Despite being a techie at heart, it wasn’t until I met my wife that I showed any interest in China and the Chinese language. It has been a journey full of misunderstanding but with each misunderstanding comes a great lesson. It was great to see the China 2.0 tour participants learning some of the same lessons through a shared passion for technology.

If I had to summarize the lessons I have learned from China (so far) into bullet points, they would have to be these:

• History
• Freedom
• Inquisitive
• Scale
• Speed
• Family & Relationships are important

All but one of these lessons was confirmed by the participants on the China 2.0 Tour.

How I followed the China 2.0 Tour

I followed the tour via Twitter on my daily commute to work. The live video streams were not available in an iPhone friendly format and so I was forced to follow along in bite-sized chunks of 140 characters. It was somewhat surreal to be able to participate in the tour and ask questions in China whilst crawling through the British countryside on the London to Brighton train. At times it was exciting, but at times it was also depressing. It isn’t possible to do such a complex and intriguing topic justice in just 140 characters and, despite the fact that I was glued to the Twitter stream, I couldn’t help wondering whether the tour participants were more interested in Tweeting than in listening and learning. I was quite wrong, and it wasn’t until the participants found the time to sit down and reflect on the Tour that I realized how wrong I had been.

Mike Butcher

I found Mike Butcher’s summary of the tour personally moving as it highlighted a number of the lessons I had learned on my own Chinese journey. He expresses it far better than I do, but his realization that the importance of history is something that I think is fundamentally important to understanding China today. We in the West often fail to appreciate just how recently China has been through some pretty challenging historical events, events that are still in living memory for many Chinese. I didn’t expect insight like this to come from a “2.0″ tour. You guys obviously did something right to bring this out.

China: palpable sense of freedom and opportunity

Another thing which I think was noticed by all the participants but again, expressed brilliantly by Mike, was that, “contrary to the outside view, there is actually a palpable sense of freedom and opportunity” in China. We are constantly told that the Chinese people lack freedom, but the reality is not so black and white. What I found was that the Chinese openly talk about China’s problems as well as it’s opportunities. They freely talk about politics and the differences between China and The West and discussions are often led by their desire to question and understand. This is in stark contrast to the to the idea we are often led to believe; that China is a country of copiers/cloners, incapable of expressing their own thoughts. In saying this though, I recognize that I have only met a small fraction of the Chinese population and that the experience of others may be significantly.

Censorship is a complex issue oversimplified by Western critics

The subject of censorship is a difficult one, but one that I feel has always been overly simplified. In China, I got the impression that the majority of Chinese had greater concerns in life than accessing websites deemed sensitive by the government. Admittedly I myself was a little frustrated about not being able to access some of my common sites, but as we all know there are ways round the GFW. I’m yet to be convinced that there is a single country that doesn’t censor the media for one reason or another, but what we need to remember is the effect this has on the citizens concerned. I’m not saying that censorship is right, but what we need to understand is that it is never a black and white situation and what the China 2.0 tour brought out is that within the bounds of the controls set out by the Chinese government, there is still a great deal of creativity coming out of China. This is also true in the world of art as well as the world of tech.

Language is a barrier

One barrier to China is most certainly language. And again it was good to see this brought out on the Tour. My original aim when I started learning Mandarin was to focus on the spoken language. Learning to recognize the characters just seemed like a step too far, but what I am realizing (and it something highlighted by the tour participants) is that if I am ever to understand China and the Chinese people, I not only need to speak the language, but be able to read the characters as well. I still think being able to write the characters is pushing it just a little much. I’m already starting to feel that there are areas of the internet which I am unable to access due to my inability to read Mandarin.

As you said, your initial goal was to plant seeds of deeper understanding, in this respect, I’d say the tour has been a resounding success. Following along as others tried to understand the mysteries of China has only confirmed the lessons I have been learning myself over the past three years. So, in summary, I expected to hear lots of new and fascinating tech stories from China, the reality was somewhat different but fundamentally more important. Who knows what lessons will be learned in the future.

