Nervous about starting work

I'm almost there with finalising arrangements with Capgemini China now. I'm surprised actually, my negotiating position isn't terribly strong, and so I didn't think it would happen so soon. I think I owe a lot to one of the staff in the office, who's been helping make sure my case wasn't being left to one side. One of the good guys.

I had a couple of other options kicking around, but neither seem to have been really very strong. One resulted in a job offer in HK, but it's not so attractive at this point in time, so I'm sticking to my guns in Shanghai. I think it's hard for anyone else to be brave enough to give me a shot at a job. There really is a high general risk of failure, breakdown, getting fed up, running into problems in projects, falling out with colleagues, getting an easier job / better paid job elsewhere, all sorts. Added to this that for the first 18 months much of the effectiveness would be reduced or lost due to language learning, and it's easy to see that others would not be keen.

I'm flattered though that there has been interest... certainly I have options here, and my experience / capability is regarded as valuable out here. Certainly think twice about coming out here unless you have savings, valuable experience, or are prepared to slum it.

So... hopefully when various bits of paperwork get sorted out, I should be starting work for Capgemini, doing good old management consulting. Consulting as an industry is in its infancy here.. which generally means less consulting capability, and less ambitious client demand. But, on the good side, it gives me a real exposure to a number of companies and geographies, which is good for my learning language and culture. And, two years later, I'll be more ready to tackle the then slightly more mature market.

I spoke to my future boss today. She had some words of encouragement and wisdom for me. I'd best capture them here before I forget. Being able to deliver what we propose is an issue when consulting with local clients here. More consultant-experienced clients are more able to realign consultants with reality when necessary. Less consultant-experienced clients will have to trust our expertise, and so will naturally be annoyed if we don't succeed on what we promised.

Here was some advice she gave me which I haven't quite finished digesting yet. One key will be to strike the right balance between playing up the 'foreign' card, and outright arrogance. Demonstrating an external viewpoint or experience can often be an important leverage tool. It also helps justify my value, especially when my language is a problem. But too much 'leadership' and not enough observation and adjustment, could get people's backs up if I am difficult to work with.

What else... oh yes, I mentioned that besides speaking Chinese on the projects, ideally I would have time and energy to actually study Chinese from my hotel room. In reality though I am told that overtime is quite common, and so it is likely I will be too busy or tired to do much more than work eat and sleep. Some say that consulting is Asia is like that. I personally put it down to an immature market (clients and consultants), and hope that it will improve in the future.

Bridging cultures - who said this was easy?

I think this is one of my more interesting articles. It is not intended to be a criticism of local life, so those of you that are local, please don't take offence. If you are local, then I hope that this article might be able to give you some insight an expat's perspective.

It is a reflection based on my own personal experience coming from the UK. It acknowledges the fact that the people and the city here, have only had 20 or so years to develop towards their own form of civilisation. It's getting there real fast, but it ain't quite there yet.

So, how easy is it to adjust to life in Shanghai? Some lao wei's (caucasians) find a willing and charming local girlfriend who can help ease them into life here. Others buy their way through, thus avoiding problems to do with chinese food and public transport.

