[Vacancier Permanent]

After a successful first Mini Retirement in BKK, where I got to test drive this whole location independent thing while running my online biz while travelling, I'm now at the planning stages of my next mini retirement. While I do want to do a mini retirement in South America (Brasil, Colombia and Peru) in the future, I'm going to return to Asia as I really had a blast there and I feel and want to get to know other areas of this fine part of the world. I loved the 3 months I spent in BKK and I enjoyed my 3 weeks in the Philippines (Cebu) and I was blown away like never before in my short time I spent in Tokyo. Japan would have been, without any hesitation, my # 1 pick for my next mini retirement. However and unfortunately, in light of the current situation, any trip, whether short or long term to Japan will be put on hold until things get back to normal. In the meantime, I have been reading with increasing interest about living in China.

So I would like to know from those of you have experience with China and living there:
- what it is like to live there
- is it easy to find mid term accommodations (say 3-6 months)
- which would be a good city to select for my base given that I dont want to be in a place that is too cold. But I want a city with fairly good infrastructures, reliable and fast internet (vital for me to run my biz), fairly safe, open minded and sexy girls who are foreigners friendly etc...
- how are the people generally speaking? (friendly? foreigner friendly or hostile and racist)?
- cost of living: would $2-3k/month be enough to have a comfortable lifestyle (decent apart in a nice area of town, eating out all the time, going out 4-5 times a week etc...).

Now, I have read elsewhere that teaching English in China, while it may not pay much, is a great way to meet locals, make contacts for business and also, meet girls, on top of being an obvious way to get integrated into the social life of the city. Would you guys agree that it might be a positive thing to teach English, say on a part time basis, not for the extra money but for the social aspect of it?

Also, I'm starting in 2 weeks time, a Japanese course in the local college. Do you think it would be counter productive to learn at the same time, both Japanese and Mandarin? While I'm good with learning languages having self taught to near fluency Italian and Brasilian Portuguese, I never learned 2 languages at the same time. So would you advise on focusing on one at a time or is learning both at the same time, not going to be a problem? What do you guys suggest on this?

All in all, for now, I'm very curious about China and China is a very likely destination for my next mini retirement. Thailand and the Philippines are also and always an option. Depending on how things work, I may even do an extended series of mini retirements back to back to back there like say 6 months in Thailand, 6 months in the Phils and 6 months in China. Nothing concrete yet, still in the planning stages. Departure is scheduled for end of September 2011, but again, seeing how bored out of my mind I'm here, I'm seriously toying with the idea of going away for 3-4 months back to Asia (BKK/Phils or Bali, KL and Jakarta) soon.

I appreciate any feedback you China pros can provide.

Cheers.

[hydrogonian]

You and YMG should have a lot to talk about. He's the resident China expert.

[peterthephoenix]

I also have some interest in this area in the future. It would be great if a datasheet could come from this.

[OSL]

So I would like to know from those of you have experience with China and living there:
- what it is like to live there

Depends on the city in China. Hong Kong doesn't count as China. The rest of my review is going to be based on Shanghai specifically.



- is it easy to find mid term accommodations (say 3-6 months)


Yes, although the price will go up a bit. My leases have always been 3-6 months long. You can get a nice 1 bedroom place in the French Concession for 600-1000 USD a month. The French Concession is definitely the spot in town you want to live in. Other pretty good places include Jingan, Zhongshan Park, People's Square, Nanjing Road West (Nanjing Xi Lu), The Bund.....I think those are all on subway line 2.

Look on http://www.smartshanghai.com in the housing section.

- which would be a good city to select for my base given that I dont want to be in a place that is too cold. But I want a city with fairly good infrastructures, reliable and fast internet (vital for me to run my biz), fairly safe, open minded and sexy girls who are foreigners friendly etc...

Shanghai wins again for all of those things, although it is definitely pretty cold in the winter. Considering you are Canadian, it's nothing too unbearable though. I would compare it to winter in Paris, which is by no means horrible. Summer is very hot and muggy, but if you are okay with Bangkok then this will be nothing.

You will not get better infrastructure, services, and overall level of modernity than Shanghai anywhere else in China. The internet will be reliable and fast but many sites that you are accustomed to using will be blocked, including facebook, youtube, most porn sites....and a bunch of other stuff. You will have to purchase a VPN in order to get around that but apparently China has been cracking down all over the place in general to quell potential revolutionary activity.

