The preparations for my time in China were largely taken care of by my company. I therefore only had to consult the FHDW International Office to apply for a Promos scholarship. Visas and international health insurance were issued for me and flights and accommodation had already been booked, which kept the time I spent in advance to a minimum. Contact with my local supervisors was also no problem due to the constant business contact, so everything was prepared for my arrival. What’s more, I didn’t travel alone, but was accompanied by a colleague and fellow student who was spending his stay abroad there at the same time.

The original plan for my stay was to spend three weeks in Dongguan, work in Cambodia for two weeks over Chinese New Year, then travel to Hong Kong for a few days and then back to Dongguan. However, due to the coronavirus outbreak, the plan was then changed, so after the first three weeks in China, we extended our stay in Cambodia to four weeks and then spent two weeks in Vietnam before returning to Germany after a shortened total time.

After arriving at Hong Kong airport, we were picked up by a driver who took us to Dongguan, around 60 km away, and also helped us to enter China. On the first day, we received Chinese SIM cards and an introduction to the company and life in China. We then spent the first few days finding our way around the city and the area surrounding our hotel.

With around eight million inhabitants, Dongguan is more of a small town for the Chinese, but for us it was anything but. In general, there are many chains and stores there that are also familiar from Europe. In addition to countless malls, skyscrapers and building complexes, Dongguan is also home to miles of parks. The largest of these was very close to our hotel, which gave us the opportunity to enjoy a little peace and quiet in nature amongst all the noise.

There is also a stable public transport infrastructure with metro, buses and trains, which also offer connections to other nearby cities such as Hong Kong and Guangzhou. The prices for transportation, just like the general cost of living, were below the European standards we are familiar with. For the approximately 12 km journey to work by bus and metro, we paid a total of around 60 cents.

One of the biggest hurdles during my time in China was the language barrier. Only a few Chinese people outside the internationally oriented industrial park, where our company was located, speak English. As a result, we sometimes had communication problems during our leisure activities. But even such situations could be overcome without major problems using translator apps and a little patience.

Furthermore, Chinese life is much more advanced than German life in some areas. While I know restaurants in my home town where you can’t even pay by card, in China it is commonplace to pay everywhere with your cell phone using services such as WeChat or Ali Pay. However, as you need a Chinese bank account for this, this option was unfortunately not open to us. It was also impractical that many apps and services such as Google, WhatsApp and Instagram are blocked by the Chinese government. This could be circumvented by VPN providers, but that didn’t make the whole thing any less annoying.

However, working life was very similar to that in Germany – apart from slightly different working hours. In China, we spent it in the company’s large office complex. I was assigned to the development department, which deals with the development process of new shoes for future collections.

At the end of January, we left China for the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, where we were to spend the next four weeks. There we learned a lot about the individual production processes and also got to make our own shoe. We also learned a lot about quality controls and social compliance regulations. Cambodia was culturally very similar to China. However, people there speak more English, which is why communication was easier there. The cost of living was also roughly the same.

After our time and visa in Cambodia had expired, we were spontaneously given the opportunity to spend another two weeks in the production facilities in Vietnam. There, we once again dealt with the development and production of various shoe models and were then able to compare these with the processes in Cambodia.

Our time in Asia in general gave us an insight into cultures that were unfamiliar to us and quickly showed us many differences to Europe. In addition to nuances such as behavior, habits and food, it was above all the road traffic that caught our eye. The traffic in China and especially in Cambodia is in no way comparable to that in Germany. Right of way rules and red traffic lights are interpreted rather voluntarily there and it is advisable to exercise extreme caution as a pedestrian when trying to get from A to B. In Cambodia, this could be avoided by using the tuk-tuks, which can be found everywhere and take you to your destination for a small sum.

But in addition to many differences, there were more parallels to Europe than some might think, especially in the big cities.