Chaaaaina

Just returned from what should become an annual pilgrimage to the holiest of holies - the Canton Fair held in Guangzhou. Have come back in stunned state and have begun to ramble incoherently to all and sundry about China.

I had heard a lot about the progress China was making in infrastructure, industry and all that. But bloody hell was I stunned, shocked and awed to see it with my own eyes. Super-duper roads, shiny new buildings, fancy shopping malls and of course, the trade fair in its gargantuan and all encompassing glory. Just walking around the fair and dealing with the Chinese made me realise these guys mean business - big business...nay, my fine feathered friend-huge business!

In an earlier blog, I was joking about how Indians will rule the world since we seem to export so much of our population to other countries. I changed my mind. Chinese are going to rule the world cos they export everything - not just people.

Of course, some will argue about the fact that cities like Guangzhou are just showpieces, that the rest of China aint so pretty yada yada. But look at India..we dont even have one single showpiece! We dont even have plans to make one. We have tatty roads, crumbling infrastructure, no power, no water. Though of course, we speak better Engrish, but thats only gonna keep the call center jobs here for a short while longer.

The main thing that impressed me was the Chinese work ethic. Workers put in 10 hour days, and work even on holidays. Compare that to our own work ethic where we hardly spend 4 hours a day being productive in most cases (or 20 minutes in my case) and have endless public holidays.

I know Im nervous about the coming Chinese world domination. But all I can say is...they really will have deserved every bit of it.