Hangzhou (for the 10th time).

Went to Hangzhou today for work. As always, I have a very nice time there, talking to some very nice people, and found out more about the Chinese market. It never fail to amaze me how unique and interesting the Chinese market can be, whether it’s the commodity market, the IT market, or even the real estate market and stock market. The way the Chinese market operates is just so different from everywhere else that while it may not seem to be very high in technical value to foreigners, a company can still be considered great because it is a leading one in China. It’s time we foreigners wake up our ideas and see Chinese enterprises in a different light.

Was thinking a bit on my way back from Hangzhou. Actually I have been doing quite a bit of thinking even in Hangzhou. I was reading a newspaper article in Hangzhou just now and I think it just struck me so much that my thinking kinda changed immediately. It’s like sometimes you get a massive lot of inspiration from something you see or experience, and I think I got mine just now. That report I read was really inspiring. It wasn’t nothing special – in fact it was just a report about a up-and-coming company and its CEO, but it was enough to give me a very good thinking time. I realised that there are certain things that we should put more of our attention on. I also kinda realised that in life there are a lot of sacrifices to be made, and if I were to become successful these are the sacrifices that I have to make – sometimes a lot of things are just not as important. These things seem important because we try to convince ourselves that they are important, but actually they aren’t at all.

My boss was kinda right when she said that in China we’d gradually learn not to trust people – I would take that with a pinch of salt. I think in China I don’t just not to not trust people easily, I’ve also learned not to believe in things easily. I think it’s just one of the many things to do to protect myself and not get myself hurt.

I think I’ll enjoy my last four months in Shanghai (and Hangzhou). And then before I end my stay in China, I will go to Heilongjiang to ski! If anyone of you happen to drop by China in December and don’t mind going to somewhere cold for a change, let me know. Go skiing would probably be something that I am going to look very much forward to.

Of course I need to clear all the projects I have on my hands before I can even think about leaving Shanghai.

The bottle of beer I had just now is making my heads spin again – probably because I downed it too quickly. But what to do, it’s too hot over here!