Tag: China

  • A Life Of Isolation

    It was late November when I arrived in Chengdu, a city whose greyness reminded me more of an overcast London afternoon than anything I had imagined of China. The air hung heavy, swollen with an autumn mist that blurred the edges of the streets, the buildings, even the people hurrying along the wide boulevards. I…

  • Opium

    Scene: A Dimly Lit Room, Somewhere in Southeast China *The year is 1887. The British empire still has a firm grasp on its colonies, and in the Southeast Asian trade networks, opium flows like gold. Inside a luxurious but worn-out room, adorned with Qing dynasty artifacts and British imperial emblems, a British opium trader, *Charles…

  • Grease Monkeys

    Fire it up, because we’re hurtling down a rabbit hole of our own making, faster than a Tijuana donkey on tequila. You think you’re saving a buck by shipping your factory to China, but what you’re really doing is stuffing your golden goose and hoping for mechanically-laid eggs, Shipping your operation overseas is like sucking…

  • The Knowledge Archipielago

    Manufacturing abroad isn’t just about widgets, it’s about serendipity. You, the rational actor, ship your production line to China for efficiency’s sake. But in this world, you’ve just gambled with the Black Swan. Here’s why: In essence, offshoring might be a Faustian bargain. You gain short-term efficiency, but you risk losing the long-term benefits of serendipitous…