When I first landed in Hong Kong for a few months on assignment, I thought the transition would be smooth going into China. After all, I’m ethnically Chinese and relatively fluent in speaking even if I could not read or write. I figured the cultural familiarity, the food, and the look of the city growing up with TVB shows would help me feel at home. This background played out so well for me in HK. What I didn’t expect was how much I’d have to unlearn and how many blind spots I had to confront once I eventually made the move into mainland China.
One of the first shocks was how people saw me. In the U.S., I was often “the Chinese guy” in every room I walked into before seen as anything else. In Hong Kong and China, I wasn’t seen as Chinese. I was one of them until I started spewing my american accent Chinese. Then I was seen as the foreigner with a familiar face. Facing their skepticism, I had to become someone expected to know the unspoken rules but missed alot of the cues. This created some mild tension and I quickly realized something: my identity is so contextual no matter where I am. I felt like I was back in my first corporate job. Walking into the unknown asking questions, staying quiet to listening more, and avoiding assumptions about how I “should” fit in.
Relationships before numbers
As a portfolio manager, I’m used to diving straight into models, data, and return profiles. In the U.S., that’s often the fastest path to credibility. In China, that real deal math was secondary. What mattered most was 关系 (guanxi): the depth of trust and the strength of relationships. Deals weren’t just transactions; they were tests of character, loyalty, and patience.
Bro, this was mind boggling to me. I had to slow down and invest in the long dinners, the tea sessions, and yes, even the infamous karaoke nights we saw in Rush Hour 2.
Communication is a practice
In New York, I learned how to interact with everyone of every type. My default is to be direct at work. If the numbers don’t work, I would say so. In Hong Kong and China, communication was more layered. A polite “this may be difficult” often meant “this is not possible.” I misread this more than once, assuming “maybe” meant there was still a path.
That forced me to listen between the lines. Understanding tone, pauses, and context became just as important as reading a balance sheet.
The work pace is relentless
I’m no lazy ass but god damn these people don’t play. I arrived to East Asia knowing about the mainland’s “996” culture (9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week). I’m young, single, and have all the time in the world. Plus, I worked through multiple cities in North America including the toughest one by reputation. Now experiencing the China grind. It is definitely not 996. That’s a lie. It’s more like 9 am to 12 am and very possibly 7 days a week. There is no “off time”
Presence mattered as much as productivity. At first, I went along with their model to experience. Was everyone effectively working all 15 hours in the day? No. Eventually, I realized the system wasn’t about hours on a clock; it was about signaling commitment to the collective.
I embraced their operating schedule fully, I learned to adapt. More importantly, I learned to protect my energy strategically throughout the day, reserving it for the meetings and moments that truly mattered. My coworkers also played as hard as they worked. Napping at work during lunch was a very very common thing. Taking rest at every break inbetween whether it’s 10 minutes or an hour. On some days, we would spend the entire evening at a luxury spa. Get a massage, eat there, sleep, shower in the morning and go back to the office the next day. It was kind of wild. Some of these guys did this at least twice a week.
Could I do this long term?
This journey so far has taught me more than if I chose to do a 15 or 30 day contract run. These past few months has been a cool learning experience. I still take my unique approach that humility matters more than heritage which is new for locals. It’s how I’ve distinguished myself from everyone else. Being ethnically Chinese didn’t mean I “got it.” I had to earn trust like anyone else. Deals are about people, not just numbers. Data is universal, but trust is local.
I realize it’s more than just about working in a new market. It was about becoming a different kind of professional for me. One who can move between worlds, decode unspoken rules, and see culture not as a barrier, but as a strategy. So while this has been a cool experience, I don’t know if I could operate this way for years simply because this excitement and curiosity will fade. Knowing myself, I will want to go back to knowing what I’ve honed myself to know in most of my professional career.
A lesson on business owners, bosses, and managers
January 22, 2024