French man willing to work in China / Shanghai

If you love the USA then you would have a difficult time adjusting to China. It's really different.

I would suggest that you visit China. Spend two weeks to one month. Then leave. That alone will give you enough background to help answer the sort of questions that you are currently finding so perplexing. Now, I know this isn't what you want to hear. You want some great black and white answers and some stories and some guidance.

The thing is, it's different for everyone.

You want to move to Shanghai. Why? You'd get the exact experience in London or New York city. They are all clones of each other. Don't be under the misguided illusion that spending time in Shanghai will give you the "China experience". It won't. You'll just hangout with other expats and talk about how fortunate you all are.

To me, it sounds like you are doing really well. I would suggest that you keep and maintain that positive attitude and keep on plowing forward.

The geographical region where you go will have very little bearing on your life. It's your thoughts and attitude that will. Whether you are in Cape Town, SA or TangXia, China will not matter nearly as much as your positive attitude.

So (sorry for the lecture) from the very little that I read about you, I can see that you are a brilliant young person with great goals and abilities. At this stage what you need to do is stop using the internet to compile information from strangers, and pay some hard cash and look around with your own two eyes. You will get a much better understanding of the situation and the answers you seek than any grizzly old expat such as myself can provide.

Keep on being you. I see a great future for you no matter what I have to say.

Best regards.

I must say that is not the type of answer I was looking for but also it is, to be honest.

The thing is I'm young and I'm eager to discover a lot of things and have the opportunity to work in different geographical places such as the US, EU and China.

I'm hearing more frequently people succeeding in Shanghai than everywhere else to be fully transparent and since I'm hell-bent to reach my goal and be a successful person - This is why I'm trying to gather some information about this city and country.

The fact people are more open-minded in term of relationship (professional / network wise) is also a fact which catches my attention.
Since one of the drawbacks from the US is the bad and negative competition where you literally walk on your colleagues -  It's not the way I see the word "Business".

Thanks for your detailed and honest reply Vannrox. This is the type of answer I'm looking for.