Tons and tons of foreigner-friendly chicks everywhere. Start with smartshanghai dating, throw up a profile, and start messaging some chicks.

I have not been to Shanghai for a long time and apparently the nightlife has completely changed. You might like any of the clubs on the Bund, especially Bar Rouge, where Euro expats and hot Chinese chicks meet up to bang. It's classy and expensive but nice. You will probably meet alot of gold diggers here. I ran into a lot of brazilian pros at Bar Rouge.

I frequent places like Muse, Guandii, Mint, Babyface a lot. These are your typical gigantic clubs with tables and outrageously loud music. I dont really like those spots but my friends and professional network like to go to those spots so I end up coming along. Those places are worth checking out anyway, though.

Theere is something called "Guanxi Service" where you text the name of an address (ex. Bar Rouge Club) in English to a certain number and you will get the Chinese character's back on your phone, which you can then show to the cab driver. They will take you to where you want to go. I'll discuss this with you in more detail if need be, I dont exactly remember the number but can find out.

Definitely get a new SIM card when you're in town because it makes life so much easier, it's so cheap, and it makes the logistics of banging way easier. If you walk into pretty much any grocery store and point to your cell phone, you will be able to communicate through body language that you want a SIM card for your phone. Ask for a 100 RMB one, or write down "100 RMB" on a piece of paper. They'll get what you want and will help you install it.



- how are the people generally speaking? (friendly? foreigner friendly or hostile and racist)?

You will never have any problems in Shanghai. Shanghai has a history of being the commercial port open to the world, hence the BRitish/French/German quarters. Shanghai has been designed to be China's glamorous face to the world. Don't worry about it. The worst thing you will experience is some very persistent beggars.

Oh, and as always, drunken and violent groups of British guys watching UEFA on tv.


- cost of living: would $2-3k/month be enough to have a comfortable lifestyle (decent apart in a nice area of town, eating out all the time, going out 4-5 times a week etc...).

At 2-3K a month you will be okay. This is the assumption that you have an 800 USD a month apartment in the French Concession, are eating out a lot, and going out twice a week. Alcohol and rent will be your biggest expense and it is entirely realistic to spend 3K very quickly if you are not watching yourself. For some reason when guys get drunk in China, the RMB starts to feel like monopoly money and they spend outrageous amounts of dough without thinking about it. A friend of mine dropped a grand in a night to his dismay the next day. Oh wait, that was me, fuck.

Now, I have read elsewhere that teaching English in China, while it may not pay much, is a great way to meet locals, make contacts for business and also, meet girls, on top of being an obvious way to get integrated into the social life of the city. Would you guys agree that it might be a positive thing to teach English, say on a part time basis, not for the extra money but for the social aspect of it?

Not sure. In general if you are an English teacher you are not considered to have much social value in China. I could be wrong - the jobs certainly pay prety handsomely considering it's English teaching. I am not the right person to ask about English teaching jobs.

Also, I'm starting in 2 weeks time, a Japanese course in the local college. Do you think it would be counter productive to learn at the same time, both Japanese and Mandarin? While I'm good with learning languages having self taught to near fluency Italian and Brasilian Portuguese, I never learned 2 languages at the same time. So would you advise on focusing on one at a time or is learning both at the same time, not going to be a problem? What do you guys suggest on this?

No, learn Mandarin only. It's hard enough as it is. Focus doubly on getting your Chinese as good as possible before you leave. I dont know why anyone in the world is learning Japanese anymore.

Here is where I'll deviate from talking about SHanghai specificaly. Shanghai is not the best city when it comes to learning Mandarin. In fact, besides places like Guangzhou, it might be the worst since Shanghainese people speak their own dialect and you will be surrounded by expats and ENglish language all the time.

If you want to learn Chinese and really get a bigger bang for your buck in terms of cost of living, I suggest cities like Chengdu, Kunming, and Harbin. They will be a bit harder to get adjusted to as a foreigner for a first-time China experience.

Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan province, which is known for its laid back culture, super spicy hot pot cuisine, and beautiful women (by Chinese standards, which means snow white skin and long legs). Kunming is the capital of Yunnan province, which borders Burma, Laos, and Vietnam. I personally plan to go to Kunming for about three months to do an intensive Mandarin bootcamp before I begin working in Shanghai.

http://www.keatsschool.com

Harbin is the capital of China's northeastern province, also known as Manchuria. It has a strong Russian influence, which you can feel from the architecture and all the Russians. The Mandarin spoken here is similar to that spoken in Beijing and is considered 'standard.'


