A new land of opportunity?

Cities Like Shanghai and Beijing are becoming magnets for recent American college graduates. The tough U.S. job market caused by the recession is one reason, but they're also lured by China's surging economy, tower cost of Living, and a chance to get ahead more quickly than they would in the U.S. Joshua Arjuna Stephens, who graduated from Wesleyan University in Connecticut in 2007, took a summer job in Shanghai two years ago. "People thought I was nuts to go not speaking the language," says Stephens. Now he's proficient in Mandarin and a manager for XPD Media, a Beijing company that makes online games. Sarabeth Berman, a 2006 graduate of Barnard College in New York, went to Beijing at age 23 to be the program director at BeijingDance/ LDTX, a modern-dance company. "There is no doubt that China is an awesome place to jump-start your career," says Berman. "Back in the U.S., I would be intern No. 3 at some company." Willy Tsao, artistic director of BeijingDance/LDTX, says Westerners often bring skills that are hard to find among the Chinese. "Sarabeth is always taking initiative and thinking what we can do," says Tsao, "white I think the standard Chinese approach is to take orders."

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