[roberthluo]

I agree with your statement, but if you turn around that logic, it is meaningless. Will you read about a blue collar worker's view on Chinese society? Probably not, since they are unlikely to have experienced it. Only Western elites will have been likely to experience Chinese society. Obviously someone who will be published in a magazine is elite. I am willing to wager than all the other writers are 'elites' in some way. As societies, we don't really want to read about some Cantonese kid working after school at his parents restaurant for 6 hours a day. We want to see success! That is why we tunnel so heavily on Cambridge, Stanford, and Goldman Sachs. Do you really think he would have been given a voice on this magazine if he was not affiliated with those institutions?

[rdtsc]

> We want to see success!

We do, but this success is presented as if coming from an average Chinese experience. But it's very much not so. A lot of success to him came not just from pure hard work but because his family could afford to have "plan B" of sending him abroad.

Like someone here on HN said it, it is not that the elites don't fail, they do, but after each failure they can just keep trying until they succeed.

> Will you read about a blue collar worker's view on Chinese society?

I would love to actually. What would an American welder think about China or, maybe what they would think about how Chinese welders work and vice-versa.

> As societies, we don't really want to read about some Cantonese kid working after school at his parents restaurant for 6 hours a day.

No, but they would love to read about the Cantonese kid working after school and then based on his hard work end up at GS.

The bottom line is growing in up in a family like it doesn't matter what country or culture you come from you already won the lottery. You can live in Venezuela or Africa and still take weekend flight to shop in New York. Your perspective is already very different.

[seanmcdirmid]

I am the child of modest workers (my dad didn’t even have a bachelor degree) and have even experienced bankruptcy as a pre teen. I’m definitely not a western elite by background, but was able to experience Chinese society. Heck, there is a whole stereotype, not completely unjustified, of western losers coming to China to make a long term living as rockstar English teachers.

[walshemj]

There used to be a British acronym FILTH Failed in London, Try Hong Kong :-)

[thrway123324]

I am using a throwaway for obvious reasons. But having been to both HK and Shanghai, I can say there is a world of difference between Westerners in both cities. The ones in HK working in finance at least have a college degree. They know how to behave in a proper surrounding. The ones I met in Shanghai are almost all trailer trash that have nowhere else to go. The filth coming out their mouths is astounding. You can see why a lot of Chinese people don't like them: egotistical and cynical. They also have chip on their shoulders. That's when you know how a person is brought up truly matters.

[seanmcdirmid]

Most of the foreigners I knew in Beijing had PhDs like myself, some just had master degrees. But then I was working in a research lab. I heard of the English teachers but never met them before.

The thing about foreigners in mainland China vs. Hong Kong, there just aren’t that many at all. Maybe shanghai has the most, but even then it is less than 100k, a drop in the bucket compared to Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, or even Bangkok.

[thrway12332412]

"Most of the foreigners I knew in Beijing had PhDs". Speaking of research, you are illustrating self-selection bias and small sample size fallacy in your argument. A small group of friends do not represent the whole. You shoudn't downvote people just because their opinion differs from yours.

[seanmcdirmid]

Of course it was, but then again there are so few foreigners in Beijing that small sample size bias is inevitable.

Also, haven’t downvotes anyone on this thread.

[thrway123324212]

Seems like you are choosing to downvote people that do not agree with you. I prefer to argue with logic and not downvotes. Its very unfortunate. Good day, Mr. Mcdirmid.

[pcr0]

Heard this a lot in investment banking. Definitely "used to be" as these days you're unlikely to make it in Hong Kong either.

[user5994461]

The friends I know who tried to get into either say it's as hard to join HK as London. They are both super competitive.

[seanmcdirmid]

Well, they could try Shanghai.

[user5994461]

The main offices are usually in NYC, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore. I don't think that Shanghai is an option.

[thyrsus]

I thought this BBC article about present day "blue collar" Chinese experience rang true. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-dd0e6fd5-12fc-4a4a-a...