If I was just going to do mini retirments for the next year or so, this is what I would do:


-First,
Go to Thailand for 3 months. Alternate between Phuket, Bangkok, and Chiang Mai - spend one month in each location, doing intense Muay Thai bootcamps. This will get me into ridiculously good shape and help me lose some weight. Ten pounds a month is the minimum I"ve seen people lose on average. While doing muay thai bootcamps and getting fit, working on expanding my internet business.

-Second, go to Kunming and do an intense Mandarin bootcamp for 3 months. I've heard of people going to that school Keats and going from novice to high intermediate level in 3-4 months, which makes sense considering its total immersion and four hours of one-on-one customized tutoring five days a week. During my off time, continuing to aggressiely expand my business.

-Third - Go to Shanghai and totally ball out. At that point I would be lean and sexy, my Mandarin would be sick and I could reward myself for reaching my new income goals/targets. Assuming that I spoke a billion languages like Vacancier, including French, I would finagle my way into working part time with one of the many French importers of wine into China, since that would be a sick business to be involved with and Chinese people can't seem to get enough of it.

http://www.nextstepdirectory.com/import-...ne-paradox

At the end of 6-8 months, you would be fit, have seen lots of Thailand, have reached a solid level of proficiency in what is arguably one of the most important languages in the world, boosted your entrepreneurial income, and snuck your way into a high growth industry in China - imported French luxury goods. After getting proficient in Chinese, I would cold call that French wine importer, or maybe a different one, and tell them in French that I speak a ton of languages, including Chinese, and am intersted in becoming involved with their company in some way. It would secure you a work visa and you'd make more professional business connections that way.

A true Vacancier Permanent I would imagine is someone who makes a living importing Henessey into the world's hottest growth market.

[Beavis]

I agree that Shanghai is the obvious choice in the PRC and that HK is not China. in fact, everything that YMG wrote is very solid (even the part about importing champagne.)

You ask "what it is like to live there" -- i guess the answer to this question depends on what kind of experience you are looking for. If you want a pure mini-retirement a big part of hte Shanghai allure, i.e. biz opportunities, will be irrelevant. Shanghai is many things to many people but my impression is that first and foremost it is a place to make and spend money, i.e. not a pure party city like Bangkok. I think a lot of the fun in SH is chasing the millionaire dream.

in terms of teaching english: you would want to scope out the schools and make sure you are teaching the right kind of students. i could imagine a pretty good pay-off in this way; but, yeah, ymg is right that yr students will start off thinking that you are a bit of a loser as a 30yr old white guy teaching english.

Second consideration, which I admit is kinda trivial but just a heads up: I would want to time my sojourn to correspond w the best weather, which in SH should be spring and fall. Summer can be pretty brutal, although fine at nite i suppose.

final thought: if you are looking for a mini-retirement and not going in to this thinking that "time in china = money down the road" i still think that japan, korea, and taiwan would all be more fun. hell, taiwan might be the best of both worlds.

[OSL]

Quote:

final thought: if you are looking for a mini-retirement and not going in to this thinking that "time in china = money down the road" i still think that japan, korea, and taiwan would all be more fun. hell, taiwan might be the best of both worlds.

Beavis is right - Shanghai is not a vacation spot or really a mini-retirement spot as defined by Tim Ferriss. When we think of a typical mini-retirement spot as defined by 4HWW we think of ski trips in Norway, scuba in Boracay, and other hedonistic activities.

4HWW actually also made an emphasis that mini-retirements can be concentrated times of accelerating learning and personal growth that would otherwise be unavailable if one's income and location were tied to a job.

I always travel with a very specific goal in mind. When I did Phuket, it was to lose ten pounds doing muay thai while sightseeing. In France, China, and Korea, I've always been working or studying abroad. I did Manila to network with contacts I had made beforehand.

VP doesn't strike me as the kind of guy who can sit around doing nothing for too long. 6-12 months in your twenties or thirties is a long time to not be doing anything productive for yourself. In my opinion, if my mini retirement isnt advancing my health (fitness vacations, fat loss vacation), wealth (business networking, career advancement) or relationships (marathon sex trip) then it's not worth it. If I'm paying for the plane ride and hotel over there, I have to get a very calculated return out of my trip.

