Post: #1

I haven't posted here much, but I've been lurking for a while and think this forum has a lot of useful info and some members who may be able to give me some good scoops on some things. As a bit of background, I'm a 23 yrld white guy from Chicago and I've been planning to move to China since I was in college cause I love them Asian chicks and cause I want to hustle my way to riches lmao.

Anyway, just got a gig teaching SAT and science to expat children in Shanghai that (combined with some part time jobs I hope to land) should pay me about 25-30k RMB per month, which is worth something like 5k/month in US terms since there is virtually no tax. Definitely not gonna blow the shoes off anybody in Shanghai with that kind of "bankroll" but it's still better than the average english teacher makes.

To get to the point, I want to know where to live, and how to pick up Chinese chicks. I'm not much of a club guy since although I'm decent looking and quite athletic, at 5'9 I don't exactly stand out in the crowd. More broadly, has anybody lived in Shanghai before, and if so, how did you find the experience?

Post: #2

Shanghai is truly massive. I can't emphasize that enough. Where in Shanghai are you working? I wouldn't get too far away from there.

Many of the neighborhoods in the French Concession are quite nice, and affordable on your budget, though Shanghai is rather expensive.

You'll want to be near a metro station. Lines 1, 2, 4 and 10 seemed to be the most useful subway lines.

Post: #3

(10-26-2012 09:14 PM)MaleDefined Wrote:  Shanghai is truly massive. I can't emphasize that enough. Where in Shanghai are you working? I wouldn't get too far away from there.

Many of the neighborhoods in the French Concession are quite nice, and affordable on your budget, though Shanghai is rather expensive.

You'll want to be near a metro station. Lines 1, 2, 4 and 10 seemed to be the most useful subway lines.

I will be working near/around Gubei district. Don't want to get too specific for privacy purposes.

Post: #4

in china, to really get anywhere, connections are more important than anything else. if you aren't networked, you aren't going to "breakthrough," this is a country where everyone is better than you at math and once you start getting into money, most people speak a high degree of english

Post: #5

23 and making 5 grand in Shanghai is doing very well. You can have fun and save decent cash too.

Gubei is a nice area, Tianshan road has the line 2 subway running by it. You want to be near a subway station in Shanghai.

Line 2 would take you to the French Concession, and from Gubei Hengshan Road is only a few miles. Both good nightlife options.

Either live near work or near a subway line, 20 million peeps in rush hour gets old fast, I assure you.

Never lived in Shanghai but been there 20-30 times.

Met up with an old Chinese fling in LA and she told me the last 2 years the foreigner population in Shanghai is getting very high. That foreigners are out numbering locals at most bars/clubs she goes too.

Post: #6

(10-27-2012 08:06 AM)redneckpunk Wrote:  Met up with an old Chinese fling in LA and she told me the last 2 years the foreigner population in Shanghai is getting very high. That foreigners are out numbering locals at most bars/clubs she goes too.

Ugh. Are you saying saying there is going to be a kind of "foreigner fatigue" among the local women? If there are really that many foreigners there these days I'd think being a foreigner will now work against you rather than for you. Is that basically correct, or am I being too pessimistic?

Post: #7

Its pretty well known that the amount of foreigners in Shanghai is incredibly high, and the reason for that is most likely that they also want to hustle their way to the riches.

Anyways, I'm pretty jelous right now but wish you all the best. Remember to have fun man.

Post: #8

There are a ridiculous number of foreigners in Shanghai. There is still some appeal, but it's minimal. You'll need to understand social dynamics and have some sort attuned game to do as well as it seems you expect to do with Chinese women.

Post: #9

In terms of areas, xujiahui is worth checking out as well.

Biggest suggestion is to just get your mandarin levels up as fast as you can. If you want to get around the city you should at the very least have a basic grasp of 中文, as average english levels are medium to low. Plus, google translate will only take you so far when you're talking to a cute chinese chick who only speaks a couple words of english.

