Finding digs

Today I set about finding an apartment in Beijing. The sun is occluded by the dust clouds thrown up by the perpetual construction in the city. As a result it is almost impossible to figure out which direction is north/south/east or west as one stands in one of the numerous non-descript square blocks.

I can rent a 3 bedroom apartment like Rob’s, just outside the 4th ringroad, for RMB4600 per month. The cost of accommodation is about half that of Singapore.

Popular here are SOHO developments – apartments that are zoned for use as offices. This is for two reasons: the traffic and the idea of buying one and letting the company pay the mortgate.

I met Hua, the former manager of EBA, for lunch. She has partnered with Wendy Ho taking an office in SOHO with 11 young staff sitting at shiny new computers, the odd Nano left synchronizing i-Tunes.

Apparently PR firms are growing at a rate of 40% or so, the local firms outpacing the multi-national ones. She thinks my plan to set up is a good one. I feel at once pleased and disappointed; it’s the right idea to be here but there is already stiff competition.

When I went to Singapore in 1995 I had done much less research and was fearless; this time my rigour raises anxiety. I resolved to not look down, but simply keep climbing the great wall of China.

At the end of the Day Rebecca took me to see an area of Beijing called 798 to the north east. Converted factory units are being used to house art galleries; Chinese and European contemporary art. High ceilings, industrial equipment and whitewashed walls with stylish young curators. I signed up my sister Shelley, an artist, for the newsletter from the JapanChina Art Project. I am pleased to find a bohemian quarter in this city rapidly destroying all remnants of history in favour of modern SOHO blocks.

The evening was spent with Rebecca, Carly, Lisa and two Danish chaps at A Fun Ti – Xinjiang folk music and table top dancing.

Beijing – minus zero before dawn

Landed at 06.00 to minus 5 degrees. Quite a change from 30 degrees 6 hours earlier when I boarded the plane. A seat on China airlines costs half the price of one on Singapore Airlines; I think it’s because the seats are about half the size, the food half as appetizing (I declined the tray) and when we landed in Beijing pre-dawn we had to board a miserable bus and wait on the tarmac with the minus 5 degree wind biting at the bare shoulders and legs of the passengers still dressed for sunnier climes. I can only presume that they’ll have this sorted before millions descend for the Olympics in 926 days from now.

Still – Met with Robster and he passed me his key before heading to work as head hunter, and then I connected seamlessly with the broadband internet in one of the numerous coffee shops in Beijing; it’s a crazy business model as I sat for two hours sipping half a cup of cheap (RMB 12/US$1.5) coffee.

Objective for the day – Get connected

Task one: Get a Beijing mobile. Went to the shopping centre and managed to recall enough of my beginners Mandarin from this time in 2004 to negotiate a new prepaid card. In China they have numbers all listed out with different prices; the cheap ones (like mine) have a 4 (unlucky because it sounds the same as death in Mandarin) and the more 8’s (luck) the more expensive. +8613439650295. For RMB75 I have a new prepaid and downloaded another 100RMB of credits from China mobile -I’ll see how long it lasts.

Highlight of the day – calls from family and friends to wish me ‘Happy Birthday’ – nieces from France gave me a sing song; the first time I’ve ever heard Camille (4) and Elea (3) sing. I am too far away from them too often. The price I pay for my selfish endeavours.

Task two: Getting the network started. I made appointments to meet an old PR partner for lunch tomorrow, a PR consultant to Omnicom on Friday for dinner and solid confidant and friend from my 2004 stint here, Kristian Kender, on Sat. afternoon. Between them they know plenty about the market, the prices, the staff, the legal issues and pitfalls of this journey.

Evening is with Robster and friends – Rob has kindly set up a birthday party for me. It’s important to keep the momentum as I have left behind wonderful friends, colleagues and a lifestyle most would envy. A quick visit to his new office at Consult Group and off into town.

Beijing – what a gift!

Changi airport: Checked in to Air China flight 970 paying S$105 for the 5kg excess luggage – in the age of high fuel prices nothing is given for free.

Mixed feelings after spending intense 2 days with the team at EASTWEST to ensure that they are all well, and have a clear sense of purpose for the next month.

