How web listings can save you time

I am sure that, as HR professionals, you can appreciate that in the super-competitive Chinese job-market it can often be an overwhelming task to find the right person to fit your needs. With so many applicants boasting different skills and varying qualifications, cherry-picking the right individual can be a tricky process. This is also true with entertainment options. Imagine you are taking a very important client out to dinner or you need a location for a teambuilding event. In either instance you are looking for the perfect venue and perfect atmosphere, which are not always easy to find.

Cities such as Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai have countless options for you to choose from, and I am sure you do not have the time to drag yourself around the city checking out each one to find out which is the most suitable. There are just so many places to eat, sing, dance or stay. How is it possible to check out all of them without dedicating hours and hours of your valuable time to the task? Thankfully help is at hand. There are several websites that can give you all the information you need, and you don't even have to leave the comfort of your office-chair.

Look for Listings

As I am based in Shanghai I would recommend Smart Shanghai as an excellent example of where to look when thinking solely about entertainment needs. It answers those all important questions: ‘Where will I party tonight?' ‘Where do I want to eat?' ‘What is the latest product launch or hot show?' For things like this you could also look at City Weekend, which features listings for Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

Sites like Smart Shanghai can help you to find the right place for a business dinner or an interesting teambuilding, but it is not just for entertainment, listing websites can be an immensely useful tool for HR professionals. If you work for a large multinational company it is likely that you will have foreign staff. Listing websites can be immensely useful in making them feel at home and feel secure. For instance sites such as Shanghai Expatsor Tianjin Expat help foreigners find their basic needs. I am sure you will be aware that ‘laowai' moving to China will have many questions and queries, for instance: ‘Where can I find a good doctor?' ‘Where and how can I get my visa problems solved?' ‘Where can I send my children to school?'

Questions and Answers

Personally, I believe the perfect listings website is a marriage between both concepts: entertainment and service needs. It should be able to answer all your questions in one swift and efficient visit. There should be information to answer any question, no matter how difficult or ‘out there' it is. That is our aim at Usay. We work to be able to deal with issues as diverse as finding the best events to check out at the weekend, discovering the best fitness centres in the city and searching for stores at which very tall guys can buy stylish trousers that fit them well.

Finding a site that lists everything from bars and restaurants to schools and hospitals as well as great places to shop is all well and good. However, cities like Beijing and Shanghai are growing at pace with entertainment and service options springing up almost everyday. Therefore finding quality coverage of both new and existing venues is not easy. I personally believe the key to getting an accurate impression of a whole city is for the website you use to be interactive. It should take on board ideas and opinions from the people who eat at a restaurant, shop in a department store, stay in a hotel or use any service in the city. This gives the important people control over the input, the customers.

Trust the Ratings

At Usay we use a ten-point scale. If you visit a restaurant, bar or hotel or you use any service in Beijing or Shanghai we want your feedback. For example, if you went out to dinner and found a hair in your soup, naturally, you would not be pleased. Therefore you can give a low rating. If, on the other hand, you had a fantastic dining experience with great food and efficient service, you could give a much higher rating. As more and more people share their opinions and experiences we begin to see a far more accurate picture of the quality of services across the city. If 20 or 30 people review a site and the average rating is over 8, then the likelihood is that the place has done something to justify the rating. Conversely, if the average is closer to 3 or 4 then it is also likely there is a reason behind this.

So, imagine you have a customer coming into Beijing or Shanghai from overseas. You need to book hotels, take them out to dinner and arrange a visit that will create a fantastic impression with them. Using a site that takes into account customer feedback makes planning this visit a far easier process. Whilst I would not advocate making a decision based solely on the ratings -after all you certainly need to get a feel for the right choice - but a website that offers an accurate picture gives you the perfect place to begin your search!