Aldiyar Zhumazhanov, 25 years old, hometown — Almaty, employee of the game company MECHANIST GAMES
Almaty — Xiamen
I was born and grew up in Almaty, but the last eight years I live, study and work in China. First I learned about China when I watched Jackie Chan movies. And as a child, I dreamed of visiting China at least once. When I was in the tenth grade, I decided that I would go to China to study the language, culture and history of this country.
So, after graduating from high school in 2010, I went to China in the city of Xiamen.
About first impressions and difficulties
My first impressions are high humidity, beautiful nature, kind and sympathetic people. I was surprised that there is no winter here, to which I am accustomed, there is no snow, and the grass is green until October.
When I came to China, I was 17 years old, and at first the local cuisine seemed specific to me. Of course, the opinion that the Chinese eat insects and beetles is a myth, but nevertheless it was necessary to get used to the kitchen.
The first six months were difficult to learn the language, because Chinese is not English, not Turkish or Spanish. The only way to learn Chinese is cramming, you need to learn 3000-5000 characters perfectly. In General, for a normal life in China it is enough to know about 4000 characters.
About features of life in China
Xiamen city is divided into six districts, one of the largest areas is the island. I live and work on the island part. It has a tropical climate, even in September it is 35 degrees during the day and 28 at night. Plus increased humidity from 80 % to 130 %. Winter in my city is like late spring in Almaty,and the other three seasons are hot.
Life in China and Kazakhstan is different. The whole of China wakes up at five in the morning, the Chinese are distinguished by diligence, diligence and perseverance. People in China may be less talented, but more diligent and purposeful and achieve great success. The saying "Diligence is the mother of success" — about the Chinese.
We have different mentality. I noticed that a man in a classical Chinese family doesn't solve anything. He can wash, cook, clean, and his wife will be shopping at this time. All financial issues of the family will be solved by the mother of the wife, because here the man becomes part of the family of his wife.
Among my friends in Kazakhstan there is a myth that everything in China is cheap. This is not true, the cost of living in China is much higher than in Kazakhstan, but wages are higher as well. The average salary in megacities varies from 500 to 700 dollars, above average from 1000 to 3000.
People in China may be less talented, but more diligent and purposeful and achieve great success
Since 2005, all roads in China are built in accordance with German quality. And here is a low mortality rate on the roads. The period of use of machines in China is limited to six years, you will not find here a car older than six years. Then the machine goes to scrap, because the transport tax in China is high. While in Kazakhstan you can see cars that are more than 20 years old.
Here in China, I have many friends from the University. These are mainly my foreign friends from the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Nigeria, South Korea, with whom we continue to maintain warm friendly relations to this day. But there are also many Kazakhs in China. In almost every province and in every city you can meet Kazakhstani people, they do business, travel, study or work.
About education and work
When I arrived, I studied the language for a year, and then entered the University in Beijing, where I continued to study the language. After that, I studied for a bachelor of petroleum engineering and a master of MIB — Master of international business. Everywhere I studied at the grant, as I had a good academic performance. During my studies, I wrote an economic analytical article about the relations between Kazakhstan and China, which was published in a major online publication China daily news.
My first activity began in 2013, when my friend Igor and I decided to invest in the sale of shoes. We bought a container of sneakers at factory prices and sent them for sale in different boutiques. Shoes flew for 1 month. We divided the profit and spent it on their needs, as were students. Bought the first iPhones, spent on clothes and lived on the money for four months.
In 2014, we decided to invest in something new, but there was a devaluation, and we were let down. We abandoned the idea.
Now I work in a creating games company for smartphones, and I engaged in technical support, marketing, advertising and product development in the CIS market.
In the game company I was not by chance, as purposefully looking for myself in this area. I believe that today the phone is not just an accessory, but an important element of human life, without which you can not live. Therefore, companies that develop games for smartphones have a future.
My choice fell on the company Mechanist Games. This company employs many foreigners — Americans, Dutch, Turks, Moroccans, but I am the only Kazakh. Our company is famous for games such as "City of Steam: Arkadia", "Heroes of Skyrealm", "The Great Sultan", which at the moment more than 2 000 000 downloads, and the level of reviews — 4.5.
In the company I am responsible for the development of the Russian market and the market of Russian-speaking countries. I am the head of technical support in the company on the Russian market of players, marketing and advertising.
About how the city has affected
In eight years in China I changed. I came here a 17 year old guy, educated, learned the Chinese language, multiple dialects of the English language. I plan to learn Turkish and Spanish.
Work hard play hard is what I learned from the Chinese
When you see that half of the planet is working tirelessly around you, you involuntarily take an example from them.
Work hard play hard is what I learned from the Chinese.
About plans
Kazakhstan is my homeland, my home, where my family and friends live. I want to go back there, but first I want to fully realize myself as a professional and a person.
I have a girlfriend, she is also from Kazakhstan and works in another company. We move forward together, make plans and believe in a bright future.