Post-trip Reflection

Final Reflection Post: China MBA Trip

June 2011: Shenzhen, Shanghai, and Beijing

It has been a couple weeks since I got back from China and I am still trying to digest everything that I saw and experienced there. It was a great experience that I will never forget and I will often refer back to in both my professional and personal lives. Professor Carr mentioned that if we were to write a reflection paper three to five years from now, it would probably be a lot more insightful and we would really be able to appreciate everything that we learned there and how it has applied to my life. I agree with him, so these are my first reflective thoughts, with many more to come in the future and perhaps my thoughts will change as time progresses.

The one major thing that I keep thinking about since we left China is the way that they consume their food, especially their meat. Being a agribusiness graduate, this was very interesting to me. They have historically not preserved their meat and not packaged it at all. My favorite comparison is the visits to the wet market and the visit to Sealed Air. The wet market was a glimpse at how food has been historically sold and Sealed Air is part of the future of food in China. I feel that the United States could sell meat to China once their demand grows. The trend for countries is usually that when people make more money, they eat more meat and tend to eat more expensive meats, such as beef, as their income increases as well. Sealed Air and other companies like it are doing the leg work in educating the consumer on the importance of packaging and preserving meat. Other US producers will then be able to enter the market easier.

One “best business practice” that I noticed while in China was how sincere and courteous our hosts were. My favorite visits were Sealed Air, Measurement Specialties, Baidu, and the Hutong. During these visits, and others, our hosts made us seem that we were very important and not just some random visitors. The tradition of giving gifts to everyone is just one part of it; it was obvious that they prepared for us and put together excellent presentations. They also all listened to us, because they genuinely seemed interested in what we had to say and offer to them. This was very refreshing and made the trip a great experience. I feel that a lot of businesses could learn something from these kinds of hosts.

One of the speeches that stands out in my mind is when Emily from the Hutong said that she is addicted to the fast pace and ever-changing environment of an emerging economy like China. She said that when she goes back to North America, buildings are still being built after years in construction, whereas in China a building can go up within the month. When I came back to the US I started looking around and sure enough, what Emily said was right on. It amazing me how efficient the Chinese are when it comes to things like building infrastructure. I acknowledge that a lot of their efficient comes from top-down government and doesn’t need to be approved through a budget and a vote, so they are able to get things done a lot quicker. Perhaps there is a lesson here for developed countries that have a tendency to slow down progress, good and bad, by having so many regulations in place, California especially.

This trip was definitely fast paced and challenging, requiring us to be flexible and resilient. I felt that I did a great job at adapting to the situations and trying to take away something from each experience. I also felt that the fast-pace of the trip was necessary to accomplish everything we did and it actually did not feel overwhelming.

During the trip I was pushed outside my comfort zone many times. The crowds at all the major attractions, subways, and streets were very uncomfortable and I felt that I had my guard up more than usual. However, after I got into the mode of protecting myself and my stuff, I was never scared or felt that I wasn’t safe. I learned that you have to be more aware of what is going on around you but that it is not overwhelming.

Negotiating at the Silk Market and other places was also uncomfortable at times and presented an opportunity for me to do something I had really ever done before. When I went into the situation, I was excited and nervous to start negotiating. Once I did it a few times I created a strategy which helped me to get the price I wanted and build my confidence. Now I feel that when I go into a situation where I have to negotiate I will have some confidence, even though it won’t be the same kind of negotiating as I was doing in China.

The Chinese culture and the American culture have so many differences. Some of the cultural differences that I experienced included the general Chinese demeanor, the way they prepare and eat food and the way that they conduct business. Their food safety standards are way below the regulations in the US. It is surprising that they have not had more food scares and outbreaks of disease. I suppose this is attributed to the fact that right now, they are pretty localized. Localized meaning that their food does not travel far from the place where it is consumed. Countries tend to have a cyclical cycle in which undeveloped countries start as localized then moving to globalized and when they can afford to, they go back to localized. China is in the stage where they are localized and they are moving towards globalized. The US is in the stage where they are globalized and are trending towards localized.

