China is attractive for numerous reasons. The food scene, the many cultural activities and the beautiful nature are only a few aspects of this enormous country that lure thousands of tourists every year. Besides all of these reasons, many people come to China with professional goals in mind. Cities like Shanghai or Beijing already established themselves as centers for business and commerce. On top of those, many “smaller” cities, like Hangzhou, are turning into new centers for the upcoming industries. Young professionals are attracted by these locations because they form the perfect background to gain some quality experience in their respective field of business. China can be beneficial for your future business endeavors in many other ways as well. It’s the perfect location to engage in some highly productive networking.
The number of interns and young professionals that come to China to develop their skills and abilities year in, year out get up to a couple of thousands. Next to temporary visitors, Chinese cities like Shanghai and Beijing also house large expat communities that have permanently settled here. This widely varied business scene make China the perfect environment for networking. It’s very easy to write this down, but a bit harder maybe in reality. In a city with 24 million people, you probably don’t know where to look first to meet those people that are interesting to you. China wouldn’t be China however if they didn’t have some websites to make this easy for you. These websites are not only meant for people with professional goals in mind. These are perfect platforms for travelers who want to meet people with the same nationality or that speak the same language.
Internations
InterNations is the first website you should get to know. The creators of InterNations wanted to develop a simple platform where different nationalities could create a group and have people join it. You have to log in with an e-mail address or Facebook account. Once this is done you can join any nationality group you desire. The website is logically designed and you can immediately see which society you should join based on your individual purposes. On top of the socializing aspect, the creators also organize events on a regular basis. This way you actually get to meet some of the people that you might have met online. In the meantime you also discover some cool places in the city that you are staying at. No matter what your plans or goals are in China, visit this website if you want to meet up with people.
Meetup
Meetup is another platform for foreigners who want to communicate or interact with other expats. Rather than joining a community of people with the same nationality, this website allows you to join a group which focuses on a single activity. Are you just looking to socialize and hang out or do you want to join a book club? Do you want to participate in cross fit activities or are you a photography enthusiast? Meetup shows you a long list of groups created by individuals who are looking for likeminded people to engage in activities with. If you do not find what you are looking for you can always create your own Meetup-community. With many thousands of expats in all of China’s cities, you’ll definitely find people to hang out with.
Both websites I mentioned above contain groups that devote themselves to the professional side of the expat life. There are however websites that solely focus on bringing together people that are looking for professionals to collaborate with. FC Club is such a platform. The Fortune Connection Club’s goal is to put business minded people, which are currently in China, in touch with each other to create an international business scene. Whether you are looking for a partner, an investor or someone in the same business as you whose brain you want to pick, FC Club enables you to do all of this. Next to connecting professionals online, FC Club also strives to organize events on a monthly basis in Shanghai, Beijing and other large Chinese cities. This is definitely the site to visit if you are staying in China for business only.
Last but not least we do have to mention to role of WeChat when it comes to networking. As mentioned in the article dedicated to WeChat, this app makes it easy to connect with people you meet on your Chinese travels. It’s not only very easy to add contacts quickly. It’s also the place to be to create and find groups. A quick search on WeChat’s interface can deliver you a long list of groups you can join. Whether you want to connect with other expats from your native country or get into some quality networking, you’ll find a group for it on WeChat. Beware though! WeChat is open to everybody, so also to advertisers and other people who post spam wherever they can. Finding out how to mute notifications in a group is something you want to look into straight away.
As you can see there are many opportunities for you to socialize when you are spending time in China. It all depends on how open you are and how much time you have. Whether it’s for social or business purposes, the networking opportunities will be plenty. This article only discusses a few websites. Besides InterNations, Meetup and FC Club there are many other platforms that place you in contact with likeminded people. Don’t forget to check for the abundance of the events that are being organized on a daily basis. Cities like Shanghai or Beijing don’t have one evening dedicated for a night out. There is always something to do, so go out and get in touch!
The post The Best (Online) Networking Platforms for Shanghai appeared first on Internships China.
