How a Chinese Engineer Helped Shape the Look of the Hit TV Show 'Silicon Valley'

This article originally appeared on VICE China. Read the original version here.

People in the tech world likes to say that everyone knows how to code. But I still used to think I was the only one in my Beijing neighborhood. I guess I was wrong.

Once, when I still had to take a bus ride to get to work, I sat next to a guy who looked exactly like me. Same backpack, same thick glasses. So I asked him if he was a software engineer like me too. He said yes!

That was years ago. Today, I'm a software developer at a mobile Internet database company located in Silicon Valley. I work from home, meaning I don't have to ever fly to the US, or take a bus in the morning to go to work, or clock in with my fingerprint. Hell, I don't even need to be on Slack. As far as I'm concerned, I’m the company's only employee in the region. I guess you could say I'm the company's Asia CEO. In addition to fixing bugs everyday, I also run the company’s Weibo and other Chinese social media pages.

Basically, what I do looks exactly the same as the Indian or Pakistan developers hired by the fake company Pied Pipers in the show Silicon Valley. But I didn't realize that until the show's producers approached me to be a consultant for the show's fifth season.

The show didn't need any more consultants who were experts in software development. But they needed me because in season five, one of the show's major characters, Jian-Yang, goes to China to create a company that's basically a rip-off of Pied Piper. This Pied Piper ripoff is based in Shenzhen, otherwise known as the "City of Miracles." The producers asked me: What does a proper Chinese technology company look like? I was happy to answer.

Some basics:

• Before it earns enough money to spend on a fancy HQ, the entire company is probably built inside a medium-sized apartment staffed with way too many developers. I mean, this is true for any company in China, where rent is astronomical.
• At lease 90 percent of the developers are near-sighted.
• Some of them have oily hair. They don’t have the time to wash it correctly. And maybe they just don't care.
• Everyone is wearing one of the following: a checked shirt, a striped shirt, a T-shirt, or a hoodie.
• There are definitely a few plants, because some developers believe plants, especially cactus, can absorb formaldehyde and whatever else comes out of their computer's screen.
• People smoking. In bigger cities in China, there are pretty strict laws on smoking. But it doesn't stop people, of course.

In the fifth season, we're introduced to a new Chinese character Yao, a wealthy manufacturer who owns a company located in Qian Hai, Shenzhen, that's criticized for a working environment so bad that has caused a horrifying suicide rates. In a superficial attempt to fix this, Yao installs juice bars in the office and invites his employees to join free Tai-chi classes. Every Chinese factory takes the same half-assed approach to create a "healthy" work environment, so for the show I decided to make some cheesy slogans that you can see hanging in the background.

Here are some of them:

To my disappointment, the producers rejected all my slogans because they reminded them too much of the Soviet Union. Here's some that made it to the show:

Fabricating slogans was very easy, compared to my other tasks as the show's consultant. Among the most difficult ones was providing 500 smartphone models from Shenzhen to be shipped to the US in just a couple of days.

On December 19 of the Chinese calendar, I was told by the producers that they needed the phones ASAP. Now, that happens to be when most factories are closed. But nothing is impossible in the city of Shenzhen. I quickly went to one Taobao agent in the area to grab the phones.

“Do you have stock for this model?" I asked him.

“Yes."

“I want 500 of them, without logos on them.”

“We only have 100 in stock. If you want I can make the rest tonight and ship them to you tomorrow.”

That night, production started and the phones shipped out the next day. We ran into a problem where some of shipping companies said the earliest they could ship was within three days, but the guy found a way: he sent the phones to Hong Kong, where a guy sent them to the US via DHL.

On December 21, the production crew of the show received these phones, fresh from the City of Miracles.

I loved being a consultant for a TV show and stepping into "the showbiz". But I have to admit, having to keep everything a secret until the episodes aired was killing me. It's like when your best friend tells you her husband is cheating on her, but you can't talk to anyone about it until they officially divorce. Kind of. Anyways, I might no longer be the only person who codes for a living in my neighborhood, but I can safely say that I'm the only software engineer around who has a profile on IMDB.