A big thank you to all participants for sharing their experiences. The quality of the writing (and also the photography) was first class.

Thanks Bill!  It was a pleasure to have you as a virtual tour participant!  Thanks for these insights and look forward to a continued conversation about China and its developments.

Post from: CN Reviews

China 2.0 Tour: email from Bill Glover

Bundini

Jeff Bundy was generous to share some of his insights with me over email.  Follow him at @bundini on Twitter or at his blog.  I’m indebted to Jeff for showing the depth of understanding he gained though following the tour.  One thing I’ve learned from Shel Israel is that the quality of the conversation is much more important the “reach” and “frequency”.  Here are Jeff’s top learnings:

1. There is a huge, significant number of High Technology–and highly educated–entrepreneurs in at least Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou
2. Large Corporations (IBM, GE, etc.) up until recently have been the preferred employer for Chinese (versus small start-ups) — but now that’s starting to change. This really caught me by surprise.
3. That among the technorati, most of the internet blocking is just an annoying hurdle easily overcome. Too many bloggers; too few police to monitor.
4. That this is not about embracing the “new” and abandoning the rich Chinese culture, heritage and language, it’s about the “new” becoming an integral part of the on-going Chinese culture.
5. That “foreign” approaches are doomed (I.e. non-Chinese language); any approach must be fully assimilated into the culture.
6. China is much more approachable as a foreigner (guess, I knew that also from the recent Olympics there) and really can be a destination of choice by almost everyone!
7. China is less foreign now (in my eyes) than it ever has been to someone from a Western culture.
8. Micro-learning — that Chinese language keyboard input is based on some knowledge of western alphabets and sounds to spell out a series of Chinese characters from which to choose. (Kind of like predictive text on mobile phones — at least that’s the way I interpreted it. I was always curious as to “how” one writes in Chinese given the 1000’s of characters and tiny QWERTY keyboards.)
9. That for a western visitor having Chinese bi-cultural guides/translators is critical to getting around easily.
10. Sounds like both Shanghai and Beijing would remind me of my original home town Los Angeles in terms of air quality. 2-3 days after a good rain; all the smog is back again. (Elliott’s Note: I grew up in Los Angeles where there were “smog alerts” and kids could not go out onto the playground)
11. Many of the technology/telecommunications infrastructure underpinings are being quickly leveraged (I.e. the content delivery network [CDN] ChinaCache–but they’ve already realized that streamlined edge-point nodes are a requirement to ensure quality experience for high bandwidth services (music, video, etc.)
12. Mobile “gadgets” have a higher & earlier penetration certainly in the large urban areas than, for example, in the US.

These are great insights considering we were communicating in blocks of 140 characters!

Thanks again Bundini, for following the tour as a virtual participant!

Post from: CN Reviews

China 2.0 Tour: Jeff Bundy’s feedback

Michael Butcher

Michael Butcher dispels a few misconceptions.  He speaks of needing to understand the historical context and the shadow of this tumultuous recent past on the psyche of the government and the Chinese people.  He strikes against the misguided a-historicism carried by most Western critics of China today.  He also talks of the sense of freedom and opportunity, to contrast the popular view that the Chinese people are under the tight control of a repressive regime.  Learning:  Some understanding of modern Chinese history is helpful to understanding why China is the way it is.

Robert Scoble

Robert Scoble highlights a few other wrong and dated ideas on China.  First, according to Scoble, the idea that China is just a country of copiers/cloners is over.  Second, “Americans are being fed only the negative stories about China and that is lulling them into complacency.”  This point of view is in stark contrast to the firestorm of criticism that Robert unleashed on FriendFeed on the 3 day mourning period after the Sichuan Earthquake.  Robert’s attendance at CNBloggerCon was well received and I was impressed by his desire to learn.  Learning:  China is rapidly becoming an innovator.  Western media’s focus on attention-grabbing negative stories about China is dangerous to our economic health in the West.

