Business Trip

I'm on my 3rd business trip to the company office at Norwood, MA for company strategy meetings all next week. It's gonna be interesting.

Since i'm in the US, i'm gonna switch it up a little bit and try to observe the US through the eyes of a Chinese.

Let's see how it goes

Shenzhen, USA?

I am fortunate that I have a lot of family in Shenzhen who can take care of me when I need family love. I haven't needed to ask my 2nd aunts and uncles for anything major, but it feels good to play some tennis, or have a nice lunch with them a few times a month.

Every time I have food with my relatives and their friends, we always go through the same routine. My aunt usually announces the same things to the group:

• I am an American. Yes. A real American.
• I've lived there since I was very young.
• Although it might seem that my speaking ability is good, I cant read or write at all.
• I'm here as a "intern" at a enterprise based in Hong Kong.
• I graduated from Columbia University.

I then take over attempting to explain that:

• I am NOT an "intern" but a manager in charge of product development department with a lot of responsibilities and in charge of 4 employees
• Although it seems I cant write characters that well, I can type them decently. I have also never had the opportunity to learn the characters and i'm still picking things up everyday. I can read about 50% of the stuff on TV or in the papers.
• Yes. I am American.

The subject usually turn away from me until further along in the meal where I'm always asked the same 2 questions.

1. What food is better, Chinese or Western?
2. Have you become accustomed to living in China?

The answer to the first question is obvious. They're both good and bad. Sometimes I'm in the mood for chicken parm, turkey with mashed potatoes, or a burger and onion rings. Other times I'm in the mood for Chinese bbq, Chinese home style food or dumplings. I even enjoy sushi, tacos and Korean bbq also! And no, steak is not the main food of choice in the US.

My answer to question 2 is more interesting. I've realized that in reality, my life in Shenzhen, China now compared to what it would be in NYC, USA is basically the same. Everyone seems to be amazed at this answer, but to me it’s very apparent. You would go to work during the week and go to the bars during the weekend. That’s life in the US and life in China (from what I’ve experienced).

During this Spring Festival vacation, the similarities are even more resounding. With the mass exodus of migrant labor from the city (I’m assuming at least 4-7 million people left), Shenzhen almost feels like Columbus, Ohio. The traffic flow of the freeways has changed from constant traffic jam and congestion to now feeling like a Sunday afternoon on Route 315 traveling south from Worthington towards Ohio State University. The 东门 shopping area feels like Christmas rush season at the City Center mall (even the sales and the discounts are very similar). The vacation TV-watching and relaxation feels like the boredom of spring break when I was in high school.

Globalization is most definitely taking its effect. It has created a modern life style that is pretty much similar no matter where you go. I have been lucky enough to see it, feel it and experience it in person, not only through my work (by traveling and participating in Chinese manufacturing exporting into the USA) but also my daily life and experiences.

Now if I just found a place in Shenzhen that made a good Chicken Parm…

20 Years of Development and Creating the Future

I am a Skype lover. It’s the greatest invention ever. Not only is it incredibly convenient, but also cheap. The webcam video quality is also awesome. Recently, ive been using Skype to catch up with a few friends back in the States. Of course the conversation always revolves around what the hell I’m doing in China, are there police everywhere infringing on people’s rights, ect. ect. Even though people are well educated, they are still ignorant of a lot of things.

Every time I talk about China to friends who don’t necessarily understand China, I often attempt to describe China in the past 20 years and its relative relationship with western growth. People always talk about the problems in China, including: the chaos on the roads, the lack of rule and law enforcement, guanxi in business practices where knowing people is of the utmost importance, and the constant stare down white people get when they walk by Chinese people in cities other than Shanghai. People, however, never really try to look and find the root of these problems.... the reasons why they exist. When I talk to these friends, I always refer them to childhood stories of my living in China (i was born there and lived there until I was 6) and the vast differences between then and now (about 20 years worth of time).

[First, let me quantify my experiences. I was born into a decently wealthy family. My grandfather on my mom's side was a dean of a university (a big deal back then... and i guess, still a big deal.... but definitely a bigger deal back then). My mom was already a professor at the provincial university, getting income both as a professor and a translator (a big deal too) while my dad was in the army doing random stuff, and making a good salary relative to the times. We were wealthy enough to have an abundance of food and goods that others didn’t, as well as the ability to find nannies for me for all the time I lived in China. We definitely lived a privileged life and were able to use and buy all the new technologies coming onto the market.]

