An American in Shenzhen: Teddy Widom, 22, on what it's like to live and work in China.

• Author: Widom, Teddy
• Position: VOICES

Growing up in Pittsburgh, I never imagined I'd end up living 8,000 miles away in Shenzhen, China. But that's where I took a job last fall, just after finishing college. And in a lot of ways, my story is becoming more common--not only because of the tough job market in the U.S., but also because China is now one of the most important economies in the world.

In the early 1980s, Shenzhen was just a small fishing village. Today, 30 years after China's Communist government began opening up to the outside world and capitalism, it's a booming manufacturing and tech hub with 12 million people.

With a degree in philosophy and Mandarin, and after a brief Skype interview, I landed a job with InTouch Services, an American-owned company that does quality control for Chinese factories that export to the U.S. If you look at all the things we buy--from clothes and backpacks to computers and cellphones--you'll notice that most were made in Asia, and many passed through factories and ports around Shenzhen.

For me, life here has been eye-opening, but not always easy. To do my job in Shenzhen and accommodate my clients in the U.S. (where it's 8 to 12 hours earlier), I work from noon to midnight. So though I've met a lot of young Americans here--most of them in the import/export business, teaching English, or doing research--and I've connected with some young Chinese through social networks like Weibo (similar to Twitter), my life here is more focused on work than socializing. In that sense, I'm in sync with the general rhythm of this city, since most people in Shenzhen have migrated here from other parts of China. Some have come from smaller cities to open their own businesses, while others have come from rural areas for factory jobs.

Many of the factory workers earn 60 yuan ($10) a day working on assembly lines. But in a way, they're getting ahead--earning and...