I arrived in China for the first time yesterday, Still a little jet lagged so not the best post I’ll ever write but here’s the story so far .

I was met at Shanghai’s Pudong airport by Shak’s driver and rapidly led to his car and then driven  to the Hyatt on the Bund in what can only be described as an “enlightening” style reminiscent of the opening scenes of The Transporter.

In Shanghai two things have become apparent very quickly, people are the main commodity and everyone drives like they live in a video game so they make gaps where there are none and use every lane to gain any forward movement however minuscule and seem to lack an understanding of the concept of fear, and if that’s not bad enough people who seem to place no value on their lives actually ride electric bikes locally known as “silent death” due to their knack of regularly killing pedestrian’s who listen but don’t look before crossing so never see the bike doing 30mph in full black ops silent stealth mode.

I checked in and was promptly upgraded to a king room with a river view thanks yet again to Shak, simply the world’s best networker ! and as if that wasn’t enough looking after he came over around midday and took me out for a pizza where the fact that the people are China’s main commodity was soon evident yet again as the pizza express had about 15 tables and 5 staff waiting to attend to our every whim, the food was good and service was excellent, (later in the evening we ate at the Hyatt’s restaurant where no less than 7 chef’s were in the kitchen cooking for all of about 15 people !)

In the afternoon we went to a bathhouse to relax in the hot pools and get a superb 90 minute deep tissue massage. The place was huge and run with super efficiency and apparently has around 100 staff (manpower rules !) which would be totally unfeasible in the UK as the wage bill alone would be over £100k per month yet in Shanghai it’s probably more like £10k for all those staff as £100 per month is a fairly good wage here by the sounds of it for the average man in the street.

We got a taxi back which really was so crazy I couldn’t help laughing, it’s the closest I’ve ever been to experiencing how life as a bank robber’s getaway driver would be which made me realise Shak’s driver was actually very calm and considerate by Shanghai standards.

From my very limited time here I already get the feeling that the western based industries that have allowed workers to get greedy, lazy and complacent have much to fear from the sleeping tiger that is China as soon as the Chinese manage to align and apply their awe inspiring workforce capabilities to the West’s needs.

The traditional image we’ve been fed of thousands of bicycles slowly meandering down wide streets is a day dream in Shanghai, it’s very chaotic vibrant city with a hustle and bustle I’ve not seen elsewhere, so much is happening and there’s a zing in the air yet it’s not as chic and ostentatious as Dubai or as organised as New York but you do get the feeling there’s some serious cash at play here and it’s all leading towards something big that will have a global effect.

Once China manages to find viable ways of applying it’s strengths (manpower, can do attitude, infrastructure, etc.) to offer solutions to our European problems then I can see some places struggling, i.e. anywhere highly unionised or over regulated with typical western inflexibility as well as the traditional outsourcing centres such as India, Pakistan etc. as the infrastructure here seems to be progressing at a rapid pace.

I’m not sure how the Internet marketing aspect will develop here as credit card paranoia seems rife, Internet penetration isn’t that high as a percentage of population at around 12.3 % but that’s still around 120 million people with access !! yet universally accepted companies like Expedia etc. aren’t as prominent here as on the ground solutions provide a better and more trusted service so it’ll be interesting to see how China opens it’s arms to the West to cater for it’s outsourceable manufacturing and labour intensive production needs as a first step.

Happy New Year wishes to everyone, I hope 2008 is your best year yet (with some exceptions such as G$$gle, lazy brand bidders, G$$gle, big agencies that add no value, G$$gle, Miva, G$$gle