Bon voyage!As you are about to discover, the contemporary, the hypermodern, and the past all coexist in contemporary China. That is one of the things I hope you'll discover during your visit. What you think is contemporary may in fact be ancient; what you think is ancient may be a contemporary re-interpretation. Up above is a hutong in Beijing. A hutong is an alley way in a traditional neighborhood. The best restaurants are to be found here (and, these days, a lot of tourists. . . at least in some of the hutong). Hutong are just one way in which the old and the new coexist in Beijing.
Some of what the last presentation in class hinted at reflects this. The power point from the last session is posted to the right (session 4, 5.5 MB file). Please pay attention to the penultimate slide, the one that summarizes the automotive and mobile phone industries. You'll see the importance of government as a channel through which new tech products have been introduced into the wider Chinese market. What role will government play in future innovations? Think about it.
If you have any last-minute questions, I'm here to answer them. I've arrived in Hong Kong, its cloudy and cool and humid and the chicken soup is just the thing for jet-lag.
I'll join you all for the welcome dinner on Sunday. Drink lots of water, get some rest on the flight, and you'll be bright and bushy-tailed for Shanghai.
Well after my first experience in China I am a little disappointed - I actually thought I was in New York City. Why? Well I was accosted by two "fake cabbies" on my way to the real cab stand (had to pull my suitcase away from one, got in the "real cab" (VW circa 1980's), no seatbelts, cabbie had to put water from a Sprite bottle into radiator before we left, speeds ranged from 20 mph to 100 mph during trip, quickly realized that horn was critical part of the controls of the vehicle (like the gas and brake pedals) as it was constantly in use, fare was twice what hotel had estimated on their website, and lastly - cabbie spoke no english!
ReplyDeleteTongue firmly in cheek - O'Grady