Working In Shenzhen, China

admin — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 09:18:32 +0000

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.

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?

My Red China » expat