In 2011, I was doing SEO and ecommerce consulting with Five Islands ecommerce center going between Dongguan, Hong Kong, and Shenzhen like a madman. Was doing Shenzhen ecommerce meetups as well, that then lead into developing Shenzhen coworking SZteam…that maybe I went a bit too fast with and had to make a tough decision about SZteam + me …. Luckily I blog (I consider…document) all of this along the way to save my time repeating to others, and those who want to read deeper can read those back articles.

Blogging also helps me learn about myself, get ideas from others, and save myself from repeating my story over and over (those who talk to me see I am constantly referring to blog articles to get the “full story”)….I’ll constantly tell people – I blogged about this, and if you want to know the full story check ____ month archive….

I have no regrets, and who knows which of my previous “adventures” got further ahead, and which projects set me back. I think we all need to appreciate every day we are here on this earth and try our best.

About HiWTO Chinese Foreign Trade Federation

I have blogged about this group a few times this past year – HiWTO means “hello World Trade Organization”, and when they asked me to market it to the west…I knew we had to change the name, for the Chinese language website, it will remain hiwto.com, but in English, we will call it HeroMeetsHero.com.

We’re working on the english translation of the group, Foreign Trade Federation Annual Meeting we had the overview roughly translated as below:

About Hero Meets Hero

Foreign Trade Federation is an association registered in Hong Kong and Mainland China，English Abbreviation：FTF
FTF was called Roundtable Meeting for leaders of foreign trade E-commerce, which has become the largest and most famous industry organization in foreign trade E-commerce industry.

The key tenet of FTF is to integrate industry chain of foreign trade E-commerce, including manufacturers, traders, foreign trade E-commerce platforms, service providers, VCs, governmental organizations, etc., which provides a platform of communication, cooperation, development and multi-win for the industry.

Since Oct. 2010, in every two month, FTF holds one meeting, inviting about 30 senior leaders from foreign trade B2C industry. Until now it has successfully held five sessions. For further communication, on the weekend of every two weeks, FTF also holds small meeting– “Business Life” for many times in different cities.

FTF QQ group has now attracted nearly 300 senior managers of foreign trade E-commerce enterprise in the world, and they are having active discussion in the group everyday.

I have been attending their last few meetings:

• HiWTO’s 6th meeting, (Yearly meeting where I spoke about English social media – over 300 people attended, all high level executives doing English B2C ecommerce export from China to the world.
• HiWTO’s 5th meeting, in Chengdu, China that was sponsored by Milanoo. It was not just business, we got chances to travel, I got to see PANDAS for the first time.
• HiWTO’s 4th meeting, Google China was the main sponsor, here in Shenzhen ecommerce back in May, 2011

I am really excited, I think this is a good fit for my skills, event planning, blogging, building buzz, ecommerce, networking.

They also want to interview their members, and I will do the English versions of their interviews. We already visited one, Interviewing Ebay China #1 Seller in 2009, Lu Haichuan …. and they can help me get the podcast going

This will be exciting, I am sure Dan and others who like this blog will really enjoy the new China adventures and business insight.

I want to do something different…. and introducing chinese ecommerce businesses to the “foreign” world is an interesting task.

Cheers to a good 2012!

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I got invited to attend this “invite-only” 50 seat meetup from my attendance at the last club ecomerce meetup in May.

This event will be in the city of Chengdu, at the Milanoo ecommerce company location. The idea of this Chinese ecommerce group, hiwto.cn is to visit different cities and see the business and ecommerce environment.

And of course like any event around the world, but especially in China, building relationships, trust, and “facetime” with industry colleagues is extremely valuable.

The main event will be tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon, but we will have a lot of team building events, and the flight is planned for Sunday afternoon. The group has synchronized the flights, so I am flying there and back with a group of Shenzhen ecommerce enthusiasts.

Will post more after the event, this is a rather short post from the airport, to announce my trip there and that I will still be traveling a decent amount of time. Connecting….

Reflection is really how I learn and grow. I had given a chance to do business in China again, taking that opportunity and choosing that over life in Philippines or USA (those who remember, I almost stayed in New York City, but took the flight back to Hong Kong).

