It has been bad for some time – I remember being appalled when I first moved to Guangdong in 2002. It seemed that the whole of Guangdong was covered in a blanket of smog that lifted only once a week or so. Here is an image from NASA circa 2002:

It’s only gotten worse since then. It’s also gotten more high profile, with the crazy bad controversy and ongoing coverage in the foreign press reporting on China (although with little to none Chinese press coverage).

It’s been particularly bad in Beijing the last few day, breaking all the records with the Air Quality Index (AQI) soaring to 755, two and a half times worse than what would be considered “emergency conditions” in the US.

Leading China watcher, Bill Bishop from The Sinocism China Newsletter, tweeted the following, which is the most amazing visual example I’ve yet seen about just how bad the pollution is.

China world phase 3, a 300m+ tall building, disappearing into beijing’s toxic mist twitter.com/niubi/status/2…

— Bill Bishop (@niubi) January 12, 2013

Here is the current AQI levels for some of the major cities in China:

For more cities, please visit www.aqicn.info

The post Air Quality In China appeared first on Jobs In China.

China has a unique business culture. Understanding the appropriate etiquette can be the key to getting things done and to be successful in business in China.

Finding business contacts

In China, business relationships are often formed through recommendations and personal relationships. This can make it hard for Westerners to get in contact with appropriate business contacts, unless they represent a very big company that everyone wants to do business with.

However, it is being more common for people to approach businesses directly, via the Internet, trade fairs, catalogues and brochures, advertisements, etc.

Guanxi – Business relationships in China

Business relationships in China are often based on personal or social relationships. If you form a business relationship with people you don’t know, expect the relationship to become social. You’ll eat with them, drink with them and sing with them!

The more you share about your personal life, the closer your business relationship will be. The decision to do, or continue doing business, with you is often based on the other party’s personal view of you rather than the numbers in a business case.

This is in contrast to Western business relationships which often remain professional and slightly detached, even after a long time.

An extension of this is the concept of Guanxi, which is the cornerstone of doing business in China. It can be hard to describe all the elements of Guanxi, but it is essentially to do with having good connections and getting things done through these relationships. For example, Person A needs something, so they get one of their connections, Person B, to call in a favour with Person C, who can actually influence the outcome.

Greeting people

The Chinese normally greet each other with a nod. They do usually shake hands with Westerners, but remember this is not their normal way of greeting people. Don’t judge someone if their handshake is not firm or they don’t make eye contact.

Names are very important to the Chinese and you need to establish how to address someone during your first meeting.

Chinese surnames come before the given name, eg surname firstnames. However, at first you are likely to address your Chinese business partners using their surname, followed by their title or designation, such as in the following examples:

• Liu Xiansheng (Mr Liu)
• Zhang Xiaojie (Miss Zhang)
• Wang Zong (Director Wang)
• Li Jingli (Manager Li)

Paying respect to senior leaders is very important, so addressing people by their designation, as in the last two examples above, is common and often important.

Giving Face

Face is an important concept in China. Giving face means to show the proper respect to someone. Loss of face occurs when someone is not shown the appropriate respect or when they are embarrassed.

It’s very important to avoid embarrassing someone. If they have made a mistake or if their negotiating position becomes untenable, make sure that they have an option they can take which lets them ‘save face’ or avoid embarrassment. Do not make them admit to their mistake or to back down from their position.

The ‘rules’ around the appropriate level of respect required can be quite complicated. For example, how expensive should a gift be for a prospective business partner? This may be different in different circumstances.

It’s easier to understand face from a comparative point of view: giving the most respect to the most senior person. For example, if giving gifts, make sure that senior managers receive better gifts than those less senior to them.

Although paying respect occurs in the West, there is far more emphasis placed on this in China. For example, on meeting the CEO of a Western company, it would often be acceptable to address them by their given name. This would result in a loss of face for a Chinese CEO, who would expect to be addressed by his surname and designation, as outlined above, as a mark of respect.

Business cards

Exchanging business cards has become a ritual in China.

