A first-time visitor to Baidu could be forgiven for thinking they had wandered into Silicon Valley.
The Chinese internet company’s headquarters in Beijing, housing its 8,000-plus staff, resembles the spaces set up by its Californian counterparts to inspire employees to dream up world-changing ideas. The massive glass building comprises wide open spaces with natural light, a baby nursing room, and even roof gardens – where one young man is napping in the midday heat.
But the reality of working at the company is rather different from this first impression. In a third-floor meeting room, the group of young engineers gathered around a table cluttered with laptops and crumpled junk food wrappers, are not paid to dream.