No one said it would be easy, no one could predict the life we live. But I am a bit surprised how the last 6 months went down…

• Hyper networking, connecting everyone I could find to everyone else I could find, programmers to domainers, Hong Kong group buying to Shenzhen group buying. Options to get consulting jobs in Beijing.
• Extreme travel (or as Marshall reminds me, Commuting!) between Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Dongguan. So exhausting!
• Recruiting and training a marketing team in Dongguan which was a lot harder than I initially thought.
• Getting involved in the Hong Kong startup community, really loving boot hk coworking. Trying to get an Aberdeen coworking office cooperation setup.
• Building up ecommerce fulfillment in China and getting clients setup, even on weekends
• Speaking in China internet expos and getting on Chinese CCTV!

The most important part is making friends and connections, exploring the world, and most importantly…..learning about myself! It is the core I try to tell all my friends and staff….we have to learn what we love to do, we have to learn what we hate to do….and then we have to make sure we’re doing what we are passionate about.

The rest will follow.

So now. passing the 6 month mark in the year 2011, I am going to continue to stay on ecommerce, but focus in Shenzhen in ecommerce community development – coworking, startup events, ecommerce meetups. Hopefully make a intern program after seeing the cool guys at tropical MBA. Networking with coworking in Shanghai, a group forming in Thailand, and of course my buddies in Hong Kong at boot hk and the new HK commons.

Ok, back to packing, 3:30am here already!

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Vlad had this hilarious phone, by Lenovo, he bought in China wal mart – and he described a bunch of the features….let me explain the different features to highlight, and reflect on these points and explain how this is directly made for the China market.

• Dual SIM card – this is not so special, but can represent the Hong Kong / Taiwan / South China businessman. Its really annoying to keep flipping SIM cards when you cross borders…and you miss calls when one SIM card is out of its phone, etc.
• Local Voicemail – VERY CHINA focused Set Phone Calls that you miss go to a the phone’s locally stored SD card!
• Blacklist SMS – for those annoying advertisements you get on your phone, especially in China…we get bombarded with advertisements. Maybe also get bombarded with suppliers or contacts we do not want to talk to. Perfect for the busy, traveling businessman in China.
• Blacklist Phone Calls – Have a pesky supplier calling? Or salesman? Maybe bill collector? Or an overseas customer who wants his money back? Simply add their number to this blacklist, conveniently on the main menu.
• Various Background Noises – This is hilarious, you can set the phone to answer with the phone’s pre-recorded backgroun noise – such as MTR (metro, subway), restaurant, busy office, shopping mall. Why would you need this? hmmm, there are a few reasons, but if you are talking to someone who you told you were going to a restaurant, but you’re actually relaxing at home, or out with other people, you can say you are busy eating dinner. This can actually be pretty useful for getting out of phone calls.
• Your personal robot companion – You have the option of having an animated cute robot bounce around the screen as you type. Totally useless, but maybe the cartoon keeps you cheered up throughout your stressful business day.
• Pretty animated Snowflake background – Just use the stylus pointer to enable the background to be a nice scenic background of big snowflakes dropping sprinkling down the side of the screen….how cute, haha.

This article may make more sense for those of us doing business in China….but I can see how handy this phone can be!

We also discussed how this is the perfect example that China …is China….and you need to make localized products specially tailored for this unique, and wild, market.

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That is an important step for my own mind…balance, and business goals. But it took me a long time to accept. Since coming to China at the end of 2007, I was never sure how long I would stay. When you book plane tickets, in USA at least, its so much cheaper to book a round trip ticket then a one way. So when I booked my flight, I booked a return ticket the furthest length away, something like 6 months out for a summer trip back to USA in 2008.

I remember thinking to myself….”well I’ll get a one year contract in Shenzhen, try it out, worst case is I’ll leave after 6 months in the summer of 2008 and lose my deposit”. Time went by, made good friends, got some traction, and saw the American economy collapse in the fall of 2008.

The future of business is in Asia, specifically China. I cannot let it go. And I have to commit to this idea, both for my own stability and the stability of my friends and business associates.

But its such an internal debate for me…I am an internet marketer. I love the idea of openess and free sharing of information. This, by definition, is not allowed by the Chinese government. I am not a political guy at all, I barely even follow the news, I just want to be able to access information and have a fast internet connection.