I will fly to Beijing on the red eye and will welcome in my 39th birthday somewhere over Hong Kong, landing at 0600 to a welcome of snow, rapacious Beijing taxi drivers and the challenge of setting up an office in Beijing.

It’s 1000 days to the Olympics (opening 08.00 on 8th August 2008) and I intend to get established and be ready to do what I can to support the British Olympic team when they get there/here.

Looking forward to opening birthday cards sent from home and saved for the tranquility of 5 miles high.

A little business in China – what’s it all about

Hi, this is a blog for entrepreneurs, owners of small companies who want to have a crack at building a business in China;without the luxury of a expensive lawyers, accountants and an nice serviced apartment to stay in. It’s a story of how I am setting up EASTWEST PR in Beijing, using the experience that I have from starting EASTWEST PR in Singapore in 1995. I plan to share info that I think will be of use to other people that want to have a crack at getting over the Great Wall of China. Wish me luck! Jim James

Facing solidified history

‘Facing solidified history’ – Pingyao 平遥

11 Sept. 2004

I made a quick escape this week to Pingyao in China, a town in the Shanxi province that has not escaped from the walls built around it over 1200 years ago in the Zhou dynasty (827 B.C. – 782 B.C.). I was in China collecting my things from Beijing and wanted to see a few of the sights that I had missed out on: the hanging temple at Datong and the ancient walled city of Pingyao. Along the way I reflected on some of the opportunities that I am considering, and started to read a book on emotional intelligence.

Shanxi (山西 – west of mountains) province lies to the south west of Beijing and is a mountainous area with a population of 28 million mainly engaged in mining and, since 2001, a growing tourism industry that seeks to capitalize on the Ming dynasty history. Train N205 pulled out of Beijing West station at 23:29 and without announcement, the lights in the carriage were turned out within 5 minutes of leaving the station; leaving me to fumble in the dark and rue not bringing a torch. At 07.00 we pulled into Datong (大同), a mining town of nearly 3 million that offers the familiar welcome of an expanse of dusty tarmac, grimy street vendors, and solicitous cab drivers. The state owned tourist office was located just inside the station, and I booked a trip to the Xuankong Si (悬空寺Hanging Monastery) and Yungang Shiku (云岗石窟Cloud Ridge Caves) for RMB100, and booked a ticket to leave Datong that night.

A minibus took some 20 of us to the two main attractions of Datong. I had met a Swiss couple on the train before the lights went out the night before, Mark and Xena, and they were like most of my traveling companions; taking a year off work in their late twenties before heading home to settle down. Along with a gaggle of English Oxford Univ. graduates, we toured the caves that contain some 50,000 Buddhist statues. The statues in the Cloud Ridge Caves were carved in the sandstone caves over a 64 year period by some 40,000 craftsmen from AD460 onwards. Having grown up under the shadows of Canterbury Cathedral and with a Christian centric culture, I was impacted by the scale, care and history of the carvings. The 15m high Buddha’s is supposedly the largest of its kind in the world.

While studying in Beijing I had really wanted to see the Xuankong Si – the hanging temple. This was another hour’s ride up into the foothill mountains some 65km away from Datong. Apparently the last monk left the 1400-year-old temple in 1996 at the age of 82, unable to navigate the narrow walkways that connect a series of rooms perched on stilts 20 meters above the Jinlong canyon. The river is dammed now, so I could only imagine what the sound and serenity the old monk must have lived with, and reluctantly relinquished. Now hordes of tourists, mainly Chinese, clambered up the steps and peered into the caves housing Buddha sculptures. What people have done in faith – the carvings and the hanging temple really made me aware of the continuity of humanities desire for enlightenment and dedication to places that celebrate that enlightenment.

Datong is not one of the places where much enlightenment can be found, and so I took the night train to Pingyao, arriving at 05.00 to see a completely starlit walled city of one and two story hutong’s, just as it would have looked for the last 1200 years, without cars, street lights or tv aerials. Since earning a Unesco heritage site award in 1997 Pingyao has been at the forefront of the tourism industry. Tourism earned Shanxi province RMB188m from 18.8m tourists in 2004[1] and officially employs 2000 people, and at the Minfeng Binguan the boss was busily renovating the 20 room courtyard he had recently purchased. Once the French SAGA tour group had left the Binguan I put my head down in room 002, appreciating how quiet the old courtyard buildings are with their thick walls and separation from the growing chaos on the main street.

