An American’s "Dual Identity" Life in Chongqing

□Edited by Lovia Agyemang



An American’s "Dual Identity" Life in Chongqing

□Edited by Lovia Agyemang

There are many foreigners living in Chongqing most of whom have travelled all over the world full of curiosity about the city. James Wemyss, an American citizen is one of them. What makes James dif ferent is that, he lives here with a“double status" which gives him a dual perspective of the city. We therefore hope to capture the rapid changes in Chongqing through his eyes to discover the beauty of the city.

Not only has James got an outstanding Chinese name Wen Shijie, he also has an impressive resume. He graduated from the University of Hampshire in 2001 and continued with his masters’ degree in W ashington Georgetown University where he studied international business negotiation. He later entered the United States Senate and served as a financial analyst. During our interview he informed me about his job that involved diplomatic relations to Asia. In his own words, “My job was to organize Congressional hearings including access to the Chinese market, US and China energy cooperation and economic relations with Southeast Asia by convincing and enhancing corporation with senators through the gathering of information and analysis of data.” James has gradually developed an interest in China and even left his high paying job as a senate to further his education through an exchange program between Tsinghua University (Beijing) and Stanford and MIT (United States). He has been working for an investment company in Shanghai since his graduation.

In the view of most people, leaving a steady job to aforeign country to start from scratch takes a lot of courage and determination, perhaps the ideology that most Americans are conf dent and adventurous is true because according to James, his decision was worth it. With a smile and a sense of conf dence in his voice, he commented “I love to challenge myself and enjoy the success of overcoming obstacles, and I cannot achieve this from sitting in the cubicle, I choose to change.”

If choosing to work in China was a huge life transition for him, then coming to Chongqing from Shanghai was his second courageous choice in his career. James came to Chongqing in 2009. “It was my f rst time in Chongqing on a business trip, I stayed here for 4 days, and feel completely in love with the city.” Because of his love for Chongqing and the good impression this city left on him, James moved to Chongqing in 2014. Currently James works as the director of strategy and development for a financial leasing company. His job is mostly establishing financing projects and contracts between foreign capital investment companies and venture capital f rms mainly for Chongqing corporate clients.

As the saying goes, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. James has easily conformed to the life in Chongqing. He is part of the American Southwest Chambers of commerce. He often travels between Chongqing and Chengdu partaking in business forums for new business development opportunity. James also has a good social life with many Chinese friends from Chongqing and Chengdu. To further improve his social life, he has accounts for China’s most popular social networks, W eibo and WeChat. James has undeniably embraced the lifestyle in Chongqing.

James undoubtedly being an English speaker, he is faced with communication problems daily at work. There are many language barriers whiles working with local employees. James is able to speak Mandarin, however as the Chongqing dialect is very dif ferent from mandarin, it has become his greatest dif ficulty in communicating with his colleagues. He therefore has to be accompanied by an interpreter anytime he goes on business trips in Chongqing.

James had to admit that compared to Chongqing, Shanghai is more ‘international’. Statistically, there are about 80％ of foreign joint ventures and enterprises in Shanghai and more foreigners than in Chongqing. Chongqing is still in its developing stages and gradually becoming known to many foreign countries; in ef fect Chongqing lacks job opportunities for foreigners, however according to James, Chongqing “has a lot of potential”

"Dual Identity" for Diversity Cultural Exchange

Besides being a foreign manager in Chongqing, James is also a Tango teacher.

Tango was a hobby for James when he lived in Shanghai. In Shanghai, he was involved in many Tango clubs, which often held parties, but he could not f nd any in Chongqing.

One day at a friend’s party James met a lady who owned a studio for dance classes. Upon conversation, she invited him to teach tango at her studio. James teaches every Wednesday and Friday evenings for two hours. His lesson involves slow movements accompanied by music.

Conversely explaining the movements in Chinese is the most dif ficult according to James,“there are some things I can’t explain in Chinese.” he exclaimed.

Working during the day while promoting his favorite Tango at night, is currently his status in Chongqing. Although tango is a hobby, he sees it a way to expand his circle of friends in Chongqing, which would be very helpful in learning the locallanguage. “Tango is one thing thing I will love to pass on to as many Chongqing people as I can.”He also mentioned that, his dream is to have a big international Tango party in Chongqing.

Expecting Direct Flights from the U. S to Chongqing

Aside from tango James loves cycling. He mostly rides along countryside whiles exploring the natural landscapes. Although James is from a big city in the US, Chongqing is a special city for him. “Chongqing is Like Hong Kong, despite its modern developments, it is still very 'Chinese'.” When discussing any future proposals for Chongqing, James hoped for a direct flight from the United States to Chongqing. This in his view will encourage more Americans to travel to Chongqing as well as enhance its popularity. According to him, Chongqing is worth being noticed internationally. He keeps sharing his experiences in Chongqing with his Friends and family every time he returns to the US.

James, like every Chinese person is eagerly looking forward to the Chinese New Year Festival. As this is the most important Chinese festival that marks the time to be with family and friends, the time to step away from work and be happy and grateful for what you have, and as James believes, “the time to eat good food and not worry about gaining weight.” he has invited his parents to Chongqing to experience the festival. “I hope to show them the magical side of the Chinese New Year”. Haven’t lived in Chongqing for a while he chose to celebrate the New Year in countryside, in his view, “It is the best place to experience the Chinese culture.”

n Rome as Roman’s do”