Two months in the US can pass quickly at time and drag on at others. The same cannot be said for life in Shenzhen, where days melt together and within the blink of an eye, a month or more has passed. Upon touching down in Shenzhen, I wrapped up in warm clothing, thick socks, and employed a cheap space heater to keep warm at night. We are now in mid-April and the 'real-feel' temp is often up around 90. I believe that the weather imitates life here, moving just as fast.
Shenzhen continues to be our little company's home base, and we are working daily to carve out our piece of the pie. Our constant frustration is the pace of business here, as is evidenced by the fact that three years on we are still here. It is not the worst thing in the world, and has provided us with the challenge of adapting to a decidedly non-Western way of doing things. This challenge is perhaps the greatest takeaway we will gain from our time here. We are forced to keep busy and keep moving forward in the face of an obstinate work-culture. It is not emblematic of all work here, as businesses pop-up and disappear seemingly overnight, and is perhaps best explained by the fact that young foreigners with little track record, taking on large financial projects are often viewed rather skeptically. What company (Western or Chinese) would want to hand over audited financials to a group of late 20's-mid 30's foreign businessmen? No one likes to be left naked, and we have learned that to make any ground here requires a lot of ego stroking and soothe saying.
I do believe our patience is wearing thin however. One might say that the shine has now worn off the China-play and while I know many who have found comfortable success here, our path has not been as fortunate. It is not all doom and gloom though. There are so many positives to take away, so much to bring home, and a lot of experience to carry on into the future, wherever that may lead.
We are tired and looking back West, but we are also hungry, still with that same hunger that brought us here. We are wiser now.
I will be posting regularly again, there is a lot to discuss on my little online journal. I'm excited and a little nervous as well. More to follow soon.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Pre-Flight Checklist
I am a lucky soul. I get to fly home a few times each year to visit family and friends and forget the world that exists beyond the Pacific. I also never have to deal with flying on or around the Thanksgiving melee and generally avoid the also-hectic Christmas flying season.
Flying is a marvelous human invention, and those who do it frequently have a culture all their own, with stories and traditions and etiquette that is passed from generation to generation. In Shenzhen we are surrounded by many of these people, all eager to tell their tales and impart their sagely wisdom to younger ears. The few expat bars that exist here are not dissimilar from airport bars in that they are frequented with regular travelers, often only in town for a week or so. It's a weird little world meeting the random men and women (but really mostly men) that fly into Shenzhen multiple times per year to check on a factory, meet with a supplier, do something nefarious for Apple (I'll write on the world of overseas Apple people someday), or to check on a logistics operation.
These are the international warriors of the skies, and people for whom I have greater respect than the consultant who flies from New York to Kentucky every Monday for 3 months. They have been to every international hub, have religious routines, and can fit their world into a set of carry-ons. Conversations revolve around a 2 big topics: upgrade strategies and health/jet-lag issues. The upgrades I'll leave out of this post, but the health one is something that is interesting. We all seem to agree that hydration is first and foremost on the notoriously dry flights, which is an interesting story in its own right. But general health is largely a topic that most people either deal with by way of vitamin C supplement or just resign themselves to a bit of the sniffles after 15+ hours in the air.
The holiday flight season comes with articles from all over about flying, and I came across one on a Gawker site this morning: http://io9.com/5862234/why-flying-on-planes-can-make-you-sick-+-and-how-to-stop-it
It's more eye-opening than I had expected and definitely worth a read if you fly, or worth forwarding to someone who does.
Flying is a marvelous human invention, and those who do it frequently have a culture all their own, with stories and traditions and etiquette that is passed from generation to generation. In Shenzhen we are surrounded by many of these people, all eager to tell their tales and impart their sagely wisdom to younger ears. The few expat bars that exist here are not dissimilar from airport bars in that they are frequented with regular travelers, often only in town for a week or so. It's a weird little world meeting the random men and women (but really mostly men) that fly into Shenzhen multiple times per year to check on a factory, meet with a supplier, do something nefarious for Apple (I'll write on the world of overseas Apple people someday), or to check on a logistics operation.
These are the international warriors of the skies, and people for whom I have greater respect than the consultant who flies from New York to Kentucky every Monday for 3 months. They have been to every international hub, have religious routines, and can fit their world into a set of carry-ons. Conversations revolve around a 2 big topics: upgrade strategies and health/jet-lag issues. The upgrades I'll leave out of this post, but the health one is something that is interesting. We all seem to agree that hydration is first and foremost on the notoriously dry flights, which is an interesting story in its own right. But general health is largely a topic that most people either deal with by way of vitamin C supplement or just resign themselves to a bit of the sniffles after 15+ hours in the air.