If I already had an internet business that was making me more than enough cash, I would get into one of the following industries simply for fun and to break into elite social circles:


-Luxury Goods and Wines importing

I discussed this already but as emerging markets consumers have more money, their tastes increase. They are particularly eager to show that they can consume luxury goods because it means they've "made it." In China their apetite is particularly ravenous. Read this blog for more information about China luxury market:

http://www.jingdaily.com/



-Art gallery director, Art Dealer/Broker

Get involved with high class events and art auctions - Chinese and Asian recently minted millionaires are dishing out cash on art.....check it out at http://www.jingdaily.com

-Something with the modeling/fashion industry

Lots of upper class and elite events revolve around high end fashion. The hottest parties are always the "Louis Vuitton Party at Babyface" or "Calvin Klein Party at Bar Rouge" or something like that. If you become a node in that network you automatically have access to all kinds of powerful people.

-Events/nightlife planning

Same as above.


-Something with golf resorts, maybe development or management

Shitloads of golf resorts being built all over China right now. I dont know anything about golf but I imagine there is an opportunity of some sort there.

-Yachting, luxury maritime - perhaps brokerage or some client-facing role

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igu5G8rle3Q

In the above BBC documentary "Adventure Capitalist", a well-known VC travels the world and covers various British entrepreneurs and businesses trying to break into emerging markets like Brazil, India, Kenya. The one listed is Vietnam - I posted it because it shows a British yacht company trying to enter the Vietnam market and their unique trials and tribulations in trying to do so. You will see that in emerging markets it is all about your network, and the sooner you can make those industry connections the better. I've followed the maritime industry for some time and have been interested in the market for luxury goods of all kinds in Asia's emerging elite class.


That's the thing about emerging markets compared to developed markets. Developed markets are like a clear lake that is motionless. Let's say fish represent opportunities. In the clear lake there will be a smaller quantity of fish and when you try to grab one of them, they will see you coming and get away - on top of that, there are a billion other pro fishermen trying to all get those elusive few fish. An emerging market is like a muddy turbulent pond that is hard to see through and teeming with fish. As long as you position yourself correctly and keep shooting, you are bound to get something.

I have a fraternity brother who graduated with a horrible GPA. He went to Shanghai with no plans 2 years ago and is now a director at an art gallery. He's 25 years old. The kind of shit that young expats can pull off is crazy, you just have to get your foot in the door.

With VP's language skills I think he can carve out a position being some sort of broker for something, somewhere, somehow. There are just too many opportunities in China for ambitious and hungry young men who can think outside the box.

[OSL]

More on China's consumer and luxury market, from McKinsey Quarterly:

http://www.mckinsey.com/locations/greate...yGoods.pdf

[Vacancier Permanent]

First of all, a huge kudos for YMG for your extremely solid advice and very informative and helpful posts. I loved your suggestions of the 3 mini retirement first in Thailand to get in shape, then to Kunmin to get a good grasp of Chinese language and then, off to Shanghai to make things happen. This is exactly what I'm going to do. Keep me posted on when you'll go there, I might join you too for this Mandarin boot camp. Your suggestion about getting into luxury goods such as importing French wine/champagne is an excellent one. I'm already in the luxury good/services business with my existing online biz and I know for a fact that the luxury goods/services industry is hugely profitable if done properly. I'm going to be investing a lot of time in China as I do see the stupendous opportunities available there that's why I'm starting mandarin courses soon and will do a mini retirement in China just to get good at Chinese.

Beavis,
Thanks for your informative post. I agree with you that being a white 30 year old guy teaching English wouldn't look good nor give me any social value. Good point. I'd rather focus on my building my lingo skills, building my biz and getting into the wine importing biz with French cies there. Btw, you have peaked my curiousity about your comment on Taiwan, care to elaborate on that man?

Thanks again guys for the amazing feedback. Very much appreciated. Keep'em coming those great suggestions!

Cheers.

[iknowexactly]

(04-23-2011 02:12 AM)Vacancier Permanent Wrote:  

you have peaked my curiousity about your comment on Taiwan, care to elaborate on that man?

Have to protest denigration of teachers and teaching. There's more to culture than custom suits and expensive booze.

The correct usage in the above sentence is "piqued."

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/piqued

[OSL]

(04-23-2011 02:29 AM)iknowexactly Wrote:  

(04-23-2011 02:12 AM)Vacancier Permanent Wrote:  

you have peaked my curiousity about your comment on Taiwan, care to elaborate on that man?

