Peng Yi

On our way to Taiwan, Katie and I had to spend the night in Shen Zhen after flying there from Kunming. Shen Zhen is just across the "border" from Hong Kong and is one of China's SEZs (Special Economic Zones) so it's easier to do business there. Katie and I have lost several friends to Shen Zhen because thousands (probably millions) of recent college grads go there in search of jobs since finding decent jobs is nearly impossible in most Chinese cities, espcially for young people.

About two years ago, our good friend Peng Yi (whose English name is Matt) went to Shen Zhen. Since Katie and I had to spend the night in Shen Zhen, we called Peng Yi and worked out the details to meet up with him. It was so great to see him! In Yichang, Peng Yi was one of the guys in our close group of friends, known affectionately as the Bu Zhi Freakin' Dao group. It's amazing to me that I've been in China long enough to meet friends, have a long deep friendship with them, watch them move away, miss them and not see them for months or years, but them have a chance to meet back up with them halfway across China.

Matt now has a marketing research job with a Chinese fast food chain and seems to be doing all right for himself although he says that in Shen Zhen people have to work so much and there's a lot of pressure. Since Matt's in the restaurant business, he and a friend helped us track down a Subway store in Shen Zhen! Subway and good friends . . . it was a fun night.


This is a picture of Peng Yi, me, Katie, and another Bu Zhi Freakin' Dao friend, David, on the day Peng Yi left Yichang for Shen Zhen.