Some of the shocking things to me included their idea of sanitation and lack thereof. Some of the Chinese people do not have a lot of concern about food safety or sanitation of food preparation areas. But when I thought about it longer, it occurred to me that the United States might have been that way many years ago when we were a developing nation. I also saw people peeing in the middle of the streets and babies walking around with a hole in their pants and no diaper, so that they could go to the bathroom at any moment. Again, I will be interested to go back there in a few years to see if this is still the case. I am sure they have already come a long way in the last few years.

The second difference is their demeanor and the way that affects how they do business. The perception is that they are introverted and do not express how they are feeling internally and that business can be hard because of this reason. Westerners assume that people will speak what is on their mind whereas Chinese will not and they will instead internalize their feelings which can cause conflicts in a business setting as well as a personal setting.  My experience in China however, was that the people I met were very outgoing and would say exactly what was on their mind, especially in a small, personal setting. The students I met at English Corner and at the business schools were very outgoing and often talked more than I did. Perhaps my sample size was too small, but my opinion is that the younger generation will be more American in their style on communicating in a personal and business environment. It will be interesting to go back to China in several years to see if they have fewer differences to the American than they do now. I felt as if they are slowly Westernizing and in a few years, the cultural differences will hardly be noticeable.

For me, China means opportunity. 1.3 billion people is a lot of potential customers, if you can create a product that they will all need or want you will be a success. The problem is that the Chinese are still developing. Sometimes it is easy to forget that they are still a developing nation in which most people live on less than $2 per day. The Chinese’s middle class is growing fast however and cities are moving west bringing more and more people out of poverty. Soon, the idea of selling to every Chinese person will be on every entrepreneur’s mind. It is a market that is waiting to be tapped.

What surprised me the most about China was how much I liked it. I was not expecting to feel as comfortable as I did there. Shanghai was my favorite city and I could picture myself living there if I was asked to. I would also like to go back to China to experience some of the other cities in the outer areas of China. I thought it was good that the trip covered the cities that it did because it served as an introduction to China, wetting the appetite to go back and try more (places that is, not food).

There were definitely good and bad parts of the trip, which is expected in any experience where you are pushed outside your comfort zone. The good experiences outweighed the bad and most of the bad was attributed to me getting food poisoning and was not under the control of the trip supervisor or planner. During every learning experience you are going to face adversity and it is really how you handle the situation that affects if you can grow and improve yourself or not. The one thing on the trip that changed who I am is that I was able to handle difficult and uncomfortable situations and still enjoy myself and learn something in the process. The fact that I was able to enjoy myself in that situation lets me know that I will be able to handle more situations like that where I am expected to perform under circumstances that are not familiar to me.

Book Review: Post American World

Post American World

Author: Fareed Zakaria

ISBN: 978-0-393-33480-7

By: Ashley Ogden

Overview

Fareed Zakaria writes in his book, “Post American World” that the world will soon be one “with many powers and one superpower”. In this book, written in 2008 and published in New York by W.W. Norton & Company , the author describes the major “powers” in the world with a background and forecast of what each of their roles has been and will be in the future of this changing World. Zakaria was born and raised in India and moved to the United States of America when he was a teenager where he has lived ever since. Because of his background, he gives a unique perspective on the issue of new and emerging powers in the World, including India. He borrows theories and ideas from other economists as well. Jeffery Sachs is one of the economists quoted in the book and some of Zakaria’s opinions seem like echoes of Sach’s research. However, Zakaria gives a more balanced view of the world situation than some economists, such as Sachs or William Easterly, do. Easterly and Sachs have both written about developing nations and their rise to parity or lack thereof. They have historically had very different opinions on the same issue, Zakaria on the other hand seems to give a balanced view without putting too much of his own bias into the book. In the last chapter, Zakaria gives six pieces of advice which make perfect sense after reading the book. He provides great background information and support for his reasoning.

The Rise of the Rest

Zakaria gives a very insightful description of the relationships between nations and focuses on the relationships that will become the most important in the years to come. The relationships between the Unites States and China and with India are the main focus of the book. African and European countries are also mentioned but at not the same length. He described the “rise of the rest” not as the rise of other countries at the demise of the United States but rather as a growing pie in which more countries will have a bigger share.

