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A) Parenting. You will mostly have no parenting on your own in China. Tech companies will make you work long hours. It is not uncommon that when you finished wo

A) Parenting. You will mostly have no parenting on your own in China. Tech companies will make you work long hours. It is not uncommon that when you finished work and back home, your kid is already asleep. When you leave home early to catch the train, your kid is still asleep. It is not a joke but many Chinese young couples only see their kids during weekend, even they live together. You think leaving your kid to your parents 5 days per week is good? Noooooooooo B) Medicare. Every time your kid gets fever: IV. Your parents just love it. They think it is the best. Chinese people love to have their kids get blood test, X-ray for just cough... Children's hospitals are crowded by (grand)parents and kids who simply have cold (see pictures and story http://www.sohu.com/a/212568582_407108 http://www.sohu.com/a/212568582_407108). Most Chinese people (including educated middle class) do not understand get cold is not because of cold, it is because of virus. C) Also everybody knows: the highly competitive education system is a huge burden on kids and parents. It is common to spend lots of money to purchase apartment at good school district (xue qu fang). And many parents do this for kids going to elementary school, middle school, high school... Middle class life is not easy.

muzani 8y ago
A story on the this point - I worked with some colleagues from a giant China company. One of them just had his firstborn and was deployed outside the country for 3 months. The other also had small children and was also deployed outside his country for months. These guys were also the first in the office, last ones out. I doubt a Western company would be as eager to split a parent from their babies, but this was a common thing, especially when you're the linchpin.
jason_slack 8y ago
To your point B - When I was in China for an extended work obligation I made sure that I told people I was diabetic because lots of food has sugar in it. My co-workers kept asking me daily if I needed any medical treatment for my diabetes and one of them could take me to a clinic. Even on weekends co-workers would ping me to ask. It was very sweet of them but a bit comical.

muzani 8y ago

A story on the this point - I worked with some colleagues from a giant China company. One of them just had his firstborn and was deployed outside the country for 3 months. The other also had small children and was also deployed outside his country for months. These guys were also the first in the office, last ones out. I doubt a Western company would be as eager to split a parent from their babies, but this was a common thing, especially when you're the linchpin.

jason_slack 8y ago

To your point B - When I was in China for an extended work obligation I made sure that I told people I was diabetic because lots of food has sugar in it. My co-workers kept asking me daily if I needed any medical treatment for my diabetes and one of them could take me to a clinic. Even on weekends co-workers would ping me to ask. It was very sweet of them but a bit comical.