"A given particle appears equally likely to move in any direction, further motion seems totally unrelated to past motion, and the motion never stops." That's the definition of Brownian motion and these last two weeks I have felt as though I was one of the particles in Robert Brown’s experiment. The net effect of the AIC promulgation of August 2006 has been that I have had to search for a new office. In 2005, there was according to Colliers 788,000 m2 of office space in Beijing and by the end of 2008 there will be an additional 2,000,000 m2 within the 30 hectare CBD where we are based. (source: Int'l Herald Tribune.) Offices are springing up in Beijing like mushrooms, with developers racing to meet the Dec 31st deadline for ending construction so that the dust will settle before the Olympics. Owner confidence is so strong that the US$25 – US$35 per square metre for prime offices is not being discounted by more than 5%. Prices are quoted in US$ per day per metre, not in RMB. And strangely much of the space is owned by individual people, prompting suggestions that they are simply proxies for government or army officials. The impact on EASTWEST is that we must have the ever sacred ‘fapiao’ or receipt, to prove to the AIC that we are renting a real office and to prove to the tax bureau that we are making good on the commitment to spend US$25,000 in 12 months. However, individual landlords have no desire to issue fapiao because they will be taxed on the income at rates up to 40%, although one can of course buy non-traceable fapiao at 3-5% of face value. All of this has made office hunting rather more stressful than it should be, and when I finally met my future landlord, a blacken toothed Mr Zhang, I was reminded of something that I had read in two different places about the relationship Chinese have with us foreigners. In his illuminating book ‘One Billion Customers’ James McGregor writes about the ‘schizophrenic’ nature of China -- ‘confident, reasonable and eager to become a world class competitor, while also paranoid and insecure about the outside world.’ I thought this a bit strong until I read a recent article in the Shanghai Daily claiming ‘ Chinese Civilization can help cure Western ills’ which went on to write ‘since western powers forced open China’s door by gunpowder (invented originally by Chinese for a wholly different purpose), opium, and exotic industrial products, there followed decades of humiliations for Chinese…A liberal dose of Chinese outlook would cure Westerners of their towering ambitions, their worship of efficiency, their belligerence…’ Mr Zhang looked up at me with a piercing look; his cheap shoes covered in dust, and prodded “Which country are you from?” I resisted being impolite, as the Chinese believe Englishman are gentlemen, and responded with a question about his own origins which was met with a measure of disdain “Chinese”, he grunted. After nearly 12 months I have to admit that the fatigue of being simultaneously respected and undermined takes its toll. We will rent the office in Hua Mao, subject to Mr Zhang managing to provide us with fapio, which he said he could do for 3 months and then after that for 9 months after we have completed the tenancy. For me, failure to demonstrate a proper office to the authorities will mean no re-registration. For Mr Zhang my money means the cache of having a trustworthy foreigner but with the irksome truth that we are present in his country. I have made no mention to him that if his fapiao are insufficient, I will resort to gunpowder. 
To get some fresh air and some slow motion today I went for a walk with Wei, a Chinese friend, in Chaoyang Park, just to the east of the third ring road and the venue for the ‘eastern Disneyland.’ The 320 hectare Park recently had US$75m spent on it and contains some large man made lakes and a theme park. Wei and I wandered to the central dome, a 75ft high red affair the size of a conservatory for stargazing. The sign announced ‘Space travel is a kind of large scale recreation machine of sliding car, it is a domestic pioneer project Disneyland…you feel novel, stimulate, happiness.’ With this invitation it seemed churlish to pass up paying RMB20 to enter the ride. ‘Hold on and Look up’ we were instructed by the signage, before we slid off on the toboggan into a what looked like an upturned teacup with lightbulbs on the ceiling and a large planet earth which appeared to be melting into the floor. We held and looked up for 20 seconds and the ride was done. ‘No staying or photograph’ intoned the sign at the exit, which was just as well as we had no intention to do either. The Olympics are some 18 months away, and one can only imagine the progress being made to create an ‘eastern Disneyland’ away in the north of the city, but it does seem as though China is wrestling with adopting the best parts of the West while retaining the core elements of the East. For EASTWEST we have the same challenge, to bring our own culture and ethics to China, when doing business in China challenges the viability of these values. I have hired two new staff, Nellie Wang who was formerly a journalist and joined as an Associate alongside Ben, and Zhang Xiaolei who is taking charge of the finance and administration. Nellie wanted to be called her English name because it is easier for foreigners to remember, and Xiaolei wanted to be called Susan for the same reason. I want to honour their Chinese identity but am respected enough to be given the choice which essentially denies their Chinese character. There is so much change both within the Agency and China, that so often motion becomes commotion and the challenge is to keep heading in a straight line; at least until we hit another obstacle.
To get some fresh air and some slow motion today I went for a walk with Wei, a Chinese friend, in Chaoyang Park, just to the east of the third ring road and the venue for the ‘eastern Disneyland.’ The 320 hectare Park recently had US$75m spent on it and contains some large man made lakes and a theme park. Wei and I wandered to the central dome, a 75ft high red affair the size of a conservatory for stargazing. The sign announced ‘Space travel is a kind of large scale recreation machine of sliding car, it is a domestic pioneer project Disneyland…you feel novel, stimulate, happiness.’ With this invitation it seemed churlish to pass up paying RMB20 to enter the ride. ‘Hold on and Look up’ we were instructed by the signage, before we slid off on the toboggan into a what looked like an upturned teacup with lightbulbs on the ceiling and a large planet earth which appeared to be melting into the floor. We held and looked up for 20 seconds and the ride was done. ‘No staying or photograph’ intoned the sign at the exit, which was just as well as we had no intention to do either. The Olympics are some 18 months away, and one can only imagine the progress being made to create an ‘eastern Disneyland’ away in the north of the city, but it does seem as though China is wrestling with adopting the best parts of the West while retaining the core elements of the East. For EASTWEST we have the same challenge, to bring our own culture and ethics to China, when doing business in China challenges the viability of these values. I have hired two new staff, Nellie Wang who was formerly a journalist and joined as an Associate alongside Ben, and Zhang Xiaolei who is taking charge of the finance and administration. Nellie wanted to be called her English name because it is easier for foreigners to remember, and Xiaolei wanted to be called Susan for the same reason. I want to honour their Chinese identity but am respected enough to be given the choice which essentially denies their Chinese character. There is so much change both within the Agency and China, that so often motion becomes commotion and the challenge is to keep heading in a straight line; at least until we hit another obstacle.