My Weekender is a feature brought over from Shanghai where people doing cool and creative things tell us how they spend their weekends in the city. Hester is a London based theatre maker and producer. She is an Associate Artist at an international physical theatre company and is currently on a project to introduce immersive theatre to Chengdu at  Marphy’s Play House. New to Chengdu, Hester is now dealing with the challenges of working in a Chinese creative environment – and this is how she’ll spend her weekend in the ‘Du.

I came to Chengdu to join our partner Marphy’s Play House. This is the first institution of drama and education in the South West of China and they are doing a marvelous job pioneering a new approach to education in China.

I had never been to China before and was not sure what to expect. Although I’ve been pleasantly surprised about how easy I’ve settled in, that doesn’t mean life and work hasn’t gone without its challenges! 

The difficulties of working in the Arts

• Not only do rehearsals and meetings take twice as long, but cultural reference points are so different. It can take both the Chinese and English speakers much time and effort convey a specific meaning or feeling.
• Actor training is very different here. In the west, we have drawn a lot of inspiration from the east in terms of performance making. Many warm ups I use are taken directly from meditation and yoga practices. But in China they are very keen on Stanislavski, a Russian practitioner from the early 1900’s, who is famous for naturalism (see all Chinese dramas).
• Immersive theatre is so new here, as is education through drama, so it has been challenging for the Play House as a whole to convey these concepts to local people.

Friday

Our weekends are on Mondays and Tuesday’s so my Friday – Sunday’s are pretty busy! I have no classes on a Friday so I am either preparing for the weekend classes, or rehearsing for our performance. For this weekends performance, we have flown over a performer from Malaysia and I am also working with a fantastic Chinese actress.

The Forest – this weekends theatre experience is inspired by A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It gives children the power to alter the reality of humans and change their ordinary life into one full of imagination and intrigue. The audience take on the role of the fairies and, led by Puck, add magic to the human world. After 30 minutes of performance, the children have the opportunity to participate in the experience with their parents. Playfully they can create their own magic power and determine their parents actions. It’s something quite new for Chengdu.  

I expect I’ll be pretty knackered by the evening, but I always try to head down town on Friday night for a few beers with some friends, usually at Commune or The Beer Nest. I’ve been lucky to find some cool women in Chengdu that also desperately deserve a drink by Friday night.

Saturday

Although this weekend I’ll be busy with the performance, on Saturday morning, I usually I prepare for my class of lively 4-5 year olds with plenty of coffee and think ahead to my afternoon class of 9-11 year olds. For me most interesting class so far has been a session on ‘power and status’. 

I asked the group to think of a character with high status and one student turned to me and said “but we are all equal, we all have the same status”. I had never thought about the difference in teaching this material in a country with a different political system – compared to the (supposed) democracy back home! My older group are now researching stories from various minority groups in China to use as a starting point for their own performance.

By the evening I still have that Saturday feeling even though I’m not on my weekend yet and head out for a meal with friends. My recent favourite is the vegetarian hot pot restaurant near Haufu Avenue station!

Sunday

By Sunday my week is starting to wind down, with only one class. I will Skype with my boss back in London who offers advice and support on the challenges ahead. Then in the evening I crack open a beer, put my feet up and relax with some more work from London like sorting my taxes!

Find out what other interesting people are doing in Chengdu Here…

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After studying Finance and Economics, Dutch born Twan left the banking world behind to become a part of Chengdu’s exciting and flourishing expat community. Emerging onto the bar scene as a co-founder of TAG club, Twan now divides his time between overseeing operations at studio Berlin Haus and organising events with Family Business. Founded in September of this year, Berlin Haus is one of the most exciting new hangouts to emerge out of 2016. It is also nominated for ‘Best Newcomer’ in this year’s Chengdu Expat awards.

Friday

Friday morning for me means waking up after last night’s Game Night. Every Thursday from 9PM till late, the Chengdu Gaming Federation organizes a night at our studio, Berlin Haus (‘the Haus’). It feels as if a tiny version of the American Dojo comes back to life on Thursdays. The fact that Hise is one of the main people behind the Haus is of course contributing to that quite a lot.

