| 24 |
Killed 6 Policemen and Became Hero I was also aware of both incidents, and I saw many discussions on those two events on the bbs. It also reminds me of the "The People's Republic of Capitalism" documentary by Ted Koppel, which is shown in Discovery Channel here last week. I think in last 30 years China (economy and society) has been through the industralization, which it took US 100 years (from 1850/60 to 1950/60). All kinds of problems arise: urbanization, environment, huge gap between super rich/powerful and the poor, materialism,... I think the goverment took the notice, thus emphasize "a harmenious society". But it's going to be hard, the rich and the powerful will do everything to get more from the pie. Although the pie is getting bigger, the ordinary people is getting a smaller piece. |
| 23 |
Stock Market Big Drop Jianshuo, I think the economy rule still applies here: there is a bubble, and there is a bubble bust :-) Seriously, I felt the Shanghai composite index and some stocks are at attractive level for long term (patient) investors. By "long term" I mean a year or more. I understand for some people a week is long term... |
| 22 |
Gas Price and Plastic Bags Jianshuo, I agree with you on the effect of gas price. People will adjust to the reality and pay the going price after this initial price hike. Keep in mind the gas price in China is still cheap compared to the rest of world. Here in midwest US the #87 regular unleaded cost $4.00 a gallon, or $1.00 (7 Yuan) a liter. In Europe the price is much higher. I think the Chinese goverment did the right thing here. Let the market decide. After couple more price hike, people will change their behavior. More public transportation, less pollution. From my own experience, I do much less leisure driving these days compared to 10 years ago when the gas is 80 cents a gallon. |
| 21 |
Hangzhou Bay Bridge - Just a Bridge Jianshuo, I think this bridge is more strategic to Ningbo (Zhejiang) than to Shanghai, because Ningbo is trying to steal more port/warehousing business from Shanghai. This bridge cut transportation time and fuel cost in a meaningful way for customers using Ningbo port. From Engineering point of view, I think this is still significant. I remember before this bridge, the bridges in Keywest (Florida, the scene of movie True Lies) are the longest sea span bridges. Although I have not driven on that either. |
| 20 |
I Felt Afraid of Public Opinions Now Jianshuo, I wrote some comments this morning, but it did not show. I appreciate your independent thinking, which is always a good thing and soley lacking during this crisis. Incidently I also wrote my 2 cents at my blog. Companies donate different amount because of the difference on their culture, management judgement, and ownership structure. I can understand that, and I think the one important thing, is each company should give what they feel comfortable (money, material, resource) back to the community. Because without the community and consumers, they won't make money at all. Tolerance and appreciation of others thinking in Chinese society is still precious from time to time, so don't feel discouraged. Keep up your good work. |
| 19 |
How We Can Help? Jianshuo, You said what's in in my mind: "There are many things in the long run that we can help. Just keep the helping spirit going, and help in longer terms." I remember Warren Buffett said "philanthropy is always needed" when he gave fortune (stocks) away to Gates foundation. I hope someday we can similar foundations like that in China, and help the people in need, from education to healthcare... By the way, Kudos to the Chinese goverment swift response and openness of the media coverage. Besides the devastation of the natural disaster, it reminds me western part of China is still very much under-developed, while we saw enough booming of east coast in media recently. |
| 18 |
Earthquake is Much More Terrible than I Thought Yes, very sad indeed. When I listened to (NPR reporter) Melissa Block reporting the school collapse near Chengdu, and the emotion of their parents, I was almost in tears (while driving). This is one of the most emotional story I heard from NPR. I think right now, the priority has to be rescuing the people under rubble, and cure the wounded. But after I stablize the situation, we need to reflect and investigate more. Are the school buildings built to the standards at the time? Have people cut corners when building the school buildings? I think we should also help those lost loved ones in this earthquake. And in a large scale, eliminate the povery (through education and economy development) in western part of China. |
| 17 |
How Many Mobiles do You Have? I have two. One in US, one in Shanghai :-) |
| 16 |
More Accidents in 2008 It does not appear to be terrism to me. But we should all be vigilant, and everyone should do his/her job, e.g., the railway worker and railcar driver should be alert, bus driver and maintenace worker should check stuff more throughly, the goverment reminds people on the media (not to fear, but to be alert)...I remember Roosevelt once said "we have nothing to fear but fear itself". So far I think Chinese goverment handles things well. |
| 15 |
Train Collision in Shandong I remember a lot talk about the Chinese economy runs like a fast train, and it can not stop, and it has potential to run out of control. The train speed has been raised tremendously in last 15 to 20 years. I remember when I went to school from Ningbo to Shanghai in early 1990s, it took more than 8 hours for the "super fast" (te kuai) train. The potential risk of faster speed is also enormous, so the key is to improve the speed while control the risk. A remote anaology is the rapid developing/changing western financial market, who would like a portion of the US home mortgage (sub-prime loans) will spill over to the whole world in a year? At least Green Span did not think about it couple years ago. |