Business cards are normally exchanged at the beginning of business meetings.

Two hands are used when exchanging cards, both when giving and receiving. The card should be facing the person receiving it. When you receive a card, you should take some time to examine it, as this shows respect for the giver.

Seniority is very important in China, so you must give your name card to the most senior person first, then hand them out in order of seniority. Failure to do this will cause a loss of face for any senior people who are bypassed in their normal order.

Have a plentiful supply of cards as you’ll probably give out many more than you expect.

Gifts

Giving gifts is often a part of doing business in China and is an important part of building relationships. However, it can be tricky to buy appropriate gifts.

Gifts are often measured by their value. The more expensive the gift, the more face given to the receiver and the greater the benefits to the business relationship. Cheaper gifts, even those with novelty value, are not likely to be well received, although the receiver is unlikely to give any indication when receiving it.

However, there is increasing focus on corruption and bribery in China, so the value of gifts should not be unreasonably high, in case it causes questions around the motives for the gift.

Also note that as mentioned above, senior managers should be given better gifts than those less senior to them. As with business cards, gifts should be exchanged using two hands.

There are some things to avoid when giving gifts:

• plain black or white wrapping paper, as these are the colours of mourning
• clocks, a handkerchiefs, umbrellas, white flowers, as these can signify death
• sharp objects, such as knives, which signifies the cutting of a relationship

Common courtesy

You should follow normal conventions for common courtesy:

• Don’t be late for meetings, especially if you’re the host
• Don’t interrupt people when they are speaking
• Don’t put people on the spot

Speaking

Most Chinese businessmen know some English, but they are unlikely to be fluent, so speak slowly, use simple language and short sentences if possible.

If you can, learn a few words of Chinese. As well as being a good ice-breaker, it shows the Chinese party that you respect them and their culture. They are likely to appreciate the effort.

It’s a good idea to have an interpreter if you can. Ideally this should be someone you can trust, who understands what you are trying to achieve and who can also help you negotiate cultural differences and the subtleties of doing business in China. However, you should talk directly to the host rather than the interpreter.

There are cultural differences. The Chinese representative may pause to consider things properly before speaking, resulting in gaps in the conversation. They may also not give an immediate reaction to what you are saying, but rather consolidate their thoughts before responding. Be patient.

Modesty and compliments

Modesty is considered a virtue in China. People don’t like others who show off or boast about things – this is considered to be rude. Conversely, putting yourself down actually increases your standing in Chinese people’s eyes.

Expect Chinese people to pay you compliments, but be modest and deny them. Make sure you pay plenty of compliments in return.

Saying No

You should never say “no” to a request directly. To do so would result in a loss of face for the other party. Instead, try to find an indirect way to say it, or to defer the decision to another time, such as “I will have to look into that” or “we can probably do that sometime soon”. Avoidance is a key technique in negotiations involving the Chinese.

Keep in mind that if the other party is telling you they need to look into something or are vague on when something may happen, they may actually be saying no to you. There are many stories of Western companies being told something will happen soon, without it ever materialising. This may have been the Chinese party trying to spare their feelings by redirecting the topic rather than give them a straight “no”.

Of course, if they say they need to look into something or that something will happen soon, they may actually mean that – there is no way to tell!

Saying Yes

Similarly, the Chinese representatives may say “yes” when they don’t mean it. It may be they are showing that they are listening or that they understand what you are saying. It may even be that they don’t want you to lose face by disagreeing with you publicly. Just because they are saying yes does not mean that they are agreeing to your terms.

Small talk

You will find that people don’t want to rush straight into negotiations. They will want to get to know you first. You will need to make small talk with them.

It’s best not to discuss politics or religion, as you may offend someone. Similarly, it is best to avoid telling jokes as humour doesn’t translate well and you are likely to just confuse people.

It’s better to discuss neutral topics such as what you should see while you are in China, what you should eat, or sport – the NBA and soccer are popular.

You may also find that people have questions for you. Don’t be surprised if they are very direct and ask your relationship status, if you have children, etc.

