The Life of an Expat Working in Beijing
Went from studying in Taipei back to Los Angeles for a month. Worked a couple of weeks in Orange County. Lived with my parents then my grandparents then alone in an apartment. Celebrated my birthday. Aaaand just like that, it was time to head back to Asia - this time, to Beijing, and this time, for work. Some days, I found a new appreciation for life. Some days, I wanted to rip my hair out. It’s a daily adventure in probably the most ruthless city in the world, trust me.
I hope the Chinese government doesn’t end up reading this because both my working and living situation slightly bent the rules. I stayed in an AirBnB, which was honestly great. Finding the place was a bitch because everything looks the same and signage is not only written in Chinese (which granted, I can read, but only to a certain extent), but is incredibly unhelpful. I actually ended up trying to get into an apartment that wasn’t mine. After roaming around for nearly an hour and a failed home break in, I was able to figure out where I needed to go. Mind you, I couldn’t ask the police or security guards for help - I, being a foreigner, was not allowed to stay at an AirBnB. But alas, for over a month, I stayed in a cute albeit tiny studio apartment without any issues.
The reason I decided to live in an AirBnB was simply a matter of convenience. While it was more expensive than renting an apartment for a month or two, the process for renting an apartment would require far more paperwork that I was not ready to deal with. Instead, I just kept a low profile and had no issues.
If you try and get on the subway between 7:30 and 9:00, you’re fucked. Plain and simple. My first day, I got to the subway at 7:35, and was met with a line to get into the station, followed by a line to get through security (which is a thing at Beijing subway stations), followed again by a line to get into the actual subway car. It fucking sucked. So much. So from that day on, I woke up at 6:30, left the apartment by 6:45ish, grabbed an egg pancake burrito thing (dan bing), was on the subway by 7:00, got to my station by 7:30, and would spend an hour or so at the Starbucks between the subway and my office, then get to the office before my boss.
Working culture in Beijing is exactly what I thought it would be. It’s INTENSE. These guys absolutely grind. I’m talking working-until-2-am-on-a-Friday-being-a-normal-thing type of grind. I’m talking about happy hour being a once a month event in the office where everyone drinks one beer then goes BACK to work. Literally, I remember standing there, with my third beer in my hand, feeling bad that I was about to go home at 6:30 on a Friday afternoon.
Things simply happen faster. I worked at Gensler, which is the largest architecture firm in the world. It’s constant. A job comes in, and a month later, it’s out the door and three more have popped up. The rate at which projects come and go is absurd - and I loved it. America has so many regulations and middle men. China is more direct. America is safer, but as a young, energetic architect, China is far more engaging. Just design the buildings safe enough and pretty enough, and you’ll have no issues.
Funny enough, my boss was a Spanish guy. Loved him. But the irony in it all was quite humorous. There I was, day one of internship, practicing my Chinese before meeting my boss, and next thing I knew, we’re cracking jokes in Spanish. He was the only one in the office who spoke Spanish, which aside from one man from France, was entirely Chinese. The younger people all spoke English just fine, but the older people in the office, which accounts for maybe 25% of the staff, would just resort to speaking to me in Chinese (my Chinese was better than their English).
The other interns were nice guys for sure, but I never felt really connected to them. Connection in Asia is a tough thing to achieve in general. People work their ass off then do their own thing - they spend time with their families, girlfriends, wives, etc. So yeah, I got lonely quite often. It’s an intimidating city. Beijing is huge in every definition of the word, and it can be quite heavy at times. The crowds can be just as suffocating as the air, and while on the whole, people are friendly, it isn’t necessarily a welcoming type of friendliness you experience in America or Italy. I always felt safe, but never felt like I was a part of the city. Certain moments here and there would brighten my day when a local would be shocked by my Chinese and we would have a quick conversation, or when I played soccer with my Spanish boss and his friends, or met a guy while wearing a USC shirt who goes to USC himself. But on the whole, being alone in Beijing was a challenge, for sure.
Beijing, and China in general, is a land of incredible juxtaposition, where you see incredible poverty and history sit side by side with fantastic wealth and modernity. It’s a cultural shock that I am so grateful to have experienced and who knows, maybe I will again. Although this time, hopefully with some more friends.