Working in Shenzhen, China is similar to working in the US (so long as you work for a US company) except for a few small details:
- Lunch is served at 1pm, or 1:30, on the dot. If it’s not there at 1pm on the dot it will be there at 1:30pm on the dot. Chinese workers drop everything at lunchtime. My coworker William said to me “Andy time to eat lunch”, more out of discomfort with me not springing up to eat lunch than with trying to be helpful. If everyone is wearing a blue hat and you wear a red hat they will dislike you for it. There’s no such thing as a free lunch is not a chinese saying as lunch is free in China. It’s pretty good food too, compared to the stuff you’d find randomly on the streets.
- It’s perfectly common to discuss the cost of foreign local labor. Ok, we need 2 chinese workers, 2 fillipino workers and 1 US worker. You say it just like that. If a US worker makes X then a Fillipino worker makes X/3 and a Chinese worker makes X/4 or X/5, depending on their English abilities. Now, this is only if you’re at a Western facing company where english is valued. If I worked at a big chinese company english would be as valued as much as being a Piccolo virtuoso or something.
- You know how you might walk up and tap a coworker on the shoulder, male or female, to get their attention? Do not do this in China. If it’s a woman you may as well pull your penis out and start stroking it on her shoulder. Do not touch your coworkers.
- If you smoke, you’ll love China. Many offices permit you to smoke in your office. Others will ask you to just go right outside in the hallway near the elevator.
- If your job starts at 9am you’re there at 9am. If it ends at 6pm you leave at 6pm. Anytime something should happen at a certain time the Chinese make sure it happens at that time. Because my job sometimes requires I interface with sales people who work the night shift I often come in late and leave late.
- Many companies work on Saturdays, half a day.
- Working in China is pretty much tax-free for most westerners. Many even get paid in RMBs: cashola. Pretty sweet deal, but you’ll make less. But it costs less. You get the idea.
- Don’t dip your pen in company ink, or your ink on a company pen. Ok, its probably more accepted to put your ink on the pen, but I don’t think it happens much. Or it happens so often that’s why the rule is there.
- When Chinese ppl answer the phone they don’t say “Ni Hao” they say “Way”. It’s a non-word that means: “I have answered the phone”.
- Most bathrooms have a waste basket across from the crapper. Can you guess what it’s for?
yeah i don’t get why in other countries they insist you throw your toilet paper away instead of flushing it. that stuff is made to disintegrate once it gets wet. i usually flush my TP anyway because a) its a force of habit and b) i dont want my hand to get anywhere near the bucket of other people’s shit stains.
for real. i get sick when im sitting there looking at it. there’s two notes in our bathroom that says “do not flush toilet paper” in both english and chinese. they could put it in 10 more languages and i’d still flush it.
Wei?=hello on the phone. =)
but i like your description a lot better. OMG Andy, you have me tearing up over here. I’m kinda bummed i’m going to Paris instead in Feb. I promise, if i end up with enough miles to buy a ticket to Hong Kong, next year I will come visit you.
They say “Wai” not only on the phone, it is useful when someone is not facing you. Instead of tapping her shoulder, you can say “WAI”. But then not only she, EVERYONE will turn to look at you. So it’s better to say “Miss so-and-so”. But among friends, it’s common and casual to just turn to him/her and say “wai”, to get their attention. Smart ass people will say, “my name is not WAY”. So “Wai” is indeed like Hello. Wai in Cantonese, way in Mandarin.