Seductive, mysterious, and these days,

very attractive to foreign businessmen.

Executives, bankers,

engineers, salesmen.

Hundreds of thousands of Americans

now live and work in Shanghai.

This is the story of one American named Sam.

A good man. Easy to get along with.

Never arrogant or cocky.

And because of this,

he was loved by everyone he met in Shanghai.

Or...Maybe not.

Sam just won

the most important court case of his life.

His bosses have called him into a meeting.

Sam chao is on his way to the top.

And after poaching the client

from a senior associate no less. Ballsy.

Thank you, sir. Thank you.

The reason why we asked you here, Sam?

We've got some exciting news for you.

Yay, Sam! You're the man!

We're sending you to China.

Groff technologies has just moved its headquarters

to Shanghai.

Word is they're onto something big.

A game changer.

If our top client goes to Shanghai,

that means we go, too.

We've been in touch with Donald cafferty from amcham,

the American chamber of commerce there.

He's found us an office and hired us a local staff.

Now all we need is someone to head it up.

You're the obvious choice.

You're single, you're a go-getter,

and you're even chinese.

Technically, yes. I'm chinese.

Isn't there something else you guys wanted to say to me?

We're aware of the rumors.

We're just not ready to name a partner just yet.

But we are ready to send you to China.

This is a huge opportunity, Sam.

Uh, it's an incredibly tempting offer.

But I just feel that I am more of an asset

here in New York.

I mean, I know the ins and outs. I know everything,

and my thirtieth birthday is coming up.

I've rented out Thomas Keller's restaurant,

I've got a d.J. Coming.

I got, I got a lot of stuff going on.

You know what we like around here, Sam?

A team player. Three months.

That's all we ask.

What do you say?

That's me.

Welcome to China.

Amanda Wilson. Relocation specialist.

It's my job to help you get adjusted.

Hi.

For a second, I thought I'd missed you.

I was running late, my ayi was sick, had to find a babysitter.

Everything ok?

Yeah, I was just expecting someone with

slightly...Darker hair.

Ok, here's your survival packs.

Some chinese yuan. Money. In other words.

A map of Shanghai, your business cards,

and your mobile phone. Your number is right on the back.

So before we go to your apartment,

I want to take you to meet Donald from amcham.

He's kind of the mayor of americatown.

Yeah. That's what we call our little expat community over here.

It's kind of like Chinatown in the U.S.,

but the other way around.

Ah...

Here you go.

You speak chinese?

Of course. Don't you?

Eh.

What's going on here?

A restaurant opening.

Oh, yeah? I love a good restaurant.

What kind of food do they have?

- Donald! - Amanda! Good morning.

Well, this must be Sam.

Donald cafferty, president of jfc China.

Sam chao. Nice to meet you.

I've never seen so much fanfare at a fast food place before.

Our eight thousandth store opening

called for a little celebration.

The chinese are crazy about fried chicken.

Here, have a coupon for a free spicy chicken sandwich.

Welcome to Shanghai.

What are you doing Thursday night?

Uh...

Great. Meet me for drinks out on the bund.

I'll introduce you to all the top business execs in town.

Microsoft, P&G, Ford.

I'm gonna drive a lot of business your way.

Ever been to China before?

I never been above 79th street before.

New York. Street.

Joke.

He's gonna be a homesick one, I can tell.

Lucky for you, I own an American bar in hongqiao.

You ever get lonely, come on by.

Ok. Sounds great.

Good man. Now if you'll excuse me,

I'm late for my photo shoot.

Modeling career finally taking off?

No. Amcham elections are coming up.

See you Thursday, Sam.

Yeah. Thursday.

So. Ready to see your new apartment?

As ready as I'll ever be.

Sorry?

Look. I had a nice life back in New York.

So whatever you found me

better not be too much of a letdown.

Ok. Here we are.

Two bed, two bath.

Hardwood floors, recycled glass windows,

high-def tv, solar panels on the roof.

And the entire building is brand new.

What do you think?

That's awesome.

I'll take it.

Ok. I'll get the papers ready.

You gotta be kidding me.

What the hell was that?

Construction. But they're supposed to be finished by now!

Are you telling me this building is still being built?

Shanghai and construction go hand in hand.