Have to protest denigration of teachers and teaching. There's more to culture than custom suits and expensive booze.

The correct usage in the above sentence is "piqued."

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/piqued

Yeah that's true. One of the reasons I want to build web-based businesses is so that I can use my skills/time to pursue non-profit endeavors like marine coastal protection. I don't think anyone here was trying to hate on teachers in any way, they're very important to society regardless of the context.

Having said that, if you read VP's original post and know him as a person, you can be sure that he would have used teaching primarily as a means to build a social network. Given that his primary goal was rapid social and business network enhancement, I can say without a doubt that English teaching would not be the best route to doing that.

The English teachers I know in China/Asia that ended up in great positions either in the corporate world or as entrepreneurs ended up there due to reasons completely outside their English teaching job. I know this because I know many of these types and am creating a product to help this demographic create themselves a fast track to career development.

English teaching is a generally stagnant and dead-end environment. The first thing I always have to do with some of the students I am coaching is help them break the stigma of being an English teacher with few professional skills. Generally I've noticed that simple things like creating CVs, cover letters, and networking at business events are completely foreign and new ideas to them that I have to help them learn how to do from scratch. These are people in their late twenties too.

While there is never a clear path to success in these emerging markets, I can say with confidence that teaching (while beneficial in many ways) is not a efficient or effective means of achieving the specific goals that VP has in mind.

It is true that there is more to culture than custom suits and booze. I don't think anyone here was confused between the two. It is entirely possible to experience the culture and history of China while making a fortune.

If you go to China/Brazil/India with the goal of doing business, you will inevitably experience firsthand the entire spectrum of a country's culture through your business dealings with them. I learned significantly more about Chinese culture by making endless sales calls, negotiating, and making business presentations to them than I did during my endless tours of different historical sites. By dating their women, you will experience the entire spectrum of how they view gender roles, what a man is expected to be like, and the complex forms of social value that people give to each other - all very clear because you are experiencing this all through the perspective of your home country.

By doing business, dating, and networking in a foreign country you are experiencing the dynamism and being a part of its history - in the context of China you will be swept up in the phenomenon that is the most magnificent economic and social transformation that has taken place in the history of the world.

This is by no means an argument or flame against what you said specifically. This is just me getting something off my chest - people saying that going to a foreign country for business and women is wasting the opportunity to "experience culture" and "appreciate history."

Culture and history are happening right now. We are making it happen by participating in it. While 5000 years of Chinese civilization is fascinating and I have studied it extensively, I would rather be an integral part of the China story that is happening NOW than constantly looking back on what has been.

The best means of truly learning what a civilization and its people are like, one should become as intimately integrated into it as possible. The first way is dating - there is really no way to get closer to a society than to become romantically involved with a woman. The second is business, trade, and negotiations. Once the gloves come off and you are in heated negotiations with a local, you get a real sense for what they are really like, how they think, and what they value.

My friend who is a 26-year-old project manager and broker for a gigantic natural gas deal has never been to the great wall of China. He has never seen the terracotta warriors or gone on a cruise of the yangtze river.

However, among all the gen-Y friends I have, I would sooner trust him to tell me about what Chinese culture and people are like because he has experienced the entire spectrum of human interaction with them - from trade, to love and sex, to violence, to friendship.

Business and culture are not mutually exclusive. I argue that you will learn more about a people by doing business with them than taking a whirlwind tour of all their historical sites and trying to be a broke English teacher cum travel writer in rural China.

Ultimately, being intimately familiar with Chinese culture, language, and their way of thinking is a prerequisite to being successful in business with them - or any foreign country.

Choose to learn culture while making a fortune instead of having to pick one. You will inevitably pick up language and culture by default on your path to success in any emerging market.

[Giovonny]

Youngmobileglobal,

Its always interesting to read your posts on work related travel, emerging markets, etc.

Its obvious you have done alot of research.

What about income? Do you have a job?

How do you make money to pay for all your world traveling?

[OSL]

I have been grounded in the US for health reasons and am going through a series of surgeries. I will be going back to China soon though.

My Europe and China travels in the last two years have been funded by a scholarship through a partnership with my home university and foreign universities. I sort of lucked out on that one. I then worked in a consultancy in Korea for half a year and got a salary there which covered my living expenses. Any other extra expenses came out of my savings.

