A Shanghai Birthday

This week is my birthday! So, last weekend we celebrated by going to a few clubs on Saturday. Chinese clubs are something else. There is something inherently different about Chinese clubs. First, they play techno, even on hip hop night. So hip hop night means hip hop techno remixes. The clubs in America are pretty mediocre in comparison to the “American” clubs to which I’ve been. I’m actually turning 21 in China, which is complete with the irony of not being able to drink in my own country, but turning 21 in a country were I can already drink legally.

Though I’ve only been in Shanghai a week, I feel completely at home. The only thing I still have not mastered is the bus system and there are not apps to help with understanding it. The metro took me a couple of days to handle, but now I’ve gotten my subway legs and I don’t even need to hold on to anything while the subway is moving (if you haven’t ridden the metro in Shanghai you won’t understand why that is such an accomplishment)! Additionally, I found that they best way to embrace the culture is to “入乡随俗“ or “do as the Romans do”. Sometimes the hundreds of people in the metro may seem intimidating, but if you just do as everyone else does then it isn’t so hard. There isn’t space in the car? Fear not, and just dive into the car; space will be made. And it seems to be the case with everything here in Shanghai.

I think my favorite part about Shanghai has been the friendliness of all the people. Despite, it being a huge northern city, all of its people are incredibly helpful and friendly. For instance just this past weekend, we wanted to take a train to Suzhou, but we missed our train by a minute (literally), because my friends HAD to go to Starbucks… So, the ticketing lady let us catch the next train. However, when we got on the train, we didn’t know where to sit, because our previous tickets had reserved seats. A man and his wife came up behind us to get into the coach that we were standing in front of, who felt bad enough for our red and sweaty selves (we ran to the station). They spoke English well enough to help us tell the conductor our problem. The conductor told us to stand in the corridor. After around 20 minutes on the train, a few minutes before the first stop, the man found us in one of the corridors of the train and reminded us not to get off at this stop, but the next one! We thought it was the sweetest thing. And even on Monday, I was having issues ordering food and a man who spoke some English helped me place my order at a local restaurant. In the western countries I have been to, this has not been the case. I think the Shanghainese are appreciative of westerners trying to learn their ways, language, customs, and culture rather than getting annoyed with us like so many Western people do tend to do.

Overall, I would say Shanghai has been a success thus far!

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Shanghai: The City That Never Sleeps

Shanghai is literally the city that never sleeps. In the past few days I’ve been out late and up relatively early, and each and every time the city is bustling along its glossy walkways and crowded roads. Even though I am a not yet 21 years old (6 more days!) and have plenty of travel experience, traveling 20+ hours by myself was daunting. I think everyone should travel abroad to a country where they don’t understand the language. The experience is a unique one- the combination of excitement and panic between getting on your plane, going through customs security check, and looking for people you’ve never met who are supposed to be your guide through an internship you found on the job board at your school. Seeing the CRCC Asia flag among the hundreds of people waiting for their friends, families, and clients, lifted a tremendous anxiety and flashed through all the interviews and emails that landed me in this spot and in Shanghai.

Though it rained on the first day I arrived, Shanghai still provided its awes and wonders to my eyes and mind. The drive to the hotel made me reminisce about my pets, my family, and my life back home. Having been to China last summer, I thought I had a pretty solid grip on Chinese life. The people of Shanghai refer to themselves as “Shanghainese”, which implies they were different from those I had seen in Xi’an and Guangzhou. I quickly learned that Shanghai was home to its very own culture and world that melded between traditional Chinese and the modern West, to create a stunning and magical city.

As with any first day of an internship it is often difficult to find a place within the culture. I found that Chinese firms are not at all what I had expected. I thought that perhaps mine was an outlier, but it has seemed to be the case with many of my group’s internship experiences. I had expected an extremely professionally dressed and busy work ethic, but we have seemed to encountered the opposite of what we had expected. My office in particular is very casually dressed, and it is acceptable to take over an hour as a break, as long as you make up for it the next day with an under an hour break. Though they dress casually, the work ethic is clearly very high.