| 14 |
Friends Started to Boycott French Products My 3 cents on this (add to my previous 2 cents)... http://www.stlplace.com/2008/04/22/instead-of-boycott/ |
| 13 |
Friends Started to Boycott French Products Two points: 1) I think France is always the maverick in the west. Remember France is one of the first countries which established diplomatic relation with P.R.China, their president was Charles_de_Gaulle at the time. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_de_Gaulle#Recognition_of_the_People.27s_Republic_of_China In recent years France (along with Germany) is very outspoken against the Iraq war. So I would think it's just their (some what naive) indepedent spirits got them into the Paris torch relay mess. Unfortunately they are not the wrong side of the matter this time. 2) Trade and Boycott. I also thought about the boycott immediately after reading the Paris torch incident news. But after more careful consideration, I think boycott is mostly a symbolic gesture, not a viable solution. Chinese have said boycotting Japanese products for 10-20 years, but I saw the Japanese cars (Toyota, Honda) are ever more popular in China. This is because most consumers and business are very rational in terms of "get the most bang from the buck", or "get their money worth" when they buy stuff. That being said, I think western political leaders and foreign consumer brands should walk a very fine line here: they really should not piss off the Chinese people and consumers. The market is too important to ignore. |
| 12 |
More Discussion on Tibet Jianshuo, I agree with you regarding the incidents on Paris and London. I think the local authority should do a better job to protect the torch carriers. It appears the Chinese in America are really organizing voluntarily in SF. Yesterday I even read that people offered air ticket re-inbursement for rally trip to SFO. The torch will be shown in SF this afternoon. I sincerely hope and believe things will turn out to be fine because both the efforts of authority and volunteers. The big question is the media coverage of this Tibet things since March 14. The traditional media, both China and western, seems are both biased. On the other hand, new media (web, youtube) is much more refreshing, not always true, but definitely more authetic. I think deep in the hearts of some western people (neo-conservative?), they are not happy to see the economy growth and stablity in China in recent years. In the past they played the communism (socialism) fear, that did not work because China is essentially a market economy now. Now they are using the Tibet and human rights issue, which is pretty lame these days. Because it's not an human rights issue, it's mostly an economy issue, I mean the economy disparity of local Tibetans, and Han/Hui Chinese. This can not be solved over-night. But with the new railway, the education and the pro-economy development policy, the gap will be narrowed. So I am hopeful. Just I believe most people are good people, in this world. There are always some bad elements in the society, and sometimes they could have a lot influence, but at the end of the day, the good will prevail. |
| 11 |
My Friend Alexandra's Book: The China Price Haven't read the book, but I have heard lots of debates on this China US trade (mostly negative comments), such as this one (quoted from above) "essential reading for anyone concerned about how dangerous pet food and clothing manufactured in China make it into American stores". This is very much one-sided and biased, in my opinion. Being a Chinese who have studied and worked (still live) in the US in the past 10 years, I have seen all the stuff made in China, and I believe I have some authority on this matter. Whether one wants to admit or not, China's cheap (but quality) exports helped the US inflation in control in last decade. From the stuffs in Wal-Mart or iPod, it helped the squezzed American middle class have some money left over for the starbucks coffee or their kids Nintendo DS. It also helped Steve Jobs and his troops cash in handsomely from the record corporate profit. Meanwhile, as I understand the workers in China iPod factory did not get paid much, and their working conditions are not that great either (but they still do better than not working). Much of the profit goes to factory owners. Use my own example, I bought this decent floor lamp for $16 at Target recently: http://www.target.com/5-Head-Floor-Lamp-Blue/dp/B000WUXQAY/sr=1-12/qid=1207062432/ref=sr_1_12/602-6924716-8167013?ie=UTF8&index=target&rh=k%3Afloor%20lamp&page=1 Yeah, it is not perfect, and requires assembly, but hey it's just $16, or 102 Yuan. I doubt I can buy that quality lamp at 102 Yuan in Shanghai though. So, what's my point? While there are some incidents in the Chinese exports to the west, we should ackowledge trade in large extent benifit both sides. Probablly more benifit goes to the western receipients (consumers, corporations CEOs and shareholders) than the migrant workers in China. After all, most of those workers are just trying to make the ends meet... |
| 10 |
