TAP: The Sweets

I must confess that I have never liked traditional Chinese desserts.  Where is the chocolate?
While americanized chinese restaurants usually distribute oranges and fortune cookies (a US invention) at the end of your greasy meal, the traditional chinese desserts are in the form of a hot pudding or hot sweet soup.  I tend to think of [...]

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Why do Chinese save? (Or, why don’t Americans save)

I came across this post by Michael Pettis on his analysis on why he thinks Chinese saves much more than the US.   There are multiple reasons listed, most of which relates to policies and how Chinese do not have a safety net, how the credit system is not in place yet. 
I think the real question [...]

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Running in circles

The Amazing Race is my favorite reality TV show.  The previous couple of seasons weren’t as interesting… esp. when they did the US special and the family special, but this season is coming back in full force.  I love watching the contestants scramble to perform ridiculous tasks in foreign countries! 
Yesterday’s espisode was based on Beijing.  [...]

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Regional superiorities

I recently discovered Jenny Zhu’s blog which I find very interesting.  Jenny is the face/voice of Chinesepod, the language 2.0 company.  I was reading her post on “Language Snobs and Regional Superiority” and thought it brought up a few interesting observations.
Beijing and Shanghai are two of the proudest cities in China.  It is not unlike other [...]

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China’s New Money

What would you do with a Billion USD in China?   I suppose it is not much different from what one does with a Billion dollar in the US – making the next 10 Billions I suppose…
There are many things fascinating about China today, one of which is the incredible speed in which individuals accumulate wealth.  [...]

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Beijing Impressions – March 09

My impression of Beijing changes every time I visit.   Compared to my last trip in Sept 08 (right after the Olympics), I noticed the following changes, both big and small.  Of course, the entire world has also shifted quite a bit over the past 6 months or so.

Traffic is a bit worse than during the [...]

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Book Review: Factory Girls (first half)

I am half-way through Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China, a new book by Leslie Chang.  Leslie was a Beijing correspondent for the WSJ.   It came recommended by a colleague who told me that this book made him view China differently than before – not only in regards to factory workers, [...]

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Horse Racing making a Comeback

This Saturday, the first horse racing match (the first legal one anyways) was hosted in Wuhan as a test for the revival of horse gambling in China since 1949.  Growing up in Hong Kong, horse gambling has always been a large part of life – we had 2 and sometimes 3 matches per week.  The [...]

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Li Ning and the Olympics

I first came across this topic while reading the China Law Blog, which I respect greatly.   Here’s Businessweek’s version titled: Li Ning Pulls off Olympic-sized Marketing Ambush.
My first reaction to this was… are you serious?!  First, let me just say that I grew up watching Li Ning performing at the Olympics.  If you ask me [...]

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Customer Service

Customer service is certainly not one of China’s strong points.  I have a new view on service, however, after a few trips to Beijing.  If you define customer service as a proactive behavior, then China scores terribly.  If you define customer serice by what you can get done, it’s actually not bad at all.  You [...]

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