Post: #10

Thanks for the feedback guys, it's much appreciated since this is going to be a huge leap for me and the more info the better. I already speak a fair amount of conversational Mandarin, as I've taken it for2 years in college. I figure after a couple of months of (non optional) submersion in the language most of what I learned will come back and fill out a fair bit. How big of a help would speaking semi-fluent Mandarin be in picking up chicks in Shanghai, who after all have their own dialect?

One other thing I'm curious about is integrating into the western corporate/professional elite in Shanghai. I'm going there as a test prep teacher but that's because teaching is the only job I can get from here in the states. I graduated from college just this May and am definitely going to China for more than just a "different experience," in that I want to advance my career and or start a business at some point. I'm basically giving myself 1-2 years in China to get in a position where I think my life development is progressing in the right direction. If I'm still teaching in 2 years and my life isn't heading anywhere I'll certainly head back to the US and start medical school.

So with that said, would it be feasible for me to transition from being a teacher to working for a western corporation in Shanghai or other parts of China? I have college degrees in science (non engineering) and economics and ideally I'd like to work in finance. I was hoping that I can meet some corporate expat types in Shanghai and through those kinds of connections move up from teaching to working a corporate job. Does that sound like it's feasible or like a pipe-dream?

Post: #11

Wow.

Post: #12

it's a feasible plan but remember for guys heading over there now, that a lot of people have the same idea that you have. A lot of people also had the same idea, 2 years ago, and 5 years ago, and some had it 10 years ago. Welcome to your competition.

You are competing with guys who know more about the language and culture than you do. They might already have the work experience that you don't. Or speak numerous languages.

They need people in finance, but if you don't have the experience they probably won't hire you.

Teach for a year transition to editing or maybe sales or something else is possible. Your clients will probably be foreigners. Doing all this while experiencing a culture waaaay different than yours doesn't make it any easier.

Can you get that corporate job...yes, but it might not be impressive, and it won't be Intel or something everyone recognizes unless you have a very high demand job.

Post: #13

girls in shanghai speak mandarin. the people who still speak shanghainese and no mandarin are older. besides, every dialect has the same written form

the white guy in a tie days are coming to an end. set yourself apart, if that's being exceptionally good at math or speaking dashan quality mandarin, you need something. One thing i noticed here is that the laowai to know (the bar owners, the club promoters, the guanxin people, all speak almost native level mandarin, and being able to will immediately set you apart

Post: #14

fuck it, do it! you're young... you're supposed to have adventures and make mistakes in your 20s. Worst case = you teach for 2 years, get fluent in mandarin and bang loads of girls, and learn some great lessons about hustling in competitive Asia. Any new experience where you're deliberately moving forward to something you want, is worthwhile IMO.

You should have a crack at it and just see what you can carve out for yourself. The very act of doing that will be at least as good an experience as whatever your current perceived ideal job is that you wanna get there.

BTW, blog along the way. Make it have an angle - "Making it in Shanghai". Build a following and make every post about adding value from what you learn about hustling your way into success as you go. Build a following and sell a product after 2 years. This is a good business-blog idea (solving a problem in a unique way).

Post: #15

So what's the best way to game chicks in China? I'm going to be there a while so same night lays are not required, I'm willing to pursue the pussy assiduously and systematically. If getting the cream of the crop means I have to stalk my pray for a month from first encounter to first lay, I'm willing to do it. What's the best way? Approach girls in fast food joints and coffee shops, or try to befriend some local dudes and get at chicks from social circles? From what I've gathered by reading other posts on this forum this last technique may not yield good results as Chinese dudes are supposedly very protective of their womenfolk. I guess only a particular subset of Chinese girls go to bars frequented by foreigners, and that is not the subset I am interested in. So the question is, how to score with the non-bar-slut majority that contains the bulk of the hotties?

Post: #16

I'd go with both. I don't know if you play basketball, but I went to find games of basketball in Shanghai and when I walked in as the lone white guy in a sea of Chinese people there were dudes lining up to ask if I could join their team for a pickup game. Using your Americanism to show them the ways of your life could break down barriers with Chinese guys, as your culture is offering them something of value. Hence they may be more willing to give you access to their women.

I cannot stress enough that hot chicks love McDonald's. It's questioned so often because it's premise sounds ridiculous, but anyone that's on the ground in China has attested to this.

