Two things will drive me crazy watching the Olympics this year:

1) The worldwide Media is going to paint a picture of an ugly China.  Every injustice and social issue that china has will be spotlighted one by one as if each one was the beginning of the end of the world.  (I am not saying that the problems are real.)  Sensationalistic news reporting will be at it’s best.  I am going to kick the next person I hear call China, “Red” China in the shins, hard.

2) Domestic media will paint a picture of China that is perfect.  Every single injustice and social issue that does exist and plague the Chinese people will be swept under a humongous Olympic-sized rug.  Thousands of Chinese with smiling faces and full stomachs will sing a thousand praises to communism, Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping and the great Motherland.

I don’t blame China for their biased media and I don’t blame the national media (NBC) for wanting to give their audience a good show.  I just know I am going to wrythe and squirm every time I see a blatently exaggerated or half-truth reported to the world as reality.  The world is ignorant and will eat it up.

BEIJING (AP) - In a matter of days, hundreds of thousands of visitors from more than 100 countries will flood into China’s capital, where non-Chinese faces are still a rarity in some neighborhoods.

The Beijing Olympics will be the largest gathering of foreigners in China in recent history - the biggest foreign influx since the Mongol invasion - and a social experiment of sorts for a country that is overwhelmingly monochromatic.

Having been to China a few times and living in Taiwan for a couple years, I can relate to the “white foreigner in China” reaction from many Chinese who have not had the opportunity to get up close-and-personal with foreigners.  Although in big cities like Beijing and Shanghai where there are literally millions of foreigners, there will not be much “surprise” for most Chinese.  Plus, most tourists, even the most daring don’t linger far from the “tourist friendly” areas of any part of China.

This will however be a very interesting social experiment, as the AP aticle linked to below states.  Foreigners, especially Europeans and Americans are used to being able to do whatever they want when they want, and you can’t so that in China.  Traffic is a good example.  In the U.S., when an idiot, or an airhead wanders into the street into oncoming traffic, cars stop.  Red lights, stop signs, these things are followed for the most part.  They hardly mean anything in China.  Stepping out into traffic in China WILL get you to a hospital quickly.  Traffic is only a part of it, an example of the differences between East and West.  There are much more important and serious things that can get an ignorant Westerner in trouble.

Not to be a downer, most of the interaction should be nothing more than a lot of fun.  I wish I could be there to take it all in.

Source: Beijing Readies for Influx of Foreign Visitors, AP

People will always seek after their own best interest.  I love to see developing countries succeed and grow.  As I see China grow economically at a frenetic pace, I cheer them on from the side-lines.  In my own experiences, the act of being a cheerleader sometimes blurs my vision.  I am usually quick to jump to the defense of the Chinese government and their un-American way of doing some things.  I usually prescribe to the two steps forward, one step back philosophy of progress.  When people ask me what I think about all of the injustices of China’s social restrictions and lack of personal freedom, I sometimes turn a blind-eye to individual rights and focus only on the good of the country as a whole.  I believe in a balance between the two.  (With a little more weight leaning towards individual freedoms.)  This brings-up the main question from the article I found in the Jakarta Post today.

“Independence is a psychological issue. Liberty is a spiritual issue. It is the freedom to evolve without any intervention from anybody.”

“The urban Chinese in the mainland of China today are more prosperous than ever before. But are they free to evolve psychologically and spiritually? They are confronted with the state ideology of communism as the sole yardstick.”

Yes, the people of China are far better-off than they were 20 years ago.  However, I would also say the people of China could be much better-off if their government worried about them, and not JUST their GDP.

How free does wearing Nike, driving Mercedes and playing golf make you if you have to trade religion, freedom of expression and a say in governement to get it?  Governement wants you to think that psychological independance can be had without “actual” independance, but I am not so sure.  I know a lot of educated people in China that, at least on the outside, seem to be okay with giving-up certain freedoms for economic growth and prosperity.  But the more we talk about the loss of those freedoms, the more they seem to talk themselves out of the propaganda ingrained responses and share their real feelings.  I can only imagine what the Chinese people who are currently along for the ride (as long as the economy is scorching, you can have our freedoms!) will say and do when China runs into it’s next inevitable mini-slump or mini recession.

