Fwd: Safe In Hong Kong (again)

I safely got back to Hong Kong Last night.  What's new and newsy, you ask? Well, I delayed my departure from Shanghai for four days to try to get in touch with people from CICC, Bank of China, and CCX who I would not have gotten together with otherwise. I did go in and interview with two people from Bank of China, and swapped emails with the other two. Simply put, the situation on the mainland looks bleak. All the people who I spoke with deal almost exclusively with local or national clients and listings, and work in offices that work exclusively in Chinese - international deals and businesses are handed off to different groups.

This creates a position where the unique asset that I would bring to the table - Comfort in both Chinese and International environments - is simply not in demand at these companies. The gist of the result, then, was that I need to get to the places where this asset is in demand. From the conversations I had, the place that consistently got recommended was Hong Kong. So, it took a while, but I seem to have an answer for work on the mainland - my skills are not in demand yet.

So, that means that the rest of my time here in Hong Kong is critically important. Working here is not only the 'gateway to China' for many international businesses, but it is also the gateway to the rest of he world for Chinese businesses seeking to do deals abroad.  Good to know.

Since today is Sunday and I can't really hit the job circuit today, i'm going to do some shopping (I want to buy an ethernet cable, some breakfast foods, and a few other things), get some laundry done, and see about going to the other side of the island for an adventure. We'll see how much if this actually happens, or if it goes the way of dancing in Shanghai.