Double speak of a Chinophile

Dear loved one's back home,

I have just returned from Shanghai and feel compelled like many other travellers before to become a self confessed chinophile. The university arranged a 1 week tour to visit Shanghai and learn about business in China. China has been a nemesis for many western business investors. Many of them with dollars in their eyes have burnt their fingers doing business in this sea of little people.

I am so sorry, I am a vegetarian

I am now quiet capable of writing a book on the life of a vegetarian in China. On my trip to Shanghai I was literally treated like a handicap. A special needs person. I was given a small chit by the faculty coordinator that said in Chinese "I am a vegetarian, I only eat vegetables, grains, plant, fruit and rice." Do look at the photo attached. She simply said you MIGHT survive with this! While my Prof. and others assured me, "don't worry you will be fine". For the people who didn't know the situation, they could have very well misunderstood that I was suffering from a cancer or severe handicap. At the breakfast table, I had to take some meat eater with me and have him eat the food and tell me if it's fine to eat. By the end of the trip I started feeling sorry for myself. I went around telling everybody " I am so sorry that I am Vegetarian". I had to tell anybody who would hear me that I am not a religious fundamentalist nor an ambassador for Maneka Gandhi's crusade. I am simply unable to eat meat!! After a certain point I thought what the hell I am what I am and that I don't have to justify my being. Seeing my plight our local guide took us to possibly one of the only all vegetarian restaurant in Shanghai and guess what. The food served their was simulated meat. Which means we were eating veg. food that looked and tasted like meat. So there were chicken legs and steak look alike. My friends swore that this was as close to meat as possible. If that was anywhere close to truth then hell I didn't miss anything in life. But I got a great kick after eating the food. Man Ignorance is bliss!

Is there a universal way of saying " Where is the damn toilet"

Most of Shanghai can't speak English and we would have great difficulty in speaking to the local people. However my good acting skills worked in my favor! I walked into a hotel and had a desperate need to attend the nature's call. I asked him about the toilet, bathroom, men's room, washroom, loo. I had run out of synonyms and the guy was still looking at me blankly. As a last resort I used my little finger to tell him to show me the WAY FOR THE DAMN TOILET. Still no luck. Well It's a little embarassing to tell you this but I did a mono acting to convey that I have to go to the toilet. Bingo it worked ! I am a Dude :)

One thing that lingers on to me most about china is the fact that the - first thing after china opened its gates to the world, the first blizzard of entry was not Pepsi or Coke nor GE or Ford, but it was the Vatican !! 1.3 billion ppl without any religion is quiet a market actually. I always quiz my Chinese classmates about their religion. I find it quiet daunting that 1.3 billion people have no super power to blame for their ill wills.

Shanghai is Bangalore but Bangalore is not Shanghai

The roads had trash, chaotic movement of vehicles with absolute disdain to road traffic, Street hawkers and beggars strewn around and constructions in the middle of the road. You thought I was describing Bangalore ? you are so damn wrong. This is the metropolitan city of Shanghai.The similarities end right there. Despite the traffic the roads are well maintained. The construction happens at a lightning speed. The beggars and street hawkers have their zones to operate. There were fly overs with 4 -5 levels of bridges and by Jove there were fly overs that were spiralling at 3 levels. Enough has been said about the gains that Shanghai has made in terms of infrastructure. I saw Shanghai telling Bangalore with clenched fist " Dude Bangalore, we both started of from the same hut of the third world nations in 1980's then how come I am leaving in a bungalow and you are still fitting AC's and fridges in your hut and mending the roof! "

Trust breeds money and money breeds trust

We visited quiet a few companies who spoke to us about their business and the travesties of doing business in China. Doing business in Asia is diametrically opposite to doing business in the west. They spoke about how it is important to build a trust first before you discuss any business. In other words spend hours talking and drinking with your Chinese partner before you even discuss a sentence of business modalities. Only if the Chinese has a certain amount of trust in you as a person would he want to extend a business relationship. In the west its more "cut to the chase" variety. When the know all Americans came to China they were bitterly surprised when their better price and product supremacy did not win the day but another persons network and people skills took the cake and money to the bank. Another important attribute of Asians is our being contextual while the west are particularists. So when a Chinese signs a contract to deliver a product at 90 $ he actually means +10 or -10 of 90 $, subject to change in the market and relationship. The west has never been able to fully come to terms with this way of interpretation. For them a contract is cast in stone and there can't be another way of looking at it. This leads to a great amount of consternation among the two civilizations !! When you come to think of it, we are as Chinese and Chinese are as Indian in the way of thinking.

When prosperity comes, do not use all of it.

Somebody famously said communism makes people equally poor while capitalism makes people un equally rich. It was not an easy move for Communist party of china but they seem to have seamlessly moved to unequal richness from equal poverty. Reformist president Deng Xiaoping flagged of the race to richness by saying this " To get rich is glorious". The Govt. has not looked back since then. However there is a dominant Chinese culture to try and look poor and frown on unabashed richness. So you will never find a Vijay Mallya or Oberoi style of businessmen in China. Because of this social stigma towards money one often has to make every attempt to look middle class while has all the resource to be upper class. In my last trip I heard my classmate telling his wfe that he would not buy a Villa because he didnt want to let others know that he can afford to buy a Villa !! Now thats some logic. Now I can Imagine why there no Chinese in fortune 100 list. I guess the Ambani's and Mittal's are living in a delusion, there is docile Chinese living in a 1000 Sqft house who has more cash stashed away than all of them put together. As the Chinese saying goes "When prosperity comes do not use all of it."

Communism and Doordarshan - Boredom a national crisis

I am suspecting that there must be a serious boredom crisis in China. All Channels are nationalized and the news I watched reminded me of the old Doordarshan days. A drab and boring news reader lamenting on China's growth. I suspect if anybody was listening. Strong censors on movie and TV Content and surprise surprise Indian Soaps like Saas bhi kabhi bahu thi are running during prime time and the characters are belting out Chinese dialogues! The only possible entertainment that I could imagine was eating out. An average Shanghainese eats out 4 times a week. Every other store in Shanghai was an eating outlet and yes you guessed right I couldn't enter any of them.

That was my double speak !! My brain loves the efficiency and discipline of China while heart hates it from the gut for it's ruthless efficiency for its doordarshan like TV !!