Post: #17

I honestly don't know how to game without speaking Chinese, and if you speak it well, it's not super hard

Post: #18

Im guessing it's gonna be a little like most other developed/developing asian countries.

From what I've seen in Thailand/Korea/Japan,

1)There's an upper-class hottie that's almost completely closed off unless you're native or at least Asian, and fluent + connected
2)There's portions of the educated middle and upper-middle class who are open to foreigners, especially girls with "international" influence (studied abroad, learned english, whatever)
3)There's girls who are actively seeking foreigners, for whatever reason. Bad experiences with native guys, a niche fetish (e.g. hip hop + black guys) or it's a leg up on the status ladder for them. Usually middle and lower-class.

...And there's girls across all classes who are just not open to the idea.

Usually just boils down to finding venues with the 2nd and 3rd groups, and having a crack at the top hotties if you feel like a challenge or want to wage a social-circle campaign to try and make it happen.

That's my experience in Asia (but not China specifically). Love to hear how that matches up to anyones experience in China, and what the particular nuances are there, if any.

Post: #19

A white guy speaking the language is the biggest dhv in china I can think of if you can do it right. I have a friend who sounds like he was born in Beijing and it blows away everyone he talks to

Post: #20

(10-30-2012 11:31 PM)MaleDefined Wrote:  I'd go with both. I don't know if you play basketball, but I went to find games of basketball in Shanghai and when I walked in as the lone white guy in a sea of Chinese people there were dudes lining up to ask if I could join their team for a pickup game. Using your Americanism to show them the ways of your life could break down barriers with Chinese guys, as your culture is offering them something of value. Hence they may be more willing to give you access to their women.

I cannot stress enough that hot chicks love McDonald's. It's questioned so often because it's premise sounds ridiculous, but anyone that's on the ground in China has attested to this.

lol, I've actually been practicing B-ball for the past few months with just that in mind, as it happens!

Could you elaborate a little bit about the McDonald's game? How do you usually go about it? Cold approach lone girls, groups, and then what? Ask for directions or other such circuitous ways to inveigle yourself with the Chinkas or just straight out ask them out?

Post: #21

Ok, so I flew into Shanghai exactly one week ago and here is my scoop so far.

I guess I should go ahead and make it clear that my game level is pretty low and and back in the states I wasn't one to hang out in bars or in clubs. In fact I was in a 2 year LTR prior to coming here so it's been a while since I actively looked for girls. Appearance wise, I'm your average 23 year old white dude, on the skinny side of athletic and with a full head of sandy hair and blue eyes. Supposedly the type Asian girls like.

So, on to the analysis. One thing I have heard here before and want to discredit right away is the notion that game in China is as easy as lounging around for a few minutes and getting hit on by multitudes of hot chicks. The jokers who espouse this theory say you can go to Starbucks and sit there for 20 minutes tops before a hot girl approaches you by virtue of you being foreign. This has not been my experience. Likewise, you will not be eyefucked by females when walking down the street. They are far more likely to purposely avert their gaze than to invite you to approach by giving you positive eye contact. When taking the subway, I have never experienced girls purposely standing close to me when waiting for the train nor seen it happen with other foreigners. The upshot of all this is that just by going about your everyday life in Shanghai you will not be made to feel a sense of pussy potential emanating from the female populace. There is no rockstar feeling, at least if you're not 6'4 and built in which case fuk you lol.

On the flip side of all this, I have been told by everyone here (in shanghai) to whom I spoke that fuking Chinese girls is unbelievably easy and that most foreigners dont bother to fuck the same girl more than twice. I'm unsure what to believe. I have not yet had the opportunity to experience the nightlife here, thus my negative impressions stem from just the general vibe I get that girls simply don't give a shit that you're a foreigner rather than an actual experience of approaching girls and getting blown out. So I guess unlikely though it seems, it could be that even though girls here don't pay you any attention just because you're a foreigner, if you're a foreigner who approaches them they will respond positively. I'll have to see.

