'Sea turtles' search for a place in China

"They couldn't speak any Mandarin, but have a good sense of the language because they've heard it through their parents but can't actually speak it," Lee said. "Being an overseas-born Chinese, you feel you never quite fully merge into the country you grew up in, so China is a place that you will always have a connection to." Another OCN member, Lei Feng, 29, was born in China, but emigrated with her family to Australia 22 years ago. She came to Shanghai earlier this year to work for AXA-Minmetals Assurance. "I had sort of always missed the Chinese part of my culture," she said. "There was no Chinese community when I grew up in Australia. "I think in the past 10 years there has been a huge growth in terms of Asian migration there. But about 20 years ago, there was no such thing as an Asian community. "After I graduated from university in Australia, I went backpack- ing around China for about three months. "I knew from then on that I wanted to spend a longer period here to help me really get into the culture." One difference that Feng had to adjust was the Chinese work culture, something that many overseas Chinese must contend with when they arrive. "Certainly in dealing with working relationships, I noticed differences and found it a little hard at first," Feng said. "When I was trying to settle in, there were a lot of misunderstandings in meetings.

"I would often come out and say something directly and would be straightforward, which is something that isn't really done." Lee said he experienced similar problems and has found that being a foreigner with a Chinese face can sometimes be difficult. "I think 50 per cent of the time I am treated as a foreign expat, so to speak," he said. "But being a foreigner without a foreign face can work against you. You may have a great idea but, be- cause you cannot speak the language that well, it may not be as readily accepted as it would have been if you had a typically Western face. "I think it's still the case in China that having a Western face can still get you immediate respect." However, foreign-born Chinese on the whole face the same difficulties as all foreigners coming to China, Lee said. "The most challenging thing for me was definitely the level of directness, the idea of 'saving face.' "In the Western business world, it's a lot easier to be direct and to be very upfront when giving feedback. "But in China it has taken me a long time to learn that you have to be very tactful and very careful to save the face of the person you are talking to." Shanghai is becoming increasingly proactive in finding foreign talent, especially overseas Chinese. In September, it sent a recruiting delegation to New York, San Francisco and Toronto to attract expatriates and overseas Chinese professionals.

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