Fons Tuinstra

Link: https://plus.google.com/u/0/117256325610241631146/about

Link: http://www.chinaherald.net

Feed: China Herald

• Dealing with spitting Chinese - Zhang Lijia | 05/18/2013

  Zhang Lijia

  China's top officials have asked their fellow citizens to behave when they travel and refrain from spitting and loud talking. Author Zhang Lijia puts spitting in a historical perspective, and believes bad habit decreased, and can disappear, she told BBC News.
  
  Zhang Lijia:
  

  Of course, there’s the force of habit. I actually much prefer my new neighbourhood of Wine God Village. The streets are full of life and energy; people are friendly. And it is authentic. Some of my neighbours have indeed brought their habits from their village where the social norms are looser. Another reason for their uncaring behaviour, I suppose, is that they feel that they are not accepted or respected by the locals. Beijing is not their city. So why should they care? 

  Spitting is the most notorious among the uncivilized Chinese manners and has made its way into travel literature. In his Riding the Iron Rooster, travel writer Paul Theroux wrote about the Chinese: “Spat all the time. . . You expected them to propel it about five yards, like a Laramie stockman sitting over a fence. But no they never gave it any force. They seldom spat more than a few inches from where they stood. They did not spit out, they spit down." 

  Overall, spitting has become much less a problem. As a former champion of spitting competitions, I used to spit a great deal. When I was a worker at a rocket factory, we used to have spitting competitions when we were bored. We would line up and see who could shot the furthest or hit a certain spot with force and accuracy. Theroux would have changed his lines if he had seen us! In those days, most parts of China were pretty dirty. So it didn’t really matter if you added some dark yellow bits here and there. But the changed living environment and the realization of its unpleasantness – especially the foreplay – have transformed me. If I can change, anyone can.

  More at BBC News (from Zhang Lijia's website).
  
  Zhang Lijia is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. When you need her at your meeting or conference, do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.
  
  +China Weekly Hangout
  Rampant pollution is one of the reasons to explain Chinese spitting habits. At the China Weekly Hangout sustainability expert +Richard Brubaker explained in January where the pollution if coming from, and what can be done. Moderation by +Fons Tuinstra of the +China Speakers Bureau. Coming Thursday the China Weekly Hangout will discuss the changes in China's labor force, especially the blue collar workers with +Dee Lee (Inno), running since 2007 a workers' hotline at Inno in Guangzhou. Expected is also economist Heleen Mees from New York. Moderation by Fons Tuinstra, president of the China Speakers Bureau. Our first announcement is here,and you can register for the hangout here.
  
  
  

• What is China doing right? - Jeremy Goldkorn | 05/18/2013

  Jeremy Goldkoen

  The indispensable Chinafile asked some of its authors to list what is going right in China, after many obvious stories about what is going wrong. Danwei-founder Jeremy Goldkorn submitted a pretty long list, and this is how it starts.
  
  Jeremy Goldkorn:
  

  I’ll answer this question with an off-the-cuff and very personal list. Some may say these points are not actually good things, or that China isn’t actually doing these things well, or that the outcomes will not be copacetic. One of the very negative things about China is that if you look deep enough into any feel-good story, you’ll find something wrong or rotten, but this is a list of positives, so I won’t qualify my point with an acknowledgement of the counter arguments. Here goes: 

  - Continuing to lift millions and millions of people out of poverty (that’s the big one). 

  - A culture of hard work, thrift, and diligence that emphasizes the importance of education. 

  - The fapiao, a state-issued invoice system that is a work of genius which allows a massive more-or-less unregulated informal economy to thrive and still contribute taxes to the state. 

  - Investing in Africa, seeing developing countries as potential markets rather than basket cases. 

  - Dreaming big. 

  - Infrastructure. 

  - Increasingly professional emergency response systems for bird flu scares, earthquakes etc.

  More in Chinafile.
  
  Jeremy Goldkorn is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.
  
  Every upside has its downsides, and especially in China those downsides can be massive. The successful economic development has led to a massive shortage of sustainable energy. In September 2012 the China Weekly Hangout discussed energy security  with +Merritt Cooke from the Wilson Center and +Richard Brubaker  of CEIBS. Moderation by +Fons Tuinstra of the +China Speakers Bureau 
  
  This Thursday the China Weekly Hangout will discuss the changes in China's labor force, especially the blue collar workers with +Dee Lee (Inno) , running since 2007 a workers' hotline at Inno in Guangzhou. Expected is also economist Heleen Mees from New York. Moderation by +Fons Tuinstra, president of the China Speakers Bureau. Our first announcement is here,and you can register for the hangout here.
  

