Internships unlock China's great wall

Many people are fascinated by the huge potential of the mainland market. Simon Kan Chun-man is one of them, and so he decided to do a two-month internship in Shanghai during the summer of 2011.

Majoring in China business as a final-year student at City University of Hong Kong (CityU), Kan embraced the chance to learn and work on the mainland. 'As an old saying goes, seeing the world is better than only studying the books. So, for the sake of better understanding the real situation, especially the business culture, I chose to take an internship on the mainland,' he says.

Kan was an intern at the Ruihua group, an environmental protection business. There he worked in the technology and sales departments.

'During the first month, I was with the technology department, learning about the development of electric cars. In the second month, I learned about the sales and marketing processes of green products,' Kan says. 'I did internal staff presentations to show them what I had learned. I cannot say I contributed much to the company, but the experience was an eye-opener.'

Adjusting to living and working on the mainland can be hard for Hong Kong people, but with keen support from CityU and mainland colleagues, Kan found the transition fairly smooth.

'The school helped us rent a place to live near the office and colleagues were very willing to show us around and help us fit in. Mainland companies have special welfare policies that are seldom found in Hong Kong firms.

'For example, the company canteen provides free lunches for staff, and on a hot day with the temperature above 35 degree Celsius, the company will offer ice-cream or soft-drinks to help staff cool off. I can't imagine companies in Hong Kong doing something like that,' he says.