Jeffery Sachs argues in his books that what countries need to get out of poverty and into the first world is a big push; a big push of aid, reform, and change. Zakaria discusses this theory at first in the book but then later on, towards the end, Zakaria argues that what countries need to be developed is small incremental changes that come from the bottom-up instead of these massive top-down aid pancakes and reform regulations that have been delivered in the past. In the end of the book Zakaria does suggest some general rules to which the United States should follow in order to continue being the main superpower. These suggestions are not “big pushes” of aid or reform, but rather attitudes to have while making decisions down the road. This is a refreshing take on what the United States should do.

Zakaria also retraces the history and details that attributed each country with its current situation. The obvious factors have to do with political, economic, and military forces. The not-so-obvious to the rise or demise of a country the natural resources available (i.e. location), religious backgrounds or lack thereof, fertility rates and immigration. Zakaria makes the argument that these factors plus others combined make up a large portion of why the United States has been able to be the superpower of the World and why it won’t become another Britain as so many people are worried about.

The relationships that the US makes with these countries now and in the future is very important to the well-being of all nations involved. Arguably the most important of these relationships is the one between the US and China.

This book makes you think of what a “post American” world would look like and be like to live it. This concept is a new one since, as Zakaria points out, most of the world today was created in the Western standard. What we are experiencing now is countries who integrate Western traditions alongside their own traditions. Zakaria explains that people feel more comfortable following and preserving their own heritage and culture instead of just adopting the Western styles of doing things. This includes business. We already know that business is done very differently in different parts of the world. But Zakaria seems to imply that the way things, like business, will be done in the future will continue to become more different instead of less different because people will follow their own guidelines, not America’s.

What does this all mean for a young MBA students like me? It means that we need to have our eyes open; open to differences and open to change. Zakaria writes that while “the world is opening up, America is closing down”. American learns fewer languages than people in other countries and we are less open to differences in traditions, sulfurs, language, etc. If we want to be successful in the modern business world, we need to accept change and different ways of doing business. Instead of thinking that the American way is the only way, we need to look around us and see how things are changing and adapt in a way that puts us at an advantage instead of a disadvantage.

Strengths of the book

This was a great, informative and easy book to read that was packed full of thought-provoking analysis and viewpoints that kept the reader engaged during the entire book. Throughout the book, Zakaria describes historical events that have shaped the current situation for the United States and for other countries. These events, such as 9/11 and the Cold War are widely known so, instead of including every detail of the event, Zakaria brings a new detail of information to the reader that they have likely not heard of before. Personal stories and accounts from heads of state and people personally involved in the decision making are great anecdotes to the overall story and lessons. By adding these little details, the reader is much more interesting in the story than if just the brutal facts of the situation had just been presented. Zakaria is able to make a history book into more of a story this way and keep his audience interested in the book although he is re-hashing events that most of his readers have already heard of before.

Another refreshing thing that Zakaria brings to the table is his interesting comparisons and conclusions he arrives at. Although many people have wrote about the similarities between Britain and the United States, Zakaria raises many differences that seem to be very relevant to the discussion of whether or not the United States will end up like Britain or not.

Weaknesses of the book

Zakaria writes about a very sensitive issue, most sensitive to people who have had their eyes closed and have not noticed the changes happening in the world. However, Zakaria is somewhat indecisive about his solution to dealing with a “post-American” world. He simply states how we got to it and how it might look. At the end of the book, he does have suggestions for America and how we can handle being the superpower among many powers. What was not in the book however was his opinion about what America needs to do to stay competitive. His intention was most likely to guide the thinking of Americans going into this changing world, but I would have liked to see him take a clearer stance on what America should and should not do regarding relationships and polices towards “the rest”

Overall Recommendations

This is a great book that discusses the changes happening in our world today and what the future world, a “post-American” world, might look like. Zakaria is very correct and thorough on his analysis of the different relationships between countries. He does a good job and relating the history to the present and to the future. I think that within his comparisons, he highlights differences and similarities correctly. I agree with his closing suggestions for America. I would recommend this book to anyone. Whether you are interested in foreign politics or not, this book relates to you.