But I love the CHALLENGE, the fight. That if it was easy, everyone would be doing it. I have seen so many of my foreign friends come and go in China…..like way more than those who came to NYC from other parts of America….

If you can make in New York, you can make it anywhere, heck, thats nothing – if you can make it in China you can make it anywhere.

After over three years here I am a totally different person, learned so much about culture and business. In today’s post, I put a photo of myself I just took about 5 minutes ago from outside the five islands China fulfillment center….listening to the rough truck horns blowing, the chaos outside the gates. Chaos is what I am attracted to and I see myself in chaos the rest of my life. Because I love the hustle, the adventure….the struggle. Its about knowing yourself, knowing your role.

Still the hardest part to accept is that I have my family and hometown friends back in America. My friend Larry was saying we need to invent the teleportation device. Thats for sure…..once we can pop in and out of places all over the world, imagine how fluid information and life will be. But I’m almost certain certain governments will ban teleporting, as they cannot control people flow and information….further hindering the advancement of technology and global knowledge.

And the hustle goes on, but by my blogging this today, and committing my mind to it. I have actually bought some chinese learning mobile app programs, and am not going to say by being surrounded by the languages won’t by itself let me have it sink it…I need to commit to formal learning and master the Chinese language!

The story continues….I think if anything else, like my dad says, I need to write a book about all of this.

Incoming search terms:

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The trip is about 7 hours by car, and I have 3 companions with me from the five islands ecommerce center, as there is also a Tao Bao (chinese ebay) trade fair at the same expo that they are attending.

I do miss road trips…..as some said to me as I was planning for this roadtrip that the 7 hours is nothing for an American…..Americans drive everywhere all the time, and the country is so big, right?

That is something I have to pretty much agree with, what are the choices in USA? I have explained my horrible bus ride in USA late last year…..America just doesn’t have good infrastructure for transportation. Buses are horrible, and scary in America. You can fly, but then you still normally have to drive quite a ways once you arrive in the airport as most cities are so spread out. So then you’ll have to rent a car, or pay an expensive taxi.

I lived in San Diego for quite a few months with my good friend Piotr in summer 2007, and I tried so hard to not rent a car, but it really set me back…..whereas in China, I can get around pretty much no problem without a car in most major cities…so many taxi, trains, subways, and BUS network is extensive.

Its been such a long time for a roadtrip, may as well try one along the coast in China….the sites are pretty awesome once you get outside of the densely populated cities in China.

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I quickly learned that the factories I was buying from were in Shenzhen, China. And I had contacted some of them before I left, just wasn’t sure how long to stay in Hong Kong and when to take the bus over to Shenzhen.

My friends Cyril and Tom from ATC distribution were Hong Kong born and raised, and I met them during my studies at Stevens Tech. They warned me how dangerous it is to go to Shenzhen….Cyril’s father, Henry, also laughed that a white guy would enter Shenzhen. They have a factory there, so during the next trip over I came along.

During the drive, we would see dogs running around on the street. They would tell me “you know what these dogs are”? I said sure just stray dogs. But it was a joke, saying that when the Shenzhen people get hungry, they will eat the stray dogs. They also told me a story not to go to the bars, or if I do go to the bars, not to leave my drink unattended…..because I will black out and wake up in a bathtub of blood with my kidney’s ripped out (to be sold on the black market). The last story I can remember them telling me was a Hong Kong guy who was traveling in Shenzhen and got really sick, so he had to visit the Shenzhen hospital but died because they mis-diagnosed the medicine or treatment.

Sure, maybe these stories really happened….but even to this day, when I tell Hong Kong people I lived in Shenzhen for 3 years, they are amazed. How can I survive? How is it possible?

So with that background, and only after not even 2 full weeks in Hong Kong, I am having both Shenzhen side and Hong Kong side connections coming to me to connect the other…..

In Hong Kong, I am more approached for finding a factory source in Shenzhen or in China. Sometimes also its an inquiry for a project that is based in Shenzhen, and the Hong Kong person or company doesn’t want to travel “that far” into mainland China – or Shenzhen.

On the Shenzhen side, there are many people who want to learn how to live in Hong Kong. Or how to travel in more. I am having my Dongguan friend come to Hong Kong with me this Thursday to take him shopping and show him around for a day. Many many mainland people wish to get the “freedom” feeling in Hong Kong, and feel more “first world” and that breath of fresh air.