After a nap, I rented a bike and along with an Austrian couple cycled the 7km to Shuanglin Si – yet another Ming dynasty temple. The danger is that temples compete with one another for my attention, and I found the run down Shuanglin notable for the fabulous clay sculptures being made by students from the Xian school of fine art. I asked the students why they were not sculpting their own Xian terracotta warriors, and it seemed that the depictions of Buddha’s in various stages of enlightenment and the frightening scenes of hell made for more interesting artwork. More enlightening for me was cycling out of the temple and through an archway in a 7 metre high mud wall – through which was an clutch of houses that used mud for all surfaces, including the roof, walls and flooring. A young mule stood with a mare tethered with fraying rope to a mud wall – this is part of Pingyao the Shanxi tourism office probably didn’t want us to see.

The tourism office of Pingyao has become rather smart, and now visitors have to pay one ticket for RMB120 (US$15) to gain access to some 20 museums and to walk the 7kms of the city wall. I went to visit the Rishengchang Financial House which at one stage had 57 branches around China before collapsing in 1916 – but this and the next museum had only the odd room name in English and arcanely organized curios that meant even deduction was practically impossible and so I went back to the hotel. Dinner was fun with the Swiss couple and an Irish couple. I used my Chinese to order vegetarian food. The Chinese like to add meat to vegetable dishes without actually saying anything in the menu about it. Having been up since 05.00 I was ready for an early night.

The highlight of the trip was my early morning walk around the abandoned walls the following morning. ‘Facing solidified history, please care of it’ read the plaque on the watch-tower – and I was feeling particularly humbled until I noticed that the bricks underfoot had 1979 imprinted on them; presumably part of an unpublicized attempt to restore the wall for the visit of Premier Zhu Ronggi in 2001. I heard a squawking sound from the other side of the wall and saw a funeral party sitting on the curbside, facing large piles of rubbish and opposite a middle school. At 10.00 music started to play, reminiscent of the music at BLCU, and sure enough the kids came out to play; the sound of the playground music competing with the wake. Looking down at the hutongs, those away from the tourist streets, I noticed how so many looked unfinished and unsafe, even though hundreds of years old; it’s as if the inhabitants live with a perpetual sense of impermanence compounded by a poverty that becomes self perpetuating. Perhaps I noticed it as I have been living an impermanent life for the last 9 months – never quite sure I will be staying month to month.

I became burnt out on temples and museums with signage that made no sense, and decided to have a relaxed afternoon, getting ready for the return journey to Beijing. I created a Business Idea Qualifier (BIQ) – a 10-point evaluation technique for all the new ideas that keep filling my head. I resolved to run my new ideas through this filter. I also started reading a book on Emotional Intelligence[2] that includes the interesting concept that the ‘cognitive unconscious’ processes information at a primordial level with the implication that we are aware of things before we come to know them. This gave rise to some interesting possibilities for the communications training. I read some more of the book on the train back to Beijing, pleased to have taken time to visit and practice my mandarin, but also getting excited about returning to Singapore and to move into my new home, el Centro. Being impermanent has been tiring and I feel it is time to get stuck into some work; to try to create some solidified history even.

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[1] Source: Shanxi Today – Issue 8, 2004

[2] Daniel Goleman ‘Emotional Intelligence.’

Being Driven

Beijing Diary June 13th
Beech Tree Cottage – Gushmere, Kent.

Today is a special anniversary for me, as I sit here on a Sunday morning in a brilliantly fresh summer morning in Kent, with time to reflect on the last nine years. It was on the 13th June 1995 that I first boarded the plane and set off to Singapore to set up EASTWEST. I could never have imagined what an adventure my life would be, and that I would end up living in China contemplating opening an office in Beijing.