Business dinners

As mentioned above, business is often more about relationships than it is about numbers in a business case.

As a result, doing business in China almost always involves lunch and/or dinner at a restaurant. It is said that more business is done over the dining table than over than over the boardroom table.

The restaurant will normally be on the expensive end of the scale (for China) and you will often eat in a private room. Seating arrangements are important, so defer to the Chinese party when deciding where to sit.

There will normally be many dishes, which are shared by all. It is polite to try every dish. You should always leave something on your plate at the end, to indicate that you have eaten your fill. Sometimes your host may serve food into your bowl and it can be a good move to do the same for your host if you can do so comfortably.

The host (whoever arranged the dinner, which may be you) normally pays, although it can be good to make a token attempt to pay. Fighting to pay shows your generosity.

Inevitably, dinner will involve drinking with your hosts.

Drinking

There will almost certainly be alcohol at a business lunch or dinner.

This is often baijiu, Chinese wine, which is stronger than Western spirits. It can have an alcohol concentration level of up to 80%! Beer is relatively common and you sometimes encounter red wine, but toasting will normally be done using baijiu.

Drinking is done through toasts, where the host say ganbei. This literally means ‘dry glass’ and you are expected to finish the glass, which is normally the size of 3 to 4 shot glasses. Be careful! It is easy to be ‘toasted’ into submission.

It is often seen as rude to not drink with your hosts. However, it is better to not drink at all, than to drink only a little then stop.

If you say you can only drink a little, this will be taken as modesty, and they will assume that you really can drink a lot. If you start drinking, then stop after a few drinks, this will be considered to be very rude. Reasons which would be valid in the West, such as having to work tomorrow, are not acceptable.

The best solution is to say that you cannot drink (wo bu hui he). Alternatively, you can bring a partner who can drink on your behalf.

Smoking

Smoking is very common in China and it is a ritual for men to share a smoke after a meal. You should let them smoke if they want to. Refusing to participate is less rude than refusing a drink, just say wo bu hui chou (I can’t smoke).

The post Doing Business In China – Business Etiquette appeared first on Jobs In China.

After 4 months of blogging, I had my first enforced break and have been away from my computer for 5 days. I didn’t really miss it much – a few pangs now and then, some minor guilt about people expecting replies to comments, but mostly I just really enjoyed being with my family.

In my last post, I said I wanted to get back to my stated topic, web development. However, before I do so, I am going to take the opportunity to write about our holiday and Chinese hospitality.

For those of you who don’t know, I live in China. There’s a lot I’d like to write about China, so I may come back to this topic in future. I may start a separate blog for my China writings, but for now I’ll include them here.

Chinese National Day Golden Week

October 1st is Chinese National Day and marks the start of a Golden Week holiday. We normally just stay at home during Golden Week holidays because travelling is a nightmare.

It is estimated that 120 million people travelled during this holiday. Trying to book flights / trains / hotels etc is difficult. If you’re successful, you’re in for an uncomfortable experience – people will be crammed into every available space. To top it off, the prices are two to three times higher than normal.

It’s not just travelling that’s a problem. Most of China’s 1.3 billion people are on holiday, so the shops / streets / tourist attractions are jam-packed with people. And I mean jam-packed. All in all, it’s normally better to relax at home and leave travel and tourism for a quieter period.

This holiday we decided to venture out and accept the invitation of a good friend. Fortunately, we weren’t travelling by public transport. We were travelling by private car and enjoying some famous Chinese hospitality.

Chinese Hospitality

Our friend invited us to spend the holiday with his family. When you receive an invitation such as this, you’ll learn that Chinese hospitality is fantastic, although at times it can be overbearing for Westerners.

They made us feel as though we were part of the family, provided us with accommodation and food, and tried to keep us entertained. One night they even gave up their own bed for us. Our friend’s family is quite well off, but I’ve found this kind of hospitality throughout China, regardless of wealth.

So what did we do? Mostly we just relaxed with his family and ate (more on that below). We also went on several outings, including a day in Tianjin.

