Ch 39: Of People, Places, and The Future

I writing this entry today with China and Japan behind us. It's been of the greatest experiences of my life for a number of reasons.

#3. The People and Places. There's no view like the one from the ground. We got to see beyond the news, books, and internet postings- to travel China on foot/train from the ground. We found that many misundertandings of China to be truely that- simple misunderstandings. I hope more people can travel to China (and they have been) with an open mind for learning and having a good time. What they will find is that the people here are not different from people anywhere else- they want to live a good life, enjoy good company, and are very open to learning from others. But it is best to come here with an open mind as people always see what they want to see (this can be said in my home of the US as well or any other country). Come here with wanderlust in your heart and you will be richly rewarded.

#2. The Future. Looks very promising for China and the rest of the world. I think it's a misconception that China is going to take over this market or that industry. That viewpoint of world economics implies a very "end game" and implies a set number of resources and players. I see china adding massively to the collective engine of world economic growth and not simply taking manufacturing from Mexico or IT Servicing from Canada/USA. With our negative savings rates in the US and the surplus of savings in China and countries like Japan it is very important to continue to integrate China into the global engine for the collective benefit of us all.

China has been described as a third world country by our Western standards. The term Third World was originally intended to denote countries that did not align with either the Western or Eastern powers during the cold war. Today it has been transformed into a term to describe developing countries. So it's a very recent term, one that denotes the conditions of the past few decades. China however is a very old civilization- one of the few surviving unconquored cultures. History is measured here by the millenium. It has neither a third world history or a third world people in that regard.

The communist economy experiment lasted for roughly 30-40 years. The Chinese have been capitalists for thousands of years before that and are so again today. It's in the culture as the business world has slowly learned over the past few years. It's a definite benefit to progress here. There's no need to teach a dog how to bark. (I always find it funny when I read publications on how China today is "learning" to be capitalists)

I have spent the last few weeks looking at the face of the fastest growing economy in the world, supported by 1 billion plus striving to get back toward being the "center" of it all. So where does this leave me? I think it's a question asked by many people these days. It will be asked by many more in the future.

Some say that China will be the Titan of the 21st Century. I grew up, was educated, and worked in America, the titan of the 20th century. American is a model for Chinese and world business. America learned it's ways from the previous titan of the 19th century, the U.K. I believe that sometimes to understand the future you must sometimes travel to the past. And that's where I'll be headed for the next year, Oxford University's Said Business School. In a years time I will hopefully have the answers to the question, "Where does this leave me?".

#1. Our Company. A Priceless Experience. I really cannot put a price tag on the greatest part of this trip for me- I was able to spend over a month travelling with my three younger brothers with not a care in the world but where the next meal was coming from and if we had a hostel to bunker down for the night. I've been away from home working in New York for a number of years. In Chicago attending university prior to that. In the mean time my younger brothers have grown into fine, respectible, young men. Each with their own unique talents (and quirks). A door in time was opened when we found that all of us were to be in school at the same time (at least on summer break). Walking through that door has been one of the best decisions of my life and I would not trade it for the world.

Ch 38: The Center of It All

August 5-8

It's never occured to me how close Japan is to China. The flight from Shanghai to Tokyo took less then 3 hours. It's nice to know that two of my favorite cities are so close to each other. China is close to EVERYTHING however when you think about it. Your never more then a days trip away from anywhere in Europe/MiddleEast/Asia/Pacific Islands. I suppose the name "Middle Kingdom" has a reason for being. I always thought the "middle" part was a mistranslation. "Zhong" can mean middle. It can also mean "central" or center and I think this is the more appropriate translation.

In the Chinese tradition everything begins from the center and China is smack in the middle of that center. Many of the major cities and even the smaller, older ones follow this them. There is a city "center" from which the sections of the city grow out from with additional boundaries being made up of circular roads that progressively increase in size further away from the center. What a parculiar and organic way of thinking.

Ch 37: When You Absolutely, Positively Need to Get There FAST

Aug 5

In travel you do a lot of estimation. Estimation on how much things should cost, estimations on how long this trip or that walk will take. Sometimes you are close and sometimes you are really wrong. On Aug 5 we were really long. Really wrong on when we should wake up (time) and really wrong on how far the Shanghai Pudong airport was from the Hostel (Distance). It was the perfect storm of being wrong and what a better time to have it then on our last day...


