After just returning from 4 months in China I thought that this could be a great place to start my first post.
So, why China? Throughout my uni days I had written essays on the ârise of Chinaâ but still remained largely clueless as to what life was like there - I wanted to see first hand what was going on in the East. I was keen on having an adventure, experiencing a new culture and exploring a new place. That place was to be Shanghai.
Many people have a strong opinion on China and most likely everything that you've heard is true. When you turn up in Shanghai, within 24hours your opinion will have been confirmed, whether good, bad, ugly or beautiful.
The English news headlines covering China teeter between massive criticism of their politics and their environmental impact. But there is also a sense of awe as to what theyâve been able to pull off economically.  After all it wasnât until 1979 that China opened up again to outside investment. Consequently the last couple of decades have seen a sudden explosion of wealth, the rise of a middle class and with it some cases of ostentatious showmanship.  Shanghai is a shining example of this - in its neon glory, flashy restaurants and ambitious building design it burns economic vibrancy into the retinas. It represents a model city for Chinaâs future. However right now there is huge economic divide between the residents of ShanghaiâŠ. something I didnât expect to see from a âcommunistâ country. The current raw capitalism of Shanghai represents a stark contrast to a by gone era.
Shanghai is a migrant city; it has a Wild West feel to it, with people arriving for the gold rush. People come here to work arriving with a dream to do better. For some this is a dream of white-collar work and everything that goes with it. The debt, the boss telling you what to do, the commute â itâs actually formed into a word bĂĄi nû = white-collar slave which despite the name isnât a negative term and is worn as a badge of honour. However, I have a feeling that this is a dream that is too often mis-sold, whether by the government, by parents or even ad agencies. Consequently there is a growing Chinese population that is becoming more cynical about their future. I guess this is a global thing, but it seems more exaggerated here. Iâve met several disenchanted Chinese people that have complained that when theyâve achieved the dream of âwhite collar workâ it wasnât as expected. I felt I could associate myself with these guys, after continually going through this thought process.
The metropolis that is Shanghai is often described as âenergeticâ, âchangingâ, âfast movingâ and âvery excitingâ. Mixing this pace with the sheer number of people (17, 836, 133 people = worldâs most populous city, âproper by populationâ) creates a city of pressure. There exists a lot of pressure on people to perform and keep up with all the changes. This pressure starts from an early age â with the one child policy, parents place all their hopes and aspirations on their children. Some friends Iâve made here have expressed this to me, that they worry they wonât meet their parents expectations. Expectations of an early marriage, of a good job etc etc. Sure we have our parentsâ expectations too but it seems all the more exaggerated here.  Children have a lot of pressure to succeed and to an extent they donât mind who they step on to get there. On a simple level this can be seen in the use of public transport where shoving, pushing and jumping queues are the norm. One just has to learn to do it as well. Donâ t get me wrong, this is sounding like China is some kind of crazy town where everyone is on anti-depressants. Itâs not America. The Chinese are ambitious but in a healthy way and why not, surely itâs a good thing that their time has come.
One thing I have realised is that we have it pretty good in England. We have the opportunity to travel freely and are often received with open arms (not to mention everything else e.g. free health care). My friends here have not had the same opportunities and travel remains pretty aspirational. Although  they too have it pretty good. Shanghai, unlike London or Manchester feels safe. I can walk the streets at any time in most districts and despite receiving a couple of funny looks I still feel super safe. When leaving Shanghai and heading out into the country people embark to covertly take photos with me in the background. The first time this happened I felt awkward but soon learnt to embrace it and in exchange they too were willing to pose in my photos. It was a nice exchange on a weird anthropological levelâŠ
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I've not just been travelling whilst I've been here. I've had the great opportunity of working at one of the biggest creative advertising agencies around - Ogilvy. I feel I could go into a lot of detail as to how things were run and the cultural differences but it's probably not really my place to comment. One thing for sure is that there is plenty of opportunity. Particularly within the creative industry, there is a real palatable feeling of a âcan doâ attitude. Networking is easy and friendly, however you have to be sure to adhere to cultural norms; accept business cards with 2 hands, take the time to study it, make a comment on the design or the position of the person and carefully place it into your wallet. These small but significant cultural differences are really interesting to me and sure to say Iâm still trying to work out the Chinese sensibility. I've figured out that a lot of Chinese customs are based on creating and maintaining close relationships. Who you know or in Chinese âguanxiâ determines a lot.
Both of these animals are eaten in China, however I think in this case the monkey is a pet. Coming from the West where we have all our food packaged in plastic, with no clue of its origin, some of the dishes I've eaten the past month have been quite an experience! I did choose several live animals for slaughter, but then this is natural and isn't it a good thing that I see where my food is coming from? I think we are too far removed from the many raw realities in the West - and in fact maybe they wouldn't be so 'raw' if we too experienced it this way.
I'm going to round it off here for now. Shanghai and greater China have been an exciting and eye opening experience for me. I feel I've taken a lot away and achieved my original goal of gaining a greater understanding of how life is in the East. Here's a couple more photos, the first me with a plate of dumplings - they are AMAZING, and probably one of the main things I'll miss.
 And here is Yao Ming - who has pretty much single handedly created basketball mania amongst the 1,338,299,500 or so population. He must be pretty proud.
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