It is no accident that China is stealing a march on the rest of the world in many manufacturing sectors. It is not just enough to have a cheap and plentiful supply of factory workers. Nor is it enough to have a currency that isn’t floated. There is a history that explains China’s growing world dominance in producing TVs, radios, engineering tools, home ware, factory machines, office supplies, electrical equipment and so on. A big part of this history is to do with reverse engineering.

The story goes back to the Sino-Soviet Alliance that started shortly after the end of World War Two. Stalin and Mao were initially on good relations and Russia was prepared to be China’s only friend in the world. During this time the Red Army relied on military equipment from Russia. In many sectors Russian technology was used to secure China as a viable state and continuing ally against the capitalist West.

By 1958 it became clear to the leaders of China that the Sino-Soviet Alliance was destined to soon fall apart. It was then that the leaders made the important decision to make every effort to ‘stand alone’. This meant copying Russian machine guns, rockets, fighter jets etc.

By the time the inevitable split between Russia and China occurred in 1960 Chinese engineers were already busy pursuing a policy of reverse engineering or guochanhua. Virtually from scratch engineers figured out methods for taking soviet technology apart and replicating it.

It was a long process, no doubt partly because the Cultural Revolution had destroyed the intelligentsia of the country. Historians studying military parade footage and other sources estimate that the Chinese army did not reach the 1960s levels of soviet military hardware until 1984. This capability included jet fighters and warships.

Now that Chinese engineers and scientists understood reverse engineering Deng Xiao Ping issued directives to import foreign goods to China such as machinery, electronics and other hi-tech products with the aim of copying them.

The rest really is history. In a very short time TVs, washing machines, tape recorders etc. were being made entirely in China without any foreign imports. Chinese factories helped by authorities that turned a blind eye to copyright issues and that actively promoted overseas trade soon started to take a huge market share in several areas of consumer products.

By the early 1990s China could make everything itself bar integrated circuits and engines for passenger carrying aircraft. Computers, helicopters, cars, solar panels, large generators were all well within China’s manufacturing capability.

The gap now between the West and China in terms of technology is very small. In certain fields they lag slightly behind, but in others they are leading the way. China is now the world leader in new engineering patents.

It is perhaps possible in the future that Chinese companies will innovate important new technologies that emerging economies like Indonesia will effectively ‘steal’ through reverse engineering. No doubt they will hypocritically complain about this and initiate legal proceedings.

For the time being the real challenge for the Chinese manufacturing economy that is progressing at a blistering pace thanks to guochanhua is to secure enough natural resources to keep going, and also to keep wages low and costs down.

The People’s Republic of China has kept its name but the unelected government has been busy changing China’s image in the world. It doesn’t make economic sense to be regarded as a hard-line Communist country keen to demonstrate the fairness of a workers’ paradise, and keen to agitate a world revolution.

The cult of personality that surrounded Mao Tse Tung and to a lesser extent Deng Shao Ping has gone. Instead the leadership of the country changes hands every few years. Not democratically, of course, but the illusion of a popular choice and accountability is fostered by this policy. The leaders no longer wear utilitarian worker’s suits; rather they don smart suits and ties.

The ideologues controlling the policy of the country have been replaced by technocrats who are more focused on the bottom line than on following the dictates of Marxism, Stalinism or Maoism. Officially, there is very little mention of communism.

Now there is private ownership. Even foreigners can buy land in China. There is a stock market that is partly opened to the world. The currency is still artificially pegged but this is advantageous in keeping the Yuan cheap enough to keep the all-important exporting sector going.

Not only are the people of China allowed more freedom of movement within China but they are also issued passports. If you go to Khao Lak, Koh Samui, London, Tokyo, Los Angles, Rio de Janeiro and many other places in the world you might be surprised at how many Chinese tourists and business men you will see. While the rest of the world feels the pinch from the 2008 financial meltdown, China has been largely unaffected.

The 1 child policy is still in place, with notable exceptions for a few ethnic minorities and for Han Chinese colonizing Tibet. However, the official line has softened. The posters focus on the benefits of the small family rather than threatening fines, eviction etc. (See Guardian 27th Feb. 2012).