We rushed as soon as we understood the extent of our mistakes. I thought we had a very slim chance of making it out... until the Hostel hostess suggested going to the Maglev. Brilliant I thought! What is the Maglev you might be thinking? Only the fastest frickin train on the planet. Maglev rides on magnets and doesnt touch the rails one bit making for a frictionless ride. What luck, on the day we needed the fastest train on the planet we just happened to be in the only city on Earth that had it! A few minutes later we were launching our way to the airport travelling at 431 km/hr (237 mph).

So once again, luck saves the day... I just wish I could bottle this stuff up.

Ch 36: Future Now

Aug 4

I feel very fortunate today. I was more then content with our meeting with Monte. On our very last day in Shanghai we were able to meet up with another China Entreprenuer/Innovator, Xin Chung. Xin (who is Hua Qiao like me) has his hands dipped into a few China Outsourcing opportunities and our discussion on doing business in China, the current/future business environment and what it takes to make it here was both enlightening and exciting.

Everything is so new in China yet the rate of change is phenomenal. Blink and you`ve missed an opportunity. Oversleep and watch a competitor get just a little bit ahead of you the very same day. The more folks I meet in China making their marks in business/industry the more I believe that this is where the future begins. And it begins every day here. How many opportunities if any do we get at defining the future? What an exciting place to be... and what a time to be at this place.

Ch 35: Do You Know Where Your Fruits Been?

If you`ve ever had fruit from Australia chances are it was picked by an English backpacker. They are the apparent "immigrant" population that ends up doing alot of the manual labor in the land of kangaroos and koalas. And they happen to be good at fruit picking, or at least willing to do it at a price below the willingness of the average Australian.

I didn`t believe this when I met my first former fruit picker but over the past month we`ve met countless backpackers who made good money doing this- at least good enough to get through China and Southeast Asia for a few months. So the next time you have fruit from Australia take a moment to contemplate it`s juicy goodness AND all the dreams of backpackers it has helped to fulfill.

Ch 34: What Shines is Radiance

Aug 2

We had to the priviledge today to meet with one of Shanghai's great China entreprenuers. Monte Singman is a expat who came to China by way of the US by way of Taiwan. He's the CEO of Radiance.cn a game development company that creates online multi player games for both China and the US markets.

Monte, being the stand up guy he is had his "guys" give us a tour of the office and team including demos of their work. He then spent 2 1/2 hours talking to us about his business experience, including what lead him to come to China and the opportunities/challenges he now faces here. It was a great lesson for all of us.

First and foremost we could tell by meeting with Monte that he had the calibre of personality, intelligence and determination to make it in China. China is our generations "Wild West" and it's always great to meet the pioneers who are carving out new lives out here. I hope to stay in contact with Monte and his team at Radience. Itｓ always nice to know good people when venturing forth into new frontiers.

Ch 33: That's Shanghai

August 1/2

Arriving in Shanghai was an eye opening experience. All the hype you hear about China's massive development is true. Most of it just happens to fall along the coast. I would surmise a bulk of that belongs to Shanghai. There are massive buildings and apartments everywhere. As far as the eye can see. They say Shanghai has over twice the number of sky scrapers as New York. I would not be suprised if it was triple within a few years. Today it has the expansiveness of Tokyo, the quiet city blocks like Chicago/SF, and the ruckus of Bangkok.

Every we've been in China we've seen stories of growth. Shanghai then would be the greatest story in China. And the prices reflect that. Things here a bit more expensive on the surface. Even more so if you read expat magazines like "That's Shanghai". They cator to the substantial expat community in the area. Look under the surface however and you'll find that Shanghai is a very CHINESE city with great deals on food and merchandise. It doesn't take too long to find it, as always just toss away your guidebook and follow the locals. The food here is great, but not as spicing as I would have liked. It's more typical of what you would find in the better Chinese restaurants overseas.

Shanghai is a beacon for Chinese potential, opportunity, and growth. And like most beacons it tends to attract a lot of attention. You can find pretty much anything you would want here. Food, lux items, all kinds of apartments, cars, etc... It's a bit like a turn of the century New York except with around the clock construction and even more foreign capital being invested. Perhaps it will be in this century that Shanghai supplants New York as the worlds capital? Maybe in a 100 years.

