Did you celebrate the Chinese (Lunar) New Year last week? Well, you can be sure all 1.4B people here in China did. In fact, this holiday (aka “Spring Festival”) is China’s biggest and most important holiday of the year and dominates the local culture for at least 1 entire month…something like Christmas and New Year’s holidays on steroids! Spring Festival represents the world’s largest migration, with more than 3 Billion passenger…
Read MoreSomewhere in China…
Do you ever feel like the rules keep changing faster than you can keep up?! For me, it’s a matter of first learning the rules in China, then keeping up with the pace of change! As you may have noticed, things have been pretty quiet on this blog lately. Two primary factors: 1.) My main focus has been on Job #1: Language Learning, and 2.) I was trying to decide how…
Read MoreEternal Spring
Cherry blossoms in December?! The Chinese word for “Yunnan” is literally “clouds-south” which means “South of the Clouds”. Yunnan Province is also known throughout China as the land of Eternal Spring. Our introduction to this land of Eternal Spring has included seeing fresh new cherry blossoms alongside the fall color and falling leaves of other trees here in December. Living cross-culturally means living in the midst of many paradoxes, and this…
Read MoreRule #1: Watch Your Step
How comfortable are you with safety risks? Some cultures place a high value on protecting their citizens…from every conceivable safety risk. Other cultures tend to rely more on individual responsibility and self-awareness. We have observed that our local town belongs in the latter category! For example, the university recently removed the man-hole covers for a couple of weeks while performing seasonal maintenance. It was striking to see these pits exposed (night…
Read MorePecan Pie – A New Global Sourcing Challenge?!
What’s your favorite Thanksgiving dessert? One of my personal favorites is Pecan Pie – Texas style. However, as we learned from our language helper last night, it might be a long time before we get Pecan Pie in China. Turns out her dictionary (with tens of thousands of Chinese words) did not even have a word for “pecan”. Our electronic dictionary also failed to find a Chinese word for “pecan”. …
Read MoreDumber than a Dog?!
Imagine discovering your communication skills are below that of a common dog! Well, that’s exactly how I felt recently. The owners of a local dog (off leash) were shouting several commands to their dog who was straying just a bit too far. The dog turned, looked at the owners, and I could just see the wheels turning in the dog’s mind as it considered whether or not to obey. Then,…
Read MoreDoes Sun ever Set on “Chinese” Empire?!
China’s historical investments in energy and natural resources around the globe are fairly well known…and perhaps even well understood. But, their more recent investments abroad in technology, brands and talent are almost surely less understood by Westerners – including some in the business world. Be careful: developing strategies for China’s future by extrapolating its past is not a promising recipe for success. Perspective (and data) from recent Economist article: Click above…
Read MoreLearning ABC’s at 50?
Can you imagine returning to preschool at age 50?! Well, that’s essentially what we’re doing, although with a lot more experience and learning tools than your average preschooler! Seriously, it’s a bit surreal to spend so many hours writing out ABC’s at my age (except in this case it’s a matter of practicing strokes, radicals, and characters the building blocks of Chinese written language). It’s been over 50 years since I…
Read MoreMichelin Challenge Bibendum – 2014 Chengdu, China
OK, I admit it…I needed a “study break” from learning Chinese vocabulary and writing characters! So, I made a quick trip from Dali to Chengdu to attend the 12th Michelin Challenge Bibendum, a global event aimed at bringing together many of the world’s experts in sustainable mobility. Michelin released their Green Paper report yesterday – outlining 5 Global Challenges, 5 Game Changers and 5 Actionable Levers. This week’s Bibendum is focused…
Read MoreHand-Made Noodles!
Have you ever had fresh, hand-made noodles? Have you ever seen them being made?! Well, as much as I’d love to…I can’t offer you a bowl of noodles, but here’s a great video that shows how noodles are made-to-order, on-the-spot in a small street cafe in Dali Old Town. As you watch, I hope you’ll be patient and realize that this is the age-old process of turning a lump of…
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