In 1999, David White accompanied his father, the founder of American Piledriving Equipment (APE), to Shanghai. Those two weeks set the course of his life and career.
"I fell in love with the newness of everything," White recalls. "So, I ended up wanting to stay there. I came back to Seattle after those two weeks, basically packed my bags, quit my job and moved to China in 2000. I studied Mandarin at Shanghai International Studies University until 2003."