How
times have changed!
It
wasn’t so long ago that life in China was a harsh place to live and probably as
colourful as the smog that blankets its major cities but with the opening up of
the economy and increasing wealth of the country’s middle class the changes
have been massive.
Now
China is the biggest consumer of Louis Vuitton and by 2020 and according to a
CLSA report (a brokerage and investment firm) this will rise to 19%.
So
I was quite excited my Internship placement this week with an Importer and
Distributor of Spanish food and wine. While the company doesn’t have the same
profile as Louis Vuitton or Burberry, it aims to satisfy China’s appetite for
high end goods and food/wine from overseas.
All
week I have been reviewing and editing a lot of documents and doing market
research. I’ve especially enjoyed the editing and making the documents sound a
little more “Western” sounding. The market research showed me how keen China is
to trade with the rest of the world and it been interesting to find out more
about cosmopolitan Shanghai as well as how much the Chinese want
high quality items from The West, especially food and wine.
But
what I’ve found really interesting (among many other things) about working in
China is that what people wear to work isn’t as formal as I thought it would
be. People wear jeans, ugg boots and hoodies but none of the suits that would
be common in Australia and the UK. But as I’m in the shop I get to dress up, which I don't mind at all.
But
outside of work there had been Karaoke night which was fun. The weekend allowed
me to visit the Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art as well as visit to couple
of the sights of Shanghai and few bars. On Sunday afternoon we went to see a
movie because a trip to China wouldn’t be complete without seeing a Jakki Chan movie,
would it?
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| The Bund |
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