I'm Speaking in China. Why this Excites me.

I'm reading Nixon and Mao by Margaret MacMillan. Until the year 2000, Nixon was my least favorite president, but as I read this recounting of his 1972 trip to what we then called "Red China," I cannot help but acknowledge the greatness of what he achieved by being the first US president to set foot in China. It really was a trip that changed the world.

I recall the controversy of the time. Some TV reporter--either Dan Rather or Sam Donaldson--stuck a microphone in front of Henry Kissinger, Nixon's national security adviser who had engineered the trip."Mr. Secretary," he was asked, "what does the United States expected to gain out of this China junket?" The implication was that the trip was nothing but political PR. Many of us suspected that it was no more than a stunt.

Kissinger had hardly been paying the reporter attention as he walked down some hallway of government, but on this question, he stopped. He turned to the reporter and spoke to him in the same tone one might might use to address a slow-learning child. "When we do business with a country, we never go to war against it." he said, glaring for emphasis then walking away.

It was a one-liner that changed my world view. First it taught me that people I do not like or trust, sometimes speak universal truths. It was a statement that made me realize that people I oppose are capable of doing great deeds.

It also gave me a new respect for trade and the human condition. In fact, there can be no freedom without economic freedom and that lesson resounds to me when I look at China today.

But mostly, following Nixon and Kissinger to China, made me incurably curious about the world's most populous country. Over the years, every time I thought I understood China, something new would happen to alter my thinking. China is simply too big, too complex and too rapidly changing for me to presume to have a universal statement about the place that could endure longer than a few weeks.

In 2005, I interviewed China's first blogger, Isaac Mao via email. He was the first person I talked to inside China and his answers contained surprises for me. Last year, I met him face-to-face over a three-hour lunch in San Francisco. We hit it off extremely well. He once repainted my understanding of social media and entrepreneurialism in China. He also let me understand how very rapidly China is changing. In the two years since we had talked, the number of Chinese bloggers had grown from 1.2 million to 25 million. Now, a year later there are nearly 50 million bloggers.

This is where one of those interesting triangulations takes place. In the past few months, through Twitter, then in real life, i have come to know the amazing Christine Lu, who along with Elliot Ng and Janet Carmosky have been working almost nonstop to launch The China Business Network (TCBN), an organization that aspires to be a catalyst in business networking between China and the West.

I have accepted their invitation to go to China to speak as one of the international speakers for CNBloggercon,  in Guangzhou Nov. 16-17. The conference committee is led by my friend Isaac. More than 500 of China's top bloggers are expected to attend and I feel honored to be among the very few international speakers addressing the group.

I'm also going to get the chance to see some of the country. I will be part of a small group of Westerners that TCBN has assembled to visit and talk with Chinese entrepreneurs in Beijing and Shanghai. TCBN has also agreed  to bake in enough time  to see a few of the wonders, such as the Great Wall and Forbidden City. I am certain that this brief journey will whet, but not satisfy, my curiosity. I expect this trip will change me in ways that I cannot yet imagine.

It has taken a good-sized global village to put all the parts of this event together. Edelman Digital is the lead sponsor.  Web2Asia and CNReviews.com are TCBN's China partners. I am grateful to them all.

One closing thought: Current relations between the US and China can be described as bumpy at best. Yet, they are the best they've been in my lifetime. I think they will get much, MUCH better during the lives of my grandchildren. This is indeed because countries whose citizens engage in business with each other come to interdepend on each other and this is a good thing in a great many ways.

Comments

[Hjörtur Smárason]

Congratulations, Shel. I went to China more than a decade ago while studying anthropology. It is truly an amazing country and as you say, so much more complex, deeper and richer than we in the west can ever understand. But we can do our best. The China you will be visiting is probably a very different China from the one I saw. It's changing fast.

I bet you'll have a great trip. Bon voyage.

[WhyMommy]

How exciting! Sounds like a wonderful opportunity for all involved.

[Ike Nassi]

China is fantastic. When I was growing up, I was taught that you coudn't have capitalism without a democracy. No we see this is pure *bs*. China is certainly not a democracy, but it's intensely capitalistic.

