to but every moment of life has been fun, exciting and engaging.

Some tips for mainland PRC:

-For mainland China, learn Mandarin. English is not widely spoken. This needs to be a serious commitment, it takes time and patience
-Be on guard for some scams in the major cities and be cynical of people who approach you out of the blue (Think, what is "the agenda"?)
-Don't rely on public toilets (men have a bat habit of smoking in them and leave the tab ends on the floor, plus many public ones are infamous Asian "squat" holes)- Seek out shopping malls and decent hotels if you really want a shite...
-Get a local simcard, bank account and get Alipay (this is the foremost local convenience)
-Be prepared for near chaotic scenes at metros at rush hour, people are not afraid to push! And it gets very... very crowded.
-Building on that, in some circumstances the public have a habit of not forming lines (you need to assert yourself- British habits leave you out in the cold)
-Download Wechat as your main medium of communication with local contacts
-Get a VPN
-Get used to being referred to by locals as "Laowai" 老外 (colloquial for foreigner)- It will surprise them if you understand this, as they tend to say it around you assuming you can't!
-Don't be surprised if whoever you work for has a couple of dodgy practices or "Bends the rules" sometimes.

May get the spelling wrong but done plenty of “Gambai” downing rice whiskey which tasted of petrol :)
As for business dealings they do prefer business on a face to face level don’t they. The Suppliers I met were very welcoming.
The funniest thing that did happen though was when one of my main Suppliers was about to present a PowerPoint presentation of their company and a porn clip came up on the screen.:lol: Nobody batted an eyelid and the leads quickly pulled.

I would liked to have gone to the rural parts to be honest.
They like their brands don’t they?
Bloody people everywhere in Shanghai. Impressed with the high speed train though.

Just not for me and couldn’t live there for a long period of time but it was an experience for sure. Will likely be back next year.
 
May get the spelling wrong but done plenty of “Gambai” downing rice whiskey which tasted of petrol :)
As for business dealings they do prefer business on a face to face level don’t they. The Suppliers I met were very welcoming.
The funniest thing that did happen though was when one of my main Suppliers was about to present a PowerPoint presentation of their company and a porn clip came up on the screen.:lol: Nobody batted an eyelid and the leads quickly pulled.

I would liked to have gone to the rural parts to be honest.
They like their brands don’t they?
Bloody people everywhere in Shanghai. Impressed with the high speed train though.

Just not for me and couldn’t live there for a long period of time but it was an experience for sure. Will likely be back next year.

It was probably Bai Jiu - liquor made from a mixture of grains and, based on the taste, dead fish innards and turpentine. God awful stuff but if you do business in China you have to drink it. The worst part is the high end brands (Guizhou Maotai, Wuliangye etc.) go for 100 quid a bottle upwards and still taste like crap. Consider yourself lucky if you go the hinterlands some of the local stuff makes your toes curl - the proper Bai Jiu is like finest champagne compared to the utter swill you get in some of the smaller places. The local beers are usually decent and apparently the local wine is improving rapidly (I don't know a lot about wine as it all tastes the same to me)
 
6.5 years so far for me. Now living in Jinan. Just got back from the match. Locals team won 3-1. They were 3-0 up at one point but the CB made a horrendous error. Fellaini is playing for the local team. Couldn't believe it!

How the mighty have fallen. Good evening out though!
 

Back
Top