When I was born, the first photos that I still have now were taken in black in white (not for artistic reasons, btw) with circular and sharp edges. Only when I was about 3 years old did I have a color photograph (1985). Also, during that same time, consumer goods were first hitting the scene. My grandparents had a refrigerator and a double washer (one side for the washing, one side for the tumbling to get the water out). When I was 4-5, my family was well off enough to be the first families to get a color tv and a one system washer. Back then, there were very few cars on the road. There were buses, but barely any cars (especially ones for private use). You only rode in cars if your dad's company let u ride in it. I never had chances to ride in cars. When I did, I would get motion sickness (like my mom), and complain that I had a fever (youbingle). Other signs of the times includes my mom's grandmother had bound feet and was tiny. My grandmother's older sister even had bound feet. There was only 1 department store for the entire Harbin city (population 3 million). Finally, the first introduction of "pop" or "soda" in orange flavor was there. For the price of a good meal, you could get a taste of the orange soda (kinda like HiC Orange, called jianlibao).

After I left China after my 6th birthday, I had a few chances to come back to china. Only recently (soph year of college on), have I come back to china consistently every summer. Every time back, there are profound changes to the geography where once familiar. Everyone says that when they come back after being away for a while, that they cant even recognized their own neighborhood where they grew up. This btw, is true. I've hung out in and around my grandparent's house everytime I get back. one year there was suddenly huge bridge for a ring road built right next to her neighborhood. Also, the huge market (for things from electronics to meat) was destroyed and a huge mall and supermarket was put in its place (with McD's and KFC), all in a span of a year.

Within the past 16 years, China has come from a place where color TVs and soda was really rare to being one of the fastest growing economies in the world, consistently for the last decade. China is the world's 2nd largest consumer of oil (to the US) where in 1992, it was self-sufficient in oil. China has huge multinational companies who produce consumer goods for the world, huge markets to tap and great opportunities. Everyone seems to have a mobile phone. Everyone goes on the internet, IM each other on QQ and play World of Warcraft. Stores like Wal-Mart, Carrfore and such are everywhere. There are Mercedes, Lexus and Buicks on the roads. McDonalds, Pizza Hut and other restaurants are everywhere. Old buildings are torn down with huge apartment complexes taking the place. It’s crazy. Things are almost nothing like what they were just a few years ago.

What's most amazing is that all this transformation has taken place within such a short period of time. To note: it took the US almost 50-100 years to change what china has done in the past 17 years. [I estimate the introduction in the US: first color TV (1950s), Kitchen appliances (1930s), Cars (1900s), Photos (1920s)].

What does this mean?

China has had to quickly adjust to the changing world that is going by way too fast. That, combined with the previous economic system (socialism, state runned economy) and the way of life (ie, the need to save money), has aided in these things that are wrong. For example, in the US, there is no doubt in anyone's mind that no person would ever traverse an interstate highway and walk across it. No one will ride their bike on the side of the highway or carry their harvest on a horse pulled carriage there. This, however, is commonplace on China's interstates and highways. Because of this, it is important for Chinese to be aware of each other on the road (how many bad accidents have u seen in China) where there are people streaming in and out of traffic, not to mention bikes every where. If I was cut off in the US, I would be scared, annoyed and angry. In china, its common place and just part of life and what people have just come to accept.
Guanxi is soo important in Chinese society because it used to be an economy where the competition for labor didn’t exist. (i learned this in my international politics class). Since there is was not a lot of people providing services back when I lived in China, you could only get things done if you knew someone who knew someone. That means a system of favors was set up so that people would help each other out to both parties' benefit. This seems foreign to us in the US since we could just look in the yellow pages, call a store and pay whatever price they offered. In china, 15 years ago, it didn’t matter how much money you had, the person wouldn’t even talk to you if u didnt go through guanxi to get to him. Things are getting better now in china though. You can get things done with only money (ie. white people's ability to survive), but it still helps a lot if you go through connections. (lets not forget, in the US there's something called "networking").