Because I am in the internet industry, and I have been attending the boot hk co working space and I know many people in Shenzhen and in China are interested in networking more with startups, entrepreneurs, investors….we had a successful turnout for the shenzhen ecommerce meetup that has spawned the effort to hold them the first saturday afternoon of each month and built a quick website shenzhen marketing and its getting more and more word of mouth viral. I just love connecting people and networking….monetizing it to make it worthwhile is the hard part….but I have other projects making money so I can “get by” now, and I believe this is a valuable, long term investment to have such a connected, strong network.

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In the past for some reason, my location has always seemed obvious….I was born in Connecticut, USA and always thought NYC was the place for me, so after high school, I went to college right across from Manhattan….and always targeting getting a job there. While working in New York, I saved as much as I could, and considered MBA, franchise, or start my own business….and China business seemed obvious for “hot money” and entrepreneurship, so I worked towards getting into China. I was mainly considering between Shenzhen and Shanghai, choosing Shenzhen because it’s a young city, near to hong kong (for visa border hopping) and high tech. Shanghai seemed more “big business” rather then startup, more expensive, and had to fly out of the country to renew my visa every 30 days (insane). I never considered Beijing because it’s so cold, horrible traffic jams, and it just feels like I am surrounded by government, kind of like Washington DC in America, couldn’t see myself there either.
But then after reducing my china sourcing business (process of finding products in China) in 2009 and focusing on the internet and ecommerce….I started thinking why am I in China? But still not enough reasons to pack up and leave. Then at the beginning of 2010 google left china ….the US dollar fear of mass decline, and just the annoyance of internet censorship by the chinese government (GFW, great firewall). So I really started looking to leave china…..and had some operations startup in Philippines in a small startup office to help with customer support for the ecommerce business of bar products (night call center) and some support for SEO content writing, and accounting and book keeping.

Bouncing back and forth between China and Philippines in first half of 2010….thinking maybe I can still sell in China, and have support team in Philippines…I was waiting to make a big commitment until my USA trip link. I was so close to staying in New York….but decided to calm down a bit, take my return ticket (prepaid) to Asia, and think it through. So that is where I’ve been past couple weeks, and now I am gonna lay it all out for you blog readers.

So these are the options I have been considering

CHINA

Do I remain in china, its hard, I spent 3 years of sweat , tears, and sometimes some blood (from a china hospital visit and a 2nd chinese hospital visit…….) – and most of my full time development in entrepreneurship has been in Shenzhen china (except my san diego, california transition time in summer 2007. ) and there are a decent amount of business people I know here.
let’s look at the pro and cons of China:
Positives – manufacturing base, some web marketing clients, large growing economy hungry for foreign brands, loyal workers that want to return to work with me
Negatives – most of my work now is in English websites, inflation is going crazy – food cost, labor costs, currency is a big risk, GFW

As for each city:

Shenzhen china – I do have a fully operational registered company, assistant helping me while I’m away and when I’m here on a part time basis, a large network of friends, clients, semi-sales channels, and it has gotten pretty comfortable for me here. Yet I still am filtered by the great firewall, making risks high of having more websites and products blocked here, and living costs and labor costs are steadily on the rise here. I don’t have an apartment, subletted my office that then turned out to a full transfer of lease, and do have an office to work from, and renting month to month from Dave Ho at the moment while I think.

Fuzhou Fujian province, china – I have some partner offices here run by doing link trading, proving to me costs can still be low in China. The pro, low costs for living and operations, the city is near markets for product sources. Negative, no one speaks English, seems too far removed from city life…I would probably go crazy if I lived here (but would learn Chinese fast!)

Shanghai – commonly called the new york of china, its home to many international financial and consulting companies…..expensive, but a great base if you want to sell in china, requires a flight to get out of china (while Shenzhen is on hong kong border). I do have a few good contacts there that will support me fully if I base there. Seems like a good base for buying and selling to and from China…..and is tempting to base here to sell services into the growing Chinese market.

