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Key information at a glance:
Name: Ruary Hewson
Country of origin: England
Internship Position: Product Design
Internship Duration: 3 months |
Who I am:
My name is Ruary, I graduated on mid 2012 with Masters in Product Design from Leeds Universtiy, UK. I was born and raised in a place called West Sussex which is in the South of England, and am the eldest of 5. I went to school in West Sussex, and then went to the University of Leeds for a Degree, finishing with a Bachelors and Masters (Hons) in Product Design.
Prior to starting Product Design for a degree, I was due to start at Leeds to study Economics and Mandarin. Due to the fact that I did not like the idea of learning Economics for four more years, I switched last minute to study Product Design, with the notion that I could come out to China to learn Mandarin and experience their culture that way. Also because China is arguably the manufacturing hub of the world, the skill set that comes with being a Product Designer seemed quite well matched.
By the time I finished my time at the university, the job offers in the UK were scarce, and then the opportunity to come to China popped up so I took it.
What I learned during my internship:
I had a 3 Months internship starting on September 2012 as Product Designer, were I performed a variety of tasks.
I was generating design ideas, talking to clients about their designs and how to move it forward, sourcing from factories, visiting factories, doing Quality Control inspection and creating development reports.
What makes China 2 West special for me:
In C2W there’s a massive diversity of people and cultures, and the opportunity of getting to know a broad range of approaches to life brings an extra flavour to the conversation and makes for a more creative environment and better work environment.
Since the moment I came here all seemed open and welcoming to new faces, with a pro-active mindset towards work.
My internship rolled into employment and I have been with C2W ever since. I now head up the Development Department.
Why Zhuhai’s a great spot:
The social scene is smaller than that of other Guangdong counterparts such as Guangzhou and Shenzhen, but due to this I feel there is a greater sense of community here than you would find in those cities, and this is something that I value more.
The local people are very nice, and language is often not as much of a barrier as one would assume.
Zhuhai is still a relatively and small city in comparison to some of the other cities in Guangdong and China, but think it is also a hidden gem. This is reflected in the fact it recently beat Hong Kong in being the most livable city in China in a popular opinion poll.
The reason for this is you have access to major cities within an hour’s distance i.e. Hong Kong, Macau, Shenzhen, Guangzhou etc. but it does not suffer the hectic nature of these industrial cities, remaining clean, quiet and spacious.
There is a relatively small expat community out here which means that you can acclimatize and get to know people relatively quickly. China 2 West has also been here for over 10 years, and so is fully involved with and co creating events that bring people together on a regular basis.
Favorite Quote:
“Basically Zhuhai is the right city to be in, and China 2 West is the right company to be in Zhuhai for a broad range of professional endeavors.”