Shel Israel

Shel Israel addressed the issue of censorship in China and concluded that “censorship can be a major hemorrhoid to the China tech community, but it is not the Orwellian horror that so many Westerners seem to think it is.”  Shel concludes that the scale of social media in China is too large for a low-tech government bureaucracy to repress.  This is not to say that house arrests don’t happen, servers don’t get unplugged, and blogs don’t get blocked. (See Rebecca MacKinnon’s post on “Getting Beyond Iron Curtain 2.0″ for a richer view on Internet censorship in China)  Shel also highlights what I’ve heard from many Chinese people over and over again.  Things are getting better.  The government, despite its corruption and obsession with control, has delivered growth and opportunity to millions of people.  Learning:  The world has got to get beyond the view of China as a totalitarian state with complete information control.  It is instead (in Ted Koppel’s words) an authoritarian state barely in control of its people.

Ernst-Jan Pfauth

Ernst-Jan Pfauth of The Next Web captured perfectly the frustrations of those who have a foot in both China and the West–that most Western observers paint a black and white picture of China that lacks the nuanced grays required to truly explain the dynamics in China.  He then applies this toward helping the Western Web 2.0 audience know that portals and bulletin boards (BBS) are alive and well in China.  Learning:  Nuance is the enemy of a easily packaged story that satisfies editors, advertisers, and the Western public back home.  Good journalists will fight hard to get across this nuance in an attempt to better equip us for the complex world we live in.

I hope we transformed a few people’s thoughts on China, and that for at least a few, there is interest in digging deeper.  That was our original goal. It is vitally important, especially in rough times, that the Western public gain a richer and more three-dimensional view of China.  We need this view to influence our political leaders and the policies they adopt.  We need this view to remain economically competitive and to be successful in the face of globalization.  And we need this deeper understanding to share our best values and virtues with the world, in an effective way that helps us to jointly, and collaboratively, build the future that we want to live in.

George and Christine, we did a good thing.  And my appreciation also goes to the extended team of Brian Eng, Markus Gruber, and Min Guo.

I’m also grateful to the bridge bloggers who helped engage in great dialogue for this tour.  I confess I was a bit tired of the China 101 discussion myself toward the end of the tour and wanted to get away to dig a little deeper myself!  All the more reason why I’m appreciative of the service of the tireless bridge bloggers/analysts who contributed (and I’m sure I missed people):  Richard Burger, Tangos Chan, Paul Denlinger, David Feng, Benjamin Joffe, Kaiser Kuo, Andrew Lih, Gang Lu, Ryan MacLaughlin, William Moss, Adam Schokora, Kenneth Tan, David Wolf, Frank Yu.  CN Reviews Edict:  Add these blogs to you RSS reader right now!!

Post from: CN Reviews

China 2.0 Tour: We Planted Seeds of Deeper Understanding

1.  Please introduce yourself in a few brief sentences.  Who are you, what do you do, and what are you passionate about?

Bart: Thank you for your interest.  Since I don’t match the average profile of the China 2.0 tour participant, it’s indeed a good idea to share some background information about myself.  As Systems Engineer at ExxonMobil, I provide IT support for offices, manufacturing sites and refineries in the Benelux Area (Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg). Next to my daytime job, I’m a freelance photographer (www.bart.la) and marketer for small and medium sized companies.  I’m fascinated by internet marketing and social media, addicted to travel and can often be found in the gym.

Links:

• My Twitter: www.twitter.com/fotograaf
• My Blog: www.bart.la/blog

2.  Why did you decide to join the China 2.0 Tour?

In November 2007 I moved from Brussels to Kuala Lumpur for a six month assignment at ExxonMobil Malaysia.  It was my first introduction to Asia and I had no idea what to expect.  During this period, I traveled extensively in Asia and visited the Tier 1 cities in China.  I was really impressed by the scale and speed of the urban development projects in cities like Shanghai and Beijing.  By reading blogs and books about China, I started to discover a new world of opportunity.  Last October, when Christine Lu was tweeting from HYSTA I asked her about future China Business conferences, she suggested me to join the China 2.0 tour.