Ningbo port city, china – a couple years ago I was close to living here…..its a center of Zhejiang and that is the center of non-electronic manufacturing…but now I don’t see this likely though it is lower cost of living and I have support from some factories

Hong Kong – always really really temping place to settle down….outside of the “political constraints” of china as it’s a special economic zone so no GFW internet censorship….tons of international companies….but again raelly expensive all across the board…but is it in hk dollars so not as much chinese yuan us dollar currency risk. And I have been meeting a lot of great internet companies based there…and its close to Shenzhen when I need to get in. Its also a transportation hub, most of my flights are in and out of this airport. I have compared doing business in Hong Kong from Shenzhen and the main factor holding me back there is cost. SHOULD THAT BE A FACTOR?

Philippines

As a country, its free from chinese government internet filtering….friendly people, lower cost of living and operations, and native English speakers. A breath of fresh air for an American who still hasn’t nearly mastered the Chinese language, and even Chinese complain about the ever changing, ever confusing Chinese laws. Negatvie – VISA for my passport, and work permit seem to be a challenge, and I would probably have to invest in opening a registered company there if I were to remain. Else constantly traveling in and out every 45 days (no walking border to Hong Kong like in Shenzhen) costing me more and more on airfare travel….taht is a negative I have to consider, or find a solution to.

But another main thing is…..you cannot really sell in the Philippines…..its purely a back office…..Whereas currently in China the market is becoming more like a sales center then a back office…so its tempting to sell in China more then ever.

Manila, Philippines – the metropolis of the Philippines, this capital city is where most major foreign corporations are – and currently where my small call center office is. Very densely populated. TRAFFIC sucks, high pollution…not much public transportation. Infrastructure is best in Philippines, electricity is 2nd highest in Asia after Japan, electricity brownouts are fairly common, normally suggested to have a backup generator. And Manila is massive, there are so many districts and zones like Makati (most famous outsourcing center), Quezon City, Eastwood, Tagig, Pasig, etc.

Secluded beach on the Philippines – as an internet dude, this one has always been tempting. I am talking to Marie, but again the risks here are electricity and internet may not be as reliable….harder to find workers than in a city…and those are the 2 main reasons besides the overall pros and cons of Philippines. But life would be much less stressful, and I prefer this over Manila.

Cebu, Philippines – Much lower cost of living than in Manila, but infrastructure is not as developed. A couple hours flight from Manila, and not as big of an airport. Know a few people here with call centers and connections, but not as many as in Manila / Makati.

USA

Ahh, the good ol’ United States of America. Business flows easily there, people do what they say they are going to do, verbally without need of too many contracts. Costs are coming down with the high unemployment, but still overall higher than the rest of the world, unless you go far away from the cities. Most of my income still comes from America, northeast mainly.
New York, NY – still my favorite city in the world. Almost got me to stay there….most of my business relations, clients, friends, university is within a couple hours from here. Again, its mainly high cost of living….and I was fearful of risking having to get a dayjob if I stayed there too long.

Silicon valley, California – an internet entrepreneurs stomping grounds. I have never really been there…..when I drove cross country in 2003 with Scott, we stopped by San Fransisco, but I have not yet really gotten involved with business directly in Silicon Valley. Is this something I am missing out on? Would I find my way better, should I be like the many internet entrepreneurs and make or break myself out there. Would this be easier to get business partners, ideas, contacts, venture capital? Not sure if I am willing to go there at the moment, do have some limited relationships I can work on to better learn about the environment, but the internet bubble is way over now.

Other city in usa – I don’t think I would consider them now….sure I can live in Florida near my family, or in Connecticut with my hometown friends and some customers. But….it is just too quiet and calm for me. I need more insanity. I thrive in chaos. I want to meet new people every day. I don’t want to commute to an office aech day in MY CAR, guzzling gas on a huge highway. I only see New York as a city in USA that you can live without a car, and this is one of my requirements, really. Cars = money pit to me.

I had also considered Thailand…but seems more like a resort or retirement community then a place to do business…..costs are like Philippines, but English isn’t as good…so whats the business sense in that? Maybe if I make a million I can buy a resort there, haha.

So where does this leave me? I think maybe New York needs another year of preparation at least….I want to focus on the internet, English language, targeting USA. Still seems like Philippines, or maybe Hong Kong that make it to the top of the list.