So far, Shanghai has been a really amazing and exhausting city. There has not really been much time for rest, but I’m not really sure that I want to have any downtime! Shanghai is such a cool city. I am very glad I chose to stay here from two months.

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A Week of Endless Strolls

I’ve been getting out of class at 12:30 and having to find things to fill my days as I’m the only intern I know of that is just doing classes. The Beijinger is a great resource to have for things to do around the city. Most of the events are hard to go to alone but the restaurants are best when alone. No talking to get in the way of eating. I’ve especially been hanging around the Hutongs near Andingmen. There are loads of small stores and interesting restaurants to find if you look hard enough.

I prefer this China to the one I find anywhere else, particularly the area near Wangfujing or the Commercial districts. I also ate my first cricket which I can say was a disappointing experience. The crickets also got their revenge on me the next morning.

I had my first practice with the Beijing Devils Rugby Club and I’m glad that I did. Rugby teams everywhere are essentially the same. A bunch of great people get together and beat the piss out of each other and then go have a beer afterwards. Almost all are expats too so they understand what it’s like to be new in a city like Beijing and are very welcoming.

I will say that whenever I find a quiet place that I really relish the experience because they are few and far between here. In many places, the hustle bustle of progress in Beijing never stops.  So if you’ve yet to leave for Beijing, make sure to appreciate the green, tranquil places.

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Acclimation

Things got much better this week, but also kind of blurry. The time has passed by faster . Life (surprisingly) feels much more routine now.

Life

I should’ve stressed this further in my first post: everything is infinitely easier with other interns here. In a world where you’re constantly drowning in an ocean of incomprehensible information, having English speaking people to lean on has put me much more at ease. If you’re considering doing this and are worried about being lonely: the difficulty of being unable to understand the environment is felt by everyone, and (in my experience anyways) this pushes interns to band together. I now know how to navigate the Shenzhen Metro and am consistently impressed by how efficient it is. Shenzhen is a huge city but it’s relatively easy to get everywhere. That being said, the amount of time it takes to get from area to area can really add up. In terms of picky eaters I am probably 98th percentile and as such this past week I’ve been surviving mainly on eggs, bread, milk, and Oreos. But if you’re concerned about starving, there’s a Pizza Hut, McDonalds, and KFC all within 5 minutes. At lunch time I venture out and try Chinese food… So I’m definitely making progress.

 

Work

Experiencing Chinese business culture so far has been extremely interesting. Having worked in offices in the western world, right away I noticed several differences. Not negative, just different norms. People seem to be much more shy, but don’t let that fool you. In my experience people are worried that their English isn’t good enough and so they’re afraid to speak to you, but once you give them some confidence everyone is very nice. There is one thing though that has surprised me above all else: people taking naps. I’ve never seen this in the Western world but here it’s completely normal. Between 11:30 and 1:00 people generally get their food, eat, and then collectively pass out. Honestly I think it’s a great idea – I want to bring it back to Canada.

 

Travel

This week we went on a really cool hike up Nanshan Mountain. Saw beautiful Pagodas along with a breathtaking view of the whole city. Great
return on investment – barely an hour long hike for a stunning view. Not sure if this counts as travel but we also went to Coco Park which is the go-to place for nightlife here. Finally, we went go-karting which isn’t very Chinese but still a good time. In terms of actual travel, we (me and 3 other interns) leave for Guilin/Yangshuo in a couple of days. As strange as it might sound it seems like I’m once again leaving “home”. Crazy how quickly our apartments have grown on us.

 

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Different World

What happens when you take a 19 year old from Canada who doesn’t speak a word of Mandarin, has never eaten any Chinese food, can’t “cook” anything other than Nutella sandwiches, and drop him in Shenzhen?