3.  What do you hope to learn?  What are the questions you want to ask, or topics you want to discuss?  or in your case, photographic subjects you want to see?

The China 2.0 tour should offer me a first introduction to business in China.  [I want to] learn from young entrepreneurs how they identified opportunities, which challenges and difficulties they encountered building a venture in China.  I see my participation in the tour as a preparation for the economic power shift from the West to the East.  I’m convinced an in-depth knowledge about the Chinese market will be a valuable asset for my future career.

I can’t wait until Bart takes out his camera so I can watch a pro at work, and then I can put my camera away!

Post from: CN Reviews

China 2.0 Tour profile: Bart Lapers

I’m a Dutch Problogger!  Preaching [and evangelizing] blogging is basically what I do all day. I do this not just by blogging for The Next Web, Spotlight Effect, or Dutchproblogger.com – but also by organizing BLOG08 (an international blog conference in Amsterdam with Pete Cashmore, Loren Feldman and Hugh MacLeod). I’m 22 years old, and live in Amsterdam with my girlfriend. In 2007 I covered news at the United Nations HQ in New York. Yet the one-way medium [nature of mainstream media] didn’t satisfy me.

Ernst-Jan on the far left of this picture:

Photo courtesy of CN Reviews.  Feel free to use.  Credit as shown.

Links:

• Twitter:  http://twitter.com/dutchproblogger
• http://dutchproblogger.com/
• http://thenextweb.org/
• http://www.spotlighteffect.nl/
• http://www.linkedin.com/in/ernstjanpfauth

2.  Why did you decide to join the China 2.0 Tour?

I’ve written quite a bit about China and its internet market. I’m not alone in this.  It seems like the whole world is focused on the success of China and how it’s different from the western world. So I figured the best thing to is to see it with my own eyes. Then the guys from Web2Asia mailed me about China 2.0, and it all came together perfectly.

3.  What do you hope to learn?  What are the questions you want to ask, or topics you want to discuss?

I’ve written a post entitled “Facebook is doomed to die and other East Asian misunderstandings” which is about the cultural differences between China and the western world in March. I’d love to see them with my own eyes and think of ways to benefit from them.

(By the way, this post is really good and includes insights from Markus Fuhrmann, of Web2Asia.)

4.  What people are you most interested in meeting with?

Alone from the other participants I’d also love to meet Thijs Jacobs (http://twitter.com/thijsjacobs), a Dutch entrepreneur who now makes a career in China. I also want to meet Chinese bloggers and talk about how we both report and what challenges we face.

Post from: CN Reviews

China 2.0 Tour profile: Ernst-Jan Pfauth

1.  Please introduce yourself in a few brief sentences.  Who are you, what do you do, and what are you passionate about?

Mike: As a professional journalist, editor and blogger I have been covering the Internet industry formally since 1996. How I have done that has changed from print magazines and newspapers, to web sites and today encompasses social media outlets for content like Twitter and YouTube. During all that time I’ve been passionate about pushing the envelope of what online can do, as well as fascinated by the people that are creating this brave new world.

• You can read more about Mike at: http://uk.techcrunch.com/about
• Mike’s personal blog is at: http://mbites.com

2.  Why did you decide to join the China 2.0 Tour?

Mike: It seemed like a once in a lifetime opportunity to not only learn more about what China’s role will be in this new “digital industrial revolution” but also to meet with many bloggers and commentators I admire.

3.  Why is TechCrunch UK interested?

Mike: It’s clear we’re living in a globalized world now and the UK and European tech companies I talk to on a daily basis are as interested in the emerging superpower that is China as much as anyone else on the planet is. If I can help forge some ties between the UK and Chinese tech companies that will be a good goal for my trip.