BTW: Do you know what the national bird of China is? !

[Ike Nassi]

The national bird of China is the construction crane.

[Elliott Ng]

I'm thrilled to be part of this with you Shel. I feel strongly that a sense of curiosity and a strong helping of humility is needed to really understand what Jim McGregor (ex Dow Jones, JLM Pacific Epoch Chairman) calls "the world's biggest startup and the world's biggest turnaround" story. And I've observed both of those characteristics in our interactions. I've been learning through our discussions as well.

[@ggroovin]

SWEET! Congrats, man, & appreciate your intro story about Kissinger. ;D

[Rakesh K. Mathur]

Nihaa.

Everytime I visit China, I go through a lot of introspection and sheer joy. Words cannot describe the spiritual satisfaction that one can get by visiting gardens of Suzhou, ancient buildings of Nanjing, picking green tea in the fields of Hangzhou and of course, early mornings in the Temple of Heaven in Beijing.

Try to do all this, if you can.

Bon voyage.

[shel israel]

Rakesh,
How very nice to hear from you. It has been a long time.

-S.

[Angus Lau]

Shel,

Welcome to China! Looking forward to seeing and catching up with you in November.

Angus.

[shel israel]

It will be awesome to see you in China, Angus. It's amazing how our worlds triangulate.

[Ontario Emperor]

When I read your third to last paragraph, the first thought that entered my mind was, "Yeah, right. The government will only show Shel the things that they WANT him to see." But then I got to thinking - if the U.S. government hosted a group of visiting Chinese businesspeople in Los Angeles, would Watts and Compton be on the touring agenda?

[shel israel]

Ontario Emperor, The role the Chinese government has in this trip is granting a visa and stamping my passport. The China Business Network is New York-based and has no affiliation with the government. Other than a few star tourist attractions, I am seeing bloggers and entrepreneurs.

[Walter Akana]

Hi Shel,

Great post! Even with family relations with deep connections with China (my in-laws), I think I’ve underappreciated the sweep and magnificence of this land with its complex mix of cultures. The Beijing Olympics, as well as the several of the folks I follow on Twitter, have certainly helped to ramp up my own sense of awe!

Best,
Walter

[Charles]

Congratulations! That sounds like quite an exciting undertaking. I just recently got back from China about three weeks ago. We were teaching English using a bible-based curriculum and sharing the Gospel. It was a very successful missions trip. China is definitely a very interesting culture, and I definitely would not trade the experience for anything. I hope you throughly enjoy the trip!

[Ignacio Escribano]

Shel, the more I read you, the more amazed I´m with your stories, with your way of thinking, and the very intersting and uplifting information you provide in every post. I usually find "crispy" lines or quotations.
This time, I very much liked when you said "that people I do not like or trust, sometimes speak universal truths. It was a statement that made me realize that people I oppose are capable of doing great deeds."
It´s fascinating how opposite values are complementary. Even the truth itself comprises both sides of the same coin.
You´ll probably might be interested in reading Lao Tsu (Tao-te-ching; interpreted by Wang Bi and translated by Richard John Lynn), or his disciple Chuang Tsu (i.e. The inner chapters, by A.C.Graham) before going there.
The Taoist thinking and philosophy still permeats, I believe, the Chinese culture.

I wish you the best in your trip.

By the way, Rakesh Mathur´s recommendation sounded very good. I wouldn´t miss it.

Best from Buenos Aires,

I.

[shel israel]

Ignacio, I just love when my Argentine friend comments on recommendations from my Indian friend about what I should do in China here on Global Neighbourhoods.

[Ignacio Escribano]

And I also love to be part of that "small world chat"... it´s fascinating!

[Des Walsh]

I know from my brief visit last year to Beijing and Shanghai that you will have a marvellous experience. And I am sure people will be glad to learn from you too!

[John Kennedy]

Hi Shel,

Please note that the date of this year's CNBloggerCon in Guangzhou is Nov. 15-16.

Best,

John Kennedy
2008 CNBloggerCon Organizing Committee member