Always since ive been in china i have had to coordinate with usa time schedule…..but the past week its become extreme….earlier this week and last i was working until 5 or 6 am….sleeping until 2 or 3pm
Wake up

11pm in china -  usa (ny) 10am  - europe (4pm)

Sleep

3pm china-  usa Nyc 2am   -  europe - 8am

But the other day….i decided to go the extreme….work completely usa schedule…..i was up over 24 hours straight (havent done that since college finals)….ending up almost crashing around 3pm….
Next day woke up (well, technically same day) at 11pm china time (10am in new york) ….and now working until 2pm china time (1am in nyc usa)….
I actually like this schedule…and will even keep it on weekends……i can go to the party and grrab breakfast on the way….

So strange, having 2 new years holiday each year…..since I moved to China in the end of 2007, I have been involved with 3 chinese new years now. There was the year of the RAT (mouse), last year was BULL, and now we’re in the year of the Tiger! Well, last New Years (into the Bull!) I was in Amsterdam for bunch of the Chinese New Years - missed the fireworks!
It is great to see so many people happy and excited about a holiday. And its so damn long! The official holiday this year is today, the 14th. So last night, there were FIREWORKS everywhere! Like the picture here I took, family’s helping their children light up fireworks. This one isn’t so dangerous, but I’m afraid of seeing a kid’s hand blow off! They are setting off fireworks big and small all over the place, from day until about 3am!

Luckily, this year I had a local Shenzhen family invite me over their home for dinner last night. Hot pot was on the menu, which is where you have a boiling pot of soup with some meat balls in the center of the table. Around the pot is raw beef, shrimp, vegetable, chicken - all types of fresh foods - which is used to be put into the “hot pot” and cooked while everyone is sitting around the table. Of course, beer and wine is served, and tea!
The Chinese New Years is all about being with family and friends. Similar to thanksgiving in USA, except its about a week and a half long. It gives time for people to reach their hometowns on the other side of China, and visit all their different family relatives.
And don’t forget the “red bag”, which is given to children you see as you’re visiting friends and family around the holiday.
Today, the actual new years day, you are not allowed to eat meat! Only vegtables. TOmorrow I will visit the local family (Liu) and have some meat! Today, i’ll just hang out at home and get some work done.
Below is a painting I received from a factory owner friend, Mr Sun. Its a tiger, perfect for this coming year!

I am positive about this new year - I think I’ve spent the past years making all kinds of stupid “learning” mistakes, too many deals, not enough focus, not enough experience. This is the year to explode

Google has just released google buzz, a twitter like platform that is integrated into your gmail account - so your “buzz” from friends and followers comes through as a folder in your email box.
This is all cool stuff, but from the matter of the current state of “google leaving china”….this is another step towards leaving.
Its reported the government of iran has blocked not just this google buzz - but all access to gmail!!
As most people are learning, facebook, twitter, youtube and other social media sites are blocked inside of china - google buzz fits the profile of these social media sites, and therefore we speculate will also be banned by the GFW (great firewall) of china - as it allows chinese people to read and access information the chinese government forbids.
But the scary part is - if china blocks the new google buzz - it will also have to block gmail - google’s free email service!!!! This is because google has integrated the 2 systems together as 1 platform.
BLOCK gmail????? Would the chinese government do this? So many chinese people, and businesses, use it every day!
it is obvious google knows how many chinese people are using its gmail email service….and i cant help to think they may be using this gmail / buzz combo to make a difficult choice for the chinese government….
If the chinese government bans gmail, many of its people will be punished and at a competitive disadvantage from foreign companies…..as well as locked out of their email……..or defy chinese law and use tools to get around the chinese firewall.
I feel the younger generation in china is already fed up with the government here blocking facebook, youtube, twitter, and others.
How would the people react if they were banned from gmail?
Seems google was aware of this difficult choice the chinese government had to make, and is again challenging the chinese politicians to rethink how they resteict open access to information to their own people.
Google leaving china, google fighting the chinese government, now it seems google is pitting the chinese government against its own people…
Lets see the outcome….definitely going to be interesting…..

Have to share this greatttttttttt email I received today, makes me sleep well at night. Unreal people out there like this. But I want to share, some of the after effects of firing someone. The guy lost me customers, was lazy, and did his own work during company hours.