So far the things I have found difficult to adjust to are:
- accepting that many people here do not exhibit levels of civilisation that we take for granted in the west. I try to avoid walking at all costs, but I am told that dodging airborne spittle is an issue for ladies. My taxi driver today had some sort of a cough. It required him to cough up a lot of phlem, spitting out of the car window two or three times. I have to excuse the guy, he clearly had some problems with his throat.
- mosquitos. Those from HK or Australia may find this less of a problem, but in the UK we don't really have mosquitos. Living on the ground floor, I am frequently beseiged by the buggers, and it's bringing out a hate/fear side of me that I don't often see.
- hygiene. It's hard not to touch the handrails on buses and the metro. It's also hard not to rest your arm on the arm rest built into the taxi door when you've had a hard day. Such arm rests have a distinctly never-washed look about them. Wearing a white shirt, I'm not so comfortable. I have explained to my MBA classmates that post-SARS, we really should be using a separate communal pair of chopsticks at mealtimes together, particularly as we do business trips across China each week before then assembling on weekends for class. But this is distinctly counter-culture here, as it would offend your dining guests. They do it to appease me only. In the UK, if I washed my hands before a meal it was really a gesture or habit more than anything. Here, I'm very conscious about cleaning my hands before meals.
- personal safety. It's known that the UK's rail system has a certain risk factor about it because of it's age, and difficulty in maintaining thousands of miles of track. I believe the same problem will exist in China, particularly when a one hour train journey costs less than a london bus ride. On the roads, there is a marked increase in personal risk, relative to being in Europe say. Do you know the feeling of driving around the Arc de Triomphe (sp?), a giant roundabout with no markings and cars just about everywhere? This is the feeling whenever on the roads in China. I haven't quite decided about how I will 'tour' China when I travel yet.
- cultural differences. This is less about 'civilisation', but more about cultural choices. For example, my friend Winfun has recently begun nurturing extended thumbnails. Historically, men would grow a nail extra long, usually the little finger I believe. I have to say it weirds me out, although I know in actual fact there's nothing wrong with it in principle!
- personal space. it will come as no surprise, but personal space is a long way from that even of London. Brits would often curse London as being the place where someone bumps into you but doesn't turn to apologise, but this is many times more exagerrated here.

Lastly but not least for this article, differences in thinking. I have experienced this the most in my MBA group work, and committee work. This work is important, either to contribute to our teams' success, or to help grow the success of our programme. It's in this context that at times I find that differences in thinking and approach result in conflicts of opinion between myself and others. Working through such conflicts is as time consuming as it is interesting. It is not just a matter of understanding the differences however. For both parties to really feel that they are then progressing in the right direction, requires a great deal of time and patience.

I'm lucky to have friends on the programme that are kind enough and committed enough about the programme to have the patience to struggle through such things with me.

For some, it is an opportunity to practice English with me. For others it is interesting for them to see how a western management consultant thinks and acts. For others, I really am grateful for their patience as we try to work together to reach our goals.

Looking back on such exercises, I understand two things. Firstly, I see where much of my time has gone. I complain of having no time. If a day involves a lunch and two meetings, then half of the day can be sacrificed to travelling time. The meetings themselves maybe not be that productive, because of differences in thinking. That richness / diversity of thinking, well, it takes more time and energy.

Secondly, I understand why some expats are tired from working in China. Many leave, citing that it is too frustrating, as well as having to adjust to being in a less developed city. They are brought here, because of the very fact that they have different ways of thinking. Perhaps their employers have high expectations of them. In actual fact though it is so very hard to get the basics done, either because colleagues have less experience, or because bridging the gap of background/thinking/culture can take so much longer.

To succeed here as an expat it seems, (assuming you don't hide inside a foreign consulate that is), it will require patience, tolerance, communication, and an open mind. That last one - open mind - it's so easy to gloss over. In this context I mean to be able to accept ways of doing things that contradict your own thinking. If you're particular about how the washing up is done for example, then you will find adjusting here difficult.

I am aware that being in this environment might well bring out the patience in me, and thus erode my eager forward momentum. This happened to me once before, after a particularly long stint in the UK government. I will have to keep tabs on my ability to drive forwards tenaciously towards a result, and be sure not complacently accept longer timescales out of habit, but keep pushing for improvements, bit by bit, a step at a time.

When pride in one's work can take you step too far

I hope this might be an article that all of today's young and ambitious office staff would want to read. It's not very polished, and completely lacks context, but hopefully it will be of use to someone.

Many of us take great pride in our work. Many of us will work overtime to see that our work is done, and done well. Many of us take pride in our companies. We may take on extra work to help ensure the success of our companies.

Particularly in consulting, middle management often rely on the juniors to carry out a great deal of the analytical work. The same is true in accounting, although I think the workloads better understood.

It's routinely common that junior staff in such an organisation end up working long and hard to complete tasks. It is a situation where exceeding expectations is pretty much taken as the norm, and perhaps seen as a necessary demonstration of commitment.

