While studying Mandarin at Fudan University, I interned at Shanghai Centre, where I was able to formally research Shanghai’s real estate market and learn the various components of asset management.  Shanghai Centre is China’s premier mixed-use business complex with the Portman Ritz-Carlton, 400 full service apartments, office space, luxury retailing, and fine dining.  My most rewarding project included researching and writing a market survey of full-service apartments in Shanghai for both use in reports and presentations to investors and to better position Shanghai Centre in the weakening market.  I also had the opportunity to work directly with both expatriate managers and local staff to understand the management and operations—finance, marketing, engineering, and sales—of a Chinese real estate operating company. 

Beyond real estate, Shanghai Centre was a great opportunity to work with people from around the world.   English was the official language of the office, but I was able to work with locals on my Chinese and help to improve their written and spoken English.  For more of my experiences and observation of life in a Chinese office, please check out my blog post.