Having said that, I would not have been in a position to luck out on the scholarship for the international masters had I not had extensive, proven, and strategically crafted work experience in emerging markets already. It didn't just fall in my lap, I had to hustle my ass off to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that I was uniquely qualified for that position.


"Opportunities multiply as they are seized" -Sun Tzu

I haven't really done research, per se. Everything I know is through trial and error, pain and frustration, real world experience, and watching my friends forge their own paths in emerging markets.

I have several interviews lined up in China and will be starting to work again sometime in the summer.

[Giovonny]

YMG,

Get well soon. Health is wealth.

I thought you had some web business???

[OSL]

(04-23-2011 10:13 PM)Giovonny Wrote:  

YMG,

Get well soon. Health is wealth.

I thought you had some web business???

I'm testing demand from my target demographic, honing the product structure, and actively running my system on several volunteers in China at the moment. Launch date is August 1 and I'll run a thread about it.

You heard it here.

Launch, August 1st.

Let me know via PM if you'd be interested in knowing about how it is progressing - I'll be throwing a blog/site up soon.

In addition to this China-specific product, there are other concepts and products I am interested in testing and launching, although I"m not sure they would take off.

I'm thinking of taking the China career product and launching it from a bigger platform that is related to young expats starting careers in emerging markets to take advantage of opportunities outside their home countries. The site would be a combination blog, community, paid membership for access to products/resources.....possibly services. I dislike services in general.

This would not be some bullshit directory or general advice blog about working abroad that you see online all the time. I'm painfully aware of how useless those sites and information are when it comes to executing and figuring out the dirty work of making a name for yourself and building a career platform abroad.

I am creating a system. A no-nonsense, quantifiable, strategic, HR-hacking, network infiltrating, complete system. With it, a young expat can identify where he wants to make his mark and within 6 months hit certain milestones such as a full time job offer, a wide social and professional network, functional language skills, and a means of being able to transfer his work experience back to his home country were it necessary.

I've tracked the stories of myself and other young American and European expat guys who have "made it" in Asia. There is a very similar pattern in all of us and I am confident it can be replicated in other countries. Simultaneously, all of us come from very similar backgrounds such as international wealthy families (not me, but most others) and top tier schools which undoubtedly have created an unfair advantage.

Thus I'm currently testing my system on volunteers who have none of these to advantages to see if it will work on any given guy with ambition and hustle.

I want to make these kinds of things happen:

-Someone like VP shows up in Shanghai, cold calls the top French champagne importer and proposes a work placement. Due to his ability to speak English, Spanish, French, Chinese, and Farsi, he rapidly becomes the head of business development and starts making fat commissions due to China's increasing hunger for everything expensive and French.

-Disillusioned recent graduate from a no-name school gets a one-way ticket to Vietnam, systematically infiltrates a Taiwanese conglomerate that develops golf resorts out of Saigon. He is offered a job and in three years becomes their global head of marketing to attract investors and PR from western nations.

-22 year English teacher with shitty GPA gets an inside referral to one of the top environmental consultancies on the world at Jakarta branch, becomes full time consultant within 4 months despite having no academic background in the subject.

-An Indian-American 25 year old quits his hellish investment banking job and takes a 3 month sabbatical backpacking to find his roots in Kerala. He begins selling organic cotton sportswear to universities and high schools, sourced from India. In the process he becomes fluent in Hindi and is able to be an integral part of the rise of his motherland.

I view this as being beyond just myself. Rather, I see this as something that can legitimately make a positive difference in many peoples' lives, so I want to make sure I do it right before releasing it.

China first, then I'll see how I can make it bigger and better.

[Giovonny]

Thats the most ambitious, aggressive, and strategic career plan I have ever heard! Keep grinding kid. You are gonna be successful.

Be careful to not let girls and/or drugs derail your dreams.

You might like this blog by the owner of the Dallas Mavericks . He made a billion by age 28 I think.

http://blogmaverick.com/

[OSL]

Yeah Mark Cuban is the man. I love his level of not giving a fuck about anything. I think he got fined 200 grand for running onto the court during a game, then matched that fine in donations to a children's hospital or something.

I keep everyone posted about how it's going.