The poster boy of the revolution used to be Lei Feng. He was a soldier who tirelessly worked for the revolution, for the party and for his fellow comrades, Mao famously said, “Learn from Lei Feng.” The new images of Lei Feng show him with a floppy haircut looking far from the man of stone he used to be portrayed as.

While at home economic reforms have been hailed as a form of liberalism, and the creation of a thriving middle class as a good thing, foreign policy has never been more aggressive. The Chinese are stepping up their actions in their claims for disputed waters with Japan and Korea. Recently Chinese fishing boats in a military fashion clashed with Korean coast guards resulting in one Korean official being bludgeoned to death. The Chinese have broken an agreement with Japan and started searching for oil on the very edge of their territorial waters.

The Beijing Olympics saw China exert the full extent of its political power to get people arrested all over Europe who protested China’s occupation of Tibet.

In Taiwan there is a large move away from the independence stance of Chen Shui Bian to the pro-China Ma Ying Jeou.

All over the developing world China are buying friends and natural resources. They are the only country with the funds to do so. America is weakened and distracted by two foolish wars that are simultaneously winding down in what looks like defeat. America needs China’s money as well, and has no stomach to sling mud at its new superpower rival. After all, China has rebranded itself and the old fear of communism just doesn’t seem to work when it comes to China. Besides, compared to North Korea, China seems like a model state.

A frequently asked question is how to study for the GMAT. Well, the most common way is to take a full length course from a major test prep company. A typical syllabus for one of these is seven 3-hour classes, for a total of 21 hours of instruction. The advantage of this is that you have to show up and concentrate for the whole class. Since you’re paying a decent amount of money, you should be motivated to pay attention. The test prep companies hire skilled instructors. Usually the teacher has taken the exam and scored in the ninetieth percentile or higher. Some companies have even higher requirements for their teachers.

Another option is to purchase a GMAT self-study course. Looking around online, one of the options for this is the GMAT Pill. It’s basically a full-length online video course for the GMAT. According to a GMAT Pill review on the web, the length of the whole videos series is 30 hours. To make the most of a program like this, you’d have to really sit down and concentrate. It would be important to block out distractions.

There are other options as well. You could also simply buy a few GMAT prep books. There’s many available. At the minimum, you would want to purchase the Official Guide to the GMAT, as well as the separate Official Guides for the Quant and Verbal sections. These books have hundreds of retired questions. This makes them the best source for learning the question types on the exam.

If you are wondering about the score distribution on the GMAT, the median score is currently 540. In order to get a score in the ninetieth percentile, you would have to score a 700 on the exam.

Chinese immigration to Thailand began as early as the Thirteenth Century. It began  mostly with traders from Fujian and Guangdong arriving in the then capital, Ayutthaya. The King at the time welcomed foreigners as a source of income for his kingdom. By the 1700s Burmese military might was growing and was threatening to over-run Thailand. The Qing Emperor of China sent armies to protect Thailand. These efforts ultimately failed but it had the result of greatly increasing the number of Chinese settling in Thailand. By 1910 720,000 Chinese had moved to Thailand. Today Chinese ancestry is claimed by 15% of Thais.

It is interesting to note that King Rama VI (1910-1925) who himself had Chinese ancestry cleverly realized the need to properly integrate the Chinese community into Thailand. He passed an edict that made all Chinese adopt Thai surnames. It also became compulsory to learn the Thai language at school. That is why today even though many people in Thailand can trace their ancestors back to China they do not speak Chinese or feel like foreigners in a foreign land. Famous Thais with Chinese roots include Rama V, Thailand’s most beloved former King and Thaksin Shinawatra.

