I was reading a great post on Shenzhen Undercover recently about the frustrations of expatiates living in China. The author hits the nail on the head; China can certainly be a frustrating place to live for foreigners. That said I think there are a few points to bear in mind here for anybody living or thinking of relocating to another country not of their own -
Illustration by o_hai
- You are a guest in another country - don’t forget it. Treat people with respect even if they don’t show it to you. All to often expats get a bad reputation for the minority running amok abroad, don’t be one of them.
- Accept differences - even if you don’t like them. Shanghai is not Southend and visa-versa. There will be differences; some small and some large - the best you can do is to go with the flow.
- Try new things - yes eating a dog or chickens feet is a bit disgusting but if you get a chance to try something new go for it (as long as its not illegal, immoral or dangerous!). You might discover something new you like.
- Be patient, keep calm - some things will drive you crazy and make you question your sanity. Take a deep breath and grit your teeth, loosing your temper will only serve to make you look stupid and make things worse.
- Take a risk - your taxi may be doing 80 in a residential street, but don’t you feel alive? If you live long enough to complain about it to someone else then it was worth it - these are the things memories are made of!
- Be friendly - you will get asked the same questions a million times; where are you from, what are you doing here, how long will you stay… It will soon become boring but smile, when before did you get such attention?
Image by fstorr
For the sake of a less stressful life I try to put the frustrations to one side but occasionally they do bubble up to the surface. Case in point I was in Hong Kong last weekend trying to walk to Victoria Park (near Causeway Bay) but the path was blocked by thousands Filipinos maids sitting/standing around on their day off making it almost impossible to walk. In the end I just gave up and went elsewhere - life’s to short sometimes!
When all else fails find a quiet place to silently scream 
How do you deal with stress?
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Cosmetic surgery clinics are pervasive in Korea with advertisements cheerfully proclaiming the many benefits you will reap if you have this or that done to your body, mainly targeted towards young women. Whilst I personally put this firmly in the category of self-mutilation there is no doubt that the prevalence of such services can only be a reflection on Korean society and its seeming obsession with self image and appearance. Walking around the streets of Myeong-dong and Dongdaemun in central Seoul you see many trendy young people spending copious amounts of (their parents?) money in expensive looking boutiques; it seems fairly clear that fashion is in the lifeblood of this county’s youth (see FeetManSeoul for an idea of what I mean).
An article in the Financial Times this week about the rise of Korean fashion students & designers reminded me of all this and it makes some interesting observations between China and Korea:
“I was born in Korea but I conduct business in China a lot and I’ve realised that Chinese culture is very much focused on food and culinary experiences. Koreans focus more on appearances and therefore fashion is a bigger part of the culture.”
…which is an interesting comparison but still doesn’t quite provide an explanation for why Koreans are so concerned about image. I guess I would need to study ethnography to answer this one but I’m guessing the idolisation of western celebrities is partly to blame somewhere. Globalisation and the increasing intermixing of cultures (both through popular culture and mixed marriages) may also provide a clue manifesting itself in the way we see each other and a subconscious need to further bridge the gap between races. Is this rather warped sense of beauty resulting in a leveling effect taking place?
According to the BBC conservative estimates suggest that over 50% of Korean women in their 20s have undergone, often very expensive, plastic surgery and many spend upwards of 30% of their income on “looking good”. To my mind there is something very wrong here, especially considering that just a few miles north of the border thousands are starving and living in abstract poverty.
At the end of the day isn’t beauty is only skin deep? I think I’ll stick with the culinary experiences!
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Since coming back from China last year I’ve been thinking a lot about the development going on there and the opportunities for outsourcing. This led me to do quite a lot of research but I found it frustrating that there didn’t seem to be a single good overview of the key facts, trends and opportunities in China in an easily digestible and up-to-date form. Having trawled through goodness knows how many white papers and blogs I decided to write one myself and hopefully provide a starting point for others going down the same path.
The presentation covers the following (with a few nice pictures for good measure):
- Key Facts about China
- Geography - Tier 1 & 2 Cities
- Political Situation
- Cultural Differences (West vs East)
- Beijing 2008 Olympics
- Innovation in China
- Web Companies to Watch
- Outsourcing Trends in China
- Outsourcing Opportunities in China
- Interesting Facts
- Pro’s of Outsourcing to China
- Con’s of Outsourcing to China
- Recommendations
- Conclusions
- Further Reading
Whilst I don’t claim to be an expect on the subject I’d like to think I’m a little better read than the average person on the street and I’m happy to take any feedback on board so please let me know what you think! As things change I’ll endeavor to make improvements and keep it updated.
[ Download PDF (18mb) | Request PPT ]
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
For further reading here are some China-centric blogs worth checking out:
- The China Vortex - good white paper “Why Indian Software Outsourcing Companies are Outsourcing to China”
- China Web 2.0 Review -next generation web developments in China
- China Law Blog - a blog about Chinese law and the legal issues of doing business in China
- China Economics Blog - a place to find information on important issues for China’s economy including economic growth, inequality, stockmarket, shares, exchange rates, the environment, foreign direct investment & WTO
- China Success Stories - China business success stories and commerce
- All Roads Lead to China - China based news analysis, strategic insight, and advice
- China Challenges - explores the various political, economic, and social implications of the rise of the Peoples Republic of China in the 21st Century
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I’ve noticed on recent trips outside London that being a “Londoner” tends to make you a bit of a snob towards the rest of the UK. A few weeks ago I visited a mid-sized town approximately 1.5 hours north of London. Upon arrival at the tiny railway station there could be seen a group of around 10 middle-aged men all looking rather dishevelled and bored. OK, I thought, they must be waiting for the next train out of this middle-of-nowhere hole. Two hours later when I returned to take the train back to London I was surprised to see that they were still there - upon closer inspection I noticed they were all carrying small notepads and some had cameras - this could only mean one thing: Trainspotters, otherwise known as Anoraks (persons with unimaginative/dull hobbies). What brings people to spend their free time watching trains and record useless trivia about them I will never know but unfortunately this sort of activity only reinforces the idea that there isn’t much life outside the capital (even though this isn’t really true… with a few exceptions)!
In Japan they have a word for similar sorts of behaviour: Otaku - a term used to refer to people with obsessive interests, particularly in anime and manga, but can also refer to any fan of, or specialisation in any particular theme, topic, or hobby. The author William Gibson defined Otaku as “pathological-techno-fetishist-with-social-deficit” which is an interesting take on the way people collect data as opposed to objects in the information age. There are of course different extremes to which this can be taken and I guess we all are collectors to an extent…
I’m off to Amsterdam tomorrow but will be back later next week and will hopefully have a bit more time over the festive season to post more frequently 
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