Working and living in Linde

We hoped that during our stay in Shanghai we would have the opportunity to learn more about Chinese culture. We thought that living with a Chinese host family, compared to just staying at a hotel, would bring us closer to the typical life of the locals, so that we could compare it to the  typical life of people in Germany. Apart from that, we also looked  forward to seeing all the traditional buildings and gardens we heard so  much about. Finally, we were excited to try out the local cuisine with  all its famous dishes and to be able to compare it to the Asian food we  are served in Europe.

In our internships with Linde we hoped to see an international and  globally active‍ company from the inside, so that we could get a general  idea of how such a big company is structured and can be successful.  Moreover, we wanted to get prepared for our future by experiencing the  daily life at work.

One of the things we were told to expect was that Chinese people are very  hospitable. In Europe, Asian people are said to be very friendly and  kind towards foreigners and very welcoming.

Chinese food, and Asian food in general, have a reputation of being extremely  spicy. We assumed that this would be very different from home, where  most dishes are not particularly spicy so that we weren’t accustomed to  spicy food. A lot of Asian restaurants in Europe serve very spicy food  and we expected actual Chinese food to be even spicier.

Another thing we were told to expect was that some Chinese will be very excited to see foreigners like us in Shanghai, for they are not used to seeing  European people. In Germany we heard many stories about locals randomly  walking up to foreigners and wanting to take pictures with them or maybe staring at them for a very long time. 

 We also imagined Shanghai to be full of people, due to the pictures we saw of China’s big cities,  which seemed filled with people and generally very crowded, especially  compared to Germany.

Coming to Shanghai, the first thing we realized was just how big the city is,  which was made obvious by the driving time from the airport and from  flying in over the city. Shanghai’s residential areas look very  different from those in big cities at home: while larger buildings  almost the size of skyscrapers are mainly used for offices and such in  Germany, with normal apartments and flats located in smaller buildings,  in Shanghai the apartments are often located in fairly tall buildings  and gathered in gated areas, sort of like apartment parks.

For many of us, our first real “shock” came on the evening of our arrival,  when our host siblings came home and spent about three hours doing  schoolwork, even after a school day that lasted into the late afternoon  or early evening. The amount of homework and extra assignments the  schoolchildren here have every day is incredible compared to German  standards. Furthermore, the Chinese people tend to be extremely  committed. The students seem to always give their best effort and are  focused, even when they are doing homework until late in the evening.

Another (very welcome) difference compared to Germany is that public  transportation is so cheap, both the subway and taxis are extremely  affordable and practical. However, we were a bit surprised to learn that the subway only operates until about eleven o’clock, whereas in Germany it runs through most of the night.

One of the things that impress us the most is Shanghai’s architecture. The  modern buildings at the Bund, the Oriental Tower or the World Financial  Center are absolutely breathtaking. When you look at them during the  night, with all of the lights shining, it feels as if you are in another world in the future. On the other hand, China also has a lot of old  traditional villages, like Zhujiajiao, with many beautiful gardens and  temples.

China’s food is another highlight and, although completely different from the  food we usually eat in Germany, it is unbelievably delicious most of the time. Most of it is not actually as spicy as we expected it to be.  Furthermore, the diversity of the food you find in Shanghai is unmatched by Germany’s cities.