Staff with the 'right attitude' who will progress fast will be the ones that work hard, produce quality work, are consistent, and can be depended upon to help out when needed. Skills demonstrated will be attention to quality (thereby requiring structure and discipline in work) , stamina and dedication (to get through volume of work), proactivity and empathy (to understand when and what help might be needed).

A problem which I faced previously and others may well face, is if you take this to an extreme. Take a person who understands the critical importance of a volume of work, recognises that there really are no other resources who can help, and who then rises to the challenge of carrying out the work. Typically this person is patted on the back for an excellent job, and life goes on. But if the volume of work is such that it is infeasibly large and potentially every growing or changing in nature, then the 'hero' can find him or herself fighting an uphill struggle.

Pride in work, ambition, and dedication to the success of the company, can drive the employee to continue to fight as hard as possible to manage the workload. Staff will often push themselves hard in order to do this. It is often not the explicit direction of their managers which leads to this, more the implicit expectation for juniors to demonstrate themselves by showing the right skills and attitudes.

Less experienced staff may not be so aware of their physical and emotional limits. The stress associated with trying to carry out high volumes of complex work, whilst still guaranteeing quality, can be overwhelming. Even if staff were aware that they were reaching breaking point, they may not have sufficient experience to upwardly manage, or strongly communicate the extent of their position.

Reaching this stage, staff can gain a new understanding. It comes as a self awareness that their behaviour to such an extreme is no longer beneficial to the company. Driving themselves to nervous breakdown, or to making significant errors in the work, or being physically unable to complete work in time, are the last things that managers want.

Pride, loyalty and commitment are one thing. No-one would promote a lazy employee after all. However knowing how to display the positive values, without losing control of the workload, is a step in the evolution from analyst to manager.

Buying a Chinese mobile phone

It's good to buy a mobile phone in Asia, so that you can receive (and write) Chinese text messages.

My advice.

Buy in HK or Singapore if you can, for english speaking salespersons. Buy in HK because of cheaper tax.

Avoid nokia, because it seems you can only write chinese text messages if your phone is in Chinese mode. I know for example that with Samsung you can still write chinese text messages whilst in 'English' mode. There's a bit of danger in being in 'chinese' mode when you get into a panic - danger of deleting your contacts, SMS messages by accident, that kind of thing.

Also, get a speakerphone option. Useful for when you're trying to navigate chinese automated telephone menus with a friend.

Getting a built in camera is useful for remembering who all those people with their chinese names are.....

Voicemail and international SMS?

Now that I've been here for 3 months, it's time I tried to sort out some basics. Like, how on earth do I get voicemail on my mobile phone? Or how do I enable international SMS?

Apparently my phone should be able to text overseas by default (1 RMB per message), but I've not got it to work before.

By calling 1860 I should be able to turn on voicemail, for 10 RMB a month. A friend is helping me do it now!

Exciting stuff.

Many individuals seem not to have voicemail, presumably because of the monthly charge. What many do seem to have as an extra however, is a musical interlude of their choice that plays instead of a ringing tone - so that the caller hears your favourite song while they wait to be connected to you! Interesting, but perhaps not great when in the office.

Suggested messages for my voicemail.... thanks to my friend Winfun:
Long version:
谢谢你的电话，我是萧启荣， 对不起，我现在没法接听你的电话。请留下你的留言和姓名，电话. 我会尽快回复你。
Thank you for calling, this is Kai wing Shiu, sorry I can’t take your call right now, please do leave me a message with your name and number and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

Short version:
我是萧启荣，现在没法接听你的电话。请留言。我会尽快回复。
This is Kai Wing, I can’t take your call, please leave a message and I will get back to you.

English teaching?

As I understand it, english speakers can generally charge between 100 rmb and 200 rmb per hour to teach. I believe you can go beyond that if you speak some mandarin, are a qualified or experienced or good teacher, have relevant business experience/vocabulary, or if you have a particularly desirable accent.

The upper bracket somewhat surprised me. Apparently though, the market is very similar to that in HK - wealthy families or corporations.

