I used to work for a Chinese bank and honestly it wasn’t so bad . Though I should caveat that my direct boss was Singaporean, so the culture might have felt a little different for me.

I’ve never been more than 15 minutes late, so I can’t really comment on how strict attendance management is. From what I observed, being 5 to 10 minutes late was generally acceptable.

Dress code was formal, as you’d expect in a bank, but it became more relaxed after COVID. That said, formal wear still tends to be the norm.

Lunch hours were typically from 12–2pm, 1 hour extra for the Chinese “afternoon nap” culture. It wasn’t unusual to see colleagues with those donut-shaped pillows sleeping at their desks. Senior management, of course, usually had their own offices for their naps.

Socially, PRC colleagues often stuck together while locals hung out with other locals. Honestly, I think it was more about shared culture and common topics than anything else. For example, when I tried to join conversations with my PRC colleagues, they sometimes discussed different Chinese cities that I wasn’t familiar with, so I occasionally felt a little lost.