China: Fragile Superpower

Book Review

China Fragile Superpower

“China: Fragile Superpower”, by Susan Shirk is an insider’s look into China. The book’s ISBN number is 978-19-537319-6 for the paperback version. It was published in New York by Oxford University Press. The title of this book is very fitting and describes the country very well. Susan Shirk discussed the internal and external factors that make up China. She goes into detail about China’s insecurities and weaknesses and their relationships with other countries especially Japan, America and Taiwan. She is able to bring a very knowledgeable and fresh perspective to the subject because she has worked closely with some of China’s leaders in the past and knows the ins and outs of what makes China who it is and what makes it tick. Although there is a lot of information packed into this book, it can be a little hard to retain all the facts, figures, and antidotes that Shirk presents.  This book covers a large array of subjects; each one could probably fill a book on its own. This is a great book for anyone that has to deal with China because it gives information about China’s history and their perspective. The intended audience is the American politician or business person, interested in knowing more about China. However this book contains essential information, relevant to all Americans, because of our important relationship with China currently and in the future.

China: Fragile

Shirk describes China as “fragile”, when she does this she is mainly talking about China’s leaders and its government.  Domestic issues, not foreign ones, are the biggest threats to China’s government. China’s leaders are extremely insecure because of the way their government is set up. You would think that since they are not voted in, they would be more secure with their position. However, that is not the case; the leaders are promoted within the party and rely completely on having the right connections and making the right moves. It is very competitive even though it is a one-party rule. The party is even more insecure after the incidents surrounding Tiananmen Square. After this event, the government realized the power of the people. The people have the power to band together and now that they have tasted what freedom of press and freedom of speech is, they want it even more, or at least that is what the government thinks.

Not only are the government leaders insecure about the common people turning on them, they are worried about other government leaders turning on them. It would only take a few people in power to overthrow an official. For this reason, China’s leaders do not always act in the best interest of their country.  A lot of time, their reasoning stems from their concern for themselves and their power. The government is structured in a way that only a few people control the entire country; however, these people have the power to overthrow other leaders if they don’t agree with their policies. The leaders are always under extreme pressure to be regarded as strong. This is one of the reasons why they restrict information on the internet. They don’t want people to see them for who they really are and all the things that they have done in the past (i.e. Tiananmen Square). By restricting access though, they are making it pretty clear that they are trying to hide something from their people.

China: Superpower

Although China is facing many threats at home, they also have a lot of things that has enabled them to become one of the fastest rising superpowers in the history of the World.  Perhaps China’s biggest strength is their military. This is especially obvious when you look at the Tiananmen Square incident. It was only because of their military that the government was able to stop the protests. The military is the government’s “first line of defense”. However, the military also could turn against the leaders, and the leaders are definitely aware of this.  The People Libertarian Government is made up of common people. The soldiers could side with the commoners in the next revolution and if that happened, China’s leaders wouldn’t have a chance to re-gain control. Because of this, the government has done everything in their power to keep the military happy so they stay loyal. The military has a significant budget and that budget has been raised in order for the military to be able to deal with Taiwan. Since the military has gotten an increased budget, other things have gotten shorted; these things include securing clean water sources and other environmental issues that China seems not to be worried about.

Strengths of the book

This is a great book because it gives a kind of “insider’s view” of China. Shirk is able to shine a different light onto the subject of China, internally and externally. I thought the most valuable thing that this book has to offer was the insight into China’s leaders and their insecurities. Most articles and books on China are written by people who have their opinions about China’s leaders but have probably never meet or talked to them personally. Shirk has and she is not afraid to tell all. Most people that have had relationships with China’s leaders are probably not chomping at the bit to reveal all of the state secrets or insecurities. I am glad that Shirk had the guts to do exactly that. She is right in stressing the importance of the China – America relationship; it is one of the most important in the modern world. She gives a lot of advice throughout the book to China and American on how to interact with the other so that we can both benefit from a working relationship between the two powers. I really liked that she gave solutions to the problems and didn’t just simply lay out all of China’s problems without any guidance or hope to resolve them. This is important because as Shirk writes, if these two superpowers cannot get along, war is always lurking and could become a reality if things go badly.

