Dr. Mark Nan Tu

Humen Battery, where the Opium War started and China opens its door in 1850s. Now a busy port for oceanliners carry Chinese exports.

Reading last week

I lived in the America where leisure travel means driving. As the Chevy

A bulletin in Macau advertising Sauna service

I recently signed a rental contract. Besides signing with my signature, I was asked to inprint my finger print.

Finger print as a signature has a long history in China. In ancient times, many people are illiterate and thus unable to the sign their names. The finger print becomes the replacement for signature. In Chinese, there is a word called QianZi HuaYa. It means sign with your finger print (rather than your signature).

The finger print as signature was almost distinct after 1949. Upon recently, we see a revival of using finger print to sign documents such as the real estate purchases and the leasing agreements. The finger print signature offers better identification and is easy to use (although a bit messy). Most importantly, it was a common practice in China for thousands of years.

Finger print as signature was rather rare in western world. In 1882, Gilbert Thompson of the U.S. Geological Survey in New Mexico, used his own thumb print on a document to prevent forgery. This is the first known use of fingerprints in the United States. However, usingfigure print as a replacement of signature has never been popular in the western countries.

The finger print does offer more security than the signature. The signatures are easily forged .However, the finger print is unique for each person. Through trained eyes, the finger print offers more security than the signature.

The finger print as an identification has been used in many security products. I use the technology daily as my Lenove (IBM) notebook computer and our office all use finger print lock system.

National Day holiday in China is 7 days. Hundreds of millions of Chinese simultaneously take on the road which creates the biggest jam for the transportation network, bus stations, train stations, airports, bike routes and even walkways. The last day of the 7 day holiday is the most traveled. I happened to be one of the people that contributed to the congestion in that day.

I was traveling from ShenZhen to GuangZhou. I took the bus and arrived at the GuangZhou bus station at around 4 pm. There were so much people and I had to wait 20 minutes patiently in line for the taxi.

As soon as I got in front of the taxi, a man and a woman came up from the other direction and wanted to get into my taxi. They did not wait in line. I was very angry. So I shouted to the man: Hey, get in line. This is my taxi. The man shout back in Chinese: Fxxk u, I have never waited in line in my life. The woman wanted to open the door. I was furious and hold the door. The man was continuously yelling and threatening to hit me with his fist.

I have heard a lot about the problems in the GuangZhou bus station. Many of my friends warmed me of not getting into any trouble in that place. Judging from his size and strength, I can easily take on him. I was not going to back down.

What happened next shocked me.

A security guard jumped over the fence with a swift move punched the guy right in the face with two other security guards followed. The man started to yell back but he was not going to fight rather just created a lot of noise. Bulking dog never bites. While all the attention was focused on the security guards and the guy, the woman was trying to stop the fight by pushing the security guards back.

The yelling back and forth lasted about 30 seconds and the man took off with the woman. I saw them went to different directions. The woman disappeared quickly and there were a few other women waiting for her at the corner of the street. The man had another man waiting for him also at the street corner. They were continuously yelling and shouting while walked away

When we all thought that the whole episode was over, one of the security guard searched in his pants and shouted: My cell phone is gone. Where is my cell phone?

All of the security guards started to chase the two men. I checked the pockets in my pants: my wallet and the cell phone are still there. Thank god!

A real estate project near the ChaoYang district Beijing

Every time I move into a new city and stay for more than one year, I will study the local real estate market. If I find some good deals, I would purchase it immediately. If I leave the city, I’d put it for rent. I have invested in real estate in the United States and China. I have seen some good returns on these investment.

I was having my dinner today and glanced through a real estate article in a magazine. The article advocates the real estate investment as a retirement fund. It said that in the future, the riches in China are not the internet darlings or technology elite, but 45-60 elders. Because they buy real estate investments when they are young. The appreciation of real estate bring them wealth. I very much support this view. My experiences of real estate investment in the United States and China prove this view is correct. In the United States, I saw many rich people doing business and invest in real estate. In China, those who own real estate as investment have become very wealthy for the past few years. For the next 20 years, those who own many real estate investments particularly in big cities such as Beijing, Shanghai or ShenZhen will become truly rich.