I spend most of my Friday at Berlin Haus. During the day, it is a place where people work, study, have a fresh meal, and drink a coffee or tea. In the evening, the Haus transforms to a more social place where people share good stories while drinking a beer or wine. I’d say it’s one of Chengdu’s most international places, where on a daily basis you’ll see people from all corners of the world hanging out together. At 01:00 at night the Haus closes and some people will move on to other venues around town. Chengdu has a vibrant nightlife scene with something suitable for anyone.

Saturday

The cold weather recently makes it harder to get up early in the weekend, and once you open the curtains to see yet another day of grey haze, it makes you not want to start the day sometimes. Obviously, the smog is not the reason why I got attracted to Chengdu, but the lively community and interesting developments definitely are.

Chengdu has bustling weekends. For me it either means supporting other people’s initiatives, or hosting our own events. This year, we did many small club nights and a few bigger events such as Walk On Air and Dusk Till Dawn. This month (December) there are five events that we are involved in. The highlight will be the New Year’s Eve night, where we will be organizing an event spread over three locations. DJ /Producer Mike Ravelli will fly all the way to Chengdu from Holland to headline. For me, there is no such thing as a typical Saturday night, but this week’s Saturday (December 10), it’ll be a special day at Berlin Haus. Artist Marco Guie will open his photo art exhibition “Behind Chengdu” at 20:30. It also happens to be my birthday, so feel free to come by for a drink!

Sunday

Sundays are fun. I love Sundays because it really feels like closing the week down and getting recharged for the next one. You can do anything on a Sunday in Chengdu. Go take a walk along the river, have some hot pot with friends, go for a coffee at Café SCANDIVAVIA, visit the old flower town area for a super relaxing day, you know, things like that!  At night, places like Here We Go or NU Space have lots of interesting events on Sundays as well. However, to tell you the truth, on a typical Sunday, I usually get up late, and do my laundry and house cleaning! The weekend somehow always messes up my home and so it’s the perfect time to clean the whole place and start Monday with a fresh feel!

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Paul Yeandle is a Chengdu old timer and office manager for InternChina entering his fourth year here. His company, InternChina bring hundreds of students and recent graduates, from all over the world to China to give them a chance to experience Chinese business culture first hand – whilst helping provide over 80 Chengdu based businesses with an international perspective. Paul was also recently voted on to the British Chamber of Commerce Executive Committee, and at only twenty-six years old – is the youngest member in the board’s recent history. Paul first came to China in 2010 and stayed for just six weeks but, in that short time, fell in love with the country. Since then, he has rapidly worked his way up from an intern to the positions he holds today.

Paul sat down with a member of the Chengdu-Expat team to talk about his career, his views on Chengdu and that special thing it takes to make it in Chengdu before you’ve reached thirty.

What brought you to China, and Chengdu specifically? What was the pull for you?
The first time I came out to China was as part of a delegation from UK Universities to take part in a summer camp and I really fell in love with the country and people.  After working for a little bit in the UK I came back to China as a teacher for one year and, after that period, I decided that I wanted to switch paths.  So, I went back to do a Master’s degree in Chinese business.  As part of that course I had to do an internship in Chengdu so, for me, it was actually fate that brought me back to Chengdu. I was the first intern in the city and did my internship with the British Chamber of Commerce.   Whilst I was on that internship I was approached by InternChina who asked me to become their branch manager and set up and expand their business here. When we first started it was a very small office but since then we’ve moved offices, taken on more staff and done a lot more bookings.  We have a lot more people here on placement and we’ve developed the city into one of the best destinations for our overseas students, the ones who come out to China.

