Hong Kong And Shenzhen10/5/2007
These guys were great and made my stay in Hong Kong and across to Shenzhen in Mainland China a success that exceeded my high expectations. Patrick arranged all of my travel, including hotel, flights and very specific “China For Dummies” instructions on how to navigate the subways, buses and airport terminals. I hate to admit it but I still had trouble. One barrier in China is the lack of English speaking skills. I should say that the barrier was my lack of Chinese speaking skills. In general, depending on the type of job a person holds in China, there are varying degrees of English speaking skills. Adrian, Patrick, Ken and many “white collar” professionals speak excellent English, but as one encounters the need to ask directions in the middle of a crowded subway, finding someone to communicate with is difficult. The old joke about multi-language speakers says a lot about whose responsibility it is to solve this problem. It goes like this: What do you call someone who speaks three languages? (Trilingual) What do you call someone who speaks two languages? (Bilingual) What do you call someone who speaks one language? (American)
In China, English is common amongst professionals, but limited in some service industries, and many Chinese do not speak English well – yet. Mandarin is the national language and is very common. In fact, it is the most widely spoken language in the world. However, in the south where Hong Kong is located, Cantonese is the most common and is one of a multitude of ethnic languages that are spoken throughout the country, depending on the region. One interesting fact is that all Chinese languages use a common written language, using Chinese characters. In other words, they cannot always communicate by speaking, but they can communicate by reading and writing. The people I was with could communicate in Mandarin, Cantonese and English. Many times I sat there feeling ignorant and waited for everyone to tell me what they were talking about, which they did frequently and politely so I wouldn’t feel excluded. I realized that the problem wasn’t with the Chinese. It was with me. The government is now making learning English a high priority for the population. When the Communist Party makes something a high priority, chances are, it will happen. In addition, I found that people I met had a strong personal desire to learn English. For example, when we visited a pub our hostess, JoJo, was very gracious and sat down with us to teach us a local dice game that we saw people at the other tables playing. She also showed us some impressive magic tricks with a handful of coins and drinking straws. JoJo was only in her early twenty’s but she was a seasoned hostess, making sure the customers enjoyed themselves and handling the employees under her care at the same time. She eventually asked how to say certain English words as we played, and taught me some Chinese hand symbols for numbers. Throughout all of this “customer service” JoJo was also going to school. Many Chinese have learned that the more time spent with English speakers, especially Americans, the more skills they will gain that will help them reach the next level of economic success. Although China is making a concerted effort to increase English language speakers in the country, this is still a major setback when comparing China against India. This is the opinion of Pan Pengkai, a successful young entrepreneur I met in Shanghai. Pengkai (Chinese write their surnames first and given names last) is the CEO of Saybot, a company that provides net enabled software for Chinese trying to learn English. It uses smart software that acts as a tutor, correcting the speech of the student and grading each word on a scale of 0-100. His software tracts the most common mistakes made by users. They use this data to customize further lessons on the needs of the population. Pengkai has a PhD from MIT and is one of China’s rising stars. He told me that his organization has gone out into the field and found that there are few good English language teachers in the country. Many schools he visited offered quality programs but the instruction was substandard. One school recognized as a leader in English language instruction had posters along the walls promoting this subject but many contained many misspellings or grammatical errors. As I walked the streets of East Gate, a popular shopping district in Shenzhen, I saw other examples of a people driven to succeed in the global economy. Shenzhen was the first Special Economic Zone that the government established when Deng Xiaoping decided to open up the economy to capitalism. While under communism, the government owned and operated all of the means of production, setting pricing and distributing basic goods to the people. In 1979 Shenzhen, which lies adjacent to Hong Kong, was declared a zone where foreign companies could compete with local operations, thus an “open market” was created. Thirty years later, Shenzhen looks a lot like Hong Kong and has been
Shenzhen is an amazing place. It would be comparable to Mexican border towns that U.S. tourists will flock to for good deals in order to take advantage of the cheaper labor and less developed economy of Mexico. The big difference is that the shoppers are from Hong Kong and this Chinese border town looks a lot like Chicago. Just as poverty seems to slap you in the face in India, materialism does the same in China. Neon signs, massive billboards and storeowners eager to make a commission vie for your attention, all at the same time. Many times I was surprised that I didn’t feel the population pressure that I expected in the most populated country in the world. Places like East Gate and the various malls along the border made up for it. I found myself wanting to escape at times, as I made my way through crowded hallways and stores while being grabbed and hounded by people whose main sales strategy seemed to be gaining the most attention, rather than meeting my needs. I passed store after store where employees literally stood outside their doorway clapping, just to draw attention amid the noise, lights and hundreds of others trying to accomplish the same thing. Some had old suitcase sized stereo speakers connected to microphones used for announcing the need to clear their product by the end of the night. These people are motivated. Knowledge of the potential rewards, and failures, of their efforts is fresh in their minds. Most of them have come from a life of poverty, and many still live it. The brand names, glamour and consumer goods that face them are inescapable. This drive is what distinguishes many in these emerging nations from many people in the more developed ones, namely the United States. Unlike past generations that lived through the difficult times of the Great Depression and sacrificed and rationed during the two world wars, the majority of Americans today do not know what it is like to go without. It isn’t necessarily their fault.
However, this is not just about appreciating what we have. More importantly, it is about gaining a perspective about the way in which the world is evolving, enabling people from around the world and all walks of life to interact with us more easily than ever. Therefore, we can visit more places, talk to more people, and collaborate with them more easily. We are also going to compete with them, as jobs can be outsourced to people who have an appreciation for the things we might take for granted, and possibly cause them to work harder to get them. Watching the people of Shenzhen and Bangalore makes me think that we should make learning how to work with people from other places a much higher priority. Not only will it open up a world of wonderful people and experiences, but it might save your job.
|
If I hadn’t been introduced to Adrian Fung and Patrick Leung, I would probably have ended up in Timbuktu. Instead, I had two fellow alumni of Saint John’s University that acted as travel agents, tour guides and traveling partners. They also connected me with Ken Sun, another alumnus, who owns a manufacturing company and plans on taking me on a tour of a factory tomorrow.
It seems like everyone I meet on this trip speaks at least two languages. In India, Hindi is the national language along with English, which is the language of business and higher education. Therefore, most people who are in business of some kind or another speak these two languages plus their native language attached to their state of residence. Many speak additional ethnic languages that derive from states neighboring their own.
duplicated in many eastern cities like Guangzhou, Shanghai, and hundreds more as the government relaxes state control and allows expansion westward, into the interior of China.
How can people appreciate what they already have as much as someone who has not had the ability to gain the same luxuries? Knowing how others in the world live, and 80% live in the less developed countries, is an important step towards learning to appreciate the lifestyle one enjoys.