Sightseeing in Sichuan

Sichuan Province has a number of incredible sites...

A beautiful ceiling design in the library of a large Bhudist temple in Chengdu.

The steps leading to one of the large Buddhas at Leshan.

A thousand hands of Buddha, at Leshan

One of many gorgeous scenes we passed racing down Mt. Emei Shan.

Gastronomic Research in Chengdu

When in Rome...



Frog and a small river fish in hot pot. (David, Shusaku, and I converge on Chengdu.)

Merry Christmas!

Yes, Christmas. With Santa. And the jingles. In China. Still going strong after 12/25.

Chongqing - Old meets new

It's really fascinating to see the remains of an older system inside the new, modern Chongqing. Walking around today, we passed by the hip Jiefangbei and happened across a couple of small alleys with lots of small stalls selling to locals. On each side, though, are large skyscrapers.



Some people may now go to modern supermarkets, but there's still the older wet market - each stall is a different vendor.



And once you've made a purchase and need to get it back to your freshly constructed house or office in this hilly city, why not hire a bangbangjun?



These guys are all around, ready to carry very heavy boxes and other objects up the hills, balancing them on the ends of bamboo sticks.

Chongqing Jinou Science & Technology Development Co.

Our first day here, we got in contact with Charles Jin, a Chinese entrepreneur who worked for a time in Silicon Valley at Microsoft. He came back to Chongqing to start up his own company, creating Bluetooth devices and solutions. He was kind enough to introduce us to one of his employees, Lizzie Chen (Chen Xing Xing), who took us out for a late lunch to a hot pot restaurant (dude, Chongqing hotpot is very, very spicy - Shusaku was in heaven - I ate... gingerly) , and later showed us around the center of town. We had a great conversation about the investment and development environment of western China, and her experiences in school and at her company.

Here we are in the center of town (Jiefangbei).

Hello from Chongqing, China!

Now that I've had a moment to catch my breath... Hello from China!

I arrived in Shanghai from San Francisco just this past Monday night, met up with Shusaku at a hotel near the airport, then crashed. After only 2 hours of sleep Saturday night, and a fairly sleepless United Airlines flight (predictably uncomfortable), I was dead tired. We then woke up at 5:30am to catch a flight to Chongqing, where we've now been for a day.

Let me relate my impressions so far... China is great! 'much more advanced than I (admittedly) expected. I had frequently heard comparisons made between China and India in the past - how both are the up-and-coming economic and political super-powers in the world, each with a billion+ people moving forward by leaps and bounds.

Well, I went to India last year, and it was interesting to see where it was making progress and where it had a long way to go. I was impressed by the determination of many families to educate their children in the sciences and become successful - they have a number of excellent schools and very bright youth, and the IT sector is booming. On the other hand, India is very, very dirty, and has a fairly underdeveloped infrastructure - and that's what hits you first.

China, though - in my very brief time here so far - gives off a different impression: growth, everywhere. Shanghai's airport is big, clean, and very modern. The short trip I took on the highway from the airport to my hotel was fast, on a modern highway with modern cars, passing by modern billboards advertising modern electronic devices, with nicely manicured shrubs lining the sides of the road. I saw no litter or tobacco juice stains or people urinating nor animals wandering as I saw frequently in India. When our plane landed in Chongqing, everyone pulled out their PDA/cell phones and started chatting and tapping away. When we deplaned, I was also greated by a modern airport and a modern, clean airport shuttle, and decent infrastructure. Of course, I was also greeted by a very thick layer of fog/smog, an unfortunate byproduct of rapid development meeting a large population.

Now, granted, I haven't seen much of China yet, and I'm sure there are areas where it can improve, especially outside of major cities - but props to the government and its people for at least giving a great first impression. (Shusaku pointed out how in some places in the very modern airports, the construction materials and techniques were a little suspect. Kind of like Ikea - looks nice on the outside from a distance, but of questionable quality. I think this provides a useful counterpoint to the above accolades - a healthy sense of skepticism is important.)

MOT China Fellows Program 2005-2006

This year's fellows will focus on two themes:

The Evolution of Innovation in China
Over the past decade, China has come to be known as “the manufacturer to the world” – the de facto source for inexpensive labor. However, the low cost competitive advantage will not remain significant forever, and there are other opportunities that China is poised to provide. Already, a few indigenous core technology companies are popping up amongst the sea of manufacturing and service oriented companies. Is this the start of a trend?

We will explore how China and the US compare in this innovation game. Among the questions we seek to answer:

• How has the US maintained its leading position in creating and successfully launching new technologies, and how can China follow suit?
• What barriers to innovation do Chinese entrepreneurs currently experience, and how do they see those barriers falling?
• Where can foreign investments and MNCs’ ventures into China stimulate the process for mutual benefit?

We will consider management practices, methods in education, and government policies. During our trip to China, we will meet a broad spectrum of leaders involved in this issue, from universities, technology parks, and incubators, to venture capitol firms, large SOEs and MNCs, and government.

The Transformation of the Chinese Consumer
The Chinese consumer now has greater access to a wider range of products than ever before. Both foreign and Chinese companies have realized the importance of segmenting the consumer base beyond those who live in the largest cities. From Chinese manufacturer Haier Group to Nokia, companies are offering an array of products to serve the range of basic to more sophisticated needs of the Chinese people. In addition, it is now common for focus groups and surveys to be widely conducted across cities as well as in rural areas.

We will explore the transformation and evolution of the Chinese consumer’s purchasing behavior and how they are using technology such as Internet research, m-commerce and e-commerce to make purchasing decisions. We will juxtapose how American and Chinese companies research and segment customer markets and suggest ways in which Chinese companies can better understand the Chinese consumer. Ultimately, we believe that MNCs and Chinese companies can increase profitability through better understanding their relationships with consumers