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Michael_tongzhi
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Name: Michael
Country: China
Gender: Male
Interests: God (is good all the time - there are no "buts"), Nana, Studying (yes, I am a dork - unashamedly so), Networking, Research, Reading, Karaoke, Running, Cooking
Expertise: Technology and economic development, Sinology, Korean Studies, International Development - Languages (Mandarin, Guipu, Japanese) and research!
Occupation: Researcher/instructor/author
Industry: Policy and Development Researc
Message: message me
MSN: guiyang_laoshi@hotmail.com
Member Since:
8/29/2003
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| It is so peculiar that I haven't thought until now about coming back onto Xanga. Naturally the line fell silent in China in March 2007 because the Great Firewall of China began to block blog hosting sites including Xanga. I am back in the US but never thought about getting online with the old Xanga and reactivating it. We will see what comes....
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| NOTE: Do not read too much into this. I am well aware that practices like this happen everywhere in the world including in the US of A but this is the first time I have seen it up close, personal and blatant.
I heard last summer while watching the China-less world cup (nonetheless the 世界杯 approached a national obsession here in China) that China can't get in because its national football program is so riddled with corruption that the players can't really be taught how to compete? What sort of corruption...think the 1919 World Series in the US. Gambling on football is a major industry here in China and games are routinely fixed for gambling purposes. Hence the players never really get to try.
What brought this about given that the Olympics are still two years off and the next World Cup isn't until 2010 (sniff sniff)? At the office today I heard that one of our rising stars had gone to one of the occassional national English competitions in Beijing and won first place. I was elated of course since the boy is a little bit of a language prodigy (6 years old and speaks English better than most students 10 years older than him) and since he is from our school.
The way this competition works is that there are two competition branches at the national level - one where contestants are scored purely on their accent and fluency and a second where they are scored on the overall presentation including use of diction, body language, blocking and gestures. The boy, being the little actor that he is opted for the all-around catagory. He scored the highest in the competition and therefore rightfully was the national champion.
Then something happened. Many contestants who had KNOWINGLY AND WILLINGLY selected the purely speaking based branch became incensed when they realized that their scores (which weren't winning ones) were still higher than our little champion's - although the scoring system and category were different. Some parents protested and through shady dealings (the word is money exchanged hands) they got their children's scores moved to the other catagory bumping off our champion and letting students WHO DID NOT EVEN COMPETE IN THE SAME CATEGORY OR WERE JUDGED BY THE SAME STANDARDS win.
You have got to be kidding me! Part of the explanation as passed around the office was that a little bit of Beijing snobbery played a role. Being from Guizhou, our champion and the rest of the Guizhou competitors were looked down upon by their big city rivals. There is a strong sense of superiority among Beijingers and to see a little boy from a backward interior province beat the tar out of them was more than most could take. As a result they whined and moaned (and passed around a little cash) to fix the competition so such an upstart couldn't win.
Needless to say the boy's family and everyone at our office was incensed. It is practices like this (among other things - see my research) where money can control fair competition (especially when combined with the superiority complex urbanites and East Coast folks have over their rustic interior countrymen) that deeply hurts China and keeps it from realizing its potential. I love China but this is infuriating. Not to say that such things haven't, don't happen nor won't happen in the US. I know things like this happen all the time but this struck close to home.
Ok, I'm done now...
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| I had my first research interview...man my head hurts. I have run my translator at full speed but nothing had prepared me for today. At least I was cheered by the thought that two years hence I will be able to understand every word of interviews like that and be actually able to make smart comments rather than stare inanely back at my question sheet looking for one that hasn't yet (I think) been addressed. Unfortunately, I could tell my subject realized there were some communication failures since sometimes he would begin his answer with, "As I already said" (D'OH!!)
Now I have to translate the whole interview...man that is going to hurt...
Nonetheless I can say that at least here in Guizhou there seems to be some semblance of entrepreneurial spirt going on. Although there is definately some infighting and wasting of resources among different branches of the government and different programs (which has led to some problems where certain projects get infrastructure investment but no development, etc - details to be published circa 2009). My subject also went into some detail about the imperitive need in China for more innovation in research. In his own words: "Without innovation, China's enterprises have no future." That cheered me up.