Aspects of Chinese culture can be found all over Thailand and in many aspects of Thai life. When I first went to Bangkok I was shocked to find Chinese characters, Hanzi, on so many shop signs all over the city. In China town in Bangkok a few traders still speak the Teochew dialect. Ancestor worship is prevalent in Thailand. There are Chinese temples all over Thailand. The island of Koh Samui appears on Chinese maps dating back to 1687. Both Koh Phangan and Koh Samui retain many of the old Chinese wooden fishermen’s houses. Much of the food that tourists eat in Thailand is actually based on Chinese ideas of cuisine. It was only when a friend on the beautiful Koh Phangan beach of Thong Nai Pan introduced me to Thai cooking that I realized how different it was to the fare offered to tourists in restaurants.

Today Thailand and China have important trading links. They are both members of ASEAN. Thailand is a net exporter of food. South East Asia is the rice bowl of the world. It is also rich in timber and rubber. These are vital for the continued growth of China’s industrial base. At the same time while European and American tourism and investment in Thailand has slowed down due to the 2008 financial crash Chinese tourism to Thailand has increased. In places like Koh Samui, Phuket and Koh Phangan the number of Chinese visitors is increasing year upon year.

The Thais are rightly proud of their independence and their culture. This culture includes Chinese culture and people of Chinese ancestry. It is very much a success story that shows how one culture can enrich another.

In the developed world people spend 90% of their lives indoors. This is a shocking fact. It is also a fact that points to the need for a code of design for buildings that is environmentally friendly. Such a code has been developed by LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). LEED was set up the US Green Building Council. It identifies 5 areas by which to assess the ‘greenness’ of a building. These 5 metrics are also the keystones of green interior design. They are:

1)    CO2 Reduction
2)    Water conservation
3)    Husbandry of natural resources
4)    Energy efficiency
5)    Improved indoor air quality

Carbon Reduction

Only a few skeptics hold out against the overwhelming evidence that carbon levels in the atmosphere are increasing because of (but not exclusively) human industry. This increase is causing climate change, increased species extinction rates and threatens to destroy the quality of life for future generations.

It is necessary to look at the carbon history of the materials used in construction: the carbon released in mining, in transport and in manufacture. Methods to reduce the carbon footprint of a building include recycling, using local materials and improving the energy efficiency of a building

Water Conservation

The world population has hit 7 billion. Fresh water makes up less than 1% of the total water on the planet. Already 66% of water use goes on agriculture. At present rates water demand will soon outstrip supply.

To reduce water consumption in a home it is imperative to instill better habits in people. It is also vital to install low flow showers and faucet aerators. It is also important to collect rain water.

Husbandry of Natural Resources

The world is not limitless. At the present rate of deforestation all the forests in the world will disappear in 40 years. Already fossil fuel supplies are running out and these shortages are leading energy companies to take more risks in extraction with the inevitable polluting catastrophes that result. The alternative of nuclear energy has perhaps the worst power to pollute and reduce biological life spans. A building construction must be sensitive to these problems. The solutions lie in using renewable resources such as bamboo, coconut, rattan and water hyacinth; and in using clean energy sources such as solar and wind that do not deplete natural resources.

Energy Efficiency

Energy efficiency in the home helps to reduce bills, reduce pollution, reduce C02 emissions and conserve natural resources. Making homes and interiors as energy efficient as possible is an important project. In Northern Europe they have developed the Passive House that through superinsulation and careful design have reduced heating and cooling costs by 90%.

As well as improved insulation important aspects to energy efficiency is avoiding waste by using digital programmable thermostats, Energy Star approved devices and by getting rid of ‘stand by’ in home electronics that drains electricity for no appreciable reason. Using photovoltaic panels is another part of energy efficiency in the home; as are green roofs.

Improved Indoor Air Quality

Human health is just as important as environmental health. It is a saving ethos for the world when humanity fully understands the implications of this idea. Green interior design is very much about replacing materials that give off dangerous volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The discipline is also concerned with using flooring and window treatments that reduce the chances of causing allergic rhinitis attacks. There is a lot we can do to make our interiors healthy places to live.

It is very hard to overestimate the importance of sustainable design and green interior design. If we and our children are going to be happy and prosper in the future these are things we must address now. It is blatantly clear that we cannot shift responsibility to governmental leaders or ‘market forces’. The success of sustainable design will be through a grass roots movement that starts with the people, with the everyman.