I enrolled at the Beijing Language and Culture University with the principal aim of learning Mandarin, and I would have to give myself an ‘F’. I can now get myself around Beijing without having to hand the taxi driver a piece of paper or my hand phone to get instructions. I can order food and drink, but don’t understand all of the varieties of vegetables or preparation the waitress sometimes offers me. I definitely get the pricing, and can bargain a bit, even being given lower prices because of my Mandarin. What I can’t do is understand all that the upright news presenters say, nor the lyrics of the selection of Chinese music I loaded onto my laptop. Frustratingly I recognize some 60% of the characters in the newspaper, but can’t make any sense of the sentences, as I always seem to lack the key noun or verb. Can I write? Only using the computer software, and my handwritten characters evoke a wince or titter from a Chinese person that might be watching. So after four months I am ‘F’ for Functional.

On the last Thursday in Beijing I organised a leaving party, and was touched by how many people came out. The anxiety of organising any event is the fear of sitting alone at a table booked for a crowd, but we had 26 of us and nearly as many nationalities. Those of us that had skipped classes for the last month were a bit embarrassed to see teachers Dan Jiang and Wang at the Bla Bla Bar waiting for us, but it felt good to leave the BLCU on good terms with them. We went to the Two Pigs restaurant. Nicole came, along with Daisy who coached Sabine, and Eleven and Jodie – the girls who had come to nurse me in my first month, came bearing gifts – I was so touched. The excellent dinner at cost RMB500 – the princely sum of US$2.40 each. China really is insanely cheap for the quality that one enjoys. Conversation was a mixture of English and Chinese, topics about what each of us would do next: The Argentian lads will travel overland to Europe, Megan will take her gall stones back to America, Sabine will open a restaurant in Hong Kong, David is trying to get a job with Venture Capital company in Beijing. For three months we embraced the challenge of learning Mandarin together, now we will all scatter to the four points of the globe.

For me, the four months have been a real tonic. I have so enjoyed a respite from the competition of work, feeling the stimulation of the selfish pursuit of knowledge. Of course not everything in China is wonderful, and on Friday 4th it was the 15th Anniversary of Tiananmen Square. I remember that I was in a small town in Mexico on the 4th June 1989, and was trying to translate the Spanish article that showed a young man facing a tank. Although there were apparently some protesters at the Square on Friday, it was not covered in the papers. The move for democracy is being overrun by the chase for wealth, and the Government is criticized in private, but as long as the economy brings benefits for a sufficient number, factions demonstrating against the leadership will not be tolerated.

By contemplating returning to China, and opening an office, I am tacitly endorsing the system, and hoping to benefit from it. The time that I have spent in China so far has been enriching, and I have enjoyed the selfish pursuit of knowledge, although I do wish that I had not elected to juggle study with work, always concerned that I was neglecting the team and clients, while frustrated that I haven’t learnt more Mandarin. As I sit here overlooking my recently completed barn, reflecting on the costs and rewards of my choices, it with a mixture of excitement and fear that I contemplate the second chapter – being driven to start EASTWEST PR in China.

I won’t write another diary until I go back to Beijing, which should be in the first week of August.

With love.

Week of Work

Beijing Diary 30 May 2004

This was a week when I started to feel the stress of ending my time as a student; starting work in earnest and wondering how I might preserve the creative freedom I have enjoyed so much.

Monday 24^th Hong Kong

I went to work with a client in Discovery Bay, a 20-minute boat ride away on Lantau Island and appears to be modelled on the TV show ‘Fantasy Island.’ Working through media interview techniques while overlooking the 18^th Tee with Alex Chelleri, the newly promoted Head of Sales for Quantel, life seemed excellent. Somehow the anxieties of that had kept me awake the night before faded in the sunshine, as Alex made progress I felt confidence at being a good trainer return.

Tuesday 25^th Macao

Jon de Rule and I went to Macao, a short ride from Hong Kong, to check out some venues for a client. Jon is one of the most talented events men in Asia, and a survivor. There is a unique camaraderie among fellow entrepreneurs; we share the excitement of trying to realise a vision, the anxiety of insecurity, and the fear that we will find ourselves late in life without the rewards of stability and too old to start again.