4.  Why are you personally interested?

Mike: Well, who can fail to be interested in what is happening in China at the moment. Apart from anything else this is a richly diverse country with an ancient history and rapidly modernizing society. To witness that at first hand would be a privilege for anyone.

5.  What do you hope to learn?

Mike: I hope to learn more about how tech startups operate and get going in China and about what innovations they are coming up with.

6.  What people are you most interested in meeting with?

Mike: I guess I’d like to get under the skin of the entrepreneurs I meet there and contrast them with European and US people I meet in the same vein.   Things I’d like to find out about the scene [in China] is how “Chinese” it is or whether Chinese internet companies plan to expand beyond their home base.

Looking forward to the rest of the week.  For more incriminating photos of Mike, follow my Flickr photostream!

Post from: CN Reviews

China 2.0 Tour profile: Mike Butcher of TechCrunch UK

And so the journey begins! Shel flew into Beijing Capital International Airport yesterday afternoon and CN Reviews blogger David Feng (also of TechBlog86 and Beijingology fame) went to the airport to pick him up.  David’s reflections on that meet-up are posted here.

Today, Winser Zhao and I will be touring around Beijing with Shel, and plan to go to the Great Wall, some “hidden” aspects of Beijing, and then later on will be hosting a Sichaun dinner to enjoy a Bian Lian Face Changing performance. Turns out the group became a bunch of bloggers/Twitterers:  Jens Threanhart (Twitter: jensthreanhart), Shel Israel (Twitter: shelisrael), Yen Lee (Twitter: yenlee), David Feng (Twitter:DavidFeng), Winser Zhao (Twitter: winserzhao) and myself (Twitter: elliottng).

So why is Shel coming to China?

Shel has been researching, reading and learning, and shared his thoughts in an earlier blog post on his Global Neighbourhoods China on why he’s excited to come to China.   He also did a nice interview with Christine Lu, of The China Business Network.  Here’s what I learned about Shel in these two pieces:

• Shel recognizes he has a low base of knowledge about China and comes with curiosity and an open mind.  Some bloggers are too narcissistic to listen and learn.  Not Shel.
• Shel also shared a sentiment that I feel strongly in agreement with: “The more I study [about China] the less I’m sure I know.
• There is a great deal of interdependence in the world today between China and the US.  However, many people in the US (and in China as well) have a great deal of misunderstanding and even distrust for the others.
• People’s knowledge of China is often dated.  Anyway, China is so diverse its hard to generalize.
• Shel’s passion is social media and technology and has a special heart for young, bright Chinese people that have a new way to do something to change the world.

Follow up Questions and Answers I had with Shel

I followed up with some Q&A over email and I thought I’d share this with you on CN Reviews:

1.  You mentioned that you’ve done a bit of research prior to coming.  What are the resources that you’d recommend to other people who are following the tour from the US or just interested in learning more about China?  It can be books, or blogs, or mainstream media.

Shel: I spent about 30 minutes a day, reading English language blogs from people in China. Some are Chinese. Some are ex-pats, and some were travelers. I learned a wealth of interested and valuable things from a great many people. I would hesitate–as I always do–to recommend specific blogs to follow. I think people should explore for themselves. There’s a wealth of stuff available and the selection is growing. If you are interested, you’ll find a wealth of stuff. Just join the conversation.

I’ve read quite a few books on China. The two that I enjoyed the most were Nixon and Mao by Margaret MacMillan and Paul Theroux’s Riding the Iron Rooster by Train through China, which I am now rereading. The first book describe China of 40 years ago and the 2nd describes it from 20 yrs ago. What an incredible change. I imaging what I see will be as different from 1988, as Theroux’s book was from the Mao era. Nixon & Mao fascinate me because history has been rightfully unkind to both of them. Yet what they did in 1972 changed the world and paved the way for the Beijing Olympics and actually my visit.