Why do people in Beijing stare at Americans where they're at the great wall? A lot of people in Beijing are tourists from other places in china. They probably have never seen anyone but Chinese and think white people are just part of the show: Tiananmen square, Mao's mausoleum and that redhead. No matter what people say, Chinese people do not have a lot of interaction with foreigners (laowai). They are very curious and it is definitely not rude to stare. After growing up in a country where everyone immigrated there... and going to school in NYC really alters things. It's commonplace to meet people from everywhere, ever race and background u can imagine. No body stares because no one cares. However, if you go to the middle of nowhere (ie. Iowa, where I've lived before), go into a diner........ lets see how much people stare at u (imagine my mom and I walking into a salon in a western movie and everything stops. yea. that happened).

What is ultimately seems like is that China is evolving too quickly into the global world and it can’t properly adjust to the demands of modern life. There are many things that seem commonplace for the established western world, but will only change with time in China.

So mike, what the hell are u saying? Why did u write all of this?

Well, everything above this was actually background of what I observed in the past few days. It tries to set up what I thought was cool/interesting.

There seems to be a constant problem in modern families today, no matter American, European or Chinese. Instead of talking to one another, people watch TV during dinner. However, one real relief of this situation is that families go out to a restaurant (ie. once a week) and have a nice interaction there to make up for their deficiencies at home. (Are u still with me). Of course there's the preverbal chuck and cheese where the kids go play or the sports bar where there's a reason your there (to watch a football game while eating wings [o lion's head, how I love thee]) but most dining out means people talking and interacting with other people they're with.

Now. With all of its glory and evolution, China has created a system where interaction while eating out was a thing of the past. Now, at decently nice restaurants in southern china (i haven’t seen it in the north yet), the dining floor is surrounded with flat screen TVs playing different shows, movies. For the different restaurants I went to, the nicest and the biggest ones and atleast 20 monitors situated around the dinner area. This is amazing. Instead of eating, making small talk, and interacting with who you’re with, people can just eat and stare at the TV. It feels like home all over again. haha. When I saw a couple, supposedly out on a date, just sitting there watching TV instead of talking, I thought it was really amazing. It is not like Chinese people talk that much anyways when they're eating. Children are taught that talking while eating is impolite. Now having TVs is just another way to aid the silence of dinner.

Not only has China evolved so fast that it can’t "correctly" catch up to what they're supposed to be doing, ie. the people jaywalking across highways, but it has entered a stage where it slowly leaps over and sets the future. (We're too ignorant of how things are supposed to be done that we completely “screw” everything up and change the whole paradigm). I don’t know if this new TV thing at restaurants will catch on... but it seems interesting none the less... It will give Chinese people another reason not to talk to each other. Maybe the west will follow suit and watch TV at nice restaurants now.

It’s just another step in the past 20 years of development.

Senate Democrats take aim at China

In my January 19^th post on the Weaponizing of Space, I wrote briefly about what democrats would do with regard to China and the weaponizing of space. From my knowledge, no resolutions were passed denouncing the action by congress. However, that doesn't mean China is off of their radar. Here’s what I wrote on 1/19/07.

The democrats are pissed! I worked for Sherrod Brown in the 2004 election campaign in northeast Ohio to support John Kerry. Even though I know him personally and can say with all certainty that he is a great, honorable and capable American, the freshman Senator from Ohio is going to have a field day with this with support of the protectionist, pro-labor side of the Democratic Party. The democrats need to look strong to their constituents on national defense and this is the perfect forum for that. I wonder what bills or resolutions will be passed on this issue.

Only 3 days ago, I read an interesting Opinion piece from USNews.com discussing possible legislation that will be introduced into the Senate by Sherrod Brown and fellow democrats that will change the status quo. The protectionists are definitely out in force.

Here is an excerpt of the article:

Also this week, Democratic Sens. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota and Sherrod Brown of Ohio, along with Republican Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, said they were introducing legislation that would strip China of its permanent normal trade status with the United States, subjecting the trade relationship to an annual review by Congress. Brown said in a statement:

U.S. trade policy has failed workers and small businesses across our country. As far as I am concerned, there is nothing normal about allowing our trading partners to use slave labor to compete with our workers. There is nothing normal about manipulating currency to make exports cheaper. There is nothing normal about mouthing concern for intellectual property in the midst of rampant piracy. And if this is indeed normal, then I certainly don't want it to be permanent.