To the outsider, you seem to be very successful in Chengdu. Do you consider yourself successful?
No, not yet. I think that I work very hard but I set very high goals for myself.  I hope to be successful one day and I guess, relatively speaking, I have achieved quite a lot in a short amount of time, but I think I still strive to do more and I always think that there are ways for me to improve.  I am quite self critical and I always look at self improvement more than considering myself a success
What do you think are the greatest advantages and disadvantages of being a young expat living in Chengdu?
I wouldn’t say I’m an expat; I think I’m more of a ‘halfpat’ because I’m not sent here by any company.  I’m here by choice and I think that makes me a little bit different. I think that there is a growing number of these halfpats, let’s put it, moving into Chengdu.  Advantages are that I’m very young, very hungry and very motivated to work hard.  That’s not to say that expats aren’t. I’m geographically mobile and able to work long hours, as I don’t have a family or anything, so I think that’s an advantage.
The disadvantage I think would be the lack of experience. I think you learn so much in China each year. I feel more experienced than I was a year ago and certainly a lot more than I was three years ago but I definitely don’t have the same level of experience as someone who has been here for ten years.  So I think it’s a big disadvantage that I don’t know everything, of course!

There seems to be a move away from the traditional expats brought over by their companies working in Chengdu towards much younger expats (or half pats as you said) taking over.  Do you agree this is happening and, if so, why do you think this is?
I do agree it’s happening.  I think that a lot of companies want to save money and, to be honest, someone that wants to live and work in China, is going to be a cheaper hire than someone they have to relocate.  For anybody who is relocating here there is a big financial cost whereas, if you hire a young expat who is already here, and enjoying the lifestyle, then it’s going to perhaps be a little bit easier for them to adapt to the culture and adapt to the way of life here.

So of these new young people coming in, is there anyone that you will be keeping an eye on?
You should keep your eye on every single intern from InternChina!  But seriously, Karim (Ubisoft Chengdu), Brigitte (Ubisoft Chengdu), Daisy (LaoWeiHere), Loren (Crowne Plaza), David Wardle (ADI) and Chengdu-Expat’s very own Harriet Sheffer.

What other advice do you give to your interns or to other young expats who want to be successful?
Never neglect a contact.  Never think, oh this person is not important to you, or neglect to take time with your relationships.  I think a very important thing that I learnt from the very start was to invest time in people, whether it’s your staff, or the people you meet on the streets, or even the security guard in your complex. Invest your time in people and it will come back.

Work hard!  Nobody ever got anywhere by sitting at their desk and then going home at five thirty.  You have to be willing to put in the hours sometimes, but equally, take time for yourself.  You’re not going to be productive if you’re one hundred percent focused on work all the time.

The other advice I often give is to try everything and to be brave in China!  Be brave in life and go out of your comfort zone.  If it scares you it’s probably worth doing and I really believe that’s true.  There have been moments where I think ‘What am I doing?! I’m walking into a CEO’s office in central China and I can’t speak a word of Chinese to him’, but it’s important to push yourself a little bit.  Only YOU know what you can achieve.

Where do you see yourself in five years? What are your future plans?

I would like to see Intern China being the market leader in China for opportunities for young people and graduates across the world and be heading it up, or at least be a senior figure. For the next five years I want to stay in China but I have no immediate plans for now.  I’m focused on the job in hand and I don’t like to think too far ahead.

Thank you! One last, less serious question. How many steps do you do a day?

(I noticed Paul was wearing a pedometer wristband)

Would you like an average? It varies quite a lot but I can tell you. My average is 15,000!

Paul outsteps us on most days and we’re really not sure where he finds the time between managing hundreds on foreign interns and contributing to BritCham.

However, one thing did become very clear from the interview – the way Paul talks makes it obvious that he has a passion for the culture and people of China, and clearly approaches his work with an almost unrivalled energy and determination; this alone can’t be a bad model to follow for those under thirty and hungry for success in Chengdu.