As for a bit of investment advice, I would say that for foreigners looking to put money into China, the western provinces would be a good bet. Although this region has a LONG way to go, the government emphasis and the desire of the people to stop being the forgotten cousins of rich easterners bodes well for future development.
If you want to sink money into precision instruments and machine control, look to the enterprise park south of Guiyang - although for at least the next decade the products here will only be competitive in China.
If you want to invest in the aerospace industry, this area has always been a good bet.
Fortunately for entrepreneurs out here, the distance and difficulty in transport has ironically made it easier to develop a truly innovative business. Unlike on the coasts where access to world markets means any tin-pot MBA can start a factory cranking out OEM products for someone else, businessmen here have to really bring something to the table - like a new idea (imagine that). Higher transport costs are also likely (in my opinion) to force enterprises here to increase the value added on-sight and the amount of self-owned IPR. This will enable them to keep a high profit margin in the face of higher costs.
Man, I love this place!
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| This is the way all students from Georgia Tech think, regardless of their major:
In doing independent research overseas I have noticed that before the
research interviews begin there is a whole lot of time with not too terribly
much to fill it. As a result, I have noticed a new relationship among
variables:
As time (T) goes to infinity, Productivity (P) approaches
zero. Stress (S) remains constant although guilt (G) undergoes linear growth.
Now, I need to figure out how money (M) plays into this
formula.
Cheers!
PS: I think that we will also find the inverse is
true after my first research trip to Beijing next week:
If time (T) is
bounded, Productivity (P) also approaches zero BUT stress (S) goes to infinity
and hair loss (H) accelerates! Fortunately guilt (G) decreases but it approaches a limit above zero meaning pangs remain.
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| Having spent the Chinese New Year back in Zunyi, I am in a bit of a
jovial mood. To that end I spent the better part of the last two hours
reading humorous weblogs discussing the ups and downs of life in China.
I was particularly find of the "You know you have lived in China too
long when" series.
To that end, here is my take on "You know you have lived in Southwestern China for a LONG time when"
1)
You stop being upset (or thinking they are crazy) when parents get mad
at you for failing to teach their four year old to speak fluent English
after 6 weeks of classes.
2) You see any price more than 10 RMB and are shocked and appalled
3) Food without chilies looks strange
4) Beer that isn't slightly sour and warm seems like a bourgeois conspiracy
5) You feel dirty if you don't wash your feet before bed
6) You think you need to wear four layers of clothes and sweat profusely at midday just to prevent Gan Mao
7) You hear someone cough and immediately assume they are Gan Mao Le
8) You send SMS's in Chinese constantly
9) You eat at Pizza Hut and find yourself asking for crushed Guizhou peppers to give it some flavor
10) You understand that raw meat can keep for three days on the counter
11) You can't get full without eating cabbage
12) You crack with your teeth and eat sunflower seeds compulsively
13) You understand that so long as your wash you face and feet, you only need to shower once per week
14) Bar soap is an all-purpose tool - good for bathing, washing socks and underwear and cleaning bathroom pans
15) So is toilet paper
16) You relish the end of a banquet meal at a nice restaurant because you can take home the free tissue packets
17) You curse your facial and leg hair because it makes you stand out
18) You watch the CCTV Chinese New Year Gala on TV and actually get many of the jokes
19) You actually enjoyed watching the CCTV Chinese New Year Gala
20) You point and stare at other foreigners
21) People stop being shocked when you speak Chinese
22) People stop asking you for free English lessons
23) You understand that the flushing mechanism on toilets is just for show, the buckets are for that purpose
24) You no longer look twice when people smoke in the hospital
25) You understand that the Chinese New Year holiday really lasts from about January 10th to April 10th
26) You make it your life's ambition to explain that America isn't a country - the USA is a country, America is a continent
27) You understand that well oiled food (and eggs) keep indefinately in the kitchen
28) You wonder why western shot glasses are so big
29) You begin to relish the "Get the foreigner drunk" game because now you can turn it around
30)
You understand that noodles are a breakfast food, hot pot is for lunch
and dinner and fried, chilli sauce octopus on a stick makes a fine
midnight snack
31) You believe that hoching and spitting really is essential to respiratory health
32) You begin to understand that China's culture is so deep, you need another lifetime to fully get it!
Cheers and Happy New Year! | | |
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