If the news of my Uncle’s cancer was a rude awakening then his recent passing at the age of 62 is equally as sudden and painful. I remember asking my uncle from a young age why he smokes so much? He would tell me it’s part of his job as a salesman. “You need to socialize, you need to drink, eat and smoke with your clients. In China, business deals and information comes from the dinner table,” he said. Indeed. “But don’t worry, Uncle won’t go over the limit.” Only after 6 months of retirement, my Uncle was hospitalized. We were told the terrible news: ” Late stage lung cancer. He might live ’til next year.” In China, healthcare costs money and although the costs are reimbursed and covered by the government, my Uncle’s situation meant that we were not covered simply because to prolong his final days and to ease…
China
China – My 5000 year-old Middle Kingdom
Stock Market plunge and investor’s nightmare
August was tough and being assigned two writing tasks was a welcomed distraction. I was able to collect reactions from the locals and report on how Chinese investors view the stock market meltdown. What a disaster! Investing in the stock markets is gambling and well… suicide. In China, where many invisible hands illegally move the stability of the national market, it is not the place for the ill-informed and the faint-hearted. It is never easy to interview people on the streets. After 30 or so rejections, I do thank the four gentlemen for their incredible patience and support. Nightly Business Report – Chinese investors: How we see stocks “There is nothing to worry about since I’m used to this stock market drama. It’s more that I have no confidence. I have no confidence with regards to the future of our capitalist market … Even though the national team had tried…
The one-stop shop for China’s entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurs like Jack Ma has inspired tonnes of young Chinese to also pursue their dreams. A phrase associated with Jack Ma’s success- “Have a dream and keep it, what if it becomes a reality?” made start-ups and young entrepreneurs well…absorbed in their own quest to become the next Alibaba/ Jack Ma. Is entrepreneurship enough to drive a country’s economic future and stability? And to those who say that they are not in for the money and fame, you got to be kidding me. Thank you my tech-savvy friend Zhou Kang for your support! The one-stop shop for China’s entrepreneurs A shop located in the old hutongs, or narrow alleys, of Beijing serves as a one-stop center for aspiring entrepreneurs to find help navigating the new world of start-ups. “It is a creative and unique place, with a co-working space where people can share ideas and receive all kinds of help as…
China’s retail investors give up hope as exodus intensifies
Another piece on China’s stock market China’s retail investors give up hope as exodus intensifies The precipitous plunge in Chinese stocks, and Beijing’s struggle to halt the fall, has sent waves of panic through the country’s 90 million-plus retail investors, who say their life-savings are “falling into an abyss.” At a Citic Securities brokerage in Beijing on Wednesday, the trading hall was packed with retail investors, many of them pensioners, lamenting the loss of the money in the stock market. One investor was watching the big screen between his fingers as if at a horror flick. The mood was fearful, panicked and sometimes hostile, as investors huddled around computer screens, waiting to see whether the latest moves by Chinese authorities to prop up the stock market would do any good. “The government has been manipulating the stock market all this time,” one investor who didn’t want to be named told…
China agency slams Alibaba for fakes
China agency slams Alibaba for fakes A rare public clash has broken out between Alibaba and Chinese authorities over the authenticity of the merchandise sold on the Chinese e-commerce giant’s sites, especially its popular consumer to consumer site Taobao. In an unusually strongly worded white paper, the State Administration of Industry and Commerce said many of the products sold on Alibaba’s websites were substandard, violated trademarks or were illegal. The release of the documents comes less than a week after the agency unveiled a survey that found only 37.25 percent of the goods the authorities examined on Taobao to be genuine. After the survey, Alibaba’s Taobao posted an open letter on its official social media Weibo account responding the agency’s findings and questioning the sampling methods. The agency fired back with the white paper criticizing Taobao for lax internal controls. The paper was dated July 2014, showing the review had…