One night we stayed in the Zhengan Palace Hotel in Grand Epoch City, which is a huge luxury resort. It is truly epic in scale and combines a modern facility with classic Chinese architecture. There’s a golf course and a variety of other sports and activities. Luxury resorts are not really my scene, but it was well worth the look.

For trivia buffs and soccer fans, Real Madrid stayed here in 2005. Michael Owen, David Beckham and Zinedine Zidane feature in the hotel’s pamphlet, in that order. We also saw a German camera crew setting up to shoot a movie, but I have no idea what it’s called.

Banquets, Banquets, Banquets

Everyday, for lunch and dinner, there was a banquet. The food was delicious! If you’ve never tried real Chinese food, I can assure you it is far superior to the food you get in Chinese restaurants in the West. For those not familiar with Chinese dining, each person does not have an individual meal. Instead, many dishes are placed in the centre of the table and you help yourself to a little of everything.

There is a strong drinking culture amongst the men, with toasting throughout the meal. Normally the drink is baijiu (a lethal spirit), although red wine or beer may be used instead. Often the toaster will say ganbei, which literally means dry glass. For some reason, most Chinese think Cheers means the same thing. Either way, you’re expected to drain your glass.

I’ve often heard people complaining about having to drink too much or eat dishes they didn’t like. I fell into this trap myself early on during my time in China. I’ve since learned it’s fine to say no, or that you don’t like something.

With food, the host may pressure you a little more (it’s considered polite for the host to offer), but they will normally accept this. However, there are right ways and wrong ways to say no. Sometimes, it is better to say yes, then just not eat it. Actually saying no can lead to a loss of face for your host. You may find that it’s harder to get the host to accept no when it comes to drinking, as it is considered a courtesy for the host to get you to drink.

For a Westerner being pressured to do something you don’t want to do can be very annoying. We expect that if we say we don’t like something, the host will respect our wishes and not raise it again. At times it takes all my patience to remember that I’m dealing with a different culture here and that the reason they keep asking is that they are being courteous by their standards. If they don’t ask, they don’t care about me.

I’ve lived in China for 3 years in total, but I’m still learning how to deal with this. I think I was a little rude to our hosts at times, but hopefully I made up for it with the arm wrestling competition!

The Final Word

We had a great holiday and enjoyed some great Chinese hospitality. Now, its back to everyday life… If you have had any experience with Chinese hospitality I’d like to hear about your experiences.

The post Chinese Hospitality appeared first on Jobs In China.

Although I originally bought the jobsinchina.com domain to build a job listing site, for various reasons that plan was abandoned. The site launched as blog in January 2008, when I was living in China and wanted to write about my experiences living there.

By November 2009, I’d hooked up with NewChinaCareer and they provided job listings on this site, right through to November 2010, when their site disappeared without warning.

Since November 2010, there haven’t been any new jobs listed on Jobs In China, a situation I wanted to rectify. I therefore went ahead and created the ability for jobs to be listed directly on the site, no third parties needed.

I have some big plans for the functionality, using the latest features of WordPress – but first things first. I need to get employers to start posting jobs here. I have a steady stream of people looking for jobs, but not many posting jobs (actually none at the time of writing!).

So over the next few weeks, I hope to get in touch with some employers and get them to start using the site, so that it can finally become what I wanted it to be when I registered the domain all the way back in 2004: A place to put employers and job seekers in touch.

The post Job Listings Now Live appeared first on Jobs In China.

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For the first 18 or so episodes, I’ve agreed with everything they’ve said. Well not every single thing – there have been moments when I’ve said "Hang on, what about … ?" to my mp3 player. In each case however, one of the hosts subsequently chipped in and raised my point. As a result, I’ve developed a healthy respect for both the hosts and the show.

With the recent episode discussing China Apologists (or Panda Huggers), I found myself not quite agreeing with the host for the first time – so here are my thoughts on the issue. The discussion centered around an article written by Shaun Rein and ‘responses’ on The Peking Duck and A Modern Lei Feng. I’m not going to rehash these articles, but they form the background to this rather rambling post on the topic.

