My friend Tommy owns a small coffee shop near a college campus in Shanghai. As I was in his shop the other day, I noticed he hired a few more newbies this month. He explained, “They are college students who will graduate this month. They are here working for free for a month and I will sign the employment agreement with them in return,” his … Continue reading Graduates said to be employed
I read an article in a local newspaper the other day that said a 10-year-old pupil in Shanghai had saved more 200,000 yuan ($30,000) in her bank account. What’s more, a couple of her class-mates got allowances from their parents that were in the tens of thousands of yuan. Maybe her parents are rich enough to give her anything she wants, or maybe they are … Continue reading Making Allowance for Wealth
In China, single women over 25 years old are now creatively called shengnu. With exactly the same sound as the Chinese word for saint woman, shengnu actually means leftover women. Last week, I had a chance to talk with 10 attractive and successful unmarried women in this age group. Each had a different reason for not being married, but they all had one thing in … Continue reading Parents Responsible for Shengnu Issue in China
As many managers worry over whether their factory workers will return after the Spring Festival, about 600,000 new graduates remain unemployed, a government official stated on January 26. Ministry of Education statistics show that more than 6 million students graduated in China last year, up from 1.45 million in 2002. The other day, I interviewed a recent graduate who was struggling to make ends meet … Continue reading Universities in China: Reforms are Required
When East Meets West 