Anyway, received the below email (exact copy / paste) from a yahoo email address.

hello sir

THIS IS AN EMAIL TO ASK YOU FOR A FEW DETAILS FOR MY COMPANY AS I HAVE BEEN ASKED TO OBTAIN THEM DUE TO YOUR RECENT DISERGREMENT WITH (_____xxxxx I deleted this name) OVER PAY, I WOULD ADVISE YOU THAT WE WILL BE SEEKING TO TAKE YOU TO COURT OVER THIS MATTER AND NOT JUST THROUGHT LOSS OF MONEY BUT ALSO COMPENSATION AND ALL LEGEL FEE’S FOR THIS MATTER, CAN YOU PLEASE SEND ME YOU CONTACT DETAILS AND IF YOU HAVE A LAWYER THERE DETAILS ALSO SO WE CAN DEAL DIRECT WITH THEM IF YOU LIKE.
I MUST ADVISE THIS IS SEPERAT FROM THE ACTION THAT WILL BE TAKEN BY THE CHINA EMPLOYMENT OFFICE THAT WAS INFORMED ON THURSDAY LAST WEEK AND ALSO THE TAX OFFICE THAT WILL BE INVESTIGATING YOU FOR TAX, I WISH YOU COULD HAVE DELT WITH THIS MATTER IN A DIFFERENT WAY BUT AS YOU SEEM TO THINK THAT MARK IS A PUSH OVER THEN I WILL BE HANDLEING THIS MATTER MYSELF,
I WILL ALSO LIKE TO ADD ON A PERSONAL NOT I KNOW YOUR DETAILS AND WERE YOUR NEW OFFICE IS ALREADY AND ITS ONLY MARK THAT IS KEEPING ME AWAY FROM COMING TO SEE YOU PERSONALY IF YOU GET WHAT I MEAN AND AS FOR YOUR CHINES GIRL THE ONE THAT SORTED OUT THE PAPERS I HOPE SHE ISN’T AFRAID OF THE DARK AND HOPE YOU ARE NOT TOO AS THINGS CAN HAPPEN ON A DARK NIGHT GOING HOME, I HOPE YOU COME TO YOUR SENCES BEFOR ITS TO LATE AS I AM JUST WAITING FOR PEMISION FROM THE LOCALS TO ACT AS MOVING AGAINST YOU WILL BE OK BUT TO MOVE AGAINST ONE OF THE LOCALS IS NOT ALOUD WITHOUT PERMISION FROM THE TRIAD.
HOPE YOU HAVE A NICE DAY
AND THANKS

Imagine this guy? Anyway, should I carry a knife with me when I walk outside? He even threatens my admin - a 24 year old girl! Jeeeeez, you can threaten me, but a young Chinese girl? amazing. Doing some research, I quickly found out who the person was, even though they seemed to try to hide it.

Imagine all the threats I’ve received my whole life. One boyfriend who got upset with me because his girlfriend liked me (he jumped me with 3 of his friends in a park), others about buyouts of products and business. Others about gossip in high school. The list does go on. Maybe I’m a bad guy? Sometimes I just have my breaking point. Nice up to a point, and if someone keeps pushing me, I switch from nice to cold.

I guess its part of running a small business. And being a solo foreigner far away from friends and family doesnt help either….

Again, I am reminded how little I know about the Chinese culture. I try to be observant, ask around what other companies are doing. But really, I barely scraped the surface in trying to understand the culture, the thought process of how it works…

Of course, like everyone in the world - money is important. But in China, money is even more important……

So today is the last day the office is open, and (I believe, anyway) everyone is anxiously awaiting their “red envelopes”, to see how much bonus they will be paid. Of course its not a requirement of any company to pay, but like in USA, its like year end bonus the company pays out to the staff.

I never wanted to be the one responsible for deciding this. I’m just a stupid white guy, how can I affect the culture. How much is normal. how much is spent for family gifts, what is the cost?

Really, I thought (maybe I was crazy), but by this time I would have a “china expert” manager who would advise me how much to pay, what days vacations are, and other staff / HR type things. Seems I have been ineffective in finding this…..

My other weakness, is I want to keep everyone happy. Except myself. My admin, Jojo, keeps reminding me that I need to take care of myself first, and then others. But really, I always thought the opposite….take care of others first and they will take care of you later , when you are in need. I think in China that is looked at as weakness. I need to be more direct, more definitive.

And I don’t want to underpay, for 2 reasons - (1) I want to reward people for working hard, and (2) I don’t want the company to look weak financially.