[Beavis]

not an expert on Taiwan, but it seems to offer a lot of positives

1. I personally think that PRC women are incredibly boring and lame, for the most part, and that Taiwanese chicks are both more liberal and more cosmopolitan

2. Taiwan is much richer than PRC but economy is more efficient and taxes are lower plus there is still a large part of the population that works for sweet fuck all so life is hardly expensive

3. I believe that in Taiwan you can buy a motorcycle and ride it around the Island, which is beautiful. I wouldn't want to do this in the PRC as it is dirty and roads are incredibly congested plus you will have a hard time getting a motorcycle license

4. If you are wanting to learn Chinese then Taiwan is very much relevant and in some ways (emphasis on some) their Mandarin might even be considered superior to that used in the PRC.

5. If you want to go somewhere and have an edge for being unusual as an expat (i.e. white guy w some cash) you are probably going to stand out more in Taiwan as there are few reasons for Western professionals to be there.

6. It is a democracy with people who are less caught up in lies/self-censorship/other bullshit = more genuine relationships. Chinese culture as a whole is also better preserved in Taiwan

hth

[Vacancier Permanent]

Beavis,
Thanks for the post on Taiwan. Have you lived in Taiwan and/or China? You seem to know both, would be a good idea if you bust out a data sheet on both Taiwan and the places in China your'e familiar with. That would be very helpful.

Cheers.

[Vacancier Permanent]

Another place that has been growing on me as a possible great location for a 3 month mini retirement is Bali. Anyone in here has stayed there for a while? I am getting the impression that 1.5K/month is a minimum requirement to have a good lifestyle there while 2k would be live it up. Anyone who has been and done it can confirm on that?

[gringoed]

(04-27-2011 07:06 PM)Vacancier Permanent Wrote:  

Another place that has been growing on me as a possible great location for a 3 month mini retirement is Bali. Anyone in here has stayed there for a while? I am getting the impression that 1.5K/month is a minimum requirement to have a good lifestyle there while 2k would be live it up. Anyone who has been and done it can confirm on that?

Bali is where Project Getaway is

http://projectgetaway.net/

I'd be interested in hooking up with them to enjoy Bali.

[OSL]

http://www.tropicalmba.com/thailand-vs-bali/

http://www.myeggnoodles.com/live-work-in...-asia.html

[OSL]

(04-27-2011 07:20 PM)gringoed Wrote:  

(04-27-2011 07:06 PM)Vacancier Permanent Wrote:  

Another place that has been growing on me as a possible great location for a 3 month mini retirement is Bali. Anyone in here has stayed there for a while? I am getting the impression that 1.5K/month is a minimum requirement to have a good lifestyle there while 2k would be live it up. Anyone who has been and done it can confirm on that?

Bali is where Project Getaway is

http://projectgetaway.net/

I'd be interested in hooking up with them to enjoy Bali.

Gringoed where are you nowadays, are you going to be in Asia soon?

Does anyone have plans to go to Asia/China?

[gringoed]

(04-27-2011 07:26 PM)youngmobileglobal Wrote:  

(04-27-2011 07:20 PM)gringoed Wrote:  

(04-27-2011 07:06 PM)Vacancier Permanent Wrote:  

Another place that has been growing on me as a possible great location for a 3 month mini retirement is Bali. Anyone in here has stayed there for a while? I am getting the impression that 1.5K/month is a minimum requirement to have a good lifestyle there while 2k would be live it up. Anyone who has been and done it can confirm on that?

Bali is where Project Getaway is

http://projectgetaway.net/

I'd be interested in hooking up with them to enjoy Bali.

Gringoed where are you nowadays, are you going to be in Asia soon?

Does anyone have plans to go to Asia/China?

In the US through the summer. I plan to hit Thailand in the fall.

[Vacancier Permanent]

YMG,
these are some good links, thanks man! I read the article on outsourcing to the Philippines and that is making me having some serious thoughts to have my websites built as here I'm getting high quotes for that here. I can't wait to return to Asia! the more I stay here in NA, the more I realize how lame things in general are here compared to Asia.

[OSL]

http://www.virtualbusinesslifestyle.com

For those of you interested in outsourcing.

This guy blogs about running a company completely virtually.

Some things about NA are better, that you will realize with time. There is more space and people don't shove. You don't have to tolerate the pervasive fish, garbage, and cigarette smell. The air is clean for the most part, there is way less pollution in general, the water is drinkable, and you don't have to wonder if your dumplings have chemicals in them that will rot your intestines.

Having said that, Asia is undoubtedly the best place for a young man to be at this particular moment in time. There are just too many opportunities that all the nuisances just sort of fade into the background.