Definition Of A China Apologist

First, what is a China Apologist? Where is the line that, once crossed, sees someone who is Pro China become a China Apologist?

The podcast hosts discussed a variety of indicators, but they didn’t agree on an exact definition. What they did agree is that it’s a complex and subjective issue – one person’s definition can be very different from another’s.

Still, from the discussion around the criteria, I made a frightening discovery – I suspect many would consider me a China Apologist!

Help I Think I’m An China Apologist!

Let me present the evidence against me.

First, check out my Speilberg Wrong To Withdraw From Beijing Olympics post. I mention Guantanamo bay amongst other things, which is one of the markers laid down by Kaiser. I do put in the disclaimer "There’s no doubt that China does have issues – some big ones", but then ruin it with "but so does every country".

Second, I’ve been known to defend the Chinese government in conversation, saying things like "You’ve got to remember that they are governing a country with 1.3 billion people, a huge gap between rich and poor, a raft of social issues, local government that does it’s own thing, etc – it’s not easy to maintain stability". I do put the standard disclaimer that the country has some huge issues, but I don’t push it – there’s enough written about the huge issues elsewhere.

Finally, I failed the Google Test. My reaction wasn’t "Yay Google". It was "Way to go Google, now you’ve forced China to push back even if they don’t want to". I don’t quite see how anyone who understands China could expect Google to actually achieve anything by their move.

Oh shit, now I’m being condescending – that seals it, I’m a Panda Hugger. But you know what, if that’s the case, then I’m not ashamed of it! Or to borrow a line from Jeremy Goldkorn: "Fuck you all"!

Now that I’ve destroyed the PG rating of my site, I’m going to explain why I think a dash of Apologism isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

First, A Disclaimer

The podcast hosts are all well known in China circles. I’m not well known or influential, nor do I know others who are. While there’s probably a reasonable overlap in our experiences of China, for the most part my experiences were in a different sphere:

• I wasn’t really part of an expat community.
• I didn’t live in one of the major cities (although I was only a couple of hours away, that seems to be a big difference).
• I wasn’t involved in the news or media industries as many of the podcast hosts are, I was teaching (English and ICT).
• I’m married to a Chinese national and we have kids, which greatly affected my experiences in China.

This article is based on my experience in China. I accept that parts it may not match with others’ experience of China.

Also, importantly, I’m a blogger, not a journalist. I make the distinction, although there is a real blurring of the lines these days. I have different standards to uphold: It means I can get away with making generalizations and presenting opinion, rather than focusing on the factual details.

And, well, okay, maybe I more than just hugged the Panda. I’m not just defending China, I’m protecting my kids. I don’t want to have to explain to them why the media in their father’s homeland is so critical of their mother’s homeland. I want there to be an increase in understanding of China by the West, so that my kids will have an easier life.

Shaun Rein’s Response

Shaun gave an audio postcard in the podcast, defending his position and arguing that he’s not a China Apologist. I’m not going to go over his defence in detail, but it’s worth a quick mention. I don’t agree with everything Shaun said, especially the detail. For example, I can’t agree with his statement on real poverty having been eradicated.

I know when I first came to China, I was struck by how many of the people I met, although genuinely poor, were actually happier than us materialistic Westerners. And although living in squalid conditions, they all seemed to have enough food.

However, the illusion of people being happy in poverty disappears when you know people who can’t get the medical treatment they need because they can’t afford it. How many people die because they can’t afford basic medical treatment? Whether that’s a problem with the medical system rather than real poverty isn’t something I’m interested in arguing about – if that’s happening, then there’s a problem.

Anyway, although I don’t agree with the details of Shaun’s defense, I do agree with the broader issues that he outlines:

• Credit to the government where it’s due
• The big stick won’t lead to reform
• Things are slowly improving

I believe these are all true, but I’m going to briefly explore the second of these, as it’s the one that most encourages my Apologist tendencies.