Back in Hong Kong we went to the Gecko bar, and saw how the expatriate community reconstitutes itself. Hong Kong is changing, and according the English language press, it is for the worse. Police rejected claims that three popular radio show hosts have been intimidated by Beijing-connected heavies into resigning their slots called ‘Teacup in a Storm’ and ‘Close Encounter of the Political Kind.’ In practical terms the ‘One Country- two systems’ is being seen as a sham, with the radio hosts being the latest flickering flames of opposition to be snuffed out. In the club we could have been in Ronnie Scotts as Alexia Gardner[1] sang jazz – it was hard to believe Alexia was from Birmingham; just one of the many contradictions that make Hong Kong a stimulating place to spend time, but for me not a place to live.

Wednesday 26^th Hong Kong to Beijing

Hong Kong is becoming more like another mainland city, while Beijing is trying to become a pre-eminent global city. It is like a pageant queen not wanting to be outshone by her offspring. The Hong Kong issue of the China Daily had a photo of D. Wolfensohn in Shanghai opening the Global Conference on Scaling Up Poverty Reduction. The Beijing issue of the China Daily had a photo of a proud farmer in blue Mao suit proudly showing off his prize winter melon, Wolfensohn and the conference a second story. The editors appear to recognize the different levels of sophistication of those watching the pageant.

Thursday 27^th

Time becomes increasingly pressured. Megan was in the Beijing United Family Hospital[2] with what would be diagnosed as kidney stones. The Hospital is considered to be the most expensive in Beijing at US$1600 per night. The room was ultra modern and while Megan said there were some hiccups in co-ordinating her tests, the doctor had called her physician in the USA and Megan felt reassured. There is no real middle ground in medical care in Beijing, unlike in Singapore where patients can enjoy professional care with variable levels of personal comfort and concomitant expense. I wolfed down a Starbucks sandwich and headed to town.

The Quantel offices are in a shiny new tower block, and I had arranged for the publishers of State Administration for Radio Film and Television magazine to come to the offices with one goal, but they had two it seemed. The interviews went well, and I am pleased that after 3 months in China I have started to open up an entirely new range of publications for the client. Over dinner, without Quantel there, Frank Yao of SARFT brought up the topic of investing in EASTWEST PR. Reading the sentiment in Hong Kong I am aware of the potential pitfalls. I left it that Frank should talk with his management, and then we can take it further.

Friday 28^th

Maria, an Argentian class mate, arranged for a group of us to sing at the PartyWorld Karaoke. Karaoke was first started by the Japanese, and may go down in history as one more of their atrocities. PartyWorld is the size of a mid sized hotel, with each room centred on a massive 30 inch TV, variable lighting, and computerized jukebox that contains mainstream and obscure classics. Maria and Laura sang like songbirds, while David and I belted out the ‘House of the Rising Sun.’

Saturday 29^th

With an eye on my trip to Helsinki next weekend, I went shopping. As a student I have been living in jeans and unpolished shoes, changing occasionally for the trips to the Quantel office. It is wonderfully stress free. In the mall at China World Hotel I found myself faced with the world of fashion, and realised I was starting out again, acquiring things and worrying if they match with each other and with my personality.

Sunday 30^th

David, Sabine and I cycled to Yuánmíng Yuán Yízhĭ (old summer palace) on our bikes. Established in the 12^th Century and remodelled on European designs by Emperor Qianlong, ironically it was sacked by Anglo French troops in 1860 (Opium war) and so if full of ruins. The lakes, pagoda’s, acres of trees and flowers make it restful place to study Mandarin. As we unlocked our bicycles a group of kids giggled excitedly, fumbling with their cameras. At 11&12 they have been learning English for 2 years in a class of 46 students at the Sha cheng liu xiao school; they answered our Chinese questions in enthusiastic English. In sequence they pronounced their English names: Sally, Lilly, Ann. As we cycled away, I thought that some of them may be working during the Olympics – China is preparing the welcoming committee early.