Weaknesses of the book

This is a dense book, dense in the sense that it contains tons of facts and therefore, it was not an easy read. Although this book had a lot of good information, I felt that the way it was delivered was not very effective. The main points kept coming up in every chapter and so they were engrained into the readers. However, all of the little facts were lost in the process. It is hard for the reader to retain so many minute details about so many different events, people, etc. Someone would have to read this book a few times to actually grasp all the information that this book has to offer. Perhaps after visiting China, I will read it again so that I can put some context behind it and therefore be able to better digest all the information Shirk packs into this book. She touches on so many issues related to China and each of those issues comes packed with facts, figures, and dates. Some of these issues, such as China’s relationship with America and China’s relationship with Taiwan, could fill up a whole book on its own and Shirk packs it all into one book. Sure, the reader gets the most “bang for your buck”, but it is a lot of information to wrap your mind around.

I feel like this book has given me more insight and a different perspective on China that will deepen my understanding of China’s worldview; the worldview of China’s leaders and China’s people. Since I will be traveling to China for my first time in a few months, this book gave me some great insight into the Chinese perspective. It helped me to understand some more of China’s history and important events that shapes modern China. Shirk was able to write about China from a unique background which is very informative because of her background in government. The book definitely focused on China from a governmental policy look-out because of Shirks background. This also led to the book being a dense read. People that have a government or policy background would probably enjoy this book more because they can relate to the perspective of the author more than a student for example. Overall this was an important and worthwhile book for a graduate business student, like me, preparing for an international study abroad trip in China.

Postcards from Tomorrow Square

Ashley  Jane  Ogden

December  7^th,  2010

Book  Review:

“Postcards  from  Tomorrow  Square,  Reports  from  China”

James  Fallows  wrote  “Postcards  from  Tomorrow  Square,  Reports  from  China”  between  2006  and  2008.    He  and  his  wife  were  Americans  who  moved  to  China,  where  he  wrote  for  an  American  publication  The  Atlantic  Monthly.    Many  Americans  can  probably  relate  to  his  writing  because  he  confronts  Americans’  view  on  China  and  says  what  is  right  and  wrong  about  our  view  on  China.    He  looks  at  the  whole  picture,  from  the  politics  and  economies,  down  to  the  clothes,  food,  and  personality  of  the  Chinese  culture.    The  main  theme  that  emerges  from  this  book  is  that  China  has  many  different  faces.    There  are  many  aspects  that  make  up  China,  as  a  whole,  that  are  vastly  different  from  each  other.    There  is  every  type  of  person  and  every  type  of  belief  within  China,  good  and  bad.  People  in  China  range  from  rich  to  poor,  from  individualistic  to  collectivistic.  This  complexity  of  the  Chinese  people  and  their  culture  is  what  this  book  tries  to  illustrate.  Each  chapter  of  the  book  focusing  on  one  unique  aspect  that  makes  China  what  it  is. 

Fallow’s  book  is  written  in  a  relaxed  tone  as  if  he  was  having  a  conversation  with  you  personally.  At  the  same  time,  he  is  able  to  pack  a  lot  of  information  and  facts  into  the  text.  For  a  reader  that  is  not  very  familiar  with  China,  this  can  be  overwhelming  at  times,  but  worth  it  on  the  end.  The  information  presented  in  the  book  is  very  interesting  and  relevant  if  you  want  to  get  a  better  understanding  of  the  Chinese  worldview.  The  Chinese  worldview  is  complex,  just  as  any  countries’  is,  so  there  is  no  way  that  you  can  even  get  a  slight  grasp  on  their  entire  worldview.  What  I  got  out  of  this  book  mainly  is  that  the  Chinese  culture  is  diverse;  the  Chinese  culture  is  made  up  of  many  different  types  of  people,  events,  places,  and  beliefs.  The  generalizations  that  Americans  (and  the  World)  have  about  China  are  somewhat  true,  but  there  are  also  many  exceptions  to  the  rule.  What  is  surprising  is  that  there  are  parts  of  the  Chinese  culture  and  China  that  similar  to  the  US,  and  at  the  same  time  there  are  parts  that  will  never  reflect  the  America  culture. 

