Eurobiz Magazine recently published the June 2008 edition of its magazine with my latest column, “Keeping up with the Zhangs.” The article is about the weight of expectations young Chinese professionals in the Mainland have about how their lives should be, how their lives really are, and how the tectonic stresses of modern life with Chinese characteristics are making it tough for Western companies to manage the salary and performance expectations of their local staffs.

This is one of those articles that just wrote itself. I happened to be sitting with a bunch of mates in the local Blue Marlin 3 at the end of the work day when the topic simply came up and the discussion took off. I am privileged by the fact that many of my friends in Suzhou are from different nationalities and their company headquarters’ from different parts of the world. I went home that same evening – lubricated, in the creative sense, of course – and simply wrote down what was said. I don’t think my able editor at Eurobiz even made many changes to the article.

I wish every article could be so easy to write – but then again, if that was the case, then every one would be writing stuff that only I should be writing about. Anyway, enjoy the article.