梁倩萱 (BBA/ 3)
Time flies and this three-week Chung Chi Cultural Exploration and Internship Programme in Shanghai has ended in a blink of an eye. Inspiring and fruitful are definitely not descriptive enough to describe this amazing journey in May. Not only I had the time exploring a cosmopolitan city in China, but also immersing myself in a cultural quite different from Hong Kong, through working and having closer interactions with the locals. I am very grateful for this exclusive learning opportunity to be one of the participants in this trip. A packed week of firm visits and talks given by experienced entrepreneurs has broadened by my horizons and two weeks of internship enriching my knowledge on supply chain management. These were all precious learning opportunities provided by this specific programme as I would not been able to visit those prestigious firms on my own outside classroom time. Another highlight would be the mentors I met throughout the period and the network I built. The mentors working in different industries came and shared their work experience in Shanghai, which inspired me that there are actually numerous opportunities outside, thus I should never limit my future prospect within Hong Kong. Their personal experiences and success in career act as examples to encourage me stepping out of my comfort zone and seeking out for chances. Chatting with them is also great way to learn more and grow stronger. In addition, the friends I made is something I treasure the most from this programme. It feels so great that strangers I met on the spot could become friends and even travel buddies to neighbouring cities at weekends. I am sure the friendship I built can last long and this journey will be the common memories between us.
Apart from the planned places, I was able to travel within and outside Shanghai in those three weeks, which had given me deeper insights and thoughts. As a common saying goes, “travelling brings about far greater benefit than mere book learning” and I absolutely agreed with this statement. Not only can travelling enrich one’s knowledge and broaden one’s horizon, it can also sooth one’s nerves amidst the hustle and bustle of city life. For most of the weekdays after work, I managed to visit famous Shanghai tourist spots with my roommates, such as Shanghai wai tan, ren min guang chang, starbucks and tried most of the well-known dishes near our accommodation, which includes xiao jin ling, xiao yang sheng jian and jia jia tang bao etc. For the first weekend, we decided to stay in Shanghai and have fun wandering around and do some shopping. We went to yu yuan and tian zi fang on Saturday and Disney on Sunday. We were very lucky to play the rides and watched most of the shows, despite of the long queues and crowded population. The area was enormously spacious when comparing to Hong Kong Disneyland, yet the hospitality and employees’ attitudes were the same. The second weekend, we bought train tickets online and went to Hangzhou to appreciate the beauty of xi hu as mentioned in Chinese poems. There weren’t much to do as Hangzhou was relatively urban or countryside compared to Shanghai, thus we simply took some photos with xi hu and had a relaxing day.
Living in Shanghai for nearly a month, working like a local, travelling around like a visitor, all these enable me to observe the living habits and culture from the daily life perspectives. I was quite surprised to see that areas in Shanghai are quite different, some very modern while some quite old-fashioned. There are indeed some differences between China and Hong Kong, in terms of mode of money spending and working culture. Not only until I stay in China for a certain period, I wouldn’t realise it is that convenient and efficient to live in the city. With technology being that advanced nowadays, it is very prevalent to use online payment in Shanghai, like wechat pay and Alipay. Just with a few clicks on the mobile phone, transactions can successfully take place, orders are made and payments are done. No cash is involved and it saves time getting change or looking for the right amount from the purse. In addition, this speeds up the queuing time at the cashier and makes transaction process much more time saving and efficient. Citizens can travel around simply with a mobile phone in hand, isn’t this convenient enough? Most of our tickets and bills are settled in this way, thus there are no time constraints at all. Another thing that I particular enjoy being in China is the takeaway culture. Food can be ordered at anytime and be delivered at your home within a short time. On weekdays after work, my roommates and I were quite exhausted to leave home for dinner at night. We ordered food from a mobile platform with just a slight additionally delivery fee, then we could a delicious meal after a short wait. We once tried to place our order at midnight and there were still many choices to choose! As for the working culture, it is relatively less stressful when compared to Hong Kong. I found many of the colleagues brought their own lunchboxes and had their lunch in the office, while I seldom see this in Hong Kong. I think this is because of the lack of leisure time and pursuit of quality of life for Hong Kongers. There isn’t a strict lunch time period as well as colleagues are free to leave and come back to the office at anytime they prefer. This shows flexibility among employees. I once joined their Friday dinner and heard that the company usually organizes Friday reunion dinner for them to have gatherings together and enjoy the weekend, which is a good way for bond building and socializing time between managers and the staff.
This is my first time visiting Shanghai and I am extremely thankful for this wonderful time in this programme. On top of the observations and learnings, I acquired skills as well as had unforgettable memories with my fellow Chung Chi classmates, mentors and friends. I even wish that this journey could last longer and would definitely recommend this programme to others. Thank you very much for the arrangements and the opportunities!
