Millennials in China

In this episode we chat with Sonny Alves Dias, CTO of Pixelmatic, a video game studio based in Shanghai with a distributed team around the world. We ask Sonny about his life as a computer programmer and video game developer in China, and how he deals with managing cross-cultural teams and communication issues in the tech field.

Show Notes:

• Sonny’s background and his journey from Paris to Shanghai.
• How did Sonny get his first job in China? How did he get into the video game industry?
• Sonny’s role as Chief Technical Officer at Pixelmatic, and how he manages a distributed team of programmers.
• The challenges of working with Chinese programmers in terms of communication, and how Sonny overcomes them.
• Why do Chinese programmers all seem to have a good grasp of English?
• Hiring developers in China, and what to look out for.
• What about work opportunities for foreign developers at Chinese companies?
• Salaries in tech in China, and how they have gone up considerably in first tier cities.
• Sonny is hiring!

Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/millennials-in-china/id1503870294

Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0MwEJZnnZ2sNWje7wP0GaW?si=tWqgkgwoQCueTrEfeI3-6g

Listen on Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cDovL21pbGxlbm5pYWxzaW5jaGluYS5jb20vcnNz

Listen on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm6jqVbJ1SR_g9iTLFxyF1g

Podcast Website: http://millennialsinchina.com

Podcast Facebook: https://facebook.com/millennialsinchina

Podcast Twitter: https://twitter.com/MillennialsCN

Chris' Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChrisWood1821

Hope's Twitter: https://twitter.com/hope_freiheit

Hope’s Instagram: https://instagram.com/hope_freiheit

Hope’s Blog: http://hopefreiheit.com

Happy New Year! In this first episode of 2021, we discuss the list of things you need to prepare for prior to embarking on your China journey. China is an unique beast of its own that operates on completely different wavelengths from most Western countries, and it has its own ways and systems of doing EVERYTHING. Things like different visas, VPNs for internet access, and even “strange” cultural norms - are all things you must prepare for prior to arriving in China, for a relatively smooth experience!

Show Notes:

• Documentation for coming to China - different visas and which one is best for your purpose.
• Accessing the internet in China and climbing over the “Great Firewall” - getting a VPN prior to coming to China.
• China’s informational walled garden, and why getting a local SIM Card is absolutely necessary to do anything.
• Banking in China, and exchanging currencies.
• What necessities should you bring from your home country, which may not be easily available in China?
• Vaccinations and health insurance for China?
• Mental preparation for coming to China - be adaptable, open minded, and don’t fret over “rude” local etiquettes.

Merry Christmas everyone! In this Christmas episode, we look back at all the major events that transpired in 2020 and how life in China has changed over the course of the year. Some takeaways include: China is becoming more closed, visa requirements and taxation are becoming more strict, everyday life is more or less the same otherwise. However, there are still plenty of opportunities to be had in China, and more importantly, life here is functioning as normal!

Show Notes:

• Looking back on the past couple of years leading up to 2020, and how things have been changing for foreigners in China.
• Visa requirements and job requirements have become much more strict - the “highschool dropout English teacher” days are well behind us, at least in the Tier 1 cities.
• The fear and uncertainty surrounding Chinese New Year in 2020, when the coronavirus news first broke out.
• Spending the entire month of February living in fear and almost never leaving the house.
• How life in China gradually opened up again and was back to normal by summer.
• The impact of COVID on business in China - tech, manufacturing and supply chain, etc.
• The “PR campaigns” and finger pointing narratives during the COVID outbreak, between China and the West.
• The bright side of 2020, and why China remains a land of opportunity and dynamism going into 2021.

Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/millennials-in-china/id1503870294

Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0MwEJZnnZ2sNWje7wP0GaW?si=tWqgkgwoQCueTrEfeI3-6g

Listen on Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cDovL21pbGxlbm5pYWxzaW5jaGluYS5jb20vcnNz

Listen on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm6jqVbJ1SR_g9iTLFxyF1g

Podcast Website: http://millennialsinchina.com

Podcast Facebook: https://facebook.com/millennialsinchina

Podcast Twitter: https://twitter.com/MillennialsCN

Chris' Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChrisWood1821

Hope's Twitter: https://twitter.com/hope_freiheit

Hope’s Instagram: https://instagram.com/hope_freiheit

Hope’s Blog: http://hopefreiheit.com

In this episode we call in with Jannick ten Hoor, a Dutch Millennial based in Macau with over a decade’s experience in hotel management and hospitality. Jannick shares great insights on how he managed to climb the career ladder so rapidly in Asia, working for various large hotel chains and switching his focus from hotel management to food & beverage. As well, Jannick shares inside stories on how the hospitality industry has really been affected by COVID in 2020.

