Another beautiful day in Beijing… as I near the end of my visit, the weather gets warmer and my comfort level with the city gets higher and higher.
Read in the NYT about the China development – economic and social – and have faced the reality. Yes, the driving here is nuts. The amount of cars is off the wall as well. Bicycles I’m happy to say, haven’t changed, ubiquitous but slowly dying out, replaced by cars. I even saw motorized bicycles.
China certainly has caught my imagination in a big way. The meetings I’ve had with locals, expats doing business or thinking about doing business, seems to be what it must’ve been like in NYC way back when it was just a big tower of babel of people coming to trade and make money. Beijing is like that, and that’s not even talking about Shanghai and Shenzhen which arguably much more so than Beijing. Beijing is like the 3rd city behind these two. Beijing has about 18+ Million people, those “living” here and those who are “temporary” – meaning they live here but are technically migrants because they’re from out of town but have set up residences to work. That’s nearly as many people as whole of Taiwan.
Sat in an entrepreneurial meeting where startups were taking turns making their business cases in front of their peers and panelists. Given a chance to refine their business plan and talk about business issues. Talked with a consulting firm whose been in China for 25 years (that would be 1980 !!!) and learning about their views of China and business operations. Then talked with a project management firm about working together and seeing how to develop the market.
CCTV, Chinese TV has alone over 14 channels, not including the other places and satellite TV options. Man, China is BIG.
As for culture – I found out about these talented 12 Girls. Going to pick up a couple of CDs or two, for a mere 10 RMB (legit prices)
Lots to think about and consider on my flight back to Taipei.