My China Experience: Observations and Impressions

A Study in Contrasts: ancient and modern; progressive and oppressive

I had a remarkable opportunity recently that has had a profound impact on how I view China, the Chinese people, and investing in Chinese businesses. Through this series of essays, I'd like to share my observations and impressions and offer thoughts about how this experience might affect our investing in the developing world.

Every year, Raymond James takes certain advisors on a trip with senior management; every other year, the trip is international. This year, I was fortunate to be among this group and was pleased to join my colleagues on a ten-day trip, June 4-14, to China, more specifically Beijing, China's capital, and Shanghai, the world's busiest container port. Interestingly, of the 100 top financial advisors, I was one of only eight women (a much under-represented group in the financial services sector).

Capitalists visit a communist county—West meets EastAt first, I found it remarkable that Raymond James, one of the leading independent financial services companies in the U.S., which represents U.S. capital markets and investing, chose to go to a communist country. I embarked on this trip with a host of questions about the country, the government, the culture, the business environment, and my American perceptions of China. To reconcile my impressions of modern Communist China based on what I've read and heard, I knew I had to experience China myself, and I was looking forward to the adventure.

China is the fourth largest country by size (slightly less than the size of the United States), and the largest by population, with more than 1.365 billion people (compared to the U.S.'s 316 million). There are about 160 cities in China with populations of more than one million. Shanghai, in the south, has a population of more than 20 million, while Beijing, in the north, has a population of more than 11 million.

We did something most Chinese people will never be able to do—Dinner at The Great Wall of ChinaWe did something the government usually allows only twice a year. Our hosts took us out about an hour and a half outside of Beijing and we had a formal dinner on the Great Wall of China. Dinner on the Great Wall of China!

For me, this was one of what would be many, many moments of clarity and contrast about the country and the people and culture of China. Beijing is so full of history—so rich in culture. And everyone knows of the Great Wall of China. Yet, you can view a thousand pictures of the Great Wall of China, but until you actually see it, touch it, stand on it, you cannot grasp how absolutely unbelievable it really is. It's a little more than 13,000 miles of wall. It's not one contiguous wall; it's many different walls.

There is so much that amazes me about the Great Wall: the engineering feat of it and the fact that it's thousands of years old and that much of it is still intact. Seeing the Great Wall for the first time was awe-inspiring—I was truly struck. I felt the limitations of photographs. And how different the Great Wall appears as I stood on the ground. I felt in awe of Chinese engineering capabilities and the magnificence of their history. And now I'm a part of their history because I have stepped foot on the Great Wall of China. But, as we sat admiring the rolling hills dotted with watchtowers that stretched for thousands of miles, I had to ask myself. Does the wall represent keeping out invaders, or keeping in the Chinese—perhaps both?

Ancient & Modern Day: inventive brilliance, architectural beautyThe Great Wall of China is an example of the intense contrasts I observed throughout my China experience—contrasts and dichotomies that I witnessed and that became the basis for many of my lasting impressions and feelings.

Here is this Great Wall of China, thousands of years old—a symbol and record of the inventiveness and the engineering brilliance of a culture thousands of years old. Many people have impressions of modern China—of its recent history. But how many people know of its brilliant history? The Chinese take great pride in what is known as the four inventions: the compass, paper, printing, and gunpowder. They also invented eyeglasses, the wheelbarrow, and silk cloth.

At the same time, and I cannot be emphatic enough, the architecture in modern day Beijing and Shanghai is so far advanced beyond the architecture in the United States, it makes New York City look like Podunk, Any State USA. Their architecture is inventive and so beautiful and so futuristic. They have virtually rebuilt Beijing in the past twenty-five years in an effort to move their people and their society into the twenty-first century—into the modern era. And wow! Strictly from an architectural perspective, they have moved leaps and bounds—their architecture, their skyscrapers, their skylines are breathtaking (when you can see them—more about that, later).

The ancient is living with the modern, side by side.

Beijing is a city with more than 3,000 years of recorded history and remarkable evolution. So you've got the China that's rich in ancient history and stories, and you've got the China of the present day and the future: the most ancient and the most modern of China in one country. Three thousand years of a brilliant civilization, and today, a city that beams with modernity, beauty, and youth. The contrasts are striking. The architectural contrasts were just the beginning of many examples of the dichotomies of China.

Building The Dream