The  relationship  between  China  and  America  is  one  of  the  most  fascinating  international  relationships  in  the  world  today.  There  are  intertwined  in  more  ways  than  one  and  have  become  dependent  on  each  other  in  some  aspects.  However,  although  they  are  so  closed  connected,  they  each  have  somewhat  misleading  views  and  ideas  about  each  other.  Americans  have  an  idea  about  what  China  is  and  it  is  mostly  wrong.    It  seems  that  the  Chinese  are  more  similar  to  Americans  than  we,  Americans,  would  like  to  admit.    While  reading  “Postcards  from  Tomorrow’s  Square”  by  James  Fallows,  this  fact  became  very  apparent  to  me.  There  are  many  big  differences  between  the  countries  that  were  not  surprising,  but  the  amount  of  similarities  was  the  biggest  surprise  to  me. 

Although  China  is  a  socialist  society,  there  are  many  aspects  of  their  culture  that  reflect  a  democratic  society.  Fallows  states  that  one  day  they  might  become  a  democratic  society,  because  there  are  villages  that  already  follow  democratic  rules.  On  the  other  hand,  at  the  national  level  it  sometimes  seems  as  if  they  will  always  be  a  socialist  country.  Just  as  the  politics  varies  throughout  the  country,  so  do  its  people.  There  are  rich  individuals  in  the  country  that  act  very  much  like  rich  individuals  in  America.  There  is  also  a  group  of  entrepreneurs  and  venture  capitalists  developing  within  the  country,  and  they  even  have  their  own  version  of  Las Vegas.    Throughout  this  book,  the  generalizations  I  had  about  China  got  confirmed  and  proven  wrong  at  the  same  time.  It  was  also  very  surprising  to  learn  that  an  Irish  businessman,  who  lives  in  China  to  do  business,  has  not  tried  to  learn  the  Chinese  language.  Liam  Casey  said  that  people,  who  try  to  do  business  in  a  language  that  is  not  their  first,  will  lose  their  concentration  of  the  deal  at  hand.

One  thing  that  China  is  doing  that  reflects  the  American  culture  is  their  reality  TV.  “Win in China!”  is  a  Chinese  reality  TV  show  similar  to  America’s  “The  Apprentice”.  It demonstrates the individualistic attitude that some Chinese people have.  Participants  on  the  show  compete  for  money  from  venture  capitalists  to  use  in  their  entrepreneurial  endeavors.  I  thought  that  this  was  surprising  considering  the  Chinese  Socialists  roots.  Reality  TV  shows  like  this  one,  are  promoting  and  helping  entrepreneurs  and  encouraging  young  people  to  travel  abroad  in  order  to  gain  international  experience.

At  least  one  entrepreneur  in  China  is  already  succeeding,  proving  that  the  Chinese  government  and  society  will  allow  China  to  become  a  more  individualistic  society.  I  am  talking  about  the  man  that  built  Broad  Town.  Complete  with  its  own  Egyptian-style  pyramid  and  mini  Palace  of  Versailles,  it  reminds  me  of  Silicon  Valley’s  Google  campus.  The  employees  never  leave  because  everything  that  they  could  ever  need  is  provided  onsite.  This  is  a  great  demonstration  of  not  only  the  individualistic  attitude  of  some  Chinese  (mainly  the  rich  people)  but  also  the  collectivistic  attitudes  of  most  of  the  Chinese  workers.    The  people  that  work  at  Broad  Town  have  tremendous  company  loyalty.  Their  work  is  their  life;  they  almost  never  leave  the  “campus”  or  town.  For  them,  it  is  not  slave  labor  but  instead  it  is  a  chance  to  get  out  of  country  poverty.  Many  of  these  laborers  leave  their  families  to  work  at  companies  like  Broad  Town.  In  America  I  think  it  would  be  harder  to  find  women  that  would  willingly  leave  their  children  for  a  higher  wage.  I  believe  this  is  one  reason  why  Chinese  factories  are  so  successful:  they  have  very  loyal  employees.  In  America,  young  people  usually  move  jobs  many  times  before  maybe  settling  at  a  company  that  they  like.  This  is  not  the  case  in  China,  as  least  the  way  this  book  describes  the  situation,  people  work  at  a  company  for  their  entire  life  and  their  work  is  their  life. 