And its like a 2nd Christmas to me. I am not a fan of holidays….too much distraction and downtime.

I recently ended a contract with a residential apartment, the owner is 27 years old, and he works in a department store. The people tell me he is a “duck boy” married or dating a rich chinese woman. her name is on the ownership documents, but he has a subcontract for it. I have a contract with him. Now i asked him to end the contract, or to keep it until the end of the contract - may. He agrees to try to rent it out and then pay me back if someone else signs. People are viewing it over the past week. thursday night he calls my assistant, jojo, and tells her that we have to move out by saturday and he wants to end the contract - its understood from previous discussions that he will pay back the 2 months deposit. I stay up till 330 am pushing roommates out, moving places here and there - to settle things to cancel the contract the next day.
Next morning we go to cancel the contract….after a long night and early morning move. As we bargain at the table, the owner tells us that he does not agree to refund the deposit. I crack, i explode. I say then you get out of my apartment, i will not pay another penny to you, and i will move out in mid-may. And oh yea….at that time your tv, your stove, you windows, they may be broken….sorry about that, but hey, you dont want to refund my deposit, so i dont care anymore. Then he offers 50% of the deposit (1 month rent) - saying he wants me out now for sure. I call my lawyer. Lawyer says i am lucky he offers the 50%, take it, and get out……but i push further. Threatening to fire my admin (a bluff to try to soften him) then ask for a compensation for our time. And a partial refund on the unused month. Get it up to about 70%…and feel thats the best we can do without calling thugs….
What a freaking waste of 3 hours…….poor girl crying from stress and conflict. We are sure the landlord 2 faced us….just the day before he was visiting us, all smiles and handshakes…just to push us out and try to stiff us out of the 2 months deposit.
We are sure he was pushing us out because he had a new tenant…but what can we do? I guess we should have had a side agreement about this cancellation signed, chopped, and fingerprinted before we moved out. Now that we had moved out, whats the option? Move back in… The owners scheme worked….but we at least got money at all back.
So, this is how ignorant people get rich in china. They buy real estate and cheat people out of deposits
….. Or maybe they are smart and i am stupid

Hey, this is my personal blog, and it seems people here like reading about the real life story of my experiences….so here goes…hope it doesnt seem too much like complaining…

Obviously being a small business owner, boot strapped and always under cash flow pressure - I am faced with daily pressure to deliver. Guess overall I like the pressure, even though I maybe lose my temper and show my emotions. It gets my blood “boiling”, and is much more exciting then sitting behind a corporate desk collecting salary.

But seems too many changes, too much short term pressure….writing it down helps me out:

1) Many customers pushing - with Chinese New Years approaching, everyone wants to get their projects fixed . Need to get things under control, keep people happy, and not go insane in the meantime….
2) Newyorkbarstore transition - still so many issues there….dissolution of NJ company, asset and liability transfers, bank loan refinancing, training people for customer service, IT rebuilds, banking / merchant accounts re-applying. Supply chain re-organization….
3) UK newyorkbarstore collapse - seems the bank, credit card, and paypal are frozen - claims from warehouse, ebay negatives piling up. Just overextended too rapidly into UK / Europe market, and with the financial crisis, buyers slowed and bills didnt….
4) China address change, phone number transfer - moving out of Hai Wang, Tiley will be the corporate address. Have to move apartments, shifting things, things breaking in the move…phone can’t be transferred, people calling saying the number doesn’t work, etc etc…aiya.
5) Closing 98products (China bar products), Huizhou warehouse ending - seems its not as bad as UK, but I learned I sell best in the US market….so I’m closing the warehouse in Huizhou factory and shipping all the goods to California, USA warehouse for US market sales
6) Warehouse changes - More supply chain issues as per the above….but customs clearance, new contracts, splitting shipments, trucking, logistics,
7) Employee disputes - as part of the reorganization, I’m moving to have more freelancer and part time workers. Have some in USA, some in China, Singapore, Philippines, Europe. So sadly, while there are new faces, some old faces have to leave. some handle it differently then others, some are threatening to sue me, take me to the labor bureau, report me for tax evasion, blah blah. Lets see…..
Business partner / Alliances changing - similar to #7 above, I am cooperating with new people, and discontinuing with others….of course, I am still emotional, mix business and personal friends, and it just hurts me. I am learning better to separate business and friends - but its a learning curve and a process

But just  writing it down has helped me feel a bit better…….