I’m not sure, but I’ll share my findings with you as I experience them. But before I continue, let me give you some more background. I just finished my second year of a finance degree at the University of Calgary (Alberta, Canada) and am interning at Oriental Harbor Investment Management (OHIM) in Shenzhen for the month of May.

I’ll split these posts up into 3 sections: Life, Work, & Travel.

 

Life

My first night here I decided to go to Shekou Wal-Mart (yeah, Wal-Mart really is everywhere) which is conveniently located barely 5 minutes away from my apartment. With my RMB in hand, I felt ready to begin my acclimation process with a seemingly beginner level environment. I figured I’d pick up some breaded chicken, fruit, and really anything I’d need to learn how to cook – how hard could navigating Wal-Mart be?

I had grossly underestimated my opponent – Chinese Wal-mart won the first battle. Defeated, I left carrying the only two things I felt I confidently understood: bananas and milk. (Disclaimer: my grocery shopping skills are non-existent). Even that was a struggle, I stood paralyzed at the checkout for several minutes as the lady tried to explain to me (as I later learned) that the bananas needed to be weighed and tagged. The Wal-Mart experience does a good job of encompassing the struggles I’ve had so far – everything has been more difficult than I expected.

That being said, things have started to fall in place and I now feel much more comfortable than I did that night. Our apartments are very nice, Shenzhen is incredibly clean and the architecture is beautiful, and the presence of other interns has made life much easier. I’ve liked nearly every Chinese dish I’ve tried, and have picked up a couple helpful phrases in Mandarin – mainly: “I can’t speak Chinese”.

 

Work

For those interested in Finance (as I was when researching the CRCC program), I’m working essentially in an equity research role at OHIM, a Chinese Hedge Fund, with the other analysts here. The building I work in is very cool, and my supervisor, who got his masters in the UK, is extremely helpful and engaging. My project was to either provide analysis on either a US stock, or try my hand at a Chinese stock, which if they had an office in Shenzhen I’d be able to go and visit management with my supervisor. I opted to go with the latter.

 

 

 

 

Travel

My travels so far have been limited to Shenzhen. The other interns and I have been to Sea World (no, not what you’re thinking) which is a trendy area with cool bars and a huge cruise ship, along with a really cool park for our community outreach event. The event was an interesting experience – we supervised children that we couldn’t really communicate with while making “leaf art”.

Everything about this internship experience is an experiment for me – including blogging.

 

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Chapitre 1 : L’arrivée dans un monde nouveau

Vous savez combien de temps ça m’a pris pour venir à Pékin ? Treize heures, seulement treize heures. Pourquoi seulement ? Parce que j’ai l’impression d’avoir changé de planète et je n’ai même pas eu à prendre une fusée. C’est fou comme d’un océan à un autre, la culture, l’histoire et les mœurs des populations peuvent être différentes. Après avoir fait mon premier pas en Chine, je n’ai pas pu planter mon drapeau et j’ai dû m’adapter à ma nouvelle maison. Les chinois ont beau ne pas être bleus, bizarres ou surnaturels, ils parlent une langue très étrange. Heureusement, dans ce monde lointain, il existe une pratique de communication universelle, appelée communément le sourire. Souriez aux gens et ils vous souriront en retour. Souriez aux personnes âgées et elles vous aideront. Souriez et prenez l’envie de vouloir découvrir ce pays tellement contrasté, tel un explorateur.

Lors de mon premier weekend, afin de bien commencer mon aventure, j’ai décidé de visiter avec une amie un lieu qui remontait le temps. La Cité Interdite. Ce palais de plusieurs hectares regorge d’histoire, de tradition, de beauté, d’artistes et d’une grandeur laissant place à l’imagination. C’est à cet endroit que j’ai pu toucher une patte de dragon pour me porter chance, que j’ai appris que le cheval est présage de succès, que j’ai pu voir à quel point les chinois avait ce don de pouvoir dormir partout, mais surtout que j’ai reconnu les très belles scènes du dessin animé Mulan. Visiter ce palais n’est cependant pas une chose facile. Je sais maintenant qu’il faut au moins des bonnes jambes, beaucoup d’eau, une carte, quatre bonnes heures ou en fait même une journée et un TRÈS bon sens de l’orientation, ou plus simplement, une boussole.