In the evening David and I went to the Shaolin Warriors performance at the Haidian Theatre. It opens with a boy asking a monk “What is Shaolin Kungfu,” and the monk replying, “It is something which you will not only see with your eyes, but you will also feel with your heart.” In 527 Emperor Wei built the Shaolin Temple for the senior monk Bodhi Dharma to teach Bhuddism. The monks are amazing acrobats and weapons masters practicing the “72 Arts.” Behind us a boy the age of the one on stage chattered and cooed the whole time. His father, Zhang Sheng Li, is the founder of the Beijing Mu Lu School of Kung Fu and 3 new styles of the art. His son had been to Shaolin already, or so David and I interpreted, which accounted for his excitement.

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[1] (http://www.alexiajazz.com)[2] Http://www.unitedfamilyhospitals.com

A week in the life of Dong Wang Zhuang

Hong Kong
Sunday, 23 May 2004

Here I am sitting in Hong Kong away on business, at the end of a week in which I was enjoying being a student and resident of the Dong Wang Zhuang community in Beijing.

Beijing
Monday 17th

There are large signs around the zhuang aimed at encouraging civic pride, payment of taxes on-line and even welcoming foreigners like me. A 1.5m x 4m wide sign on the side of a block of flats reads, ‘The emerge of nonative population added vigour to the economic development of Haidian District. At the same time they should enjoy equal service. To provide the same public, service and management for them is one of the principles we stick to. Therefore, whenever you came from, you have the night to our reproductive & health service.’ This is encouragement indeed to become part of the community, even if only for the night. It is perhaps unfair to be critical of the translations, for the spirit is what is important – and the fact that there are even signs in English. Interestingly the signage is not in Korean or Japanese in spite of their large numbers.

My confidence for the postal service was dented by news that a company was suing the Postal Service because several million direct mail flyers had been found not in the homes of the addressees, but rather at a paper recycling plant. The enterprising postal officer had subcontracted delivery to a friend who no doubt realized the environmental benefits of saving the intended recipients the task of finding a recycle bin. Chinese law says that a plaintiff cannot sue a publicly owned entity and as the Post Office is not allowed to subcontract delivery, technically the delivery did not take place; in spite of the large sums of money paid by the company for the distribution.

Tuesday 18th

The zhuang, ‘village’, is a self-contained world and I have decided that it makes a better university than the campus. I have taken to buying things that I don’t really need just to practice my vocabulary, including a variety of fruits. There are about 30 blocks, each 8 storeys high with two apartments at each level. Wang Wei Xin, a 32 year old who ferries passengers in his Santana on the weekend, is buying his 3 bedroom place for RMB300,000.

Wednesday 19th
I spent a quiet day studying and enjoyed a relaxed evening in the zhuang for almost the first time since moving here in March. I bought a batch of DVDs’ for RMB8 (US$1) each, including ‘The Last Boy Scout’ starring Bruce Willis. Almost all the American movies in the neon lit box like shop were action packed, with gun toting heroes and innocent people becoming victims. What kind of impression of America does this give to people in the zhuang? I have lived in America and even I have started to believe everyone carries guns and might have a head on collision with a drug-crazed teenager. Tenley, one of my American classmates, said that after 911 and the Washington DC sniper shootings, she felt it would be safer to live in China.

Michael Jordan arrived in Beijing, and the police had to cancel his first appearance because of the huge crowds who pulled down fences and crushed a car. All things American still hold such a dual fascination.

Thursday 20th
While learning Chinese may be less and less useful to talk to the young, it is helping people to connect to their family and their roots. Winnie, a German/Hong Kong mix, shared that she had spoken to Chinese Mum in Mandarin for the first time. They both cried with joy, and I nearly did too. For many Eurasians who have grown up in western language homes, one of their parents has lived in linguistic isolation, and I was so happy for Winnie that she could dissolve that barrier with her Mum.

An official in Changchun was found guilty of embezzling US$988,000 over 4 years, and received the death sentence. Justice, if it is that, is quick and intolerant.

Friday 21st
On Friday night Rebecca and I made it to the China Philharmonic Orchestra performance of Carmen. The performance was sponsored by American Express, which can’t be used to book nor to pay for tickets. First opened in 1991, The Poly Theatre has 1,338 seats, this show selling at RMB680 to RMB 80. Kirsten Chavez of America sang Carmen with great bravura and Jianyi Zhang, who didn’t have the charisma to match Chavez, played Don Jose. I was interested that a Chinese female opera singer was not chosen to play the morally loose Spanish Gypsy girl. The Opera by French composer George Bizet (1838-1875) is set in Spain and is a tale of the pursuit of freedom and unrequited love, in the end the disloyal Carmen is slain by her spurned lover – was there a coded message for the increasingly liberated Chinese women in the audience I asked myself. I was distracted by the English subtitles as Carmen sang, “If you love me, you spurm me.”

