Chinawhite

However having spent a total of around 5 months in 2005 in China looking at a number of opportunities for myself and others along with having met 100s of people in this industry in China has led me to make this decision based on the fact that IN MY OPINION the opportunities currently in China simply aren't there right now.

What I see around me is a lot of "Smoke and Mirrors" activity taking place, and I think sooner or later somebody is going to get their fingers burnt, and frankly speaking, I'd rather watch from the sidelines than be putting the fire out.

A lot of western companies are pumping big dollar to be a name in China like they are back home without actually understanding any concept of what the web is about in China, below is an example:

A very large USA based hosting company's head of China has spent a total of 6 days here, and had NO idea about any of the following: Chinese Firewall, Business License for doing business here, Currency control and how online payment works, her only criteria was that she was a semi-hot Asian chick who spoke worse Mandarin than me.

This is just a simple example of the kinda stuff you see here on a daily basis and it's growing day by day.

Without sounding harsh, The INTERNET is closed for business in China unless you happen to be Chinese or have very strong business relationships here.

(hence why the YAHOO and AliBaba deal in my opinion is the perfect scenario, as Yahoo made the aboslute right decision based on current market conditions)

Now I am sure things are moving at a rapid pace, but for the sort of stuff I have been doing over the last 5 years, there really isn't anything worth writing home about.

I could spend all day here writing about This That and the other, but I wont waste your time.

Considering I came here to be a "Man on The Ground in China", that's what I internet to do for the rest of 2006, and below is what/where I am at present.

Mandarin Lessons daily with the new teacher are making all the difference, and I can now hold a basic conversation which is making life so much easier, Language here is the key as it makes ALL the difference from simple daily tasks to dealing with Laoban's (bosses) at big companies, anyone who comes to China and doesn't want to learn Mandarin should be sent straight home.

I am gonna keep watching the Internet stuff here from the sideline, and as I hang out with quite a few of the Chinese VC and Web crowd, this should still allow me to have a grasp on where things are headed.

Still gonna be a "Man on the Ground", just in a different area, and current projects I am working on include:

Sourcing Highest quality Poker Chips for a leading European Online Poker store (Have already managed to cut their purchase cost by 35% and they were actually buying from China before).

Sourcing Corporate Gifts on behalf of 1 of Scandinavia's largest Corporate Gift Suppliers, hey are currently buying 1 container a month and want to increase this by 300%

Setting up a JV with some friends back home to export highest quality Display equipment from China for resale in Europe.

Helping a very large European VITAMIN manufacturer with production facilities find new partners in the West who want to launch their own brand of Products using the same OEM products that major Health Food chains are using.

China is made for guys like me, even though I say it myself, you have to see your opportunity and then go with it, doing the above is giving me a whole new insight into business is actually done in China, rather than the BULLxxxx taking place in VC meetings in Shanghai.

So I hope I can end 2006 with the following:

Good Spoken Mandarin
Monthly paypacket from a number of projects currently incvolved in.
Much better understanding of Business and mentality of the Chinese.

As for the blog, changes round here aswell, getting up at 5am and going to visit factories leaves very little free time, however I will update as and when I can, but NO more JUST Alibab or Baidu stories :)

And if you are interested in sourcing anything from China, feel free to give me a shout, however let me clarify that I only take on about 1 in 10 projects that I am pitched, as most people don't honestly what they want from China and I have NO desire to be their low paid research assistant.

Actually I think I have a good system now, whereby I charge a minimum daily amount for the research into the project, and then this is refundable on first order, this eliminates the timewasters and tyre kickers out there. my email as always is shakil.khan AT gmail.com should you need to make contact.

I will be back in UK from 26th Jan > End of FEB, so may see some of you there.

adios amigos