Suite à cette visite périlleuse, nous avons traversé la place Tiananmen et vu la tombe de Mao. L’enthousiasme de cette expédition nous avait certes un peu trop emporté mais il ne faut pas oublier qu’en Chine, tout est énorme ! Après une bonne nuit de repos, nous avons opté pour quelque chose de plus modeste, la visite du 798 art district, notre quartier de résidence. Durant cette très belle journée de marche, nous avons découvert avec étonnement des endroits auxquels nous ne nous attendions pas du tout et dans lesquels nous irons avec plaisir ces prochaines semaines pour  faire le plein de beaux souvenirs!

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From Gibson Island to Beijing

My name is Henry Hyde, I am from Gibson Island, Maryland, US of A. I am twenty years old, and am in my last year at university to get my bachelors in International Business with a minor in Asian Studies. This is my fourth trip to China, and will be my longest stay here yet. I have studied Chinese for 7 years and counting, and am still discovering new things about China every day.

I am doing one month of Chinese classes and one month of internship at a subsidiary of IQAir, which makes air filters for homes and businesses.

It is definitely a bit of a shock to get acclimated to China, even for me. A lot of things are different. Back home, I am an avid artist, mainly 3D, and our apartments are right next to the 798 Art District. Even though it’s more commercial than anything else, it’s a nice oasis from the hustle and bustle of Beijing. It’s a little more Hutong style in its construction and much quieter than many other places. There are art galleries, music and art shops, and Eastern and Western restaurants.

My particular fascination with 798 is the graffiti that’s everywhere. It is everywhere and  really gives 798 a personality of young, non-establishment artists. It contrasts with the art galleries in 798 where you’re told to “ooh” and “ahh” at the art, and is actually often good. There’s a graffiti shop where one could buy spray paint and the striking apparel of local graffiti artists (lots of hemp leaves). I would like to try my hand at it, but I’m not sure of the rules and regulations. It seems like a big attraction to the area. I’ll have to return and ask someone about it, who knows, maybe I’ll be Beijing’s next graffiti Michelangelo!

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THE END OF AN ADVENTURE

My last weekend in Shanghai coincided with the 1^st May festivity, so it was in fact a long weekend since we also had the Monday off.

On Saturday, in the early afternoon, the girl who is interning in the same company as me and I decided to take a stroll in the French Concession, a famous part of Shanghai which, believe it or not, we hadn’t visited yet… During the day, that is. The weather was lovely, spring-like again and, combined with the fact that most roads in the district are tree-lined, it really seemed to us that we were in a European capital rather than in chaotic Shanghai. But that’s the beauty of this city, as I’ve already mentioned in a previous blog entry: it’s like having a fair number of different cities packed in one, you just choose which area you like best, and at which time.

We sipped our coffee and our tea and shared a slice of tasty chocolate cake in a cafe built in the patio of what used to be a small church, looked at lovely boutiques and finished our stroll before parting ways: having to buy the last souvenirs, I headed towards East Nanjing Road.

Oh, Nanjing Road on the 30th April… I don’t think I had ever experienced such an enormous crowd, and the best part of it was that I was completely alone: no friends or parents to shield me from people pushing their way and looking at me curiously. I could tell from the looks on their faces that the other very few Western tourists that I encountered felt the same way as me: bewildered and thrilled. And yet, not once did I feel uncomfortable or exposed to danger: soldiers could be seen every two meters, making sure that the crowd proceeded tidily and smoothly on the sidewalk.