The holiday flight season comes with articles from all over about flying, and I came across one on a Gawker site this morning: http://io9.com/5862234/why-flying-on-planes-can-make-you-sick-+-and-how-to-stop-it
It's more eye-opening than I had expected and definitely worth a read if you fly, or worth forwarding to someone who does.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Soft Peaks
2011: Where has it all gone? Thanksgiving is next week and the local malls have Christmas tree-structures out and ready. Pies and meringue and turkey and overeating are all what we should be thinking about but short of a few passing comments to each other, the Holidays are nowhere to be seen on our collective agendas.
The ball is rolling again over here in Shenzhen. Growing up in my parents store, I learned the fickle nature of shoppers and the tendency for people to show in hordes. Any businessperson I can think of desires a steady stream of work, as it is consistent, manageable and predictable. The real world rarely affords us such luxuries, and we actually dig it.
That's all to report on now, look for me come December, I'm on an open trip back to the US at this point.
The ball is rolling again over here in Shenzhen. Growing up in my parents store, I learned the fickle nature of shoppers and the tendency for people to show in hordes. Any businessperson I can think of desires a steady stream of work, as it is consistent, manageable and predictable. The real world rarely affords us such luxuries, and we actually dig it.
That's all to report on now, look for me come December, I'm on an open trip back to the US at this point.
Friday, November 11, 2011
September Weather
After record temps in Shenzhen this fall, the weather is finally starting to get in tune with the seasons, however mild they may be here. As the weather cools and jackets find their way out of closets, it seems that business too is cooling, even as we hunt for new clients and new opportunities. The global economic situation has altered the investment strategies of even some of the largest capital firms as they rethink plans in China and the region. Interesting and frustrating at the same time, but I digress from my main point of this little post.
I'll preface by talking about the gut instinct. There's a fair bit of science and a heap of pseudo-science backing this as a more legit thing now that they've discovered a relatively large neural network down there. I can't back this up with citations so I'll relegate my comments to the 'crazy' sphere of the web. Regardless, they say you cannot teach or train a gut feeling, but you can learn how to heed its warning. We were recently made aware that a client had filed for bankruptcy even when their balance sheet was clean and they had a steady business model that was generating revenues that would give no indication of duress. What we had no way of knowing, short of full disclosure by the company's chairman, was that the chairman himself had taken out 8 million USD in personal loans backed by the company, off balance sheet. Yaayy.
I cannot in good faith say its a lesson we've learned because the deal had always been less clear than we would have liked, but a retainer can do wonders to calm the nerves. Once that dried up, we poked and prodded, and 2 months later discovered this issue that I write about today. Would a strong gut instinct have prevented us from taking on this client: perhaps, but I'll wager that our experience through it has been worthwhile and that in hardships, new opportunities present themselves. Our opportunity is now to structure an outright sale of this client, and in a shortened time frame as well. We will continue to see how this situation unravels and are pushing to keep our ship upright.
On a side note, I've managed to compound several small incidents on the soccer field into a nice mural of bruises on the lower half of my leg. I consider to be my painful homage to the colors of fall we so sorely miss out here in china. Quite literally covered in all the most beautiful autumnal hues of purple brown red and orange. Unfortunately this has rendered my leg useless as a serious heel bruise combined with a lower calf collision has combined to seize up most of the goings on down there. Fortunately! I discovered through an American friend a sports therapy place. I would post photos but I feel a shot of a bruised leg with 15 needles hooked up to an electro-stim machine might stir up some of that gut feeling stuff I was blabbing about before.
I'll preface by talking about the gut instinct. There's a fair bit of science and a heap of pseudo-science backing this as a more legit thing now that they've discovered a relatively large neural network down there. I can't back this up with citations so I'll relegate my comments to the 'crazy' sphere of the web. Regardless, they say you cannot teach or train a gut feeling, but you can learn how to heed its warning. We were recently made aware that a client had filed for bankruptcy even when their balance sheet was clean and they had a steady business model that was generating revenues that would give no indication of duress. What we had no way of knowing, short of full disclosure by the company's chairman, was that the chairman himself had taken out 8 million USD in personal loans backed by the company, off balance sheet. Yaayy.
I cannot in good faith say its a lesson we've learned because the deal had always been less clear than we would have liked, but a retainer can do wonders to calm the nerves. Once that dried up, we poked and prodded, and 2 months later discovered this issue that I write about today. Would a strong gut instinct have prevented us from taking on this client: perhaps, but I'll wager that our experience through it has been worthwhile and that in hardships, new opportunities present themselves. Our opportunity is now to structure an outright sale of this client, and in a shortened time frame as well. We will continue to see how this situation unravels and are pushing to keep our ship upright.