Indonesia’s independence: An unfinished business

A strange phenomenon is happening in China dealing with travel and foreign visitors.  The Chinese government has literally started denying travel visas.  Business, tourist, student and work visas all alike.  (Although mainly business visitors.)  I do not really know what to think of this, and I think most of the foreign business population does not really seem to know either.  Call me naive, but I thought China was pretty high on rich, westerners coming to their country to invest, spend, invest and spend some more.  Is China really worried about us entering China legally and then not leaving?  Now I realize that the Olympics and China’s 19,887 Olympic fears has them in a tizzy these days, but still seems strange.  China during the Olympics is going to be nuts!

here are some articles I have run by on the subject:

Business Visas Restricted to Shanghai During Olympics

Olympic Paranoia clutches China

Immigration rules restrict business opportunities

I was reading-up on some of my favorite China blogs and came across a post that asks a great big question about China.  Is Bribery necessary in China?  Here is the source: The Rise of The Dragon: Is Bribery Really Necessary?

So back to the question.  I think corruption is a terrible thing, but having dabbled in international business (who am I kidding, US too) I would say that it is very real.  I hate to say necessary, but yeah, In China it is.  Foreign firms can not own land in China, so if you own a factory their you HAVE taken part in China’s exciting world of corruption.  In order to get a permit to build, you need government permission.  To get permission, on some level someone was bribed or “greased” somehow.  It is literally impossible, and incredibly nieve to think other wise.  My info comes from a few friends and other third party sources, so I may be wrong, but I doubt it.  There are so many levels of beuracracy in China, to think that you can avoid the built-in corruption is again, nieve.

But isn’t bribery illegal?  Yes.  And didn’t they execute the health minister a couple years ago for accepting bribes?  Yes.  Good show huh.  China is good at that.  There are a lot of illegal things in China that you would think their GDP depends on.  Prostitution, child labor (at least us American’s ignorant definition of it,) and environmental pollution just to name a couple.  You see these everyday.  In fact, unless you hide in a fort made of blankets in your hotel room with the phone off the hook and the blinds closed, you can hardly avoid the above three.  Bribery is not quite that bad, but you get my point.

The Travel Channel is the coolest.  Bizzare Foods is awesome with Andrew Zimmerman, but this week has been a lot of fun.  Why?  It is China Week!  it is interesting to see just how interested the world is getting towards China.  It is 12:40 a.m. and I have to go to work tomorrow, and I feel terrible, but this show is fascinating.

The Travel Channel is making everything seem so crazy and mystic, but really, the more I think about it, it really IS crazy and mystic.  I mean that in a good way.  I think that is why I am so fascinated in China, it’s history, people and FOOD.  It is so different than what I grew-up knowing as “normal.”  I am from Coos Bay, OR in case you were wondering.  I would give 197 Australian dollars for some xiao long bao (dragon balls?) right now!

Do Your Homework

By

Aaron Wong, CEO

AQI (Arrow Quality International)

Are you going to buy a house after the very first visit with no questions asked? Are you going to buy a car after only one test drive from the very first dealer you met? In the business world, there is a term called “due diligence”, which means to carefully investigate a business. Usual due diligence tasks may include finding out the financial history, past experience, company organization, and legal state of the company. You typically will not be able to find all of this information from your very first contact with a factory. It will take multiple contacts and a certain amount of time to complete proper due diligence. Factories are naturally skeptical of someone trying to find out detailed information about them.

There are many good factories in China; however, there are also many bad factories. With the advent of the internet, it is much easier for anyone to go global. What you must keep in mind is that this same technology also makes it easier for scams. You have got to also be very skeptical of factories you are in contact with. It will definitely be worth your time to do your due diligence with each factory to eliminate the factories that do not meet your needs, lack the experience, and are scams.