  Related articles

  • Internet: China's Kangaroo Court - Jeremy Goldkorn
  • iTunes: Apple's Trojan horse - Jeremy Goldkorn
  • China's soft power: putting lipstick on a pig - Jeremy Goldkorn
  • Why spitting can be dealt with - Zhang Lijia
  
  

• Changing trends on China's art market - Wei Gu | 05/17/2013

  Wei Gu

  The China art market is maturing, as the Art Basel's first Hong Kong art show took off. WSJ wealth editor Wei Gu discusses with Kate Cary Evans, founder of Art Radar Asia, the latest trends in China's art, as prices are falling, opening up for more investors.
  
  
  Wei Gu is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.    
  

  Related articles

  • What are Chinese tourists buying? - Wei Gu
  • Guanxi dies or gets into prison; the Fredy Bush case - Wei Gu
  • Chinese rich invest more conservative - Wei Gu
  • Luxury brands have been overcharging Chinese customers - Wei Gu
  • New: second homes for Chinese - Wei Gu
  
  

• Top-100 best-selling Chinese artists - Rupert Hoogewerf | 05/17/2013

  Rupert Hoogewerf

  The founder of Hurun, China's rich list Rupert Hoogewerf published a list of best-selling Chinese artists of the past 5000 years.  "What is remarkable is that 34 of the Top 100 are alive today," Hoogewerf tells in China.org.
  
  China.org:
  

  The Hurun Best-Selling Chinese Artists 2013, a ranking based on the sales volume of their work at public auction in 2012, was released by the Hurun Research Institute on May 9. Data for the list were provided by Artron.net, a professional artwork portal in China. 

  "The artists on this list represent last year's best-selling artists from 5000 years of Chinese history," said Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of Hurun Report. "What is remarkable is that 34 of the Top 100 are alive today." 

  Among the listed 100 artists, 76 finished their works after the foundation of People's Republic of China in 1949. Among the top ten, nine are traditional Chinese ink painters, with Zhou Chunya being the only one still alive -- and also the only non-Chinese ink painter. 

  Total sales of the top 100 artists reached US$4.1 billion; the threshold to be listed is US$10 million.

  More in China.org (including the top-10 paintings)
  
  Rupert Hoogewerf is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.
  
  Apart from art, also education is high on the investment agenda of China's wealthy. The China Weekly Hangout discussed in February with HKU lecturer +Paul Fox, and former NYU Shanghai lecturer +Andrew Hupert whether education in China is a goldmine or a black hole, both for the students, and the educational institutions.
  
   
  
   What do Chinese tourists want? The +China Weekly Hangout is going to discuss who those tourists are and how countries can attract those high-spending individuals. Our announcement is here, or you can register for participation here. A full overview of our hangouts is here.   
  

  Related articles

  • Rich donate less to charities - Rupert Hoogewerf
  • The booming luxury car market - Rupert Hoogewerf
  • Art, jewelry, fine wine and watches alternative investments for wealthy - Rupert Hoogewerf
  • Zhou Chunya ranked best-selling Chinese artist: Hurun report
  
  

• Why China's growth model makes sense - Heleen Mees | 05/17/2013

  Heleen Mees

  Location makes a difference for successful industries, but government can help, argues NYU economist Heleen Mees against New York Times columnist Paul Krugman. In Post-Syndicate, she explains why China's growth model makes sense, and uses the trade explosion province of Yunnan as an illustration.
  
  +Heleen Mees :
  

  According to Mr Krugman, it is often merely an accident where an industry locates. Silicon Valley owes its existence in large part to two young men named Hewlett and Packard, who started a company out of their garage. New York is New York because of a river, which mainly serves tourist boats these days. But even though it is mostly chance that determines where a particular industry locates, it doesn’t mean that you can’t lend chance a helping hand. And that is exactly what the Chinese government is doing with its large-scale investments in infrastructure, and to a somewhat lesser extent with its investment in housing. 