I was caught short at the theatre by having to use cash, and realized how little I use my credit card in China. Apparently there are some 560 million bankcards, mostly deposit cards, and only 1% as credit cards. Rebecca told me that when she makes purchases on Amazon.com, she has to pay a surcharge for using a China bank credit card. One reason for the lack of cards issued is because there is no unified credit risk appraisal system. Britain’s Standard Chartered Bank has said rules and regulations covering credit cards in China are still too vague for them to consider entering the field. The rumoured reason for the sluggish redress of the credit system is that China is worried about issuing RMB denominated credit cards, as people will be able to take the currency out of the country.
Hong Kong
Saturday 22nd
I flew to Hong Kong for a business trip, leaving the comfort of the zhuang. I first came to Hong Kong in 1992, 160 years after it was ceded to the British, and most years since 1997 when the residents have been fighting a losing battle with their new parents in Beijing. The newspapers are all writing about the disappointment at Tung Chee Hwa and his role as lip servant to Beijing mandarins, the disastrous Harbour fest that cost US$10m, and the pollution coming down from the mainland. In 1841 the British occupied the Chinese island of Hongkong after the Opium wars, and the Treaty of Nanking formally ceded it in 1842. I am convinced that lingering distrust and dislike over the Opium wars and Hong Kong has hampered British business interests in mainland China ever since.

Sunday 23rd
On Sunday I went to Lama Island, and passed by places that I used to know, where friends of mine used to live. I undressed to swim, and nearly blinded myself with the whiteness of my own skin after 4 months in Beijing. I quickly nipped into the South China Sea, safely behind the shark nets, and I thought of all the people that I used to know here, and who have moved on. Hong Kong was always a cosmopolitan but transient place, and today I feel that it is me who has moved on, while also feeling comfortable being in a place that I used to know, or perhaps just more comfortable in myself.

End note:
The excitement of business is pulling me back, as much as I enjoy the seclusion of Dong Wang Zhuang. Tim Charlton urged me to continue studying, and I agree, even though I see an ever-growing number of Chinese speaking English – it is almost a race to learn enough Mandarin before they won’t have the patience for me to stutter along in Putonghua. As I have only two weeks before I go back to Europe, this business trip to HK is perhaps the beginning of the end of my 4-month study break. Reality calls.

My Dad’s parcel arrived in the UK. Less than one week after it was sent. Confidence restored.

Thoughtful days

Beijing Diary May 16, 2004

This week has not felt like one separated by days, but more by a series of decisions that I have to take: To stay on at the BLCU classes, how much Chinese I believe I can learn and what is the right path for me over the coming six months to three years.

To BLCU or not to BLCU, that is the question

The language lessons continued to fail me, or me the lessons, and the remnants of enthusiasm I had were destroyed by a test that Dan Jiang gave to a diminished class on Wednesday. I decided that I am not going to making conversation and reading and writing emails in my impatient timeframe, and while writing characters is nice, it is not a priority. Instead I bought an MP3 based learning kit for RMB128 (US$16). As the audio files contain no English translations as implied on the packaging, the next day I had to purchase the companion book for a further RMB28. This is a crafty rouse that I come across often – sell a customer 85% of what they need the first time, and they have to come back for the next product to make the first one complete.

Deciding not to attend class is at once liberating and alarming. I had relied on BLCU to guide me through my linguistic ignorance to a level of competence, which I am disappointed to believe is no nearer today than 2 months ago. At EASTWEST I have done a fair amount of coaching and training for clients, and this experience as a ‘customer’ has made me acutely aware of my own shortcomings. I am resolved to find ways to experience being a customer on a regular basis, and encouraging the rest of the team to do so too. In this way we might achieve greater objectivity about our own service.