2.  What are some of the specific questions that you want to ask bloggers in China?

I am coming with an open mind and a great deal of curiosity–but no specific questions. China bloggers are a special community to me. We can have a conversation without the expense and difficulty of face-to-face meetings, without structured tours and the permission of authorities. We can do it every day. Yes, in a great many cases, language is still a barrier. But solutions to that are getting closer through tech fixes.

3.  What are some of the specific questions that you want to ask entrepreneurs in China?

Again. I bring curiosity, but no agenda. I am curious to know what is important to Chinese entrepreneurs. I’m curious to see what can be disruptive to existing technology. I’d like to know what companies are using social media to conduct business. More than that, because TCBN [and Web2Asia, CN Reviews, Edelman Digital] has made this amazing China 2.0 tour possible. I just want to listen and learn. I will meet many people. I’m sure sometimes we will discover little common interest, which is still fine. Other times, I hope real and lasting friendships will form. And maybe once or twice, real magic will happen in our conversations. That’s what happened when I met Isaac Mao in San Francisco a couple of years back.

Lets get the party started!  Off to the Great Wall with Shel in 45 minutes!

Post from: CN Reviews

China 2.0 Tour profile: Shel Israel

Photo of 798 Dashanzi District, courtesy Melissa Sconyers

During the year I spent in China in 2005-2006, I learned that what I admire most about the humble, hard-working Chinese people is their determination and dedication to problem-solving.
The Chinese people are exceptionally creative, especially when faced with extraordinary circumstances that we, as Americans, don’t have, probably don’t know about, and perhaps can’t even imagine.  However, unfortunately, many people can’t look past reactionary news reports of rampant piracy to accurately observe the real innovation that is happening in technology and business there.  Through my participation on the upcoming China 2.0 tour, I invite you to look beyond.
I’m interested in learning about the problems that people in China are solving right now, and even more interested in the problems they are working to solve.  I want to know what these problems are.  And I want you to know what they are.  Because then, and only then, can we all begin to see new possibilities for solutions and identify opportunities to have our two great countries work together to solve them.
Follow along with me on the China 2.0 tour through my blog at http://gee.ky/ and via Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/girk/

Photo of Beiwai friend, courtesy Melissa Sconyers

Post from: CN Reviews

Melissa Sconyers: China 2.0 Tour Goals

I’m pleased to start with Sheila Scarborough.  Sheila is one of the top travel bloggers in the US and is sponsored by the BootsNAll network, an exceptional independent travel community and blog platform that CN Reviews blogger Min Guo also blogs on.  In my day job hawking hotels and attractions at UpTake, I am a Sheila fanboy and follower.  Here’s my email interview with Sheila:

1.  Please introduce yourself in a few brief sentences.  Who are you, what do you do, and what are you passionate about?  (also include links, and a link to a photo you would like to include)

I’m a full-time freelance writer specializing in travel, NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) automobile drag racing and Web 2.0/social media. In addition to writing, I do some consulting work and teach entry-level Web 2.0 workshops with Every Dot Connects. After many years serving aboard US Navy ships, I find that continuous movement is very normal to me.  I feel strongly that I am an ambassador for my country, and that across the world we have much more in common than we have differences.

• Here’s how to find Sheila’s work online:
• Author Web site
• Twitter: @SheilaS
• I teach social media workshops with Every Dot Connects
• BootsnAll Family Travel Logue
• Perceptive Travel blog
• NHRA drag racing on Fast Machines

2.  Why did you decide to join the China 2.0 Tour?

I like the concept of one-on-one and small group interaction; it may surprise people to learn that I’m really rather introverted. :)  I am not intimidated by being in a very different country, but since I’ve lived in Asia (Japan) I know that with only a short time in China, it will be very helpful to have experienced people guiding my visit who also speak the language.
Such a short tour will mean a lot of information overload and only scratching the surface of understanding the issues and people, but nothing beats “boots on the ground” for a more complete understanding of a country.