Who knows what will come of this. The last time something like this happened was in 2005 when NY Senator Chuck Schumer tried to introduce a 27.5% tariff on all Chinese imports. That was pushed aside due to talks between Sen. Schumer, and the current Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson. Hopefully someone will have the same influence this time.

In a Chinese perspective, it seems that these senators are kind of ignorant. They are looking past the other obvious problems with the US economy that includes spending billions and billions on the war in Iraq while simultaneously giving the richest in the US a tax break, deficit spending, and de-taxing and de-regulation of corporations which have been profiting handsomely from these policies. Instead, they point to one thing. The increasing trade deficit with China and the need for a quicker appreciation of the yuan. Here’s what the USNews.com article predicted (as a lot of economists says) what would happen if China followed through.

In the 1980s, just as with China today, many in the United States were pushing Japan to strengthen its currency. How did that work out for Japan? As Will Hutton, China expert and author of the book The Writing on the Wall: Why We Must Embrace China as a Partner or Face It as an Enemy, told me in an interview late last year:

The more than 50 percent rise in the yen in the late 1980s was the single most important cause of Japan's near 15 years of economic stagnation that followed; if the yuan went up by 40 percent suddenly against the dollar, it would have a similarly devastating impact on China. . . . Such a rapid appreciation of the yuan over a short period could be a tipping point for a wave of unrest, which could threaten the regime's stability. The party leadership sees the demand for fast yuan appreciation as an act of economic warfare. In these terms, you can see why.

And would troubles in China affect America? Here is the scenario that Hutton sees:

China's stagnation would trigger a global slowdown, maybe even recession. ... The World Bank estimates that if China's growth rate fell by just 2 percent, up to 60 percent of China's bank loans would become nonperforming–so threatening both China's and, via Hong Kong, Asia's financial system. The flow of saving to finance the U.S.'s deficit would dry up, probably forcing U.S. interest rates up–so worsening the economic slowdown.

A scary scenario, no doubt–and one both Democrats and Republicans should do their best to avoid.

I would agree.

Guide to Chinese New Year

Happy Chinese New Year everybody! 新年快乐!

For the first time in a long time, I’ve been given the chance to experience Chinese New Year (cny) while being in China. The last time was when I was 5 years old. Even though, I have never really celebrated cny within in my own family, cny is such a big part of Chinese tradition that I needed to experience it first hand (rather than hanging out drinking in nyc).

In Western terms, CNY could be described as an elaborate combination of Thanksgiving, Christmas and Forth of July all in one. For a brief background, Danwei (an awesome blog) has good description here: http://www.danwei.org/china_information/chinese_new_year_and_chinese_s.php

Lets examine the various CNY customs and traditions one by one, with side notes about how people do things in other regions of China.

1. The New Year's Eve dinner.
My extended family had our family dinner last night at a cozy Northeastern restaurant. A total of 23 people were on hand, spanning 4 different generations. I have a lot of extended family in Shenzhen, full of 2nd aunts, uncles and 2nd cousins. It was quite a sight. It was the first time i'd seen many of my family members. We had 2 big tables, set up in our private room with the seating arranged by generation. The elders (my mom's parents) were at the head of the main table. They are seated at the "head" of the round table (usually reserved for the most "respected"). Around them was the generation of my mom. That's where all of my aunts and uncles were. The next generation down (me and my cousins) had our own "kid" table.

For the dinner itself, the food was good and so was the 2 bottles of MaoTai rice wine (aged 50 years). However, most families spend a lot more time eating and drinking than mine. It's tradition for everyone at the dinner to be fairly sloshed and tipsy before leaving. The thing is, my extended family seem to all have 2 things, diabetes and the inability to drink that much alcohol. Needless to day, the dinner only lasted about 1 hour and a half.

For the post-dinner activities, I expected there to be a nice family party of sorts and maybe even Cranium... (something you would expect from a western family). I was surprised to find that after the dinner, everyone returned home to watch the 春节晚会 (chunjiewanhui). There was no festive party. There was just sitting on the couch. At home. Watching tv.

How other Chinese do it:
The most "traditional" part of the New Year's Eve dinner in the north is dumplings. Families very seldom go out to eat for this meal. They usually get together at one member of the family's house and make dumplings by hand. It is very much a bonding experience to make the little things. Making dumplings and majong are definitely the most popular or Chinese activities during CNY.