Ch 32: What is Beautiful, What is Dangerous

July 30/31

Many if not most guidebooks tout Huang Shan (Yellow Mountain) as THE mountain to climb in China. They say that "Once you have climbed HuangShan there is no need to climb any other mountain in your life time bc HuangShan is the most majestic". We headed out to Tunxi a gateway town to HuangShan on July 30th to find out if the truth would be as good as advertised.

Tunxi is a small town, one of the smallest we've stayed in and it appears that most visitors come for HuangShan which is 1 hour away. We stayed at the HuangShan International Youth Hostel, which again cators to visitors who come to climb HangShan. The town did not appear to have much else. The day at HuangShan would be interesting.

When we arrived we lined up, got our tickets, and began the accent. From the get go it was easy to see that the mountain itself was as good as advertised. The colors and shapes were right out of a chinese painting. HuangShan is a series of mountain ranges- each one a prototype for how a chinese mountain should look whether you see it in a painting or read it in a mythical story. The accent itself was MUCH tougher then we expected. The west side had a more challenging climb I was told but I vastly underestimated how difficult it could be. There are stone carved stairs but the incline is actually dangerous and many sections require climbing on all fours or would not be possible with the assistance of rope/chains. My hat goes off to the swarms of chinese tourists who scaled over the terrain like professionals. They did it without a care for the danger. Bravery or foolishness? I don't know if there was a difference in this case.

They say that only those that lack imagination have no fear. I can honestly say that I was vividly using my imagination on the way up. The views from the top were spectacular and I would definitely say that this mountain is worth the time for the trip and the effort for the climb. Funny thing, we met college students on the mountain who told us the well known saying about Huang Shan. It was slightly different from our guidebooks. It goes like this.

"Once you climb HuangShan there is no need to climb other mountains for HuangShan is the most DANGEROUS to climb in China". I suppose that last part was lost in the translation. Whoops.

Ch 31: HangZhou Thoughts

- The food is amazing, some of the best we've had in China. As usual, it's better to not follow ANY guidebook and go where the locals go. I had some of the best Chinese food of my life at a modern Chinese restaurant along the west lake conveniently located right next to the Hostel. The chefs there looked like "iron chefs" to me.

- It's a great place to stay healthly. The city is easy to walk around and with the lake at the center residents can't help but be encouraged to take morning, afternoon and nightly walks. Judging by the number of McDonalds I see popping up everywhere, this will be an even greater asset in the future.

- Vacation friendly. The air is clean and the parks around the lake can keep a group on vacation busy for a few days. Just a few days thought, I wouldn't spend more then 3 here not because it's not worth more time but bc of the phlethora of other options and things to do in China.

Ch 30: China's #1 Lake

HangZhou is famous for one thing. The west lake (Xi Hu), and rightly so. The lake is beautiful and has been featured in chinese tales and poems for over a 1000 years. The Song Dynastly made their capital around the roughly 3k by 3k body of water. What's strikes me about the site are two things. One, it's very well maintained and the grounds around it are scenic yet not crowded. Secondly, the water of the lake is very high (almost at ground level with the shore). This is unusual for lakes as my experience goes and makes the water that much closer to someone on the shore. If I was inclined to write poetry I would have (but at last I am not).

We stayed at the Mingtown Youth Hostel on the east end (another great place to stay and meet up with other travelors). Sunsets on the lake are an awesome site. residents and visitors alike line up on the east shore to photograph the sun as it sets on the western hills casting multi-colored beams of light on the waters of the lake. It was a picture perfect experience.

Ch 29: Leaving YangShuo

July 28/29

The 28th was a travelling day. We were able to acquire 4 hard sleepers (ying wo) for the 22 hour trip to HangZhou from Guilin. Trains are by far the best way to travel in China when you have the time. The ability to see the world pass by (and the scenery change) from the confort of a sleeping car is an experience I enjoy very much. While very scenic and peaceful I actually found myself happy to leave YangShuo. Sure, it's beautiful but it's really a town made for foreigners (which I am I know!) but I wanted to get more of the local Chinese experience.

BTW, Chinese Ramen (which is La Mien or "pulled noodles" a chinese invention) rock! They are pretty damn tasty, come in a billion flavors and cheap to boot. Perfect food for a relaxing train ride.