Shanghai

This is my first business trip to Shanghai. I am attendng a series of focus groups from beijing to shanghai, shanghai to guangzhou. The concept testing n beijing was not very well, so we need to develop more concept. I guess I am still not 100% ready for work yet, I wanna give up to brainstorm but luckily Connie (my lovely coworker) insisted to work on the concepts, we have some better concepts at 2am midnight. The shanghai groups went very well, except I got an strange email from my boss Charles - saying that it is easier to be an account manager to play politics than being a planner. I was a bit pissed off from the email, but I manage to control myself since I really have not 100% focus on the work yet. Charles is a good guy, hope it will not hurt our relationship.

I have not been to Shanghai for over 5 years. I am really excited to see Mr. Ma again. He took me to have dinner, bar and karaoke. He lets me test the "glamourous" life in Shanghai, but I am really worried for him that his spirit will be worn in Shanghai's life. I wish he can be happy and find the way of living that he wants. Tomorrow I will go to see my regional boss - Ratan and Tom, hope it will be a good meeting.

People

My new boss Charles is coming from London, he worked around the world - Germany, Thailand, UK and etc. It is very enjoyable to talk about people with him. Both of us are new to Beijing, having a pair of fresh eyes to see the new Beijing city. Last week we went out for dinner. Here are highlight of our observation.

LAers -superifical & realistic. Being at Hollywood, everyone wants to be a star. People goes to club for making connection. If you are "in" the industry, people will run all around you. If not, people will not even talk with you.

Thai - Beauty-phobic. Either women and men (or ladyboy), Thai care so much about their looks. Thai women will not leave their house until their full make-up is on. Brave to be beautiful.

Shanghaiese - live for fame & money. Shanghaiese always wears the best wardrobe, no matter they have nothing at home.

Beijingers - Friendly & "worldly". Being the capital of china, beijingers like talking about big issues about the world. You can hear about politics, world issues and religion matters during meals. They shows me what nation of hospitality mean.

I love Beijing.

New start in Beijing

After taking 2 months break, finally I start my new job in Beijing. I arrived Beijing last friday, it was a very cold day (+1 degree). This makes Beijing a "refreshing" start for me. When the car drove from the airport to the serviced apt, I saw the modern architecture and old Chinese courthouse mixed together. I felt so excited.

In these few days in Beijing, I have a really good impression. The people are nice and open, the food are delicious and cheap, the city is convenient but still spacious for each individual. And there are lots of interesting person in Beijing. Yesterday night I went to a green entrepreuer party with Charles (my new boss - he is a cool guy), I met some people from Greenpeace and Worldbank and had a wonderful conversation about sustainable development in China. Though it is just a couple days, I felt in love with Beijing.

The only thing that I don't like is the dry weather. All my skin are cracked, my mouth are dry and my throat is super dry.