3.  What do you hope to learn?  What are the questions you want to ask, or topics you want to discuss?

• Travel –
  • Is there an “average” Chinese traveler?
  • What are four or five favorite/popular destinations both within China and outside?
  • How do the Chinese plan their trips – do they use travel agents, do they research on the Web and if so, on which sites (Baidu? Ctrip?)
  • Are there Chinese hotel chains that are popular but less well known outside China (like Ibis in Europe?)
  • I’d like to learn more about Chinacars as an equivalent to AAA in the U.S. – how the Chinese view the “road trip” and other elements of a car-centric culture.
  • Is there a “community-centric” point of view in China that impacts how travel is conducted (are tour groups popular, is the lone backpacker unusual.)  What is the Chinese equivalent to Lonely Planet and BootsnAll (or is there one?)
• The Web –  I am interested in the different ways that Chinese people use the Web, including small details like how Chinese keyboards work and how ideas are expressed in Chinese. The small details are often very instructive. The broad picture is also interesting (ecommerce, social media development) and I want to know more about mobile applications in China.
• Drag racing –  I know this is an obscure topic for most, but is there any automobile racing, including what we call “street racing” (illegal in the US, that’s how NHRA was started, to get drag racing into a safe, measured environment.) If there is time, I’d like to visit the Formula 1 track in Shanghai.

I observe the little things, because they usually lead me to the big things, culturally. Much of my visit, I’ll simply be paying attention to what I see.

I look forward to traveling with Sheila and getting to know her better.  I already know I will learn a lot from watching how she investigates the local culture to deeper her understanding of China and the World.  Thanks Sheila!!

Post from: CN Reviews

China 2.0 Tour profile: Sheila Scarborough

UPDATE ON ELLIOTT

I’ve been out of touch with so many of my friends in China.  First of all, I apologize!  I became a co-founder of and investor in UpTake in March 2007 when I joined forces with my good friend Yen Lee, who had already started working on UpTake for 4-5 months with my other co-founder Gene McKenna.  UpTake announced its $4 million Series A led by Shasta Ventures in late 2007, and recently closed over $10 million including a Series B led by Trinity Ventures.  UpTake has a small Beijing based R&D operation, and I try to use that to come up with excuses to come to China, often on my own dime.  The startup has sucked up all of my focus! (more detailed VisualCV bio if you want more details on me.)

Our traffic is growing well and so far our growth seems completely uncorrelated to the Dow!   However, the global financial meltdown and VC advice on how to survive nuclear winter will cause us to invest less aggressively and to single-mindedly focused on getting to cashflow breakeven.  For planning purposes, we are assuming that the Silicon Valley VC funding window is closed for the next 24 months and the $10 mm is all we’re ever going to get.

This is only my third trip to China this year, and I haven’t been to China since May.  This year I intentionally stayed away during the Olympics but then kicked myself for not being there.  It infuriates me to even think about it right now.  Unfortunately, UpTake is currently focused on North American vacations, hotels, lodging, attractions, beaches and restaurants.

CN Reviews has been a great outlet for my interest in “the biggest story of our time.”  I identify with Kaiser Kuo’s sentiment expressed in TIME magazine:  “It is a horrible place to live, but I wouldn’t be anywhere else on the planet…You get addicted to the excitement, speed and change. There’s nowhere else like it.”  What I would observe is that I cannot think of a single person I have met in China that isn’t doing at least 1 interesting thing, and usually its more like 2-3 things.  If it were not for the great life my wife and kids have in Silicon Valley, I’d be living in China.

MY ITINERARY

Beijing – November 5 – 12

I’ll be mostly tied up with UpTake related work until the morning of Saturday 11/8.

Saturday 11/8 – Beijing Tour with Winser Zhao of SinoHotelReservation

Winser Zhao of SinoHotelReservation is leading Yen Lee and I on a daylong excursion that starts with the Great Wall (Mutianyu) and returns to see “off the beaten path” or “hidden” Beijing.  It looks like Shel Israel (@shelisrael) will be in town that day too, and may be joining us to see some of the sights.  If any of the other China 2.0 Tour bloggers are in town, they are also invited to this private tour.