Some common questions to ask the factories you are interested in working with can include:

* Company. How long have they been doing business? How many employees

are working for them? What is the name, position title, email, and phone number of your factory contact?
* Supplier’s Supplier. Who supplies the materials used to make your products to the factory you are working with? You need to find out as much about your factory’s suppliers as you would about your factory. Mattel knew just about everything there is to know about their factory, but knew very little about their factory’s supplier.

* Work Experience. What type of products do they produce? What is the percentage breakdown of each product produced? What projects have they worked on in the past related to your project? (They may not drop names of specific companies. This is typical for privacy purposes.)
* Quality Control. What is there typical quality control procedure? How many times is quality control conducted during the

production process?
* Warranty Policy. What is their warranty policy for defective items? For how long is this warranty effective?
* Payment Policy. What is the down payment percentage and how is it to be paid? How and when is the remaining amount to be paid?

When you don’t care anymore you have lost
When I was in China a month and a half ago I experienced something truly amazing. It was Sunday afternoon and my friend Brent and I were looking for a leisurely activity to pass time and experience a little China. We were at The Peoples Square Park taking in the whole experience when we happened upon a strange sight. We saw a white lady surrounded by 8-10 Chinese people talking. They were literally surrounding her listening to her talk.

As we were discussing how bizarre that scene was we realized that the exact same scenario was being played out a dozen more times all around us. As we were watching the surrounding spectacle, sure enough, within 30 seconds there were at least a dozen or more Chinese folks surrounding Brent and I. Now these were not street beggars, in fact they were all well dressed professionals and students. We quickly discovered that we had happened upon the weekly Sunday afternoon phenomenon called “English Corner.” At first I thought that these people were simply there to learn English, but as our conversations turned to politics, morals, movies and family I realized that these people were hungry for knowledge and life.

These people were brave enough to approach perfect strangers in the park just to get a glimpse of whatever foreign country that person was from. A country they would most likely never see in their life time. (I wish they could!)

These people cared. They thirsted for something more. No matter what their life’s circumstances served-up, I am confident that these people were happy. In my mind, they have won.

I wonder if they paint their planes with lead-paint? Ok, I am just kidding. This has been coming for a while but is still exciting. (At least I think so.) Large aircraft manufacturing is the top of the food chain when it comes to manufacturing sophistication. There are very few countries that have that capability let alone companies. From plastic pirate eye-patches to jumbo jets is not just a large step forward it is a Gulliver sized step.

It does help that they have over 7 billion USD in initial capital. Heck, I could build an airplane with 7 billion dollars. Not that any one or anything would ever want to fly in it

Get the entire article at the link below here or below:

Source: forbes.com

Get Down And Dirty

By

Aaron Wong, CEO

AQI (Arrow Quality International)

Do you even know what you are trying to make? If not, you better know before you go! You’ve got to be as detailed as possible in the type of product you are trying to make. If you have drawings or illustrations, make sure you also have the measurements, colors, and material for every part of your product.

It is difficult for the manufacturer to produce the product you want if there are holes in your design. There will always be questions the factory will have, but eliminate as many as you can before you begin. In this way, your product will be produced faster and better.

To help you become more specific with what you want, answer the following questions:

* What is the size of each part of your product? Remember to include the smallest pieces of your product and your logo.
* What material is used to make each part? Know exactly the type of material you want to use. The type of material you use many times will determine the quality of the product you get.
* What are the specific colors of your product and logo? Don’t say red, get specific. There are many different shades of red. Find the pantone and CMYK number for your color of choice. You can find these numbers online with the matching colors.
* What changes do you want to make to your sample or designs? There may be parts of your sample you want to make changes to, especially if you bought your sample product from a competitor. Know exactly what design or functional changes you want to make to it before you begin.
* How much do you want to order and what are your price points?