  Yunnan, one of the poorest provinces of China that is mostly known for its cuisine, saw international trade explode in the first quarter of 2013, rising by almost 50% compared to the previous year, while exports throughout China rose by a modest 13%. The most significant gains in Yunnan's trade came in the mechanical and electronic sectors, neatly fitting the new trade theory. It is hard to imagine that mountainous Yunnan, which is not located on the Chinese coastline but is bordering Tibet, Laos and Vietnam instead, would have experienced the same growth without the central governments’ years of investing in Yunnan’s infrastructure.

  That is not to say that China’s growth model has no drawbacks. It obviously has. The smog in China’s metropolis is smothering large swaths of the population, even though the air pollution in Delhi is often worse. Food scandals are undermining consumer confidence. Environmentalists are raising alarm bells about the central government’s plan to build a series of hydropower dams in the Nu, China’s last free flowing river. The project may force tens of thousands of ethnic minorities in Yunnan to relocate. These are serious issues that the Chinese leadership needs to address. 

  That being said, within the framework of the new trade theory, China’s investment-led growth model makes more sense than western economists give it credit for.

  More in Post-Syndicate.
  
  Heleen Mees is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.
  
  +Heleen Mees  is expected to join us next week at the China Weekly Hangout, as we discuss the changing labor force in China on Thursday 23 May, with Inno founder +Dee Lee (Inno), who runs since 2007 a workers' hotline from Guangzhou. You can read our announcement here, or register directly for our hangout here.  Can the growing environmental NIMBY protest stop China's ambitious nuclear power program? The China Weekly Hangout discussed that issue on November 22, 2012 with +Richard Brubaker and +Fons Tuinstra. You can get a full overview of our hangouts here. When you register at our Google page +China Weekly Hangout, you get regular updates on upcoming sessions.
  

  Related articles

  • The marginalization of labor - Heleen Mees
  • New protest in Chinese city over planned chemical plant
  • Debate on contemporary identity of the Chinese - Tricia Wang
  • Paul Krugman Responds To Critics: 'Maybe I Actually Am Right'
  • China's rich invest more conservative - Wei Gu
  
  

• Internet: China's Kangaroo Court - Jeremy Goldkorn | 05/15/2013

  Jeremy Goldkorn

  The famous film director Zhang Yimou was one of the last celebrities, scrutinized by a diligent internet for supposed breaches of the one-child policy. Chinese turn to the internet for real and imaginary injustice, explains internet watcher Jeremy Goldkorn in Marketplace. "It’s a kind of Kangaroo Court mentality."
  
  Marketplace:
  

  The first indication that Zhang had broken China’s one-child policy reportedly came last year, when an actress who failed an audition for Zhang’s last film posted the information on the Internet. Chinese social media observer Jeremy Goldkorn says turning to the Internet for justice -- or revenge -- has become common in China. 

  "The Internet generally is really the only place that Chinese people can turn to if they feel they were victims of an injustice or if they feel the government is doing something wrong," says Goldkorn, "but there is a negative side to it. There is a sort of vigilantism that can be very nasty. It’s a kind of Kangaroo Court mentality.”

  More in Marketplace.
  
  Jeremy Goldkorn is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.
  
  China Weekly Hangout: 
  
  Next week the +China Weekly Hangout will focus on the changes in China's labor force, with +Dee Lee (Inno) of the NGO Inno in Guangzhou, running since 2007 a workers' hotline. You can read our initial announcement here, or register directly for the event here.
  
  China has no shortage of injustice to discuss. The China Weekly Hangout discussed food security and dead pigs in Shanghai's Huangpu river earlier this year with sustainability expert +Richard Brubaker, +Andrew Hupert and +Chris Brown on food security and how the ongoing problems will lead to massive food inflation. In the end we (both in China and outside) will have to pay the price for safe food. Moderation: +Fons Tuinstra of the +China Speakers Bureau.
  

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  • China's state media is waging PR war on Apple, and the company's growth could be at stake
  • iTunes: Apple's Trojan horse - Jeremy Goldkorn
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  • Can China transform Africa? - Jeremy Goldkorn
  • Vagina Monologues made it into Beijing - Zhang Lijia
  • Top Chinese filmmaker investigated for breaking one-child policy
  
  