On a side note, I've managed to compound several small incidents on the soccer field into a nice mural of bruises on the lower half of my leg. I consider to be my painful homage to the colors of fall we so sorely miss out here in china. Quite literally covered in all the most beautiful autumnal hues of purple brown red and orange. Unfortunately this has rendered my leg useless as a serious heel bruise combined with a lower calf collision has combined to seize up most of the goings on down there. Fortunately! I discovered through an American friend a sports therapy place. I would post photos but I feel a shot of a bruised leg with 15 needles hooked up to an electro-stim machine might stir up some of that gut feeling stuff I was blabbing about before.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Surprised?
I had to post this set of walking directions from Google maps in China as it is perhaps the funniest thing I've come across in the last few weeks. Yep, that's how interesting life is right now, silly walking directions highlight a month so far...
Work grinds along, and our alluded to exit is drawing ever closer. Yet without a clear date or a clear plan of action here, there is only preparation and speculation. The only positive takeaway these days is the very pleasant September-like weather we are experiencing. 3 short weeks on the tail end of summer and beginning of spring are the only enjoyable moments as far as weather is concerned and it would be a shame not to spend all of it on some patio or lake.
OPJ and I miss home fiercely and are very excited for the trip home. Given that Chinese New Year falls relatively early this year, there is a chance for an extended US trip this time, which would be delightful in spite of the fact that it will be the most bitter parts of the NE winter.
More upbeat posts to follow.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
There is nothing new to report in the last couple of months. We are working away, and that's really all there is to it. The banality of this recent stretch is making our team look forward to the holidays and our respective trips back to the good old USofA. A new client has forced my hand and required me to miss out on what would have been my third trip to the All Asia Gaelic Games in South Korea this year, and while it was something I was looking forward to, this business opportunity is equally interesting for me.
We get torn out here because of the general frustrations that I have laid out in previous posts conflicting with the "cool-factor" of the work we are able to do. Add to that the seeming hand basket that the US is going to hell in, and the decision to return immediately gets muddied. That is not to be taken as a declaration of my or our desire to remain here, as it is not, but it makes things tough. I mentioned a while back an exit strategy, it is being updated, manipulated, molded and played with into something that we want to make sense.
The nature of the last few months has also focused our attention on the coming holiday season and our chance to return home to be with family and friends. Chinese New Year will come a bit early and we may be afforded the luxury of a longer than usual stay in the States which we are weighing. It would certainly be a welcome turn of events.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Sneaking Suspicion
We had a teacher back in high school who secretly rewarded proper alliteration. We have incorporated this ever so slight bit of whimsy into our company emails and correspondences. We're nerds yes, but I remain in nerdy awe of a fellow American out here who, along with several coworkers, only email and correspond digitally in haiku form on Fridays. So, we've already been one-upped.
Anyway, the VPN has been off for some time, making my navigation to the underground web logs of the West rather difficult. Summer is fading and frustration still sings in the ears of the young and hungry working in Shenzhen. I'll wager that frustration has never sang before...
I cannot report on anything interesting these days as the gossip is stale and I have largely removed myself from it, and work remains just that. The only glimmer is perhaps a new client that I am responsible for vetting, and it is the closest thing to an entirely China-play yet. We'll see what happens there as I continue to get on the due-diligence train.
I promise to be more interesting in subsequent autumnal posts, and rest assured I have not forgotten to snap photos of Shenzhen's lovely public art explosion, in fact, I'll load a couple that are trapped on my little cellphone:
These are just two of the lovelies that are around the city, both up very quickly, and one is invariably part of a fountain as well which is definitely a theme here with public art. The fountain is in COCO park shopping area and sits in the middle of a large sidewalk that once provided ample space for foot traffic and is now an eyesore and an impedance.
Along with the sculptures several flocks of plastic sheep that appeared one day as well, dotting roadsides in displays that remind me of the nativity sets that emerge on good Christian lawns come Christmas season. We're not sure of the significance of the sheep, but us foreigners love to speculate. More to come.
Anyway, the VPN has been off for some time, making my navigation to the underground web logs of the West rather difficult. Summer is fading and frustration still sings in the ears of the young and hungry working in Shenzhen. I'll wager that frustration has never sang before...
I cannot report on anything interesting these days as the gossip is stale and I have largely removed myself from it, and work remains just that. The only glimmer is perhaps a new client that I am responsible for vetting, and it is the closest thing to an entirely China-play yet. We'll see what happens there as I continue to get on the due-diligence train.