 

One  of  the  most  interesting  chapters  in  “Postcards”  described  Macau,  China’s  own  Las  Vegas.  The  Chinese  people  naturally  have  a  personality  that  makes  them  more  susceptible  to  the  allure  of  gambling.    This  was  surprising  to  me  because,  the  assumption  is  that  Chinese  people  like  to  save  money  and  bargain  on  prices.  The idea that they have a very profitable town based on gambling income, contradicts my pre-existing  assumptions.  It  was very  surprising  to learn that  Macau  is  as  profitable  as  it  is.  What  was  not  surprising  was  the  amount  of  money  laundering  and  scandal  that  goes  on  in  Macau.  The  stereotypes  of  any  developing  country  are  that  they  are  corrupt,  unjust  systems.  You  can  tell  that  China  is  trying  to  get  away  from  that  however,  because  of  the  new  regulations  that  they  are  imposing  on  VIP  rooms  to  get  the  scandal  out  of  China.   

The  $1.4  Trillion  Question  was  informative  on  the  Chinese  policy  about  the  American  dollar.  It  was  interesting  to  know  that  every  US  dollar  exchanged  in  China  is  bought  by  the  Chinese  government  and  goes  to  the  government’s  savings  fund.  This  is  how  they  were  able  to  collect  the  amount  of  American  money  that  they  hold.  America  and  China  are  on  opposites  sides  of  the  saving’s  spectrum.  China  saves  about  50%  of  what  it  makes  and  American  does  not  save  anything.  Perhaps,  these  two  countries  can  learn  something  from  each  other  and  meet  somewhere  in  the  middle.  Maybe  that  is  where  these  two  countries  will  eventually  find  equilibrium,  hopefully.  The  current  arrangement  has  been  convenient  for  both  sides,  but  will  not  last  for  long. 

                             

At  the  end  of  his  book,  Fallows  makes  an  interesting  point.  He  says  that  the  Chinese  not  only  has  many  faces  within  the  country,  they  also  show  a  different  face  to  the  rest  of  the  world.  It  was  very  interesting  to  see  Fallow’s  take  on  the  government  in  that  sense.  It  seems  like  the  Chinese  government  is  too  caught  up  in  their  own  day  to  day  business  and  they  have  a  carefree  attitude  on  what  the  rest  of  the  world  thinks  of  them.  They  come  off  as  being  less  than  what  they  really  are.  They  act  like  a  rebel,  not  considering  what  their  reputation  will  do  for  them, good or bad.  During  the  Olympic  Games,  they  went  back  on  their  promise  to  allow  free  internet  access,  without  the  firewall.  Fallows  seems  to  think  that  this  was  not  a  strategic  plan,  but  just  a  change  of  policy  at  the  last  minute  that  reflected  what  the  government  really  wants. 

I  learned  a  lot  from  this  book,  things  that  will  be  useful  when  I  visit  China.  In  every  chapter  of  this  book,  I  learned  something  new  that  I  found  very  intriguing  and  insightful  into  the  overall  worldview  that  the  Chinese  people  have.  There  is  not  a  single  snapshot  that  you  could  take  of  China  that  could  show  the  true  essence  of  China.  Maybe  you  could  take  a  thousand  snapshots  that  look  nothing  alike  and  then  combine  them  into  a  collage  and  call  that  the  essence  of  China.  Fallows did a good job of connecting with the reader but writing from the view of an American with pre-existing ideas about what China is. Throughout the book he did a good job to tackle a lot of diverse issues from politics to individual people and their worldviews.