• What do Chinese tourists want? - China Weekly Hangout | 05/14/2013

  Chinese tourists (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

  Chinese tourists are a hot commodity internationally. They are spending per head more than tourists from any other country, and the growth is in the double digits. So, the question what do Chinese tourists want, is high on the agenda, for many countries and also for the +China Weekly Hangout on May 30.
  According to the latest figures, Chinese went abroad in 2011 more than 70 million times (not including Hong Kong).
  But getting Chinese to your country, and letting them spend their money is not that easy. Earlier this month +Simon Young told in the China Weekly Hangout his New Zealand prime minister went to China to see how to get more tourists to their country, and she is not alone. Now they would visit Australia, and add a few days on the other country.
  The Schengen countries in Europe (most EU countries with the UK as notable exception) mostly offer multi-country tour packages, and seem to have an advantage for that reason. But despite their high expenditure, most Chinese tourists want the cheaper hotels and prefer an affordable Chinese restaurants, if there is no McDonald's around.
  They do spend money on diamonds, luxury goods. For example the Swiss city of Luzern knows the Chinese tourist pass by to buy watches, so a day trip (longer they mostly do not want to stay) focuses on those watches. But many countries are looking for ways to let those tourist stay longer, and spend more.
  
  At this stage about 3% of the Chinese have a passport. Does that mean that 97% is still looking for an opportunity to go abroad, and should the tourist industry focus on them. Or is it more lucrative to focus on the current 3%, who have more to spend than the remainder? Can you use the Chinese internet to get to your potential customers?
  
  Enough issues to discuss on May 30, and to facilitate the participation from Africa (a key destination!), the UK, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, we change our regular broadcasting hours to 10am CEST (Europe), 4pm Beijing Time, 6pm in Sydney and 8pm in Wellington. You can register here for the event.
  
  You can leave your questions and remarks here on this blog or at our event page. During the event, you can watch the discussion on YouTube both here and on our event page. During the event, you can also leave you remarks and questions on Twitter or Google+ (add the hash tag #CWHCWH)
  Moderation by +Fons Tuinstra of the +China Speakers Bureau. Panelists will include +Simon Young. Additional participants will be listed here as the event nears.
  
  Below you find the initial planning meeting, where we discussed a range of issues on the agenda for the +China Weekly Hangout .
  
  
  

  Related articles

  • What are Chinese tourists buying? - Wei Gu
  • Debate on contemporary identity of the Chinese - Tricia Wang
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• China's changing dreams - Shaun Rein | 05/13/2013

  Shaun Rein

  Dreams about the future have been important for China and the Chinese over the past decades, but what they dream about has been changing dramatically. Business analyst Shaun Rein discussed those changing dream with Daftblogger, and the increased search for quality.
  
  Shaun Rein:
  

  Over the past 30 years, everyone in China has been focused on making money. That was the dream. 15 years ago when I first arrived in China, most people were just struggling to put food on the table. For many then, eating meat or a having a hot shower was a real luxury. But with even migrant worker salaries growing 20% a year over the past 5 years, people are starting to think about more than just money. 

  Who cares if you can buy a Louis Vuitton bag if the air and water are poisoning your children? Over the past year especially there has been a new conception of the Chinese Dream. People are looking for more quality of life issues and more individual expression rather than buying bling and what everyone else aspires to in order to show off. For foreign entrepreneurs and innovators, there are great opportunities to tap into this shift. I remain especially bullish on tourism as I said before, as well as in pollution reducing products (like air and water purifiers where there are 30 day waits in Shanghai for the best ones).

  More at Daftblogger.
  
  Shaun Rein is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.
  
   Earlier today the China Weekly Hangout discussed how Australia and New Zealand can tap into China's development. A few plans came up: the dairy industry, tourism and Chinese interest in luxury products. Participants: +Simon Young from Auckland, +Harm Kiezebrink from Beijing and +Fons Tuinstra  from Antwerp.
  
   
  

  Related articles

  • Chinese brands fighting global heavyweights - Shaun Rein
  • Chinese: learning manners - Shaun Rein
  • Consumer credit booming - Shaun Rein
  • Doubling Apple stores is just not enough - Shaun Rein
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• Office hours - China Weekly Hangout | 05/13/2013
  Earlier today we planned some sessions of the +China Weekly Hangout, focused on different time zones, now Australia and New Zealand. We discussed some plans on tourism, the luxury industry and the dairy industry. For upcoming Thursday we have not set a subject, but we will hold open office hours if you want to discuss current affairs in China, or contribute to our hangouts later on.
  You can register here for our open office hours on Thursday 16 May,  10pm Beijing time, 4pm CEST (Europe) and 10am EST (US/Canada).
  