I promise to be more interesting in subsequent autumnal posts, and rest assured I have not forgotten to snap photos of Shenzhen's lovely public art explosion, in fact, I'll load a couple that are trapped on my little cellphone:
These are just two of the lovelies that are around the city, both up very quickly, and one is invariably part of a fountain as well which is definitely a theme here with public art. The fountain is in COCO park shopping area and sits in the middle of a large sidewalk that once provided ample space for foot traffic and is now an eyesore and an impedance.
Along with the sculptures several flocks of plastic sheep that appeared one day as well, dotting roadsides in displays that remind me of the nativity sets that emerge on good Christian lawns come Christmas season. We're not sure of the significance of the sheep, but us foreigners love to speculate. More to come.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Expat Rumor Mill
Urban myths, legends of yore, and general rumors are par for the course over here in Shenzhen. The folks involved in all of this are not tweens on the playground spreading vicious rumors at recess, or the catty high school crowd ostracizing a nobody. No. These are the 20-50 somethings of Shenzhen, and what I would expect to be the expat community the globe around spreading rumors and tales. Though I would not expect it is a self-serving thing, but more a result of general naivete.
I will use myself as a glaring example. Shenzhen is growing, exploding even, and as such there are construction sites littered around the city. Everyone knows of China's withstanding goal to create a high-speed rail system to connect Hong Kong with Beijing, and the first leg of that will of course dart through Shenzhen. More than a year ago I was told by some 'expats in the know' that it would be opening in August of 2011, and would soon extend up to Guangzhou (the capital city of this province, and a manufacturing giant as well), to create a trip of Hong Kong to Guangzhou in one hour. And boy that sounds nice because dealing with customs and trains/buses here normally puts the commute into downtown Hong Kong at nearly 2 hours. A 30-45 minute trip into Hong Kong would be fantastic, and we are all excited to see it open, except for the fact that it will indeed not be open until this time next year. Sad.
I had unknowingly (see: naive) spread this false truth around to my friends, excitedly boasting my inside knowledge of the goings-on in Shenzhen. We all do this here: A new building in our district's CBD (central business district, of which Shenzhen has two) has a large tower going up with a strikingly simply figure and it is alleged to house the new Shenzhen Stock Exchange. It is an impressive building to behold and any expat in the know will be quick to point it out as you whiz past in your taxi. Another morsel of information is one gleaned from an American urban planner and engineer who is a consultant to the Shenzhen government. While he cannot divulge actual facts he will let slip that occupancy rates in the office towers here are abysmal at best and that the government buildings here are even worse.
All of these little factual/quasi-factual tidbits help expats here define themselves as having their finger on the pulse of the city. Everyone has a Chinese friend with "connections" and so on and so forth. The fact that I had been so quick to spread my little bits of information only show that I am no different, and when you realize this, you need to go back and grab a few grains of salt, and reconsider much of what is said here.
How much do we really know? I'd say next to nothing. As adults here, I think back to what I have talked about with friends before: the smartest ones are always the quietest.
I will use myself as a glaring example. Shenzhen is growing, exploding even, and as such there are construction sites littered around the city. Everyone knows of China's withstanding goal to create a high-speed rail system to connect Hong Kong with Beijing, and the first leg of that will of course dart through Shenzhen. More than a year ago I was told by some 'expats in the know' that it would be opening in August of 2011, and would soon extend up to Guangzhou (the capital city of this province, and a manufacturing giant as well), to create a trip of Hong Kong to Guangzhou in one hour. And boy that sounds nice because dealing with customs and trains/buses here normally puts the commute into downtown Hong Kong at nearly 2 hours. A 30-45 minute trip into Hong Kong would be fantastic, and we are all excited to see it open, except for the fact that it will indeed not be open until this time next year. Sad.
I had unknowingly (see: naive) spread this false truth around to my friends, excitedly boasting my inside knowledge of the goings-on in Shenzhen. We all do this here: A new building in our district's CBD (central business district, of which Shenzhen has two) has a large tower going up with a strikingly simply figure and it is alleged to house the new Shenzhen Stock Exchange. It is an impressive building to behold and any expat in the know will be quick to point it out as you whiz past in your taxi. Another morsel of information is one gleaned from an American urban planner and engineer who is a consultant to the Shenzhen government. While he cannot divulge actual facts he will let slip that occupancy rates in the office towers here are abysmal at best and that the government buildings here are even worse.
All of these little factual/quasi-factual tidbits help expats here define themselves as having their finger on the pulse of the city. Everyone has a Chinese friend with "connections" and so on and so forth. The fact that I had been so quick to spread my little bits of information only show that I am no different, and when you realize this, you need to go back and grab a few grains of salt, and reconsider much of what is said here.
How much do we really know? I'd say next to nothing. As adults here, I think back to what I have talked about with friends before: the smartest ones are always the quietest.
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