My Friend Alexandra's Book: The China Price Haven't read the book, but I have heard lots of debates on this China trade (mostly negative comments), such as this one (quoted from above) "essential reading for anyone concerned about how dangerous pet food and clothing manufactured in China make it into American stores". This is very much one-sided and biased, in my opinion. Being a Chinese who have studied and worked (still live) in the US in the past 10 years, I have seen all the stuff made in China, and I believe I have some authority on this matter. Whether one wants to admit or not, China's cheap (but quality) exports helped the US inflation in control in last decade. From the stuffs in Wal-Mart or iPod, it helped the squezzed middle class have some money left over for the starbucks coffee or their kids Nintendo DS. It also helped Steve Jobs and his troop cash in handsomely from the record corporate profit. Meanwhile, as I understand the workers in China did not get paid much, and their working conditions are not that great either (but they still do better than not working). Much of the profit goes to factory owners. Use my own example yesterday, I bought this decent floor lamp for $16 at Target: http://www.target.com/5-Head-Floor-Lamp-Blue/dp/B000WUXQAY/sr=1-12/qid=1207062432/ref=sr_1_12/602-6924716-8167013?ie=UTF8&index=target&rh=k%3Afloor%20lamp&page=1 Yeah, it is not perfect, and requires assembly, but hey it's just $16, or 102 Yuan. I doubt I can buy that quality lamp at 102 Yuan in Shanghai though. So, what's my point? While there are some incidents in the Chinese exports to the west, we should ackowledge trade in large extent benifit both sides. Probablly more benifit to the western receipients (consumers, corporations CEOs and shareholders) than the migrant workers in China. |
| 9 |
Some Interesting Random News Regarding the Shanghai code name for AMD chip. It just shows how much the world has been changed. I could not imagine a US company would think "Shanghai is a cool name" back 10 years ago. At that time, most US media reports about China are negative and biased (some are still biased today). But nowadays CNBC (the business channel in US) mentions Shanghai Composite Index (Shanghai Stock Market index) quite often. Some people talked about "China is going to beat US", while others crying "the toys made in China poisoned our kids", "they take our jobs away"... We indeed live in very interesting times. Especially people in Shanghai... |
| 8 |
Are American Economically Family-Independent This touchs 3 important topics in our society: education, health care and retirement. I guess one topic would merits one book :-) Having grown up in China and lived in the US for last 10 years, I have seen both sides of the things: China and US; good or bad. These problems are especially challenging for big countries like China and US, mainly because of the size. I don't hear much negative comments about Singapore's social security (insurance). I think one principle lies beneath the problems is: how best to re-distribute the wealth generated by individuals to provide human's basic needs to live (food, healthcare) and to be a productive citizen (education). There are many flaws and much unfairness in the US system. Unfortunately, from my observation China's healthcare system is moving into things like US, which made me feel very sad. |
| 7 |
What is Knock Knock? Jianshuo, It's a common western joke. I remember in the "Catch me if you can" movie Tom Hanks twisted this joke a bit. Basically here "knock knock" means somebody knocks on the door. I remember my co-worker says "knock knock" when visiting my cubicle (trying to get my attention). |
| 6 |
Why Things in China is Cheap? Jianshuo, It appears to me China's low price exports to the west is slowing down a bit lately. I can think of a few reasons as to why: 1) The labor: you are right China has a large supply of migrant workers. Now the "post 80s" generation is entering the workforce. Compared to their parents or big brothers/sisisters generation, their work ethic is not as good. This is confirmed by the stories "the plants can not find quality workers in Pearl river delta" from time to time. 2) Environment: Chinese goverment realized current model of economy development, I mean "exchange environment for cheap exports" is not sustainable, and not good development. 3) Politics: cheap exports and especially the recent "tainted toy products" are causing back lashes in the west. One example is the Chinese shoes were burned in Spain couple years ago, because the Wenzhou people drove the local people out of business. There are lots of touch talk about "China cheaper exports" in the US presidential elections these days, too. China is trying to build a harmonious society internally. In my mind, China wants and needs to build a harmonious relations with the world, while continuing the economy development. |
| 5 |
Went to Children's Hospital - Refugee Camp Jianshuo, I can understand your frustration about the long wait. But on a plus side, I think it's easier for patient to see a doctor in China. Here in the states I guess in your son's case you will have to go to emergency room, which means a long wait line, and the cost is high too (although usually paid by insurance). Major |
| 4 |
Business is Really Business Jianshuo, By reading your blog, I can feel you are not typical business person I saw in China. While I don't fully understand your obstacles in doing business or management, nor do I have any real world experience, I believe you can do well by following your heart. We need all kinds of business in China, the most important of all, is be honest to customers, and create value for them. I think good things will follow after that. |
| 3 |
Real Estate Price Keeps Crazy Jianshuo, the world is not crazy, Shanghai is :-) |
| 2 |
China's Social Resources Jianshuo, Just be curious. What vaccination did you get for your son? Is the service free of charge? |
| 1 |
Chinese Stock Market is More Crazy Couple things: 1) The Chinese stock index (Shanghai Composite) is not a very accurate indicator of what's going on in the market. The index is heavily weighted on ICBC, BOC and other bank stocks. Those bank stocks have big market cap or the float is not necessarily big (e.g., ICBC, BOC). In other words, people can buy or sell those stocks to manipulate the index. 2) the Bubble: the bubble is there. You know it, I know it, the grandma sits at the stock exchange knows it. But bubble will usually last longer than people thought. Some examples: the stock bubble in 1990s in the US, the housing bubble from 2000 to 2005 in the US... |