The Big Stick

Let me digress for a moment:

Back in 2002, when I’d only been in China for several months, a new foreign teacher arrived at our school in Guangdong. We took him down to one of our favourite restaurants for dinner. While we were eating, some Chinese men were smoking at the table next to us. Our new companion leant across, tapped one of the men on the shoulder and said something like "Would you mind not smoking. Don’t you know it can kill you?". He said this in English. The reaction from the Chinese men? They looked at him briefly, then ignored him and continued smoking.

After a couple of minutes, our companion tapped the man on the shoulder again and berated him again. Did it work? No, he was ignored even harder. Yes, I do mean ignored even harder. The men weren’t sure what to make of him, but they sure weren’t going to do anything that even acknowledged him.

So what does this have to do with the current discussion on Apologists?

For those of you who want to tap China on the shoulder and tell them to stop it, do you really think it’s going to work? If so, do you understand China at all?

Oops, I’m generalizing and being condescending again. Actually, I accept that the people on the podcast know many aspects of China better than me – but come on, I mean when has this approach ever really worked in China? Okay, it does work occasionally, but:

• not on really important issues;
• if it does work, you normally pay for it later; and
• it’s just not the best way to get things done in China.

Not to mention that I find it incredibly rude. When I see this behaviour (and I see it all the time towards China), then I feel an urge to jump in and help the person, or in this case country, that’s under attack, even if I don’t agree with that they’re doing.

I understand people’s desires to make China more accountable, to help it improve, but I don’t think shouting at them is going to change anything – and it may be actually be detrimental in many cases.

There are better ways to deal with China: to work quietly behind the scenes, show them the benefits of change, etc. Okay, I’m aware that these are generalizations and I’m not in a position to actually do this – whereas I am in a position to shout at them, but I genuinely don’t think that’s going to help at all.

The Main Point: Who Are You Talking To?

So we’re nearing my main point. Forget all my other arguments if you like. This is the big one, the one I wanted to hear discussed on the podcast:

Who is your audience? Who are you talking to?

Let’s take Forbes, which is who Shaun Rein writes for. I obviously don’t have access to the web analytics data for Shaun’s articles, but I would suspect that the number of readers is ordered something like this:

1. People in North America = by far the largest group
2. People in other English speaking countries (UK, Australia, NZ)
3. People in non English speaking countries in Europe
4. People in China:
   • The expat community (by far the largest sub group)
   • The Chinese people

Oh, I’m sure that the Chinese government monitors what the Western media says and will pick up on articles criticising them. But as I mentioned before, I don’t think that’s going to help much.

And yes, I’m sure that some of the Chinese people will read these articles and it may help them form their own opinion. But I’m not convinced that the percentage of Chinese people reading it will be enough to facilitate change.

But whether they are listening or not is not the point. If you’re writing for either the Chinese government or the mainstream Chinese people, you are ignoring your main audience: average Westerners.

Writing For The Average Westerner

Have you ever travelled back home and overheard someone say something totally incorrect about China? How did you feel? Did you correct them or bite your tongue? I bet everyone on the Podcast, indeed every foreigner who’s lived in China, has gone through that at some point. I bet most would like to change the such points of view and spread understanding of China.

So what’s the best way educate the average Westerner about the real China? Through the media – including news sites and blogs.

What sort of opinion of China is the average person going to get if it’s all negative, beating China with a stick? Probably not far from where we are now. Mainstream views in the West are often one sided. For example, go to Yahoo! Answers and do a search for "China job". At the time of writing many of the entries were about people worried about American jobs being lost to China:

I’m not commenting on this particular topic, nor am I saying that these concerns aren’t valid, just demonstrating that the average person in the West has concerns about China: in this case about American jobs being lost to China. What I am saying is that it’s important that people in the West have a balanced understanding of China.

Right now, many people are predisposed to believe the negative about China. That’s mostly what they hear. They don’t have the understanding of China that first hand experience gives. They can only go by what they read and hear. They deserve access to information about the positive side of China.