My roommate here is a short arse Tanzanian guy who claims to be quite the player. If all goes well I will go out with him tomorrow to some venues frequented by locals rather than westerners and and put aside the mindfucking logic in favor of empirical evidence. I still have high hopes for this place, and if the girls are receptive than Shanghai could turn out to be quite the pussy mecca, because the quality is definitely here. We will see.

Post: #22

(12-13-2012 10:54 AM)rekruler Wrote:  So, on to the analysis. One thing I have heard here before and want to discredit right away is the notion that game in China is as easy as lounging around for a few minutes and getting hit on by multitudes of hot chicks. The jokers who espouse this theory say you can go to Starbucks and sit there for 20 minutes tops before a hot girl approaches you by virtue of you being foreign. This has not been my experience. Likewise, you will not be eyefucked by females when walking down the street. They are far more likely to purposely avert their gaze than to invite you to approach by giving you positive eye contact.

Good update. This was my experience in Beijing as well. However, you should not mistake the girl's lack of pawing over you for not being attracted to you. Asian girls are going to be very conservative/modest in public because unlike in the US, being thought of as free and liberated independent sexual woman is considered bad.

I suspect they key for you will be to 1) approach and 2) isolate. Get them to a private location and then you can judge how easy it is. Having a roommate will not be helpful.

Post: #23

I am from Shanghai, born and grew up there. but lived in London.

Why does everyone wants to come to China? Are you guys going to learn chinese? I hardly see anyone really put in alot of effort into learning the language and integrate into the culture. I would rather go Hong Kong or Singapore, at least its more western there, you guys can hang out in pubs.

Post: #24

(12-13-2012 10:54 AM)rekruler Wrote:  So, on to the analysis. One thing I have heard here before and want to discredit right away is the notion that game in China is as easy as lounging around for a few minutes and getting hit on by multitudes of hot chicks. The jokers who espouse this theory say you can go to Starbucks and sit there for 20 minutes tops before a hot girl approaches you by virtue of you being foreign. This has not been my experience. Likewise, you will not be eyefucked by females when walking down the street. They are far more likely to purposely avert their gaze than to invite you to approach by giving you positive eye contact. When taking the subway, I have never experienced girls purposely standing close to me when waiting for the train nor seen it happen with other foreigners. The upshot of all this is that just by going about your everyday life in Shanghai you will not be made to feel a sense of pussy potential emanating from the female populace. There is no rockstar feeling, at least if you're not 6'4 and built in which case fuk you lol.

You've said it yourself. You don't approach. I don't think any of us who have went to China advocated sitting in Starbucks or McDonald's waiting for the sun to shine on us magically. Wave your phone or iPad around and motion that you need help logging onto the wifi network. If a girl is eating, just sit down and meme for help. I can guarantee you if you do this five times tomorrow, you will get at least one phone number.

To get on wifi networks in china you need a chinese phone number, which means going to a cell phone store and topping up, which means you'll need your passport.

Post: #25

Things are looking more up. I went out yesterday to a bar called Paris near Hongqiao with the Tanzanian guy. The quality there was head and shoulders above what you'd find in Chicago. We sat at a table that was already occupied by 4 smoking hot Asian American college girls. I got the number from one of them via convoluted process I won't bother to describe atm because I'm drunk. There wasn't too much I could do at that point because I had an interview with a consulting company at 11PM local time but I'm pretty sure if I would have been able to go to the club those girls were going to (something called M2) there would at least have been a make out from that (one of those girls gave me her drink to drink from the same straw 5 minutes after I started talking to her.)

Today was even better, at least as far as potential for the future is concerned. I was introduced to a 6'7 black American guy who is a manager at one of the clubs in Shanghai. We spent almost 3 hours getting drunk at this guy's apartment and talking about banging Chinese chicks. I saw some pictures of the Chinese girls this guy bangs and heard some stories, and shit that stuff was beguiling. I didn't know Asian chicks with bodies as good as the ones on this guy's pics even existed, lol. The good thing is I now have an in with this guy and free drinks and so on at the club he works at. I was invited to go to the club he manages later this week, everything free including the table so ideally shit would go down then. Either way this is a great asset. Sorry for the disjointed post but again, I had a few beers