The China Study website says:

Even today, as the low-carb craze sweeps the nation, two-thirds of adults are still obese and children are being diagnosed with Type II diabetes, typically an “adult” disease, at an alarming rate. If we’re eating healthier, why are Americans stricken with heart disease as much as we were 30 years ago?

This is a question that’s hard to answer if you’re a meat eater. Since reading this book, I’ve gone from being interested in health and thinking that lean meat and eggs were good for me to changing almost overnight to cutting out all meat, dairy and fish from my diet. You’d be surprised just how easy it can be. I’m now cooking for myself much more often rather than eating out, which in turn is saving me money too. The main reason I do it though is so that I know what’s going into the dishes that I’m making.

The China Study was an academic project undertaken and paid for by Cornell University, the University of Oxford, and the government of China. It started in the 1970s and lasted until the end of the 1980s. As the name suggests, it took place in China. In total the epidemiological study examined the diets, lifestyle and disease characteristics of populations in 65 rural Chinese counties. Then in 1991, the authors – led by T. Colin Campbell published their results which were subsequently turned into The China Study book.

The study has received high praise from both academic and mainstream sources. Jane E. Brody writes in the New York Times:

Eating a lot of protein, especially animal protein, is also linked to chronic disease. Americans consume a third more protein than the Chinese do, and 70 percent of American protein comes from animals, while only 7 percent of Chinese protein does. Those Chinese who eat the most protein, and especially the most animal protein, also have the highest rates of the ”diseases of affluence” like heart disease, cancer and diabetes.

Probably the most well known follower of the proposed whole foods, plant based diet is the former U.S. President, Bill Clinton. After he underwent heart surgery, he completely changed his diet in an effort to reduce the risk factors for future cardiac events. If it’s good enough for Clinton, don’t you think it deserves your full attention?

The Chinese Lion Dog and the Flea

My Shih Tzu, Chan, has had a problem with fleas recently. Being a dog of Chinese descent, I wanted to give traditional Chinese medicine a try, so I began to look into the different options for treatment.

Shih Tzu means “Lion Dog” in Chinese because they were bred to look like lions. In fact they feature in a lot of ancient Chinese art, like the porcelain statue of a Shih Tzu that my mother keeps on her mantlepiece. It’s not quite my cup of tea but I have to admit the quality of the craftsmanship is exceptional.

Dogs and Fleas

It came as a bit of a shock to me when I noticed the first flea on Chan’s body. I always thought of myself as a very diligent pet owner, always keeping up to date with his worming and flea prevention treatments.

But when I saw the flea crawling around on his stomach I realised I’d been too complacent by giving him regular baths and thinking that would take care of any fleas that might be lurking.

If you want to keep the fleas at bay you need to use some proper control methods as prevention.

Natural Dog Flea Treatment

I had experimented with various natural Chinese Medicine treatments in the past for a number of ailments on my dogs, but came to realise that they were of limited use in the treatment of fleas.

Garlic is usually quoted as the best Chinese Medicine treatment for fleas. It does seem to help with, “digestive accumulations”, but against fleas it seems to have almost no effect whatsoever.

Lavender is a good deodorant for a smelly animal and can help to soothe stressed pets, but its use as an insect repellent is vastly exaggerated if you ask me. It did nothing to reduce the flea infestation that Chan was suffering from.

Somebody had mentioned teatree oil to me in the past, too. This had no effect on the number of fleas present on my itchy pooch but did seem to soothe the irritation caused by the bites somewhat.

Best Flea and Tick Treatment for Dogs

After a lot of searching around and asking for advice from the vet, I ended up using a spot on treatment called Frontline for Dogs, which had the problem under control very quickly indeed.

I also used a flea shampoo but my vet has since told me that there was really no need because the Frontline was more than enough to see the fleas off.

I also had to vacuum the whole house, paying special attention to the areas where my dog sleeps. This was to suck up any stray fleas that might have been waiting to re-infest poor Chan after the initial treatment. I also washed his bedding; some people said I should have treated the patio area out back as well but I thought that was overkill and I haven’t noticed any re-infestation problems.