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Part I: Through the Wall

One of the most challenging aspects of connected life here is the number of international websites and communication tools that are subject to blocking. People are usually accustomed to using either Apple or Google products for phones and mobile devices; those on the fence should consider that Apple devices are much better supported in China and the online app store can be reached easily. Users who are very accustomed to using a Google digital environment will have to find some way to deal with the Great Firewall. The most common solution to this problem is to pay for a VPN service that will allow you to do your computing from a virtual location in a remote area. Using a VPN usually involves installing an application on your computer or tablet and using it to log in and select servers. However, most VPNs that we checked out below can be installed on a compatible router so that all of your home network traffic can pass through. Routers that have already been flashed with DDWRT or Tomato firmware, which include native VPN protocol support, can be bought on Taobao for 50-100RMB.

VPNs are used in the real world for privacy, security and for accessing geo blocked content. The variable nature of the Wall has caused VPN provider recommendations to change quickly. We’ve used Witopia, Strongvpn and Astrill over the years. We’ve found that for VPN service, it’s pretty important to find a company that has specific experience dealing with mainland customers behind the Wall.  We’ve found useful reviews on VPNDada.com, but their tests are done on a Mac in Beijing with an 80M connection as a baseline, while our home connection is 20M and good Android support is critical. We signed up for a few VPNs and ran tests in Chengdu during the last week of July 2016, with results summarized below.

Testing Environment:

ISP: China Telecom, regular 20M subscription over fiber; China Unicom 4G phone.

Tests all run between 9am and 4pm using speedtest.net to measure ping (ms) and download (M/s). Before each test we did a non-VPN compare test on each platform: Windows 10 (3-9 ms ping and consistent 22.3-22.5 M download with no VPN); Android 4.4 (3-4 ms ping and 17.4-21.6M download with no VPN)

12VPN (Recommended)

This is a newer service that has been popping up on recommended lists. We were pretty impressed with the ease of setup and with the performance. They were one of the few VPNs with a native Android solution that worked from the interior side of the wall. The speedtest download was still around 6M/s on Android while connected to the service. The performance on Windows was among the best we tried with 10.9M/s download and a 212 ms ping using their Hong Kong server. The support was average; we like support to be a bit more technical during communication. The only downside was limited servers. They have a 14-day money back guarantee for testing. The FAQ says they do not allow file sharing.

NordVPN

NordVPN’s free trial was easy to sign up for; unfortunately, their regular Android and Windows applications do not work from behind the Wall, and we had to get some files especially from tech support to use. Their Android solution is based on going into Settings on the device and setting up a PPTP connection, which we find less than optimal. Performance on Android was similar to a free VPN and the best Windows performance was a 330 ms ping and 2.57M download. They have live chat support, which we appreciate, but the support staff didn’t have much to suggest to improve performance other than try connecting to different servers. File sharing is allowed on this service.

PureVPN

Ease of signing up for the free trial – took three tries before giving up on using Alipay but PayPal worked fine. Their Android solution is to manually configure the tablet’s settings to use an L2TP/IPSec VPN, which is better than PPTP but still a little clunky to set up. Unfortunately, the VPN was too slow to run speedtest. The best performance we got on Windows was from their Hong Kong server, with a ping of 291 ms and a 2.43 M download. Tech support was available via live chat but did not have anything to suggest about improving performance either than trying different servers, which after a bit feels like playing whack-a-mole from the mole’s point of view. PureVPN allows file sharing on selected servers.

Vypr

Vypr has no free trial but does do a money back guarantee. They were easy to sign up for and install, though their Android solution behind the wall is to manually configure a PPTP VPN. The performance was too slow to connect to speedtest, so we tried downloading a 9M game from the Google Play store to check performance; this game took 26 minutes to download. The best performance we got on Windows was a 306 ms ping and 1.11 M download. We were impressed with tech support, who were able to walk us through some command prompt troubleshooting to see where performance issues might be, but they ultimately said the performance problems were on our internet provider’s side. File sharing is allowed on Vypr.

Expressvpn

The first impression was good; the service was easy to sign up for (there is a money back guarantee after trying the service for 30 days). We had a live chat connection with support, which we appreciated, but could not get better results than 508 ms ping, and 0.6M download from their Taiwan server on Android and 286 ms ping, 1.18 M/s download on Windows. Maybe it was a bad day for them. File sharing is supported.