Still tempted with the foreigner’s mousetrap to sell into China…..but I have to learn chinese and invest time and energy where I have not yet doneso in the past 3 years, so why would I start that now? My stills, strengths, and interest still live on the English language and on the internet….that is my VIRTUAL home…now where to find a physical home.

Thoughts?

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But really….it feels good to be back in China, seeing friends and businesses. Shenzhen is a cool city, I do see opportunity here….but really, I just can’t get past this problem of internet censorship.

For those of you who don’t know (seems on twitter people were asking me too) the websites that are blocked in China include:

• Facebook

• Twitter
• Youtube
• Foursquare

And tons others….whatever the Chinese government feels threaten to harm the minds of its Chinese population – essentially those websites they cannot call on the phone and have delete / moderate user content. This is what the GFW is, Great firewall, is. Within internet connections in mainland china, the government forces internet providers to block certain websites.

Its not like people can’t get around it, DUH!!!! ….there are VPNs, and other services…but jeez, its another sloppy (I hate installing all this crap on my PC) workaround. And then when I’m doing online banking…its all crazy because i’m jumping in and out of IP ranges in China, USA, Europe…..seem like some crazy hacker (well, maybe I am, haha). some Chinese people tell me the government doesn’t care about using VPNs, because that is normally for more advanced people anyway, and this blocking / filtering stops the majority of people.

So many of my friends here within the Chinese GFW workaround it. Its sad, and embarrassing to my Chinese friends here, they say at least I can escape it…they are “stuck here” they tell me, being a Chinese citizen. They wish they could turn it off…they don’t want to see people like me leaving the country due to this stupid government filtering.

And then I can’t just jump onto an internet connection at a cafe and use twitter or facebook…I have to get back on my connection on my laptop and do it.

Then there was the news – would google china leave China? I was doing somewhat OK in China before this….but its like a punch in the gut. Google China was one of the last major foreign internet companies in China. Yahoo China is technically Alibaba (share swap), and others don’t have offices with the boundaries of China.

Then it had me thinking, would I follow Google China and leave too? I was thinking maybe Thailand would be the place for me.

Yet I was getting some good movements speaking at Chinese internet events….and sometimes lecturing at the ecommerce university in Shenzhen. Everyone is always so tempted by the huge and growing Chinese market…to sell in China seems so sexy…..but it really does have to be treated completely indepently from English / American business….the way the 2 markets work are so opposite.

So all of 2010 I have been deciding what to do….really if it weren’t for this GFW (great firewall) in China, staying in China would be an easier decision for me. But there is also the political risk between Obama news and currency risk of US dollar dropping against the chinese yuan.

So seems Philippines makes the most sense…and the people there love the internet…I spend a lot of my twitter time chatting to friends in the Philippines….and English language is everwhere there.

Just hard still to giveup China…..I’ll be here at least till the end of November to renew my visa and take care of other business.

Incoming search terms:

• china firewall
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So, some push too hard, they do whatever it takes to make that bit of cash to pay for the train to their hometown. The police and management offices of buildings warn people to take extra care of locking their doors and securing their valuables. I hear stories of people who get their homes robbed these weeks before the new years, desperate thieves trying to make that money to get where they need to go…..

I wish I could pay for everyone to go to see their family and loved ones. I feel I am too kind, too soft.

But, unfortunately for them (and for me) I am not rich. I cannot take care of everyone around me. I first have to earn a strong enough business and cashflow, that I can then budget this “extra” cash to throw around and save others around me.

Its rather sad, do people have to change to survive, to thrive? Can I remain the kind, gentle, take care of everyone person I try to be, or throw it out the window to make it to the next level.

Changes….changes…..how to move forward. New Years do this, milestones in business, in life.

If it how a boss has to be? Separate friends and business. change your “hat” As well as in different cultures. But that means to me, that you’re changing who you are in different places. Do I have to have some sort of split personality? Put on an act. Tell someone, hey, this is business.