Sometimes these new greener buildings

take just a little bit longer to get--

I have to get you out of here.

I have a backup apartment down the street.

It's not as nice as this one, but at least it's finished.

Is it a dump?

No. I mean, uh...

It's a tad smaller, and the amenities are less new.

But it's a really nice place in a great neighborhood.

It's a dump.

I'm staying here. Forget about it.

Sam, I cannot in good conscience

let you stay here with all that noise going on upstairs.

I completely agree. So here's what you do.

Just tell them the future partner

of a huge American law firm just moved in,

they need to shut it down for three months,

or else I'll Sue them.

Here's my card.

This may not work.

Amy...

Amanda.

Your job was to find me a nice, quiet place to live,

and you failed.

Now are you going to resolve this issue,

or do I need to replace you?

It's you.

This is Sam.

Hello, Mr. chao.

This is fang fang, your new assistant.

I hope you had a good flight.

Are you planning to attend the Marcus groff meeting today?

Today? No. I thought the meeting was tomorrow, on the 17th.

Fang fang: Yes, but today is the 17th.

That's impossible. I left New York on the 15th,

and I lost one day by crossing over the date line.

That makes today the 16th.

Fang fang: Actually, you lost two days

it became the 16th in the u.S. While you were in the air.

When you crossed the date line, it became the 17th,

and Mr. groff will be here in thirty minutes.

I'll be right there.

- Problem. - I heard.

You know what, you get to your office.

And I will go upstairs and see what I can do

about that construction issue.

Oh, man.

When did I do this?

Aah!! Who the hell are you?

I got nothing. I don't speak chinese.

Who are you?

Ayi. Ayi.

¿Ayi? Amanda said that same word.

Are you my nanny?

Are you like a housekeeper?

I mean, you clean...

Housekeeper.

Sleep. What?

You live here. You live with me?

You live with me.

My housekeeper, and you don't speak english?

Habla español?

That was really offensive on many, many levels.

I'm sorry about that. But I have to go, ayi.

See you later.

Okay, this is, this is yincheng road.

So that's gotta be, ok, that's gotta be...

I have no idea.

Which means... oh, screw it.

Taxi!

Hi. Can you uh, take me to this address, please?

Just take me to the address.

Why are we arguing?

Okay. All right. I get it.

I'm from New York City.

So don't think that just because I'm from out of town,

that you can pad the fare by going the long way.

Or whatever it is you're trying to do.

Just take me here.

Thank you.

Mr. chao? We spoke on the phone. I'm fang fang, your assistant.

Wow. Fang fang. Thank you for calling.

Is he here?

Yes. In the conference room.

Marcus groff from groff technology in santonio.

San Antonio. Thank you.

Ok, let's see alamo, riverwalk,

what are you writing?

Talking points. Last time I met this guy,

he couldn't stop talking about his hometown.

He's like a hundred percent Texas, through and through.

Marcus.

- Hi. Sam chao. - Hey, how have you been?

Good to see you again.

Sorry I'm late, I just flew in from New York this morning.

I'm just kind of...

Can I get you some coffee or...

There's coffee in China, right, fang fang?

We have decaf, dark roast, french roast,

low fat milk, full fat milk, soy milk,

sugar, honey, and artificial sweetener.

Wow.

Some hot tea would be wonderful.

Looks like I kept you waiting.

Oh, don't sweat it.

I carry my brushes with me wherever I go

so I can practice my chinese calligraphy.

Ever since relocating to Shanghai,

I've just fallen in love with chinese culture.

I know what you mean.

I uh, really treasure my heritage.

There's leaves in my tea.

That's how we drink it.

Mmm. Delicious.

Oh, yeah, this is...

Fragrant.

So, Marcus, what I can help you with today?

What's the biggest complaint

people have about touch-screen phones?

You can't feel the keys, so you make way too many typos, right?

Not anymore.

Give this baby a try.

Wow. That is impressive. Look at that.

I can actually see you right through that.

That, that is incredible.

I can actually feel my fingers touching...

The screen. How did you do that?

Using a substrate that's attracted to the charge

of human skin.

The inventor's a genius, a chinese guy named yu baiyang.

Total recluse.

Disappears for months at a time and then

pops up with a gadget that changes everything.

But he's a creative type,

so he usually sells the product

to the first person who finds him.