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Archive for the ‘China’ Category

On a recent trip to Thailand, I noticed this pay phone booth on a street near the famed Grand Palace of Bangkok.   If you look closely, you’ll see that the actual pay phone itself is missing.

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fp_logo Foreign Policy magazine just published their list of the Top 100 Global Thinkers of 2010 who most influenced the global marketplace.  A very worthwhile article that I would recommend reading— you can read the report here.

The report provides an overview for each person and their achievements and thinking that led to their inclusion.  Also, the results of a survey of intriguing global questions asked and responded to by the majority of the recipients is a must read.   Additionally,  a book list of the top 20 books recommended by the Top Thinkers is a great resource for all readers of the article (Fault Lines by Raghuram Rajan is the # 1 recommended book). (more…)

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Recently, I attended a World Affairs Council event in San Francisco titled Is Africa the Next China?. James Manyika, Director of McKinsey & Company and also Director, McKinsey Global Institute, McKinsey’s economic research arm presented the findings of their study on recent economic trends of the continent of Africa.  McKinsey released the report titled Lions on the move: The progress and potential of African economies in June 2010. (pdf documents of the entire report and executive summary can be downloaded here). (more…)

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In a previous posting, I wrote about my observations of China from my one week stay in Beijing.   Earlier in the year, I visited India after six years, spending time in Hyderabad and Kerala—you can read my observations from that trip here (or click on the links to the side under the heading India Trip Observations).    During my stay in China, I found that 1) my pre-conceived notions of what I expected China to be often was based on my experiences in India and 2) internally, I would often compare my China observations to my India observations for a particular attribute.    The reason for this is based on the parallels of significant growth that China and India have been both experiencing over the last decade, the wide media coverage of both of these countries which often compares them to each other, as well as their common status as the most populous countries in the world.

Given that, here are my armchair comparisons of India and China in a few areas and more specifically Hyderabad (population approximately 4 million and Beijing (population approximately 12 million (metro) , (more…)

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Earlier I wrote about my one day stay in Hong Kong.    Upon leaving Hong Kong,  I went to Beijing, my first ever visit to China.   I stayed there for a week, working with my company’s Beijing office team.    Below is a chronicle of my experiences and observations of my trip categorized by the following topics:

  • Itinerary
  • First Impressions
  • Infrastructure
  • People
  • Lifestyle
  • Cuisine
  • Local mannerisms (more…)

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I just completed a business trip to China (my travelogue is posted here) and on the way, had a one day stop in Hong Kong.  My first trip to Hong Kong, obviously a day wouldn’t be enough but it’s all I had.  I arrived at 6 AM in the morning on a Saturday and left the next morning on Sunday at 6 AM.   Here’s what I did in those 24 hours and my observations of Hong Kong.

Morning

I chose a hotel in the Kowloon side of Hong Kong, which happened to be right on the harbor.  (more…)

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I just came back from a week long business trip to Beijing, China.  One of the most memorable events of the trip was a variety show at a Beijing teahouse called Lao Tse teahouse climaxing with an exceptional face changing routine typical of the Sichuan Opera.  With remarkable slight of hand, the performer will change masks seven to ten times during an approximate 3 minute performance; often right in front of you.   Some may consider it as an  illusionist or magic trick, but more rightfully, it’s an art form developed in southern China that takes years and years to perfect.  While not the actual Sichuan opera performance I watched, here’s an example clip of Sichuan opera. (more…)

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