First Day in Guangzhou: Relaxing

Well I arrived in Guangzhou this morning at about 10:30am. This is after waking up at 4am because I was expecting madness at the Hongqiao Airport — it’s the weekend before the National Day Golden Week holiday after all and that means everyone wants to travel. But I was actually the first one at the [...]

Going to Guangzhou

Winnie and I are spending the Chinese National Day Holidays in Guangzhou with her family. I plan to post when I’m there but since it’s a holiday it’ll be irregular. Regular posts will resume after the holiday.
J.

Mooncakes as a Networking Tool

I read an interesting article today in China Daily. The article entitled “Mooncakes acquire networking flavor” it tells how mooncakes have become a favourite way for businesses to keep in touch with business contacts and clients:
“We send presents to our clients during the Mid-Autumn Festival, rather than the Spring Festival,” said Elsa Wang, who works [...]

I am consuming books the way other people consume food

I have been reading a tons of books lately. I think I got on this track the minute I finished the long and complex “Fortress Beseiged” and then decided to pick up Murakami’s short, but beautiful novel “After Dark”. I finished that one in two and half days. By the end of last week I’d [...]

Typhoon Wipha was a Wimp

Typhoon Wipha hit Shanghai today. It didn’t really hit so much as whimper by. This morning I was expecting heavy rain and high winds as I had experience in all previous typhoons that I had been in, but when I woke up it wasn’t even raining. My office was closed this morning, so I got [...]

More One-Sentence Movie Reviews

I spent more time this weekend watching DVDs so here are some more short reviews:
Spiderman 3: Probably the movie that is most like the comic books out of all three movies. It’s set in 2007 but it could as easily be 1987 — except Toby McGuire plays a more arrogant Spidey.
The Office (US Version): Sometimes [...]

Live Among the Foreign Devils!

I just finished Carl Crow’s Foreign Devils in the Flowery Kingdom and I have to say that it is fantastic. Congratulations to the guys at China Economic Review for deciding to do a series of books reprinting old books about China as this one is certainly one of the best. It provides an excellent history [...]

The Economist Intelligence Unit’s China Strategic Forecast: More Central Control

This morning I went to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s China Strategic Forecast. I had a lot of fun. I got to chat with a lot of interesting people (other consultants and senior decision makers at different companies) and learned a lot of good information. Here are the highlights from the EIU’s forecast:

 Expect more control by [...]

After Dark: Haruki Murakami’s New Success

I just finished Haruki Murakami’s new short novel, After Dark.  In the process I read a lot of reviews that said this one wasn’t as good as Kafka on the Shore and that Murakami is in decline. I don’t buy it. What has always attracted me to Murakami is the way he creates characters that [...]

You Can Listen to Principal Skinner Every Week

For those of you who love the Simpsons — don’t we all? Then you should check out harryshearer.com it is the personal website of comedian Harry Shearer, who is known to those people who didn’t see Spinal Tap or very early Saturday Night Live as the voice of Ned Flanders, Principal Skinner and Otto. If [...]