I've been asked a couple of times to teach. I would be particularly interested to teach executives for industries relevant to consulting... but otherwise my time is distinctly precious and so I don't come cheap at all.

It's a case of supply and demand, but I've already found myself in one potentially embarrassing situation - to help my landlady's grandson practice English, in exchange for mandarin coaching with my landlady's daughter. Sadly however, I think it was hoped I would be more keen to engage than I actually am - given the distinct abundance of mandarin speaking opportunities here, and my urgency to learn mandarin but not really to teach English.

An MBA classmate has asked me to meet with her company to see if I could help out. I'll find out more next week.

Networking events in Shanghai

Networking networking networking.

I've been meeting folks in Shanghai over the last few months, some through Friendster, some through my Blog, and some via organised alumni or specific networking events.

Such as...
- HKU and other HK university alumni - get that cantonese fix
- Fudan-HKU IMBA alumni monthly salons on the Bund - experience sharing
- ShanghaiExpat mixers at Malone's - a number of english teachers and general young ppl
- BritCham monthly 'Sundowner' at Manifesto - a select crowd of professionals it seem
- Oriented.com apparently popular with xBCs
- AsiaExpat monthly cocktail nights
- YPHH

There are numberous others, but I haven't been. I've been warned that there are cute girls at AmCham events who take your number but then bombard you with marketing calls - be warned!

Next week I have been told of one called YPHH or some such, being held at the Blue Frog. Think it's meant for young professionals.

3+ months in, and still single!

Yes I know, the best way I can help my mandarin is to get a local girlfriend...

As well as the bar-crawlers, there are lots of nice girls in Shanghai - both educated/cultured Shanghainese, and fellow expats. As I understand it the expat guys here have it better off than the expat girls, I think because the guys are more willing to date locals.

I keep friends with a number of particularly nice girls here - for occasional dinners, drinks, and general chatting. Such is the life of a gentleman bachelor - dinner but no dessert, but that suits me just fine.

I feel the pressure on occasions from girls to move things on a bit more. It's a little unusual for me, but then I'm sure girls often have to experience this themselves - when guys are pushing them to move on.

I'm focused on learning mandarin right now, in pursuit of continuing my career. In this transitory stage, it doesn't quite feel right to pursue a relationship - so generally my preference right now is to remain single - however much my mandarin (or social life!) might improve.

So - I know my family have all been placing bets on how long it will take before I have a girlfriend here - what do you think it will be?

KW on Chinese TV

Well kind of...

I thought I was going to lunch with HKU-Fudan's marketing officer Godwin Huang, but instead of going to lunch seemed to end up in a studio, as one of the audience at a business review TV show. Four guest speakers, and a whole lot of MBA students in the audience, they discussed Charles Schwab's e-trading system, and it's applicability to the Chinese market. CBN network's Strategic Decisions show.

It was excellent for my Chinese - sat on the front row, I was terrified throughout that I would be asked a question, and so did my very very best to understand what was going on, and think of what I might possibly say if I did get asked. Of course I had next to no clue what was going on, but the adrenaline was good for my Chinese I'm sure.

We went for simple Cantonese food in a 'cha chan teng' afterwards.... I was so happy..... what a homely feeling. Dry beef fried ho fun noodles... char siu pork soup noodles... won ton noodles... ahhhhhh - just takes me straight home.

I also learned about HKU-Fudan IMBA's Finance stream. Taught wholly in mandarin (including mandarin exams), it specialises on Finance background/aspiration students. Requirement is for 7 years experience, and it costs more than the generalist stream - 140k RMB instead of the regular 90k.

Puxi or Pudong? Hubbub or tranquility?

Kind of like how back home I would have spent many a spare hour pondering what car I might want to buy, without ever actually finding myself in the position of actually buying one, I'm now pondering where I might want to live in Shanghai.

I'm currently staying up in Fudan, in a teacher's apartment. 60 sq metres, for 1800 RMB a month (120 pounds). Actually, this is pretty pricey, considering my cousin lives in a much higher quality downtown apartment walking distance from all the best places, for 3000 RMB a month.

