'I am not here to complain. I make good money and my family benefits from that, for sure'. Hubei native Jing Li
However, the 21-year-old said a quick peek at her monthly paycheck helps her to forget homesickness, at least for a day or two.
I got the run of the mill questions over with first, and ordinarily wouldn’t take up your valuable time with them, but some stood out as being outside of expectations.
On a blistering day when Typhoon Chanthu was slowly churning towards Hong Kong and the pavement was hot enough to fry noodles on, Ms. Li said she found Shenzhen a relief (a relief!!) from the summer heat of greater Wuhan.
"You know, Wuhan is one of China’s three furnace cities, so Shenzhen is tolerable in the summer,” she said for this article which is part of a series of NextInsight stories on life in Shenzhen – a city whose GDP growth and population have outpaced those of its richer neighbor, Hong Kong.
As we were sitting south of the Tropic of Cancer, I simply had to look it up, and she was right. Wuhan, Nanjing and Chongqing are the “Three Furnaces of China,” with Wuhan by far being the hottest, boasting an average July temperature of 37 degrees Centigrade (versus 31 in Singapore!).
I must remember to head to the equator to cool off next time my air conditioner goes kaput.
She also said that it was harder to make friends here than back home in Wuhan. I suggested that it might be due to her being able to speak in her local dialect back home, and also having the benefit of going to the same (or nearby) schools together that made the art of friendmaking easier in Central China.
While acknowledging that these factors helped smooth things over in Hubei, she had other friends who left homes for other faraway provinces in China to seek their fortunes, and they reported no major problems with assembling a new group of friends in their adopted workplaces.
NextInsight: Please talk a bit about the major differences between Shenzhen and your hometown
Ms. Li: First of all, I chose to come here, no one forced me. And I have no regrets. I am sure everyone occasionally misses their hometown, and the family they left behind, now and then.
Perhaps people think models have it easy, and just have to stand around and look good. While I am not denying that I have it easier than farmers and your average factory workers (why else would I come here?), I do want to try and dispel the reputation that this career has taken on.
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Yes, there is a lot of standing around. Much more than you would imagine. Try doing that for 10 hours at a time!
And sometimes we are not even chosen for coverage, and I never hear the click of a shutter or the whir of a videocam. Those can be rather disheartening days.
But I am not here to complain. I make good money and my family benefits from that, for sure.
As for the main differences between here and my hometown, I think everything evens out.
Back home, although it is not predetermined at birth, nor is their a caste system per se, people generally follow in their parents footsteps, and there is not an oppressive feeling that if you turn your back on the competition, you will be crushed in an instant.
Therefore, it is much easier, in my opinion, to trust people back home, because I don’t get the feeling that strangers, or new “friends” are somehow envious of my success or position and waiting for me to stumble so they can slip into my place.
Jing Li (center) with friends in her adopted new hometown of Shenzhen
I never felt this anxiety back home.
That being said, you must take the good with the bad. The reason so many masses of outsiders come to Shenzhen is because of the career opportunities. Therefore, of course there is more of a cutthroat feel to living and working here.
When I made less than 500 yuan a month back home as a cashier, no one envied me and certainly no one was out to steal my success away from me. But now that I make over 10 times that, it is only natural that I feel like I have a bulls-eye on my back sometimes.
Is it really that bad? Do you always feel this anxiety living and working here?
Ms. Li: Of course not. Perhaps you just caught me on a bad day! But seriously, I have no regrets about moving to Shenzhen, and I am sure that I can get a solid core group of friends if I give it enough time, and if I stay positive.
Cool Idea: Shenzhen is one of China’s 12 “Garden Cities” which have more than 35% of their areas planted with trees and shrubs. Perhaps this is why it stays cooler than Wuhan, the hottest of the three “China Furnaces” during the summer. Photo: Andrew Vanburen
I know this sounds a bit phony, but I think I would have a better chance making legitimate, sincere friends here if I were to fib just a bit about my job. People for some reason put models on a pedestal, even though if they knew how unglamorous and discouraging my job can sometimes be they would certainly have a different opinion.
But if I were to, well, make up some fictitious factory name and say I work there as an assembler of something, I might find more doors open, socially at least. Because in Shenzhen, it is never a good idea to outshine your potential friends too much, otherwise they will not become actual friends.
Things are very competitive here, and the job market – while paying the most in the country – is also very high pressure and full of stress.
Therefore, I can understand how people want to just hang out with their own after work, and not feel above or below anyone. They get enough of that at their jobs. Just look at that Taiwan electronics plant with all the worker suicides (a reference to recent spate of negative press from the massive Foxconn complex here).
But that’s Shenzhen, take it or leave it. Or perhaps I should say, love it or leave it.
I for one am staying, because I like the money. I also need the money.
How about you? Why did you come to Shenzhen?
I think that first and last question from Ms. Li said it all. Shenzhen is a land of opportunity, to be sure. But like the Wild West, a new frontier offers untold new opportunities, and age old pitfalls. But with all the attention it receives, it attracts even more fortune-seekers, and that only exacerbates the feeling of relentless competition.
Sounds like the perfect environment for a cutting edge OEM manufacturer to set up shop, no?
See also: Country girl's encounter with bustling Big City
Sounds like the perfect environment for a cutting edge OEM manufacturer to set up shop, no?
See also: Country girl's encounter with bustling Big City
