Lala's Promotion

A while back, ICN started promoting a Chinese drama called Lala's Career Adventures. At the time I had no idea what a total phenomenon Lala's Career Adventures is in China.

The series was originally a trilogy of books written by career girl Li Ke (the series of books is called Du Lala's Promotion). No wonder the depiction of corporate life is so real in the series! The heroine of both the series and trilogy is a plucky, stubborn and very intelligent girl (Lala). She gets a job at a US corporation in Shanghai and finds the biz world full of nasty-tempered saboteurs (including a psycho who thinks Lala has stolen her ex-husband). Initially Lala is a disaster at work. She's undiplomatic, clueless, insubordinate. But through sheer will and tremendous balls, she rises to the top, even charming her US bosses.

The series is a lot of fun. And very honest about the kinds of women who you'll meet in the corporate world. Some will do everything they can to screw you over if you threaten them. One or two will become your mentor. A career girl's life is stressful and hard. But if you're Du Lala, you'll do okay, even meeting the man of your dreams (well...he does come with a psycho ex).

Wish I could read the book. It's full of advice for handling yourself in the biz world like “forget relaxing if you want to be a manager”. Ain't that the truth! There's a good article about the Du Lala phenomenon at China Today.