It was my first time in China. I was walking around Xintiandi, Shanghai, when there was a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to find a small, Chinese boy on a school trip. He wanted a selfie.
As I turned and posed, looking close to my worst in the Shanghai humidity, it confirmed what life was like as an outsider in the East. It’s a culture, way of living, and experience you can only understand once you’re there.
China is growing, and fast. During the week there were company visits to Huawei, Tencent, and PepsiCo, as well as lectures on China’s rise on the global stage.
It’s no surprise that Chinese students are returning home to study an MBA. There are also opportunities for international students, as China continues to invest abroad. Increasing business and trade is opening up opportunities for Latin Americans in China, as well as those from the African continent.
After discussing this with the students on the CEIBS MBA bootcamp, here’s five things you can learn about China in just five days:
1. China is a land of opportunity
Name: Bradley Cua 
Occupation: Senior vice president
Company: Exora Technologies
Location: Manila, Philippines
Coming from the Philippines where we are relatively low tech, I think there are a lot of opportunities for me to bring back to Manila.
It’s just crazy the amount of development here, and it feels like the rest of the world is falling behind.
In just five days I’ve learned that the amount of opportunity that the Philippines has is just emphasized here. The speed I think is just moving faster here, and I feel that everyone here is just looking for the next big thing.
2. China is welcoming and multicultural
Name: Sari Sartawi 
Occupation: EIT commissioning coordinator
Company: Petrofac
Location: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Shanghai is a very tech-oriented city—there are scanning codes everywhere and that’s how they make most of their payments.
It’s also a very multicultural city in terms of the number of nationalities you see, but I also find the Chinese to be very welcoming.
3. China will teach you to be flexible and dynamic
Name: Roberta Zaccone 
Occupation: Anti-financial crime, compliance & KYC officer
Company: Deutsche Bank
Location: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Since coming here last, I think it’s so different, it has changed so much.
I used cash last time I was here but now it’s all digital. All of this makes you want to be more flexible and dynamic.
In these five days what you are going to learn is to be flexible, to change, and to adapt to new surroundings.
4. China is beautiful
Name: Joanna Chemel 
Occupation: Program coordinator
Company: Ghana Design Network
Location: Accra, Ghana
This was my first time in Asia, and I had so many things in mind—I was really excited. The country is very big, but very pretty. I like the architecture, and the landscaping.
The interesting thing about China is that it is present all over the world but still keeps a closed society.
However, the program at CEIBS has opened up the chance for me to meet a lot of very diverse people—I really like the people.
The lectures have also given me a good showing of how the MBA program is.
5. China is growing at an exceptional pace
Name: Enrique Serrano Muñoz 
Occupation: Capital markets team lead
Company: Accenture
Location: Madrid, Spain
I’ve learned that Shanghai is growing really fast. Maybe China is a destination many people don’t think about…yet.
Considering China’s pace for the last years, people should keep an eye on what’s going on here.
If anyone is thinking about coming to Asia or China, or they’ve been learning Chinese and would like to try working here after pursuing an MBA, CEIBS is a no-brainer.