It is also customary to eat dumplings at the stroke of midnight.

2. 红包

Part of CNY tradition is the giving of the 红包 (hongbao), or red bag. These little red envelopes are filled with cash and are given as a present to people. Last night during our family dinner, there was very little红包 giving. A couple of my 30 year old cousins gave them to their parents. Also, the “head” of our family (the aunt with the most money) gave 2 away to the children without jobs yet (my “2^nd” niece who is 2 years old, and my 2^nd cousin who is still in college).

There are different sayings of the 红包. In the north, you are usually obliged to give 红包’s away if you are working. If you are not, you don't need to. The people who have a job usually give them to members of their family, who are younger, don't have jobs or people who serve them (like the building doorman, postman, ect). There is usually no exchange of 红包s where person A gives one to person B and person B then gives one to person A (since that would just not make that much sense to trade money back and forth).

Some people, who are already grown up and have jobs often give红包s to their parents. This is less of a tradition but more of a way to show your appreciation for parents.

In Shenzhen, or Guandong province, the test is with marriage. If you are married, then you have to give the 红包 out. If you are not married, you don't have to bother. The money inside are to be new, crisp bills (there are huge lines at banks to get wads of cash in every denomination). The amount of money is based on the person. If you have tons of money, you had better give at least a few hundred. If your poor, 5 or 10 yuan might do it. It really depends.

I still don't know when the 红包s are given. We’ll see if I have to make any edits to these rules in the next few days, but for now, I still haven’t received any红包yet.

3. The 春节晚会

The 春节晚会 is a 4.5 hour showcase extravaganza, held by the Chinese Government annually. It starts at 8pm and lasts all the way until 12:30am. It has become a tradition within itself. There are 3 teams of hosts (who change wardrobe atleast 4x each), tons of different performances by ethnic groups, small comedic skits called 小品, not to mention classical favorite songs that are sung over and over every single year. I even recognized a song that was performed last night that I knew when I was in preschool! That's like 20 years ago.

My experience with the 春节晚会 is limited to my parents. My parents would always get tapes of the 春节晚会 a few days afterwards the event from random friends. While I never saw them watch it, it seemed like everyone did watch it at some point. What was also apparent was that people love 小 品. These skits are decently well and its actors utilize the humor of north eastern regional accents and vocabulary (where my family is from).

Instead of heading to a bar for massive amounts of drinking (like your typical NYC new years eve celebration), I spent last night with a few of my cousins drinking Jack Daniels, playing cards and watching the春节晚会. They really did seem to enjoy it and said it is definitely a tradition for CNY. Even though the performances have been “sucking” recently, they still enjoyed staying in that night and watching nonetheless.

How Other Chinese do it.

The春节晚会 seem to be very much a northern China thing. Although I’m sure that people in Guangdong province do watch it, they have their own tradition down here. After dinner with the family, many people go out to the “flower street” to hang out. These streets feel like a street fair. There are a lot of vendors for different flower arrangements, red CNY decorations as well as toys for kids, food and other random stuff. These streets, that pop up all over the city before CNY are usually PACKED for the hours before midnight on new years eve.

In various southern regions of china, a lot of people believe in Chinese vernacular religions. It is a tradition to go to the monasteries to pray at the strike of midnight. My cousin, Simon, was stuck in traffic for 5 hours when he went last night. It is his yearly tradition to pray immediately after midnight, and then hit the bars. Some people travel to far away temples that are considered “a higher level” to pray after midnight for good fortune and luck in the new year.

4. Fireworks

Fireworks was originally invented in China and it is a huge part of the CNY celebrations. In Chinese folklore, the new year was personified as a ghost-like bad spirit. Fireworks are set off to scare him off and any bad luck for the upcoming year. As my cousin said last night: “I don't feel like it’s the new year until I hear fireworks.”

This year, many cities eased their decade-old ban on fireworks. In Shenzhen, however, there is still a ban on it. However, Chinese revelers still ignore the rules and set off their own fireworks. I currently hear bangs and crackles in the distance as I write this. The use of fireworks, however, can cause a lot of injuries. Here’s a CNN article about CNY injuries in Beijing: http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/02/17/beijing.fireworks.ap/index.html

In rural areas, fireworks are a huge part of the celebration.