  For next weeks we are already booked, starting with a session on March 23, 10pm Beijing time, 4pm CEST (Europe) and 10pm EST (US/Canada) on the changing Chinese labor force next week, with +Dee Lee (Inno) as our expert guest. You can find our announcement here, and register for the event here. We already have an interesting selection of guests here, seats are limited, but you are welcome to join our hangout.
  
  The question "What do Chinese tourist want", we plan to discuss on May 30 with +Simon Young , who is currently training the tourism industry in New Zealand to attract Chinese tourists by social media, and he plans to include people from his network. Later today we hope to send out the invite for the hangout (although the date is not yet set in stone). Planned time schedule: 4pm Beijing time, 8pm Wellington time, 10am CEST (Europe) and 9am London time. Unfortunately, the US drops out of our schedule.
  
  
  

  Related articles

  • Bird flu: what learned China from SARS? - China Weekly Hangout
  • Vagina Monologues made it into Beijing - Zhang Lijia
  • A changing labor force - China Weekly Hangout
  • China's changing dreams - Shaun Rein
  • How to pitch your China book to publishers - Paul French

  
  

• A changing labor force - China Weekly Hangout | 05/10/2013

  Dee Lee

  What is happening to China's labor force? That will be a recurring theme in the +China Weekly Hangout and on Thursday 23 May we will start discussing the state of China factory floor. Together with +Dee Lee (Inno) of Inno in Guangzhou we will explore the current state of the blue collar workers.
  This is how the +Asia Society described Dee Lee in 2012 when he was one of their fellows:
  

  Dee Lee is Director of the Inno Community Development Organization which focuses on public health, poverty alleviation and emerging issues. The organization currently manages nine ongoing projects that include the workers’ hotline, fair-trade online, HBV advocacy campaign. Together with sixteen colleagues spread across three offices in China, Dee is working with thirteen international foundations and brands to provide assistance to more than two million beneficiaries, most of whom are migrant workers in China. Dee started his Labour NGO career in 2007 with the first systematic workers’ hotline in China. He has a Master’s Degree in marketing communication and five years of work experience at a marketing research and PR firm.

  Of course you are welcome to join us, you can register here at our event page and join the discussion. A few subjects that might come up in our exchange: has the position of workers changed now there is a relative shortage of factory workers? What is the influence on social media (Inno works mainly through QQ)? How different are today's factory workers from their parents?  How are the wages developing, and what are the trade union doing? To mention a few possible subjects.
  
  The China Weekly Hangout on labor will take place on Thursday 23 May, 10pm Beijing Time, 4pm CEST (Europe) and 10am EST (US/Canada). You can register here for participation, leave you comments here or at the event page. During the event you can watch also our YouTube video here and at our event page. You can also go directly to our live YouTube channel. During the event you can leave comments and questions at Twitter and Google+ (add the hash tag #CWHCWH).
  
  Later this year we will discuss the position of white collar workers, whether we can call them the 'middle class', who is going to save China's economy with their consumption - or not.
  
  For next week we are still looking for a subject, but we might selection one from our Australia/New Zealand planning session on Monday. You can register here if you are interested.
  
  
  Last month the +China Weekly Hangout discussed how political reform could take place under Xi Jinping's tenure with +Steve Barru and +Fons Tuinstra.
  
  
  

  Related articles

  • How to pitch your China book to a publisher - Paul French
  • Australia/New Zealand session - China Weekly Hangout
  • Australia goes easy on China's military rise - Wendell Minnick
  • Chinese brands fighting global heavyweights - Shaun Rein
  • Bird flu: what learned China from SARS? - China Weekly Hangout
  
  

Link: http://www.china-speakers-bureau.com

Link: http://www.fonstuinstra.net

Feed: Fons Tuinstra's home

• Simple tips for Google Hangout’s (on-air) | 05/11/2013

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• Looking for alternatives for Google Reader | 05/07/2013

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• Visit to chocolate factory maison Cailler, Broc | 04/14/2013

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• Speakers’ scam – repeated warning | 03/24/2013

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• Authorship, authority, circles and search (part 2) | 03/10/2013

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• ‘Authorship’ is kicking in for me | 02/24/2013

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• Consolidating the conversation – my Google dilemma | 02/01/2013

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• Failing foreign firms – China Weekly Hangout | 01/25/2013

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• Reived: China’s silent army | 01/23/2013

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• Switzerland’s near perfect public transport | 12/09/2012

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