Show Notes:

• Jannick’s journey to the hospitality industry and across various hotel groups, and how he managed to move up quickly since coming to work in China.
• Major differences and challenges for working in the hotel industry in China.
• What’s Jannick’s day-to-day work like as a food & beverages director? Why is the job so busy and so stressful?
• Jannick’s favourite and least favourite parts of working in the hospitality industry.
• Differences between the job as a hotel manager and a F&B manager.
• How has COVID damaged the hotel industry in 2020? Effects in China vs Macau.
• Pay cuts and layoffs.
• Being stuck in Macau, and when will the hotel industry return to normal.
• Advice to aspiring hoteliers and young F&B professionals, and why coming to work in China/Asia could potentially turbo boost your career.

Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/millennials-in-china/id1503870294

Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0MwEJZnnZ2sNWje7wP0GaW?si=tWqgkgwoQCueTrEfeI3-6g

Listen on Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cDovL21pbGxlbm5pYWxzaW5jaGluYS5jb20vcnNz

Listen on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm6jqVbJ1SR_g9iTLFxyF1g

Podcast Website: http://millennialsinchina.com

Podcast Facebook: https://facebook.com/millennialsinchina

Podcast Twitter: https://twitter.com/MillennialsCN

Chris' Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChrisWood1821

Hope's Twitter: https://twitter.com/hope_freiheit

Hope’s Instagram: https://instagram.com/hope_freiheit

Hope’s Blog: http://hopefreiheit.com

In this episode we discuss the world’s most popular sport, football (soccer). Football is hugely popular in China and around the world, and we are here to share with the global audience what the football scene is like in China. We talk about the professional league in China, why China’s national football team has struggled eternally, and football at the amateur and grassroots levels.

Show Notes:

• Football in China - is it actually popular?
• In recent years there have been some high profile footballers that have moved to China from the top European leagues - how has that happened and how has it changed football in China?
• Chinese Super League overview, teams, naming conventions, and rivalries.
• Differences between the “footballing culture” between China and Europe, and gaps in organization and infrastructure.
• Football fans and “ultras” fan culture in China.
• The eternal struggle of China’s national men’s football team - why can’t a country with 1.4 billion people field 11 top quality players?
• Cultural factors that limit football development in China.
• Many foreign players have looked at China as a lucrative opportunity for playing football - what does a foreign player need to know?

Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/millennials-in-china/id1503870294

Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0MwEJZnnZ2sNWje7wP0GaW?si=tWqgkgwoQCueTrEfeI3-6g

Listen on Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cDovL21pbGxlbm5pYWxzaW5jaGluYS5jb20vcnNz

Listen on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm6jqVbJ1SR_g9iTLFxyF1g

Podcast Website: http://millennialsinchina.com

Podcast Facebook: https://facebook.com/millennialsinchina

Podcast Twitter: https://twitter.com/MillennialsCN

Chris' Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChrisWood1821

Hope's Twitter: https://twitter.com/hope_freiheit

Hope’s Instagram: https://instagram.com/hope_freiheit

Hope’s Blog: http://hopefreiheit.com

In this episode we interview Amy Lyons aka “Blondie in China”, who is a hugely popular “China YouTuber” with nearly 200k subscribers. Amy makes lots of interesting and funny YouTube videos about China, Chinese food, and her travels and experiences from living in China, and has an army of loyal and adoring fans who watch her videos regularly.

Show Notes:

• What prompted Amy’s connection to China, and what made her stay with it.
• How Amy decided to start a YouTube channel and become a content creator full time.
• At what point did Amy realize that her YouTube channel would be successful? Which video made her go viral?
• The time when Amy went on a Chinese dating show.
• Getting into the state for filming on camera - does it come naturally?
• The toughest part about running her YouTube channel.
• How the COVID pandemic has soured diplomatic relations between China and Australia, and whether that has affected Amy’s YouTube channel.
• Amy’s secret recipe to becoming a successful YouTuber.
• Amy’s advice for anyone building their personal brand or trying to become a content creator.

In this episode we explain all the statutory holidays in China such as Chinese New Year, National Day, and Dragon Boat Festival - what days do you get off, what are the traditions and customs, and what to expect when travelling. As you would expect, the Chinese holidays calendar is very different from Western ones, with entirely different occasions being celebrated and often in different ways. Listen to this episode if you are embarking on your first year in China!

Show Notes:

• Chinese holidays in summary, and how work days are often moved around to “make up” for the holidays.
• New Year’s Day.
• Chinese New Year (Spring Festival).
• Tomb Sweeping Festival.
• Labour Day.
• Dragon Boat Festival.
• Mid-Autumn Festival.
• National Day.
• “Fake” festivals like Alibaba’s Double 11 shopping day.

Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/millennials-in-china/id1503870294

Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0MwEJZnnZ2sNWje7wP0GaW?si=tWqgkgwoQCueTrEfeI3-6g

Listen on Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cDovL21pbGxlbm5pYWxzaW5jaGluYS5jb20vcnNz

Listen on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm6jqVbJ1SR_g9iTLFxyF1g

Podcast Website: http://millennialsinchina.com

Podcast Facebook: https://facebook.com/millennialsinchina

Podcast Twitter: https://twitter.com/MillennialsCN

Chris' Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChrisWood1821

Hope's Twitter: https://twitter.com/hope_freiheit

Hope’s Instagram: https://instagram.com/hope_freiheit

Hope’s Blog: http://hopefreiheit.com

In this episode we sit down with Gabba Schwencke, a Dutch Millennial who works in relocation and high end apartment rental for expats. Gabba arrived in China 9 years ago on a whim and got started in real estate sales after a gruelling start. He has been consistently finding high quality housing for expats and their multinational employers since then, and has a wealth of knowledge of the China real estate scene.

Show Notes:

• Gabba’s initial contact with China and why he decided to move to Shanghai 9 years ago.
• How Gabba landed a job in real estate sales totally by chance, and how he almost got fired after 2 weeks.
• What Gabba’s work entails - not only renting out expensive apartments to wealthy expats but also providing the complete expat relocation service.
• How it’s like being practically the only foreigner real estate agent in Shanghai, and what Gabba’s edge is.
• The tremendous difference in quality and price between high end apartments and average apartments for foreigners in Shanghai.
• Tips on apartment hunting, and beware of the “second landlord” rentals that are becoming very common in Shanghai.

In this episode we sit down with Dimitar Dinev, a well-connected figure in the China crypto & blockchain scene who was previously the MD at JRR Crypto, a crypto VC fund. Dimitar shares his interesting entrepreneurial journey which started in his hometown of Plovdiv in Bulgaria, where he rented out a shop to start an art gallery. After meeting his Chinese wife in Milan, they decided to move to Shanghai where he leveraged his economics background to become a stalwart in the local crypto community.

Show Notes:

• Dimitar’s youth as a competitive gamer and how he harnessed his entrepreneur spirit when passing by a storefront for rent in the town center of Plovdiv, his hometown in Bulgaria.
• The art dealing business and what it was like to run an art gallery in Europe.
• The glass ceiling in the European art business, and making the big decision to move from Milan to Shanghai.
• Working in financial services and stumbling onto cryptocurrencies.
• How Dimitar got addicted to the crypto space and his insatiable appetite for knowledge and learning.
• Pivoting into crypto full time and getting into the crypto VC scene.
• Learnings from the crypto VC scene and advice for young entrepreneurs looking for VC funding.

Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/millennials-in-china/id1503870294

Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0MwEJZnnZ2sNWje7wP0GaW?si=tWqgkgwoQCueTrEfeI3-6g

Listen on Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cDovL21pbGxlbm5pYWxzaW5jaGluYS5jb20vcnNz

Listen on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm6jqVbJ1SR_g9iTLFxyF1g

Podcast Website: http://millennialsinchina.com

Podcast Facebook: https://facebook.com/millennialsinchina

Podcast Twitter: https://twitter.com/MillennialsCN

Chris' Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChrisWood1821

Hope's Twitter: https://twitter.com/hope_freiheit

Hope’s Instagram: https://instagram.com/hope_freiheit

Hope’s Blog: http://hopefreiheit.com

Dimitar’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/DimitarDinev7

In this episode we discuss the various socioeconomic classes in China, and how life at each tier of the social ladder is so drastically different. In the West we are used to life being more or less similar for the majority of people, but that is not the case in China where despite 600+ million people having been lifted out of poverty in recent decades, we still observe huge gaps in income and living standards, especially in first tier cities.

Show Notes:

• The incredible economic revolution China experienced in the past three decades, and how more than 600 million people were lifted out of poverty.
• The relative equality in living standards in Western countries vs the drastically different living standards between social classes in China.
• The working class population in China’s major cities, and how service workers and white collar workers lead entirely different lives.
• The modus operandi of “migrant workers” in China, how they take contracts in different places on an annual basis and send money home.
• Income, living conditions, and what we often do not see.
• The young, white collar middle class and their struggle to afford property in major cities.
• The elusive and exclusive ultra rich and international elite.

Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/millennials-in-china/id1503870294

Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0MwEJZnnZ2sNWje7wP0GaW?si=tWqgkgwoQCueTrEfeI3-6g

Listen on Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cDovL21pbGxlbm5pYWxzaW5jaGluYS5jb20vcnNz

Listen on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm6jqVbJ1SR_g9iTLFxyF1g

Podcast Website: http://millennialsinchina.com

Podcast Facebook: https://facebook.com/millennialsinchina

Podcast Twitter: https://twitter.com/MillennialsCN

Chris' Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChrisWood1821

Hope's Twitter: https://twitter.com/hope_freiheit

Hope’s Instagram: https://instagram.com/hope_freiheit

Hope’s Blog: http://hopefreiheit.com