It’s not the end of the world if people occasionally cross the line in an attempt to present the other side of the argument. It’s not as though people aren’t constantly crossing the line in the other direction all the time. If that’s all people see, then negative views of China will remain in the ascendance.

I know this won’t go down well with people who are frustrated with China and who want to change it. I know it won’t go down well with those who have journalistic integrity to maintain. But remember, you’re not just speaking to China, you’re speaking to the world. Don’t hold back with criticism of China where it’s deserved (as it so often is), but give China some love too where it’s merited, even if it means you cross that line from time to time.

If your main audience is the West, don’t waste time swinging an ineffective big stick that’s not really helping promote change, just reinforcing the divide between China and West (and making you feel good). Put the big stick away and use your influence to try to bring the two cultures closer.

If you can’t do that, then at least don’t jump all over someone who’s trying.

Final Thoughts

So yeah, I hugged the Panda and I’ll keep on hugging it. What’s more, I think more people should hug it as well. Promoting the other side of the argument, increasing understanding – these can’t be bad things.

So what if we slip over the line into being a China Apologist from time to time? That’s not any worse than being too hard on China and presenting a distorted view of China to people in the West, which just permeates misunderstanding between countries.

I’m sure many will think my reasoning is flawed or I’ve missed the point. If so, let me know in the comments!

The post Hugging the Panda appeared first on Jobs In China.

Foreign Executives have been working in China and Asia for decades. Originally on expatriate contracts, a high number of them have now decided to stay in China. This is either done by renewing their contract, making the transition over to another company or by using their experience and expertise in an Interim role.

The use of Interim Managers is a common business tool in Europe and the USA, but is a fairly new solution in China. There are many different situations where businesses decide to use Interim Managers. China is currently witnessing a sustained period of business restructuring, mergers & acquisitions and rationalisation. This is where experience really does count.

Interim Management Solutions, based in Shanghai, is the leading provider of Interim Management services in China. With the largest database of foreign professionals, they place Interim executives in a variety of different industries all over Asia; from Luxury goods and Retail to machine manufacturing. They are part of the J.M Gemini group; one of the longest running and most successful recruitment agencies in Asia. Business Development Executive, Christopher Hodgson comments:

The current economy in China demands experience. Many of our Interim Managers have over 10 years experience within Multi-national companies. We are seeing a dramatic increase in the demand for highly experienced foreign executives for temporary assignments.

Christopher continues

The Managers and executives from Interim Management Solutions have lived through and managed growth, efficiency drives, cost savings and large scale change. Because Interim Managers are highly qualified experts with a proven track record and are available on short notice, the demand for such people in Multi-nationals are enormous.

A typical assignment can last from six months to over two years. An example of this kind of assignment is Interim Manager – John Moor. John is a British citizen and a highly experienced IT Professional, providing IT Project Direction and Management, with over 15 years experience in the IT field of which 3 years working in China (mainly Beijing & Shanghai). He has vast experience with Microsoft Systems and has even managed the relocation of an entire IT division to a new facility in the UK.

His current assignment for Interim Management Solutions is as Director of Information Technology for a textile company based in Nanjing, Jiangsu province. He is now in the 11th month of a 12 month contract where his main KPI was to specify and deliver a new ERP system.

John’s hands-on experience has been invaluable in bringing the company’s IT infrastructure up to the required standards necessary prior to rolling out a successful ERP platform. Being able to adapt and provide solutions not in the original assignment are all part of the skill set of the Interim Manager

Interim Managers are available in a variety of Industries. Dealing with both Foreign and local executives, Interim Management Solutions currently holds the largest database of Interim Managers in China.

For more details visit www.jmgemini.com/ims

Or send your enquiry to ims@jmgemini.com or call (86-21) 6427 9100

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As you can see in the photo, the seats are entirely made out of metal (stainless steel from memory), rather than traditional seats with padding.

It was a little uncomfortable to sit on, although given this was in the tropics, the seats were probably cooler than padded seats – it gets pretty damn hot there. Having said that, I’m sure the primary motivation behind the metal seats was more to do with the ease of cleaning.