Moving out, and sharing with friends, we have to decide where to live. For me... I'm battling with the difference in lifestyle that comes with location choice. It's the same as London - basically Canary Wharf vs. elsewhere. Pudong is the Canary Wharf of Shanghai. 20 years ago the area didn't exist. Now, it has many beautiful office blocks and hi-rise apartments. More space, cleaner air. Apartments are more likely to have facilities such as swimming pools or tennis courts.

But, the majority of the population live in Puxi, the 'rest' of Shanghai downtown. Puxi has been around for much longer than 20 years, and is where the hubbub is. New restaurants, old restaurants, bars, clubs all the choice is there. Older accomodation though, and less likely to have gym/pool etc. facilities (without paying a serious premium).

To live in Puxi, I think we'd have a smaller apartment, and spend more time out socialising. In Pudong, I think we'd have a more spacious pad, and spend more time doing sports such as rollerblading or badminton. Like at my uncle Peter's place in Pudong, when I visit him we can pop downstairs and play ping pong at our leisure. Or swim, play tennis.... whatever. It beats going from meal to meal or going shopping if you ask me.

Quality of life in Pudong is good. Dignified, relaxed. Shop at Carrefour, breathe relatively good air, less people, less garbage around. Hiring a bike in Century Park is a lovely relaxing thing to do. But Pudong comes at a price - it's a bit out of the way. We might have a lovely apartment, but once the metro closes (which is well before midnight I understand), it's a costly cab ride home - which means going out costs more, and also visitors will think twice before popping over.

Puxi offers a more active life, and a real chance to get to know the back streets of Shanghai just by walking around. Not so clean air though, and smaller older apartments for the money.

I think i'd enjoy life in Pudong, except that I'd be a little isolated from the real Chinese action. In Puxi, it'd be harder for me to forget that I'm in Shanghai. I think I'd best see if I can find somewhere nice in Puxi, and hopefully be able to afford somewhere that has some sports facilities. Either that, or live in Pudong but very close to Puxi. It'd cost a bit more there (Lujiazui area perhaps), but at least I'd get a nice new hi-rise.

Anyway, flat hunting will be a weekend hobby over the next couple of months. In the meantime... it's mandarin mandarin mandarin...

Fudan language class not suited to all it seems

Since a couple of weeks ago, I've stopped going to language class.

Having done well in the B class exams, I self-promoted myself to D class (skipping C class), because the pace was too relaxed for me in B. In D, it was far from relaxed for me - I had to work hard to keep up with the reading, by translating key words every evening in advance of classes. That was a good discipline - I would have learned a lot. There was also an excellent writing class once a week, with an ever so enthusiastic teacher who helped us write at our individual levels (e.g. by asking us to write a postcard, and then correcting us).

As for speaking, naturally there were speaking lessons, but I found that at least half of the class were below my oral level, some considerably below. It certainly seems that some students who have studied here for 6 months, and naturally progressed through A, B, C to D, have had little opportunity out of class to practice their speech. So I wasn't really practising my own speech so much.

However, now I'm keen to start work within a couple of months, and my primary requirement for work is listening & speaking. Reading will also be important, but that can wait a while longer. But my classes aren't really giving me the emphasis that I'll need in order to start work. It's a pretty tailored requirement really. So I've dropped out.

For now, my plan is to listen more to radio short stories and monologues, of which there are many, to watch a chinese DVD box set drama, and to spend time speaking out aloud - e.g. repeating the sentences I hear on the radio/TV in a repeat-after-me kind of way. That should train my ears and help my vocal chords get accustomed I think. Naturally I'll still hang out with Chinese friends including my MBA colleaguges, and also it gives me a good excuse to take time out to dine with some pretty Chinese girls.

The term is almost up at Fudan. After summer break, many our of language student buddies will continue their mandarin studies. As I understand it though, of all the people we know continuing studies, I think they are all considering going elsewhere rather than carrying on at Fudan. I don't think they've had a sufficiently good impression to stay on.