Anyway, I wish everyone here in China can go to see their family during this special holiday. I wish I could be someone to help them get there. Maybe not this year, but one year….

here in the capital city of beijing, its up in the northern region of china. somewhat similar to northeastern usa, but i think a bit cooler here then new york city – maybe closer to a boston winter.

but the really noticeable differences is the dry air!! again, i noticed it being here, i become desparate to drink some water – my throat is anxiously awaiting liquid! and then there is the traffic, just the sheer volume of people in this city – subways, roads – all jam packed almost any time of the day or night. To control it, the government has issues license plates that only allow certain cars to be on the road monday, wednesday, friday and the other set on tuesday, thursday, saturday. Still, the roads are just overcrowded, and taking a taxi across town has the majority sitting in traffic.

so what is my plan here in beijing? well, firstly, its been a while since coming to this capital city, and i have made contacts here i really want to see. plus jonny from the bronx, my nyc friend, is ending his mba exchange program semester here in a few weeks – so i can hang out with him and have a couch to stay on too. Plus its my friend Yuki Sun’s birthday this weekend, so have a party with her and some mutual friends.

on the business side, I have arranged some meetings with ecommerce companies, seeing if there are synergies and ways to cooperate with loadpipe and online fulfillment, distribution, and promotion.

also for electrapour and bar products, meeting some marketing people in the bar and nightclub industry, hope to get some more representation up in the north of china.

so, rolling with the punches, exploring, networking, and seeing if i can get some business developments – the whole living my job is the real deal. but while overworked, under pressure, and a tad bit stressed, i enjoy this type of lifestyle more then anything..always thinking business and strategizing.

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• how far is guangzhou from u s

Nanjing city – a few weeks ago, i took a few days to make a first time visit to nanjing, a very old and historical city in china, which at one time was the capital of china. My main purpose there was to attend the SMX (search engine marketing expo), where i was presenting on website analysis and review of user interfaces. I also started announcing my new project, loadpipe.com , that will be an online order fulfillment and distribution platform.
I was able to meet some new faces in the china internet world, and found out how to fix my google adsense verification account problem with my hong kong company (good to have a contact who used to work in google adsense!!)

I also did some touring of the Confucius temple – an amazing part was the sheer size of it. I entered an examination hall, this had halls and halls of individual testing rooms for those who wanted to work under the government and emperor. The test was said to be many days long, and these small rooms only had room for a desk and chair, so test takers actually slept at their desk during the multiple day test. maybe this is a reminder of how hard the chinese student needs to study. many parents take their children to this museum to give them good luck in their studies, and there is a stone to jump over that says you will do good grades on your tests. Also, the fact that they have to sleep in their testing rooms, maybe thats why i notice chinese people are able to sleep in any conditions!!

Also in nanjing saw some nice parks, also have many boating trips, but didnt get a chance to rent a boat.  A pretty cool historic army park too, where I played with tanks, guns, and planes!

Ningbo City – Last week i went to ningbo and other cities in zhejiang province. 2 main purposes, first is i have manufacturing there to check on, discussions for new products to develop. But the 2nd, bigger idea, is the possibility of establishing a distribution point in this province for the loadpipe venture.
Talking business means lots of eating and drinking, while this is the case in most cultures i know, its especially highlighted in china! I remember being in a ningbo nightclub bottoms up multiple BUDWEISER beers (funny to drink american beers in china, but its exotic…)
I was also invited to be a guest teacher at a local village grade school. I thought it would be fun, so what the heck, i agreed. Later the next day, they canceled because the “swine flu” h1n1 outbreak, and the foreigner must have some disease!! Kind of upset me, but hey, their loss…i was gonna do a free class teaching ABC to 13 year old chinese….anyway
Earlier this week i paid a visit to a local Shenzhen university where i cooperate with hiring interns there. I am invited to be a guest speaker there about business in the usa, focusing around ecommerce and internet! Looking forward to that for sure!
Xiamen City – And just this week i was in xiamen city. Here i took tons of photos – they say this is like the san diego of china, and i agree. I had been here once before, but didnt get as much exposure as i did this time. The city skyline is full of LED strips along the buildings, and the island city is bordered by a lake on one side and the ocean on another.
In xiamen i worked out a plan and alliance for loadpipe, where they will assist me with sourcing and logistics while i focus on technology and marketing. Seems like both sides have a lot to offer, and are strong in their abilities, have to draft up some agreements, but i am excited!!

