Photo taken on Noveber 15th, 2015
This is Ace. December 2015 marked his 5th year living in Shanghai. Scruffy and slightly chubby, Ace is originally from Jilin, Changchun Province. I grabbed coffee with him on a Saturday afternoon to learn about his Shanghai story.
"I moved to Shanghai on December 9th, 2010, and I am happy to announce that I will be relocating back home sometime in 2016. I still remember the first day very vividly. I had never been to Shanghai prior to my move, and the ritzy Shanghai I had all built up in my head was crushed the instant I entered my 350 yuan rental apartment located in the deep Qingpu countryside. The unfurnished, unwelcoming apartment came with a bed frame with no mattress. The walls were left as dried unpainted cement. I felt victimized. And surely reality settled in: I was no longer living in the cushy northern China, where the apartment was over 1500 kuai and located in the center of the town. The Shanghai I had envisioned was all but an illusion」 Ace opened his recollection by getting straight to the point.
Every migrant to Shanghai carries his and her motive for the big move. I asked Ace to backtrack his story just a little bit.
"I needed to get out of Changchun. I had lived there my whole life and was itching to see what's out there. I was born in 1987 and studied optics. Right after university I began working in a big company's procurement department. It was an extremely boring 9 to 4 job and I had enough after 9 months."
As we talked, Ace showed me a few photos or his former college years . A guy with a well groomed fro, wearing some funky sunglasses and an Elvis inspired leather jacket, the goofy Ace seemed to be the hit of the campus. Looking at the composed Ace sitting across the coffee table today, one would assume Shanghai whipped him into adulthood pretty switfly.
"Moving to Shanghai and mentally surviving in this city is rough. My quality of living is definitely lower than what I would have had in my home town, but this is all so worth it."
Ace chuckled a bit while wiping his fogged glasses clean.
"To make my story even more disastrous, the majority of my first year consisted of working as a factory worker, trimming plastic shavings off of a product line for quality certification." Ace elaborated.
"Didn't that make you want to leave?" I probed.
"Not really. Maybe it was naïveté of being a 24 year old. The challenge at that time made me work harder and to integrate myself more into Shanghai. Everything I did was measurable - and maybe this is what attracts many to come to Shanghai: you start your life new and block by block build it however tall or wide as to your liking. Now, I am a sales manager for a multinational company."
Something didn't fit into Ace's life equation. I had to ask why, after five years of hard work and living a frugal life, he is happily giving it all up to move back to Changchun.
"You want to know the truth? It's simple: because I can't afford to buy a house – it’s too costly here. Fortunately, my company is letting me to work remote in Changchun. Plus, my future wife lives there and I believe building a life there would be much easier. I will miss Shanghai and the cosmopolitan lifestyle it offers."
So, we transitioned to discuss Ace's love life.
"My fiancée is straight to the point. And I really appreciate that, especially after my previous intense and unreciprocated crush. For example, after just one week of dating, she asked directly whether I liked her."
On the subject of love life, Ace spoke with a content smile - his eyes narrowed in, resembling that of a happy baby. At this point, it was only natural for me to probe Ace's previous crush, which we will call it the 「99-Roses Incident」.
"In short, a girl whom I had a massive crush on led me to buying 99 roses and flying to Tianjin and back on the same day. Here is what happened: Through friends I was introduced an overseas Chinese returnee and fell for her, hard. It's an awful feeling to have when you have a crush on someone but don't know exactly how the other feels. Three years ago, on her birthday, I decided it was time to find out once and for all. My roommate thought I was insane for flying to Tianjin and back all to just have a birthday dinner with her. She said no and rejected me on the spot. I bought her 99 roses - my one and only time ever. But, I was happy and felt relieved. I thought to myself: finally I can move on with my life"
Our time was up. I asked Ace for one thing which sums up his experience here in Shanghai.
"I came to Shanghai with a thin duvet which I still use today. I guess the only difference now is that I have a comfortable home with heating, compared to five years ago when I was freezing my ass off."
Ace will be getting married next year, followed by the big return back to Changchun.