Nara and Kyoto- you need to say Thank You to Mr Liang Sicheng
Oh the irony! And oh how people fail to realise that the very reason why Kyoto and Nara is so well-preserved is due to someone who I respect but lament over- Mr Liang Sicheng. It’s a honour to have graduated from the same university as Mr Liang. He finished his studies at Tsinghua 96 years earlier than I did. His Tsinghua was a lot better than my Tsinghua. His time during the 1950’s was sad but looking at present day China, little has changed. All images starting from now are from the Internet. Liang Sicheng ( 1901–1972/ born in Tokyo, Japan) was a Chinese architect and is often known as the Father of Modern Chinese Architecture. He was awarded an honorary doctoral degree by Princeton in 1947 and dedicated his life to teaching, historical research, exploration, restoration and preservation of priceless monuments in China and abroad. Along with his wife Lin,…
Alibaba to smash Singles’ Day sales record
Jack Ma and Alibaba again (sigh!) Alibaba to smash Singles’ Day sales record Alibaba’s Singles’ Day sales are expected to break a record this year, driven by China’s burgeoning Internet population and a growing number of participating retailers, analysts say. Held on Nov. 11, Singles’ Day—also known as 11/11—was created by young Chinese to celebrate or lament being single, but it has evolved into the biggest 24-hour online shopping event in the world. Last year, Alibaba booked $5.8 billion in transactions on the day, more than double the $1.7 billion sold on the Cyber Monday—the biggest online sales day for the U.S.that falls on the first Monday after Thanksgiving. This year, Alibaba’s sales are expected somewhere in the range of 50 billion yuan ($8.17 billion), a 40 percent increase from last year, according to Ben Cavender, principal at China Market Research Group. “I think we will probably see stronger overall…
China to ease 1-child rule further, but do people care?
China to ease 1-child rule further, but do people care? China is moving towards making its two-child policy available to all, but whether or not couples will jump on the opportunity to expand their families remains unclear. Last week, Cai Fang, vice director of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences – a government research arm, said authorities would allow all couples in China to have a second child by some point in 2016. China first relaxed its controversial one-child policy last year in a landmark ruling, allowing couples to have two children if one of the parents had no brothers or sisters. New rules will remove this condition and make a second child a choice for all. Baby boom? Twenty seven-year old Zhao Ying, who lives in Beijing and works at a white collar firm, has recently given birth to a baby boy, and told CNBC she would definitely consider…
China: How to move your money out illegally
China is no longer poor. Actually let me rephrase that – there are still parts of the country that are poor and some of her people struggle to get by daily however on a bigger scale, China is no longer that war-torn poor nation recovering from both civil and foreign occupation. As China opened up, Communist China became ever more so Capitalist. The current situation is that the rich are super rich. New millionaires pop up like daisies, the middle class get by with life and dreams of a richer life while the poor remains poor. For many rich Chinese, they are finding ways to move part of their assets overseas or in many cases, they move their entire family overseas. This movement is legal though since many Chinese have already migrated successfully. Before we take a look at this legal movement, here are some ways to xiqian ( Chinese for…
How badly will the HK protests hurt tourism?
How badly will the HK protests hurt tourism? Despite handwringing over how badly pro-democracy protests will hurt Hong Kong’s tourism sector, it isn’t clear whether the turmoil is keeping mainland tourists away. “So far, there doesn’t seem to be any change in travel plans,” Song Seng Wun, a Singapore-based economist at CIMB, told CNBC Wednesday. As long as protests remain peaceful, “there’s still reason to get on a plane to buy the roast duck. Chats with hotels haven’t really seen any meaningful cancellations.” Travel agencies around Beijing told CNBC that their tours to Hong Kong are fully booked through the end of the Golden Week holiday, with no cancellations. Tourism is important for Hong Kong, responsible for around 5 percent of its economy, and mainlanders accounted for around 75 percent of total tourist arrivals in 2013, according to statistics from the territory’s Tourism Commission. Year-to-August arrivals from mainland China were…