It doesn't help that our class rooms are of an extremely low standard (by 2006 classes should move into a new building). It probably also doesn't help that the adminstration appear strict, or even obstructive to student-requested class changes (the phrase "signed in triplicate" applies many times over). Also that the teachers don't really have a high standard of English to be able to teach from can't help convince students to stay either, though this is less of a problem once you get past beginner stage.

However I think the biggest reason will be that many students have observed that making progress is awfully slow, and that Fudan is outside all of the fun of Shanghai. You can only live for so long out here. Very soon you get bored of eating in the same 3 reasonable restaurants in the area, and as you accustom to local pricing standards, you find yourself taking 1 hour buses around. (It's worth saying at this point that as far as I know, the advanced classes at Fudan, e.g teaching to those who are expanding their vocabulary beyond 1500 words, or are looking for the finer details of grammar, are seemingly excellently taught.)

So. Fudan for beginners = far away, and also not very fast progress. When the metro is extended to include Fudan, then perhaps it won't be perceived as so far away. There still remains the problem of how beginners can make real progress though. The truth is that they lack interaction with native Chinese speakers. Given their distinctly basic language skills they end up socialising amongst themselves, helped by the fact that most live in the foreign student's dormitory.

Ask the management consultant - he says that there's an opportunity to be made out of Fudan's disadvantage. Fudan being out of town should help students focus on their studies. Many could choose to come here because they do not want to be so distracted. What remains therefore is for Fudan to provide excellent learning opportunities. Classroom teaching is insufficient. Environment is all important.

Some suggestions:
- Provide a list of restaurant vocabulary, and menu translations for local restaurants, encouraging students to eat at good local Chinese restaurants, rather than hide in expat places such as 'crazy tomato'.
- Provide some photocopies of the types of conversations that they might have if they were to talk to locals. This would help them make local friends.
- Get hold of some local Chinese students, and introduce them to the beginners. There are so MANY chinese students that want to practice english. Introduce them. Informally, some teachers have introduced students as language exchange partners. More formally, there could be a one hour class a week where chinese students (volunteers or say English students) would come to the foreign language school and talk one to one with foreign students.
- Organise socials that involve Chinese speaking students. These again could be volunteers or English students. Examples could be a local meal (many of the foreign students would like to go to good local chinese restaurants but do not know how to order); an organised trip to a park by coach; a day trip outside of shanghai; a basketball or badminton match.

Organising such activities would require additional work by the language school other than purely teaching in class. But this kind of help would help Fudan's students learn and practice their Chinese more quickly. Also, having befriended Fudan local students, foreign students would be less likely to leave Fudan for Tongji University...

I hope my suggestions fall on soft ground. Please do add your own comments or suggestions - students / teachers / others!

e-street map of Shanghai

The closest I've found to www.streetmap.co.uk It doesn't have much more than the town centre (so my road in Fudan isn't on it for example). But I think it'll come in handy when I start house-hunting for real. Sadly it doesn't have Chinese road names as well as English, but it's fast - so would serve as an excellent index to your otherwise all-Chinese map!

Shanghai Photographer's website

Some real nice photos here. I wish I could take photos like this!

Thinking of Touring China? Places to go to.

Taken from ShanghaiExpat

For the benefit of mankind, Giraffine benevolently presents "China at a Glance" for help with China trip planning. Each province is broken down into Must See destinations, Extra Time excursions, as well as any tourist traps to avoid. Not on my list? Give it a miss!