Astrill (Recommended)

Astrill has a 7-day money back guarantee. When we first fired up their application, the performance did not seem very impressive, but following suggestions from an email to support got us to 343 ms ping and 8.9M/s download, using their most secure Stealth protocol. Android results were 274 ms ping and 2.4M/s download. We’ve seen quite a few poor reviews of Astrill service lately, but we’ve always gotten quick and accurate responses via email from their tech support. File sharing is supported on selected protocols and servers.

Part II: Domestic Gear

There is a huge selection of affordable phones, tablets and other electronic devices made and produced in China. Xiaomi and Huawei are familiar brands all over the globe, but there are also lots of smaller companies putting out good products, and the competition between them keeps prices down. There are good reasons for quality and security concerns when buying local, but we’ve also found lots of great options for affordable personal tech.

Phones

Smart phones with high functionality are very affordable here, with devices from Xiaomi, Meizu and Lenovo usually in close competition to make the best phones in the 500-1000RMB range. There are lots of higher end phones out this summer too including the Xiaomi Hong Mi Pro, Huawei Honor 8, and ZTE’s Max Pro. The Vivo Xplay 5 is billed as the first domestic phone with a curved screen but their 4000RMB plus price tag makes it a premium priced device. Gizmochina.com is a good English site to keep track of what is new and hot.

Smart Watches and Fitness Trackers

The Huawei Watch, which was released late last year, has the appearance of a classic timepiece and incorporates all the functionality of a smart watch including answering calls, seeing messages and various fitness tracking capabilities including heart rate monitoring. The price tag is around 2000RMB depending on options. There are plenty of other domestic smart watches and fitness bands on the market; Mambo is a popular one. The biggest fitness band splash of the summer is from Xiaomi, released the 2.0 version of their fitness band with heart rate monitoring, IP67 water resistance, and a 20-day battery life for a local price of 149RMB. The device sold out quickly, as new and hot Xiaomi devices tend to do, and we’re watching the site to see when they’ll be available again.

Android and Windows Tablets

Basic Android and Windows tablets can be bought for a few hundred RMB each; the tablets that take phone cards are usually in the high three figures. There are also several brands like Chuwi, Pipo, Teclast, 51cube and Ramos selling dual boot Android and Windows tablets. We’re a little nervous about the performance of Windows 10 on these devices since many of them only have 2GB of RAM, but people who find their digital lives happening more and more in the mobile world but still occasionally use Windows based applications may find their needs met with one of these devices.

To ensure the purchase of a solid device, more cautious consumers can use sites like Taobao or Jingdong that offer 7-day or longer unconditional money back warranties. It’s a good idea to spend at least one of those days putting your new equipment through some paces, a few charges and drains of the battery, and making sure all the features you want to use work as anticipated without the tablet overheating or exhibiting any other strange behaviour. We can expect to return a few of the devices we buy but have come across some gems in the process as well.

Projectors

There are plenty of domestic 300-400RMB projectors that flood the search results on Taobao and Jingdong, but we haven’t found a really good one in this price range. We notice the projectors in most classrooms and offices are using foreign brands anyway. However, local Chengdu shop XGIMI has a line of digital projectors that are proving very popular in the domestic market. They’ve opened up a store on the top floor of Raffles city and we’re seeing their devices appear in foreign Amazon sites as well. We’d check out one of these if we were in the market for a projector.

Laptops

Laptops are the one category of tech that we still have the habit of shopping for when we leave the country, with comparison shopping showing that we can get more for our dollars on the other side of the border. However, the highly anticipated July 27^th announcement by Xiaomi may be a game changer.  Xiaomi is offering two laptops, one 13.3 inch with 8GB of RAM and a 256GB solid state drive for 5000RMB; a 12.5-inch model with 4GB of RAM and a 128GB solid state drive for 3499. They will both be available in August.

By Susan Johnson

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Class sizes are small, and we utilize new tech to simplify every step of the learning process. We also provide a ton of materials after each lesson to ensure success outside the classroom.

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