Not long ago, I gave a presentation to our university first year graduate students. The intention is to introduce the research concept to them and prepare them for the graduate studies. I prepared two PPT documents, one for my research, and the other one for the cash slow analysis in the real estate investment and some case studies from my own experience. I asked the students which topic they would want to hear. Almost all the students said that they would want to listen to real estate investment. With the real estate price skyrocketing in major cities, no wonder students see it as a quick way to gain wealth.

I have no doubt that China’s large cities, such as: Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Beijing, Shanghai will see a very long-term appreciation in real estate. A long-term bull market for real estate had begun. 5 years ago, many of the people felt that 5000 Yuan / square meter in expensive for Beijing. 2 years ago, 8,000 Yuan / square meters was high. This year the average price for Beijing apartment is over 12,000 / square meters.

In the macro Chinese economical environment, there is excessive liquidity which resulted in some bubble in both real estate and the stock market. There might be some corrections in real estate price such as those corrections we saw in 2003 and 2004. However, over the long term (10 years), Beijing’s housing prices will continue to rise. In the near future, the average prices of over 30,000RMB / square meters is not an imagination.

In the Chinese media, there is a newly invented word called the

Night shows are getting popular in China in recent years. I have seen some very impressive shows in China in Kunming, Dali, Lijiang, Yangshuo, Hangzhou, Qufu and Beijing. Unlike all the other shows, the Beijing night show is mainly designed for first time international visitors and it is the only show which also offers a Chinese dinner.

I watched the show in August, 2005. The casts and the plots are ok. Photography is allowed. f you have not seen any shows in China and are here in Beijing for a short time, have no interests to learn Chinese culture and history and are really bored at night, you may want to see this show. The lighting effects, the flashy costumes and hundreds of young and beautiful dancers on stage will make the price worth it. Skip the dinner though. Get a real local dinner in any of the thousands restaurants in town.

Time: 19:00-21:30 pm
Address: No.1 Dayabao Hutong Dongcheng District Beijing, PR. China
Tel?8008101282 65272814 65272815

The following pictures were taken in XiaoWuJi, southeast of the 4th ring road, Beijing, December 2002.

The signs say, hot water car wash, wax, professional auto body metal work, paint work, scratch repair, electrical and gas welding, computerized wheel rotation, air and tire mending.

Hand car wash at work, outside cleaning.

Hand car wash at work, detailing

Hand car wash at work, production line process

Chinese are some of the best entrepreneurs in the world. The car wash business demonstrates how such a business is run in China. Beijing has the largest private car ownership in the country. In winter times, when there is snow, the street becomes very dirty and there are car wash services in almost every corner of Beijing.
The car wash took 20 minutes. There are at times 3 workers working on the car in a production line fashion. Each of them has their special tasks. There is a sprayer, a car detailing person and a wiper (who wipes the car dry). While one worker sprayed water on the car, the other team members performed detailing on other cars.
The business was in demand. For the 20 minutes that I spent there, they cleaned 4 cars. There were many cars waiting in line. The operation had 8 workers. The team can wash about 15 cars each hour. Here is a little P&L for this business.
Here are some of the relevant information. The business opens at 6:00am. The morning customers were mostly Taxi drivers. The business closed at 10:00pm. Workers had 15 minutes/each for breakfast, lunch and dinner break. Food was provided by the employer. They clean about 125 cars / day (also confirmed by the workers). Each car owner pays 10 RMB per wash. They also do air, wheel rotation, scratch repair among many others. The business rented a two room store front which cost 600RMB/month. There are 8 employee who are paid at 10RMB/day/person with no other benefit. Food and housing are provided by the employer at 10RMB/day/person. The equipment rental, water and electricity run about 300RMB/month.
Income:
1250 RMB/day (from car wash), 300 RMB/day (from other add on services)
Total income: 1550 RMB/day
Cost:
Employee: 160 RMB/day
Equipment rental, water and electricity: 10 RMB/day
Rental?20RMB/day
Total: 190RMB/day
Net profit: 1360 RMB/day
Profit Margin: 87.7%
The business was closed when I visited Beijing again in May 2003. The city decided to demolish the storefront. A new residential housing project ???? (ShanSuiWenYuan) is underway.

My former boss in Microsoft is returning to the United States after working in Microsoft Research Asia office in Beijing for 2 years. Headquarter in the United States asked him to write a

My friend Peter is a young and energetic guy from Los Angels. Last January, I was in the United States, he brought me to a few dance clubs. He always seemed to get to talk to the best looking girls and had their phone numbers.