BEIJING
Must see: Great Wall, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace
Extra time: Hutongs around Houhai, Liulichang culture street, Yonghegong/Confucius Temple, Panjiayuan weekend antique market
Avoid: Ming Tombs, Beijing Zoo
TIANJIN
Must see: (none)
Extra time: Huang Ya Guan Great Wall, Food/Culture Streets
HEBEI
Must see: Shanhaiguan Great Wall
Extra time: Chengde, Wuqiao acrobatic village
SHANXI
Must see: Datong, Pingyao
Extra time: Hukou waterfall (Yellow River)
SHAANXI
Must see: Xian (Terra Cotta Warriors, Muslim Quarter)
Extra time: Xianyang museum, Hu Xian folk art village
Avoid: Hua Qing Hot Springs, Banpo Neolithic Village
NINGXIA
Must see: (none)
Extra time: West Xia tombs near Yinchuan
GANSU
Must see: Dunhuang
Extra time: Jiayuguan Great Wall, Xiahe (Labrang monastery)
XINJIANG
Must see: Kashgar and Karakuli Lake, Turpan
Extra time: Hanasi Lake, Hetian (Hotan)
Avoid: More than 1 day in Urumqi, group tours to Tian Chi
INNER MONGOLIA
Must see: Hohhot, grasslands (Hailaer, Chifeng areas)
Extra time: Desert excursions
Avoid: Baotou
HEILONGJIANG
Must see: Harbin Ice Festival (Jan-Feb)
Extra time: Yabuli ski area (Dec.-March)
JILIN
Must see: (none)
Extra time: Chang Bai Shan/Yanji border excursions to N. Korea and Russia,
Changchun Movie Studio
LIAONING
Must see: Dandong
Extra time: Dalian, Benxi Water Caves
Avoid: Shenyang (left armpit of China)

SHANDONG
Must see: Qufu (Hometown of Confucius)
Extra time: Taishan, Weifang Kite Festival
JIANGSU
Must see: Suzhou (silk embroidery) , Water Village (Either Tongli or Luzhi)
Extra time: Nanjing, Yangzhou, Xuzhou, Yixing/Dingshu pottery village
Avoid: Changzhou, Wuxi, and Zhouzhuang
SHANGHAI
Must see: Shanghai Museum
Extra time: (See Jiangsu must see)
Avoid: Spending more than 2 days touring Shanghai
ANHUI
Must see: Huangshan
Extra time: Jiuhuashan, Ancient villages of Xidi, Hongcun
Avoid: Hefei
ZHEJIANG
Must see: Hangzhou, Xitang village in Jiaxing county
Extra time: Shaoxing, Putuoshan
Avoid: Thousand Island Lake
FUJIAN
Must see: Xiamen, Quanzhou plus Huian villages
Extra time: Wuyi Shan
JIANGXI
Must see: (none)
Extra time: Jingdezhen, Lushan
Avoid: Fireworks factories
GUANGDONG
Must see: Hong Kong/Macau "Special Administrative Regions"
Extra time: Chaozhou, Zhaoqing, and also Genzi but only during lychee/mango season (May-June)
Avoid: Shenzhen (China's right armpit)
HUNAN
Must see: Zhangjiajie/Mengdong River/Tujia and Miao villages
Extra time: Yueyang
Avoid: Mao Zedong's hometown
GUIZHOU
Must see: Minority villages around Kaili
Extra time: Huangguoshu waterfall/Anshun batik village
YUNNAN
Must see: Kunming/Stone Forest, Dali/Lijiang
Extra time: Xishuangbanna, Zhongdian/Deqin
GUANGXI
Must see: Li River cruise, Yangshuo
Extra time: Guilin
Avoid: Spending more time in Guilin instead of Yangshuo
SICHUAN
Must see: Jiuzhaigou/Huanglong/Songpan, Chengdu, Leshan
Extra time: Emei Shan, Zigong (Lantern Festival/Dinosaur Museum)
CHONGQING
Must see: Dazu
Avoid: Chongqing during July/August
HUBEI
Must see before 2004: Three Gorges
Extra time: Wuhan's Yellow Crane Tower, Wudangshan
Avoid: Wuhan during July/August
HENAN
Must see: Shao Lin Temple, Luoyang, Kaifeng
Extra time: Song dynasty tombs between Luoyang and Zhengzhou
QINGHAI
Must see: (none)
Extra time: Qinghai Lake
Avoid: Golmud until the Lhasa railroad is completed
TIBET
Must see: Lhasa (at least 3 days)
Extra time: Dingri monastery/Everest base camp
Avoid: Trouble!
HAINAN ISLAND
Must see: Only if you have never been to southern Thailand's beaches or Hawaii