That evening was again the turn on the French Concession, more specifically we went for the second time to Yongkang Lu, a short road packed with small pubs and visited mostly by expats. And no, as you can see I’m really not a club person (I tried them a couple of times in Shanghai, but the atmosphere is far too snobbish for my taste), so no tales about getting wasted at the Bar Rouge this time.

The next Sunday was Labour Day and I had been thinking about what to do on this festivity for a while but the choice wasn’t mine to make, apparently: the air conditioning in the metro had done its job and I spent the day in bed trying to sleep, swallowing pills and complaining about my fever and my sore limbs.

Luckily enough, the next day I was feeling better so I could put to good use the train ticket I had already booked to Hangzhou. The trip to this city was overall easier than the one to Suzhou for two main reasons: firstly, this time there was another friend of mine who can speak Chinese (and much more fluently than me). Secondly, visiting Hangzhou requires just two steps: get to the West Lake (easily reachable from the train station by subway); walk around the West Lake.

We were actually impressed by how well kept and modern Hangzhou looks, especially in the areas surrounding the lake. The parks and green areas are gigantic and look stunning. One thing that really didn’t help us was the weather though: I don’t think I have ever experienced a worse humidity in my life (and let it be known that I live in a very humid area myself, so I should be sort of used to it). At a certain point the humidity was so intense that it even stopped being annoying: it simply felt like directly diving into the water. I’ve never felt much of a mermaid but it in Hangzhou it was completely different story.

The rain caught us shortly after and it got at its worse exactly when we were heading by boat to the main island at the centre of the lake (hence the lack of decent photos). We were actually prepared to it since we had checked the weather forecast and did our best not to let it ruin our mood, which wasn’t easy at all, but still the sight of ancient pagodas and pavilions in the fog had its own charm. Needless to say, the rain ceased obviously when we returned to the mainland.

Before taking off for China, I had expected to find a fair amount of foreign tourist, especially in more historical cities like Suzhou and Hangzhou, but that hasn’t been the case: that Monday we were basically the only Westerners in Hangzhou, and the number of people pointing at us and asking to take pictures with these three white girls exceeded every expectation. Don’t get me wrong, it can be pretty fun in the beginning and Chinese people are usually very friendly, but after a whole day (or month, even) of being stared at like a panda in a cage your nerves start to stir.

While the train station in Suzhou was new and modern, and quite pleasant to be in thanks to the shops and restaurants, the same cannot be said for the train station in Hangzhou, which was unexpectedly old-looking, with a scarce number of places to eat, crowded, and incredibly hot: in short, the crying and screaming children, the apparently absent aeration system and the restless crowd pushing its way to the platform for the Shanghai train made it all look more like a refugee camp, but somehow we managed to get to our hotel rooms without big issues.

Tuesday was my last day at work. The saddest part of my internship was arguably saying goodbye to my colleagues, with whom I bonded incredibly well. But as I’ve said to the them as well, it’s a small world nowadays, and I’m confident that goodbyes are not forever.

By the time this blog entry is published I’ll be at home, catching up with my friends and family and distributing souvenirs. I’m happy to go back to my small town where the sky is blue and the air clean and where people will understand everything that I say, and at that the same time I regret not having stayed at least a month longer in China: I would have certainly learned, discovered and experienced more. But my master thesis is still waiting to be written so…

Saying goodbye to China is bitter: despite the pollution, the traffic, the gigantic crowd, the communication difficulties, the huge gap between poverty and wealth, there is something that drawn everyone to this land. And I would be surprised of the contrary: being the most populated country in the world and the third one by extension, with the second strongest economy and such a long, rich history and culture, it would take a life-long commitment to completely discover everything that the Middle Kingdom has to offer. I am sure that I’ll go back to China, whether simply as a tourist or an intern/worker/employee remains to be seen.

My internship in China had its ups and downs and most of the time things weren’t exactly easy, but magic starts to happen outside of your comfort zone, as this experience has taught me. In only four weeks I became more experienced, stronger, and ready to face a wider variety of situations than before- not to mention than my CV looks a lot better now!

 

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