Office Work in China

SHANGHAI – Visited in 2008

PART 4 (Read Part 3 Here)

Sleeping China after Lunch:

After the breakfast, we started working in office as you would anywhere in the world. Then came the lunch break, everybody left for lunch together at 12.30. And everybody came back at 1.00 pm together again. Suddenly all office lights were switched off. Workers pulled out the small foldable sleeping mat, pillow & a blanket from under their tables, laid them next to their desks and fell asleep. It was nap time! It was common for Muslims to take rest after lunch. They introduced it in Spain where it was called siesta but it is not practiced anymore. But it is common in Chinese offices & school also. It is called Wujiao in Chinese.

It is a healthy habit and refreshes the person well. Since I was not used to it, I kept awake. Lights turned on again at 2pm sharp. Around 4pm, a mellow semi-load music began pouring out of the ceiling speakers. It was exercise time! Everyone rose from their chairs and exercised together for 10 minutes. Hmm… very interesting routine.

Work, Work & Work:

We left office around 6pm. Most people were still working; late or extra-late working is common, so is working on weekends. Most people leave their families in another city so they can concentrate on work. To me this way of working was very disturbing but for these people it is a culture so they don’t even complain. This emanates partly from the fact that communism doesn’t recognize human as a ‘human’. Rather, he is considered as a machine whose sole purpose is to work for the state. So work becomes the focus of life. Family or private affairs are regarded as secondary. Secondly, there is cut-throat competition for jobs. There are far more candidates for far less jobs. As a result people work donkey hours; productivity goes down, as does the innovation!

Receipt is a Must on Taxi:

System is very strict and controlling here. In a way it is good because it forces people to follow the law. Driving in China is only slightly better than Pakiland. There is no regard for pedestrians. But they never break the traffic signals, even at night. Sellers in China always provide a printed receipt without asking, even taxi drivers with their name and taxi number printed. This makes cheating difficult (not impossible though, humans are innovative beings!). Taxis are metered & cheap. If a passenger suspects any wrong doing he can call a number to complaint. They work out the approximate fare based on his travel distance and force the driver for full refund in case of any cheating. Talking about travel, there is a telephone number which travellers can call to obtain any travel-related advice in English.

Never Say No:

I did not see much police; I was told there is secret police around. Residence is mostly in high rise flats since land is very expensive, especially in big cities. All the residential compounds had entrance gates and guards just like Pakistan. I asked my Chinese colleague why there are guards? Is there a lot of crime here? He simply ignored my question. This is one of the habits of Chinese, they are very conservative; will never say no to you nor convey any unpleasant thing to you, just conveniently bypass the subject.

Boss invites us Home:

Romeo approached me secretly on Friday afternoon informing me that our Chinese boss is inviting us to his home to spend weekend with him. This is unheard of inviting colleagues to one’s home in western world so Romeo was confused. It was very kind of our boss but we didn’t want to disturb his family life. We both decided to politely refuse him. But he cornered us in a room and started planning the journey. He lived in a historical city of Nanjing which is about 100 miles away from Shanghai. Looking at his enthusiasm and friendly gesture we gave in. It was good decision to make; soon we were embarking on an interesting & unforgettable journey. We packed few clothes in a bag hastily and then left office just after sunset heading to the Shanghai central railway station.

 Train, Touts and Ticket in Black:

It was a rainy day and 1000s of people were rushing home for the weekend. Living in different city and commuting to work is very common in China. We reached the train station soon. I was shocked to see long queues outside. It is not allowed to enter a train station until you have a valid ticket. And it was not possible to buy a ticket at the last minute. It was a tricky situation. There were touts around the station selling few pre-booked tickets in black. Our boss approached few of these touts but the prices were too high. Eventually a deal was struck with a lady after long negotiations; it was decided that we will pay certain amount, but only after boarding the train. So she escorted us inside. On the way she winked at the guard who looked away & we marched straight in behind her, obviously without tickets! There were even longer, individual queues inside for each train. We waited till the desired train arrived. The platform gates opened and we ran to get inside like maniacs. Most seats were pre-booked, rest were on first come first serve basis. Other than crowding, it was such a modern train; state of the art, fast & comfortable, running at 200km/hour.

Train Travel & China’s New Year:

The Spring Festival or Chinese Lunar New year is the most important traditional festival of family reunions. It is usually celebrated between end January & mid February depending on the new moon. Nearly half the Chinese population (about 700 million) are expected to travel within country during this time. You can only imagine this many people travelling on trains. Chinese railway system is excellent besides some corruption here & there. However they can never beat ours. Ex-railway minister Sheikh Rashid started 10 new train services without acquiring new bogies. Pak railway just painted the old cabins and started the new services. 9 out of 10 new services failed miserably so the next management abolished them. Current minister Ghulam Ahmed Bilour is taking Pak railway to new heights now days! It is on the verge of closing – just so sad. Railway is the backbone of a country’s transportation network. It is vital for ordinary people as well as army.

Anyway, soon we were flying towards Nanjing, the old capital of China!  (To be continued).