I’ve been on a lot of buses in China and the vast majority have padded seats very similar to what we have in the West. I’ve only ever seen these buses with metal seats in Guangdong.

You can also notice that in the front half of the bus there’s only one row of seats in each side of the bus and plenty of room to stand. Buses in China can get pretty crowded – although there weren’t many people aboard on the day of the photo.

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I was really taken with the countdown display on the traffic lights, showing how many seconds were left before the lights went green. How simple, yet elegant. Why hadn’t I seen this before?

It lets you know exactly how long you have to wait. No sitting there on tenterhooks, waiting for that green light – you can relax a little, which should improve your concentration when you’re actually driving. No being caught out by the light suddenly changing to green – you know exactly when it’s going to happen.

There’s an added benefit: everyone knows how much time they have and, this being China, you get to see all sorts of interesting behavior: people rearranging their load, sending a text message and goodness knows what else.

Of course, this only works with timed traffic lights. Here in Brisbane, the lights have had sensors for 15 years or so: the time a red light shows is variable, so this wouldn’t work. Still, I lived in Denver a year or so before I moved to China and they had a lot of timed traffic lights but no display.

I thought this quite ingenious of the Chinese. Have you seen any other ingenious ‘inventions’ in China?

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This photo by Keemz of a Christmas tree in Beijing got me thinking about past Christmases in China:

I guess I should say that I’m happy to spend Christmas here in Australia, with my family – and I am – but part of me will miss the experience of spending Christmas in China:

• The camaraderie with other foreign teachers as we celebrate a Western festival in a non Western country and find ways of making it ‘like home’
• The excitement of my students, which hardened Western high school / university students don’t want to match
• The bustle of the shops on Christmas Eve
• The fire works that will go off on Christmas Eve
• The general surrealness of Christmas in China

Of course, I won’t miss:

• The absence of family
• The fact that most people work on Christmas Day (even if I don’t have to)
• That Christmas Day is a non event compared to Christmas Eve
• That there’s no such thing as Boxing Day (although the same goes for the US)

I hope you all have a great Christmas wherever you are.

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When I first went to China in 2002, to a smallish city in Guangdong, it was almost impossible to get.

Having searched the city, with no luck, I tried asking for it in the Dynasty Hotel, which was to become our favourite watering hole. The waitress just couldn’t understand me, even with the help of my phrasebook and my miming.

After about 15 minutes of this, on and off, something went click in her mind and she brought me an ice cold can (yes it was cold!), just like the one in the picture and I was a very happy man! Here is a rather blurry photo of a it:

EDIT 4 July 2012: Note that my can is quite bit older than cogdogblog’s one. This all happened way back in 2002, when Diet Coke was almost impossible to get in China. It’s much more common these days.

Actually it was called Coke Light, not Diet Coke, which is the name which was used in Hong Kong for some reason. I’m not sure what it’s called in China these days. Obviously, it has a Chinese name, which you can see in the picture, but if you turn the can around, the other side will be in English.

The reason I took the photo wasn’t for posterity or to put it on the Internet years later. It was to keep on my camera, so I could show it to people at other restaurants / bars / shops and hopefully get a can of Diet Coke as a result.

The first time I tried to use the photo to get a can of Diet Coke was at a Buddhist restaurant at a tourist destination / scenic spot. I took out my camera, found the photo and showed it to the waitress. Her eyes lit up. She said something like “we have, we have” and went racing out the back.

She was back minutes later with an icy cold can of … Coke. Not Diet Coke. Coke.. Sigh.

Something was obviously lost in translation. Actually, I think at that time Diet Coke was so rare that the vast majority of people in China didn’t even know it existed. When presented with the photo, the waitress could tell it was a Coke product, but couldn’t differentiate between Coke and Diet Coke.

At the time, I wasn’t into Coke at all, I really only wanted Diet Coke, so this was major disappointment. The irony is that I no longer drink Diet Coke. I’m a Coke man again!

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