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Exchange Students On Shanghai Life

Endless construction, no voicemail, exposed bellies and lack of black people

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Quite the culture shock

Exchange students from across the world reflect on the things that surprised, shocked and charmed them during their stint at CEIBS in Shanghai.

What surprised me the most initially about Shanghai or China was…

“That the whole city is literally under construction.” - Margaret Alice Moscoe, University of Toronto

“That all the cabbies are Formula 1 race car drivers in training.” - Daniel Kuo, Cornell University

“That I can roll my shirt up to expose my stomach and not be considered weird.” - Graham R Sue, York University

“I was surprised to see the subway shut down so early, around 11pm [In Russia, subways shut down at 1am]” - Yuliy Muchnik, Ohio State University

“The great quantity of people in the street around 7pm performing leisure activities. They were dancing in groups, singing, playing instruments etc. It is clearly a society concerned about psychological, physical health and enjoys community life.” - Graciela Lechuga Reyna, ESADE

“That there is no voicemail in China!” - Erin Seo, Duke University.

“That there were very few black people in Shanghai, so I got a lot of stares which made me shy!” - Mercy Gambo Haruna, Warwick Business School

“That Shanghai is like home to everyone in the world. It has a little bit of something for everyone.” - Tony Chi Yee Cheung, York University

"What a great city to get lost in!" - Morgan Andrew Mcgilvray

What impressed me the most about Shanghai or China?

“The fact that you had people using all sort of transportation modes in a seemingly chaotic way but no accidents seemed to happen. It is something I would describe as the "controlled chaos". - Sebastian Llobera, IESE

“An exchange student came over to CEIBS, and had a time like you wouldn't believe. For the parties enthralled, And the staff in the hall, Kept him supplied with cold REEBS!” ~ Daniel Tudor, Manchester Business School

“The relativity of prices. In any purchases, lots of bargaining is required. Overall, the negotiation process was extremely useful in understanding the Chinese culture more deeply.” - Agostino De Angelis, York University

“The number of spectacular travel destination cities within China other than the ones I had already heard of. You could spend all your free time travelling around China and still not see everything this amazing country has to offer.” - Alan Cyril Burchell, IESE

“Shanghai is a city full of opportunities and energy. There are so many things going on day and night. Everybody seems to have found what they wanted. However, do they really know what they want or they are just influenced by the people around them?” - KR, Waseda University

"In this country, anything is possible! During my time in Greater China I was impressed with its incredible diversity: every day can excite you or scare you...So you have to be prepared for a whole bunch of new experiences." - Marcin Miszkiewicz, Warsaw School of Economics, Poland

Originally published on the CEIBS website

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