Also did some touring of xiamen, seeing the university, monk temple, and some garden parks. Did a lot of walking!! Later in the evening found the foreign bars such as londonner, jj (texas ya’ll)’ nd me and you 2 bar. Xiamen has a nice, laid back environment, ocean breeze, and internet wi-fi all over….but maybe too slow paced for my hyperactive peronality….but seems ill be coming to xiamen more often.
So that sums up my past few weeks of traveling, been rather intense, now i have my buddy from usa, jon conte, spending a couple weeks in china, his first time here, should be wild for him!

Now, it is easy to joke about a struggling Chinese farmer….they are low educated and will do almost anything to earn money to feed themselves and their families. You will see them on 3 wheel mopeds (motorcycles) carrying tons of recyclable cardboard, plastic, bottles. Also will go into your home to remove old equipment. you can jump on a motorcycle taxi for 3 yuan to get from the bus stop to your final destination. They are the grease in the wheels that make the city go around. And as much as the “upper class” chuckles at them, I think we all respect how hard working they are to make an honest living.

So oftentimes I look at one’s situation and compare it to my own. Should I feel guilty being born in a middle class family in USA? Or should I feel as if it is my right to be born that way, and I deserve it, looking down at those who may have been put in a more difficult situation in life. But if anything, I try to respect every human being and encourage everyone to aspire to be who they want to be.

Then, after I start thinking about how fortunate I am, I think….”what would I do if I were born as a Chinese Farmer“?

d) open a shop – maybe after 15 years of working at a factory, one could open a small convenient store. But they would work long hours, and have their family involved to contribute. The take-home on this would be decent, but not enough to get rich.

Faced with those choices, I am not sure the choice I would make….I never wanted to lead a “common” path, but then again, I am blessed with more options. I think my personality would try to get out of the day-to-day factory life. I would look to find a way out. But not being in that situation, and I am not really exposed to the day to day of it, it is hard for me to realize if there is a “exit”.

Its sad, to think the position in which we are born really sets the path of how we grow up. Yet, I think the US system is better built to reward those who work hard. I think it is harder for the average Chinese citizen to move up the social ladder, whether they work hard or not. But I have a feeling this is changing every day in this quickly growing country called china!

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]]> http://blog.michaelmichelini.com/2009/08/if-i-were-born-a-chinese-farmer.html/feed 10 http://blog.michaelmichelini.com/2009/08/investing-in-china-everyone-talking-about-it.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=investing-in-china-everyone-talking-about-it http://blog.michaelmichelini.com/2009/08/investing-in-china-everyone-talking-about-it.html#comments Wed, 12 Aug 2009 04:12:55 +0000 Michael Michelini http://blog.michaelmichelini.com/?p=886 I’ve been more calls then ever before from friends and business associates back in USA. It must be all over the television more then ever – investing in china! But really, its not at all as easy as anyone can imagine…..

First of all, being a foreigner, who do you trust when you get here? The government isn’t exactly welcoming you with open arms, unless of course, you have millions of us dollars to invest. Then you think, well the domestic market is getting stronger, so why not sell here, there are billions of people, and if only a small percentage.

As I’ve written in other posts….it takes relationships, and time…..to get there.

I have been interviewing a lot these days, and one girl I interviewed today told me, “do you have a company in China?”. She is concerned, because she said many foreigners come to China, and to avoid taxes, they don’t register a company here! HOW CAN YOU DO BUSINESS IN CHINA WITHOUT HAVING A COMPANY IN CHINA? Sure, there are taxes, and filing requirements, but that is the first thing you need to be a legitimate place of business. It builds moral, and builds value. Plus you have a real company name in Chinese to put on your name card. Sounds simple….but yes, takes time and money to setup Its called initial investment, and no easy way around it.

Next is RESPECT for Chinese culture. I have read posts and articles…the China office needs to run independent from the Western office. I came to China to work here directly, and not to have a “central” office to report to. Time differences, and not being on the ground are perfect examples. And I believe a company will fail if they try to enter the Chinese market without having decision makers on the ground making it happen. It also builds credibility to the customers, suppliers, and employees that you can manage independently and quickly…not have to wait for approval from a western office. China wants to be China, not a remote office for a Western company.

Anywa, my two cents. Its almost annoying how many people talk to me about China business, and then don’t want to make the financial and cultural adjustments to fully realize the potential in China.

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