Fuxing Park, the biggest park in Shanghai and the place where Jia Zhen does her morning jogs. (Picture courtesy of Jia Zhen).
How easy is it to make friends with the locals?
Well it’s not too difficult. The Chinese are very hospitable people and if you know them, they are friendly but if you don’t, they may be quite moody. They are also keen to learn about different cultures, at least for those whom I have met, and to practise their English. And I’m happy to practise my Chinese with them. So that’s a win-win situation.
Generally if the locals know you or have been introduced to you through someone else, they are usually really friendly.
Before I moved to Shanghai, I used to work closely with some counterparts in China so when I first moved there, they brought me around. My colleagues were also really friendly and took me around so it wasn’t too bad.
I have heard that the pollution levels in cities in China can get quite high. How does this affect your activities there, say in Shanghai?
Of all the cities, compared to Beijing, which I have been twice so far, Shanghai is so much better. The air is clear roughly 85% of the time. I don’t track the PSI levels though cause it’ll be miserable to track but usually the air is clear. Sometimes when there is pollution from North China or Beijing and it blows over to Shanghai, that is when the air becomes painfully smoggy but compared to other cities like Nanjing, Shanghai still has better air quality. It doesn’t really affect outdoor activities.
I have some local friends who discourage me from jogging outdoors and encourage me to jog in the gym but fingers crossed, I’m still ok and when I jog, its ok in the parks where there are a lot of trees but generally it’s still better than Beijing. Loads of people are still jogging, picnicking or cycling in the parks, like Fuzhin Park, which is one of the biggest parks in Shanghai City.
Rooftop view of the Bund from Char bar. (Picture courtesy of Jia Zhen).
Any good tips for working and living in China?
The biggest tip is to go there with an open mind. That is very important. Once you impose Singapore culture onto another culture, you become miserable. So an open mind is really important. And take it easy.
Being in China is a definitely an eye-opening experience. To yield results, you need to be there not for a few months, but for a long-term stint. But most companies see China as a long-term investment because you don’t see results quickly so you need to be there for a long time. In fact, I think even one year is too short. Most expats are based there for six to seven years before they start returning. It is an exciting market with plenty of growth and full of learning opportunities and if you don’t go through the challenges of an emerging market, you won’t get the satisfaction when you succeed.
Also living in another culture andLiving and Working in Shanghai, China country, you must keep an open mind. Be flexible and creative but there can be certain principles that you may have that you shouldn’t give up. It is a win-win situation if you stick to your principles and have an open mind and you’ll be successful.
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Cost of groceries are cheap as dirt here. I don’t agree with what she says. Of course if you only visit foreign “atlas” super-markets, yeah, vergetables will be more expensive than Singapore. If you go Jasons Supermarket in Orchard Road, for sure, their prices will be more expensive right, common sense. If you go to the places where Shanghai people go, like the wet markets, you always get FRESH vegetables at half the price.
I just came back from the market today and bought 20 RMB (4SGD roughly) of 2 cucumbers, 1 bag of spinach, 1 bag of Kang Kong, 2 lotuses, 6 potatoes, 2 onions, 2 red capsicums and 2 green capsicums. Talk about cheap.
Yes, it really depends on what Jia Zhen buys and where she buys it from.