I continue to use regular treatments of Frontline each month and Chan’s itches have become a thing of the past.

So, if your pet gets unwanted guests setting up home in his coat, you know what to do. Get hold of some Frontline and say goodbye to the little horrors.

If it works on Chinese fleas, it’s bound to work on fleas where you are.

Although it’s great news that more smokers are now managing to quit, there are still a depressing 46 million people who light up on a regular basis. It’s not that these addicts are happy to be using cigarettes, most of them would do just about anything to quit if they thought it would work. Indeed, this is the very reason that nicotine replacement therapies, hypnosis sessions, and stop smoking books are so popular.

What if there was a way for the smokers who can’t quit to get that regular nicotine fix their bodies crave without doing so much damage to their health? That’s the promise of a new device which was the subject of the Huffington Post article mentioned above. It’s called the electronic cigarette, and it’s coming to a shopping mall near you, if it hasn’t already.

The electronic cig is a hi-tech alternative to the regular cigarette which delivers a cleaner form of nicotine in a vapor which feels very similar to real smoke. Although it might sound like the perfect answer to the health problems of the world’s smokers it has been at the center of a lot of controversy since it was released just a few short years ago. Many stop smoking groups have attacked the device because they contend that it keeps users addicted to the nicotine they are trying to get off, much in the way that traditional NRTs do. Agencies such as the FDA on the other hand say that it shouldn’t be allowed to be sold until it has been proved to be completely safe and we know that it can really help people quit.

Pleasingly studies have started to come out over the last year or so which show this device can actually help some people to quit, while many doctors are agreeing that it is almost certainly far healthier than using tobacco.

Perhaps the most promising study released so far is the “Effect of an Electronic Nicotine Delivery Device (e-Cigarette) on Smoking Reduction and Cessation” by Riccardo Polosa. The results showed there was a 50% reduction in the number of cigarettes smoked per day in over 30% of participants who started using an e cigarette, while an amazing 22.5% had managed to quit altogether. The incredible thing about this study was that the participants were chosen from smokers who weren’t even motivated to quit in the first place.

In my opinion we are going to see a lot more positive studies coming out in favor of the use of these electronic cigarette products as an alternative to tobacco. Whether this will bring stop smoking groups and the FDA onside remains to be seen, as many of them have a financial interest in the status quo. It will also be interesting to see if the E cigarette catches on in China where the typical male smokes.

The Full Moon Party takes place on the larger of the two Haad Rin beaches. It is appropriately the sunrise beach; so after reveling all night the party goer is treated to the awesome spectacle of the sun rising over a tropical ocean.

Full Moon Accommodations

There are over 5,000 full moon party accommodations. However more than 20,000 people regularly attend the event. It is not necessary to stay in Haad Rin. Many people take the boat over from Koh Samui the night of the party and then take the boat back the next day. This is because it can be hard to find a room in Haad Rin if you don’t book in advance. Also all the hotels and resorts in Haad Rin put their prices up for the FMP period. They also enforce a minimum stay requirement of between 3 and 6 nights. If you have only a few days this is not practical – the solution is to stay on one of the other great beaches in Koh Phangan or as I said, stay on the more developed (but maybe less beautiful) neighboring island of Koh Samui.

If you do want to stay in Haad Rin then there are 3 major areas open to you. First is in Haad Rin town and near the sunrise beach. Only Palita Lodge is actually on the beachfront of the party beach because the space is devoted to bars. The other area is on the smaller (and less nice) sunset beach called Haad Rin Nai. It is a quieter option. The third option is on the beach just south of Haad Rin Nai called Haad Sarikantang. Here there are a couple of good mid-range options including Sarikantang Resort and Spa.

