This guy came shimmying down to my 27th floor window within minutes of my arriving in my hotel in China. One small misstep would send him hurtling to his death. You can see Beijing’s Western business district behind him. A good metaphor for the widening chasm between China’s upper class and the low-paid workers who are creating the wealth.

Posted under Michael's Blog, iHollywood China

A few days  ago, I met a  waitress at  a  Thai restaurant who exemplifies everything that’s right about China’s economy and wrong  about ours.

I’m visiting my  brother in Columbus, Ohio,  and she’s an ethnic Chinese from Indonesia who recently graduated from Ohio State University with a degree in industrial engineering. She’s been looking for a job since last  March with no success.  She’ll  go anywhere in the  country. Nada. Or, as they say in Mandarin, mei-you sheme.

Building a bridge in China

So guess where she’s going? Shanghai. She’ll go to a Chinese language institute to bone up on her language for a few months, then look for a job there. She’ll be snapped up instantly. Probably she’ll end up helping design and manufacture products sold to U.S. consumers. Commissioned by hollowed out giants like Target or Wal-Mart.

Ironically, she’s desperate to stay in the U.S., but can’t stand working at a restaurant any more to survive.

This comes as I read a sobering story about China in today’s New York Times. The lede says it all:

“In past global slowdowns, the United States invariably led the way out, followed by Europe and the rest of the world. But for the first time, the catalyst is coming from China and the rest of Asia, where resurgent economies are helping the still-shaky West recover from the deepest recession since World War II.”

Anyone know of any good jobs for a great industrial engineer? I’m serious.

Posted under Michael's Blog, iHollywood China