YOU’RE INVITED: SATURDAY 11/8 – BIAN LIAN Dinner, location TBD

Winser Zhao (@winserzhao) and I (@elliottng) will be hosting a meet up dinner Saturday night.   Here’s our current thinking on the event:

• Restaurant: Baguobuyi（巴国布衣地安门店)
• Entertainment: Traditional Bian Lian (变脸) “Face Changing” show.
• Date: Saturday 11/8
• Time: arrive around 7:00 pm
• Cost: around RMB80-100

I’ll be inviting and emailing my Beijing based friends to dine with us, and direct them to CN Reviews for the details of this event.  If any Beijing based CN Reviews readers want to join, drop a comment with your email and I’ll get back to you, or send me a Tweet on my Twitter account.

Sunday 11/9 – China 2.0 Tour commences!

I’m excited to be part of the China 2.0 Tour, sponsored by Edelman Digital Media China.  The concept of the tour was mine and Christine Lu’s, but Christine and Janet Carmosky of The China Business Network; and Markus Gruber and George Godula of Web2Asia have run with it and I expect it to be a great success.  It is sponsored by Adam Schokora (@ajschokora on Twitter) of Edelman Digital Media China.  A delegation of bloggers from the UK, the Netherlands, and the United States, will be meeting with companies, entrepreneurs, bloggers, and investors to learn more about China and share China’s many stories with our respective readers. I’ll be sharing more of the agenda when I learn more.  As always, things in China always come together at the last minute!

YOU’RE INVITED: TUESDAY 11/11 – BEIJING 2.0 COCKTAIL

The China 2.0 Tour is hosting a cocktail party on Tuesday.  Sign up here to RSVP in advance.

• Bar/Restaurant:  TBD, most likely near Sanlitun
• Date: Tuesday 11/11
• Time: 7:30
• Cost:  Early Bird RSVP: RMB 150.  At the door: RMB200

Shanghai – November 13-14

We’ll be moving on to Shanghai to continue the China 2.0 Tour.  Again, more details to come as I get them.

YOU’RE INVITED: THURSDAY 11/13 – SHANGHAI 2.0 COCKTAIL

The China 2.0 Tour is then hosting a cocktail party on Thursday in Shanghai.  Some pretty sexy venues are being discussed but it hasn’t been finalized yet.  But its definitely happening on Thursday 11/13.

• Bar/Restaurant:  TBD, most likely in central Jing’an or Huaihai Central Rd.
• Date: Thursday 11/13
• Time: TBD
• Cost:  TBD

Guangzhou – November 15-17

David Feng and I are then flying to Guangzhou the night of 11/14.  About half of the China 2.0 Tour will continue in Shanghai for more meetings, networking, and parties with Christine Lu.

The other half of the Tour will come down to Guangzhou early morning of 11/15.  We’ll be staying in the Tianhe District of Guangzhou.  We will be attending CNBloggerCon in Guangzhou, which is probably the most exciting blogger meetup in China of the year.  CN Reviews is an official sponsor of the conference, and I’ll be blogging about what we plan on doing.  But for now, you can learn more about the conference at Tangos Chan’s China Web 2.0 Review blog.

There might be a chance to have dinner Sunday 11/16 in Guangzhou if anyone will be around.

Hong Kong – November 17-18

Morning of 11/17, I’ll be taking the direct train from Guangzhou to Hong Kong.  I have some banking and administrative matters to attend to, but mostly its a chance to catch up with some old friends (including a friend and mentor from my childhood church) and my cousins in Hong Kong.  I’m sure Hong Kong will feel quiet and peaceful in comparison!  And then back to the States.

It’s going to be a great trip.  I only hope there is enough time for me to blog and get some insights and thoughts out there for CN Reviews readers.

More to come!

Post from: CN Reviews

Elliott Ng’s China Itinerary for November 2008