Advice for the Full Moon Party

On the night of the party there are a few precautions you should take to make sure you are safe and have a good time:

1)    Leave most of your money, your passport and other valuables in a safety box in your resort. You will only need about 2,000 Thai Baht to spend at the party. If you are staying in Haad Rin don’t leave your valuables in your room as break-ins are not unheard of.
2)    Wear something on your feet. Although the party is on a beach there is often broken glass hidden in the sand.
3)    Be careful when drinking ‘buckets’. They are sweet and strong – deceptively so. Try to re-hydrate between drinks.
4)    Don’t go swimming when you are drunk. At certain times of the year there is an undertow. Moreover, people use the sea as a toilet during the party.
5)    Don’t take drugs about the party. It is heavily policed and the consequences of being caught are not pleasant to say the least.
6)    Respect other people; and have a good time!

It is guaranteed that you will never experience anything quite like the Full Moon Party anywhere else in the world. It is a unique event and a great opportunity to make new friends and to let your hair down.

A few years ago, I took up Tai Chi, specifically Practical Tai Chi Chuan, which as its name suggests is a very practical martial art, focused on self defence techniques. Part of the training involves the performance of the slow, graceful actions that most people think of when Tai Chi is mentioned. You know the kind of thing, the exercises that you’ve seen people doing in Chinese parks as part of a large group, all moving in perfect synchronization.

After studying Tai Chi for a little while, I began to notice certain things that it has to teach anyone wishing to learn guitar. Things that practitioners of both arts need to develop in order to achieve the highest level of skill.

It Takes 10,000 Hours to Master the Guitar

It is a widely accepted fact that the time it takes for a person to develop a skill to the point where they can be considered an expert, is 10,000 hours. Whether the skill is playing a guitar, flying an airplane or using a spear in Tai Chi, all of these skills require 10,000 hours worth of practice before they are mastered. I think this is a useful thing to bear in mind when embarking on the learning journey. If your expectations are too high, you can easily become disheartened and give up. Whereas if you go into it with your eyes open you’ll stand a much better chance of seeing it through and mastering your chosen skill.

Relaxation is Key

Everyone knows that relaxation is important in Tai Chi; it’s famous for being the martial art that people take up partly as a form of meditation and relaxation. Apart from the very real health benefits that relaxed exercise brings, the martial side of Tai Chi demands relaxation so that the practitioner can respond quickly to any attack and feel the nature of the threat through the forces being generated by the attacker. If one is not in a state of relaxation then one cannot “listen” in this way and will not feel the nature of the attack. Maintaining a relaxed body during the highly stressful scenario of a fight also preserves energy and increases the endurance of the fighter.

The parallels with playing the guitar are less immediately obvious here but if you pause to think for a moment, it makes perfect sense. How many times did your guitar teacher tell you to relax? Do you remember when you first began playing and the effort with which you had to press the strings down against the fretboard? It seemed impossible to keep the effort up for a whole song, never mind an entire live performance.

Well, the reason that you now find this so much easier is that your technique has improved and you are much more relaxed when playing. It is possible that your muscles have become stronger and have increased stamina but I think this is a relatively minor factor compared to having a properly relaxed technique. I know this because a few years ago I took an extended break from playing the guitar. Any advantage I might have gained from building up my playing muscles would have been completely lost, but when I picked up my guitar again I found that I could play almost for as long as before without having to stop through fatigue. Solid technique wins over brute force most of the time. Relaxed fingers also move faster than tense ones, which means you can play faster when relaxed.

Practise Slowly to Improve Muscle Memory

In Tai Chi, one practises the movements very slowly and precisely in order to ensure the muscle memory is built up in a correct and accurate way. If practice is rushed, mistakes can easily creep in to the movements and the techniques, when executed at full speed in a fight situation, would not be effective.

This is exactly the same for the guitar. Practise at a higher speed before you are entirely comfortable with a particular piece at a slower speed and you’ll be locking in the little mistakes and imperfections in your playing forever, or at least make it a real pain to “unlearn” them later on. Always practise at a speed you are comfortable with until you’ve absolutely nailed whatever you’re learning. Then, and only then, should you increase the speed.

So, applying the principles of Tai Chi to your guitar playing will yield big rewards in the future. And you’ll be able to use the title of Tai Chi Guitar Master in your Stage Name, which is no bad thing.