Service matters

Service, and understanding how to offer it is not a strong point at BCLU, but it is a proposition that they will need to offer once the government starts to allow liberalization of the education market. Having walked around the department store in Changchun looking at consumer electronics, I was interested to read research that shows consumer preferences are experiencing a seachange. The Research Institute of Market Economy[1] says that in 2000 83.4% of respondents said that low price was the number one purchase requirement, yet in 2003 85.1% regarded good quality and performance as being more important than price. What amazes me is the pace of this shift away from meeting essential needs to consumption of premium products. I think I am witnessing the establishment of a new discerning middle class in Beijing, as consumers start to become segmented by their earning power in a way that hasn’t been seen before. I say Beijing, and one could probably include other urban areas, but as I saw in Jilin province, for many Chinese price is still the one condition of purchase.

Timing is everything

I was given some advice by a good friend of mine from China, Cherry Cheung, whow told me that I must choose the right time to start a business in China, and not to make the mistake of entering too early. As the infrastructure is developing and the market is becoming more sophisticated, I am asking myself if now the time is right for a professional services company like EASTWEST PR. News that Sino-UK trade is at last taking some of Mr Blair’s time with a visit by Premier Wen Jiabao to London and the signing of US$1.5bn of contracts is welcome. With the Olympics, World Expo and frequent news of trade agreements, my daily thoughts are ‘Is this the right time?’ Too early and the market won’t support my costs, too late and the competition will already be intense. After 9 years of wrestling to keep EASTWEST alive in Singapore, I feel as though taking the decision to open an office here will the biggest one I have made since I left England in 1995.

The task in China may be the same, i.e. find ways to add value for customers, but the challenges feel quite different. Now the challenges are emotional ones, as I have learnt that relationships are the real source of wealth, and moving to China threatens the bonds that I have with my family in Europe and my great friends in Singapore. News that my Dad is having a minor operation has made me feel the anxiety of physical separation, and I question my need for the thrill of always starting risky ventures along way from England. However, when I read the papers of Europe’s sluggish economy and America’s roller coaster ride and the latest revelations of mutual abuse in Iraq, I feel that the next few years of opportunity for me are here in Asia.

News that one couple have moved their 75 year old mother, Mary Eudy, from the USA to an old peoples home in Chengdu at a cost of US$81 per month, casts a new light on the term filial piety. I don’t think my parents would agree to share dorms rooms with three Chinese pensioners, but it is certainly the case that the rewards of living away from my family are counterweighed by my sense of not fulfilling my own filial duty. After nearly a decade, it is perhaps inevitable that I have become slightly ‘Asianised.’

Staying in touch

This is my 13^th Beijing diary, and now after 3 months staying in touch with people seems easier and easier. This week I posted my Dad a copy of ‘The Last Emperor’s diary’ that I bought for him from the Palace in Changchun, along with ‘teach yourself Taiji’ VCD’s. The package cost RMB140 (US$17) including the padded envelope, and should arrive in 7-10 days. This is comparable to Singapore prices and timings; interestingly sending a card to Singapore costs the same amount as to Europe – RMB4.20. Last week I was amazed to receive a post card in my Dongwangzhuang post box from my aunt on holiday in France, not because she never writes, but as the address was naturally written in English. The postmark said it took 8 days to arrive. I wonder how many letters with addresses in Chinese would find a letterbox in the suburbs of London or leafy lanes of Kent. In the careful translation of my aunt’s post card I saw the commitment of China to embracing English and the foreigners that speak it. It is the small strokes that transform the canvas of my experience in Beijing, and trusting that I can send and receive physical things is adding another colour to the palette.

End note:

It’s funny how some days are memorable, and some seem to have just come and gone without instance. I try to make every day count, and in doing so resist the temptation for routine that can make the hours fall into a thoughtless sequence. Ironically in order to learn Chinese, fulfill my duties to family and company, I have to plan and be predictable. This week I lived more in my head, without a sense that I have accomplished a great deal, laying the framework for what I might try to accomplish, and weighing up the scale and price of my ambition.

Currency rates:

RMB8.33:US$1:GBP14.5

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[1] Source; China Daily, Tuesday 11^th May.