Is it good to be passionate and emotional in the workplace? Many may say passion is ok, but emotion may be an issue. But how to separate them?

Looking at one’s own personal pro and con - I am sure my passion and emotion gets the best of me. I have to be more level headed. I have to separate friends and business.

Watching a bunch of DVDs last night, one was called “taken” - its a great movie, I would definitely recommend watching it.

The basis of the movie is a retired secret agent is extra-paranoid about his daughter going on a trip to Europe. Everyone thinks he’s over-reacting, but actually she gets kidnapped SAME DAY she arrives in France.

anyway, so he goes to France and talks to some of his old colleagues there. They help him, to a point, but actually they are in on the crime (indirectly)….. so he has to make things personal, attacking their wives and using that to get information.

Then when he finds the area his daughter is held captive, he asks for her back. The “bad guys” say its not possible, until he shoots up the place. the mob-boss begs for his life to the father, saying - you have to understand, “it was not personal, it was business”….

The father doesn’t think so, and executes him coldly on the elevator floor.

If that a mix of personal and business?

Sure, its a movie. And extreme…..But there are other cases, weekends seeing staff, do you talk about work? Do you forget work and just be friends? Seeing your friends you are buying from, or selling to, at a party - how not to talk about business?

Especially with the explosion of social media in today’s internet environment. We see the facebook profiles of our friends. they are talking business. at the same time they are talking a bout getting drunk at a house party.

Then, when you have a dispute in business- do you delete them from your “social friends” profile? So strange.

I just keep going on, but would like some ideas here. Also, today is the first day I integrated my blog into my facebook account - hope to get some more activity / readers.

Am I going to be caught in the middle of an internet war? In a way, i feel a bit strange, as i’m an american in china with google seeming to fight with the chinese government. and its seeming to become more policital then anything…..usa internet companies are siding with google / us government, and chinese internet companies are siding with chinese government / china culture.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Alibaba-says-Yahoo-reckless-apf-1224635903.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=4&asset=&ccode=

Alibaba says Yahoo ‘reckless’ on Google stance

China e-commerce giant Alibaba calls shareholder ‘reckless’ for support of Google

BEIJING (AP) — China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba turned on major shareholder Yahoo Inc. on Saturday, calling the American company’s support of Google in its standoff with China “reckless.”

Google has promised to stop censoring its search results in China, threatening to pull out of the country altogether if it can’t operate an unfiltered search engine. Yahoo has said it was “aligned” with Google’s position, though it’s not clear what that means.

“Alibaba Group has communicated to Yahoo! that Yahoo’s statement that it is ‘aligned’ with the position Google took last week was reckless given the lack of facts in evidence,” Alibaba spokesman John Spelich said Saturday. “Alibaba doesn’t share this view.”

Yahoo closed its own offices in China several years ago when it sold much of its business there to the Alibaba Group. Yahoo retains a 39 percent stake in Alibaba that represents one of Yahoo’s most valuable assets.

I hope I don’t get in the middle, sure i’m a small business owner in china. I love my staff, my team, what I have here so far. Took a lot of dedication and persistence.

China is a great market, a place of the future. I cannot leave that now. i will not turn my back on what we have here. There will be an answer.

Just wondering…what does this all mean…..its bringing some strange tension in the air. google china internet how will it all add up.

seems like I have to do it now…..i’m sure that the chinese government will retaliate and start blocking google services. already they have blocked youtube, blogger, and some others for over a year….but imagine google gmail, google english search.

too much risk for me to sit and wait….i need to at least develop a plan B.

talking to my friend Dustin down in Phuket, Thailand - he’s already in the internet world and wants to cooperate. Been already in contact with some other internet and ecommerce companies there.

I’m not gonna just bail on my China office / staff like Google seems to be doing (reports they gave a few months severance package already), I trust they will work well like they are doing….I have already re-organized the company here and seems they are working indepently now. I plan to visit regularly….Thailand isn’t so far.

maybe this is just a wake up call for me, i can’t be so settled down in China. I need to explore more, see more, develop international relations.

Maybe Ill come back, i am going to try to keep some operations here, sourcing some products, maintaining some projects. I care about my team and won’t let them down.

Just can’t sleep these days…and it came so suddenly…only started hearing reports 3 or 4 days ago about this baidu / google / china government showdown….