We made some very good friends in China. This is something that may be hard for Westerners to fathom. The importance of friends in China cannot be overstated!!! The Chinese people feel that friends are those who can be counted on - in other words - people who will let their OWN needs be subverted to accommodate the needs of others. This is no longer a common practice in the West - unfortunately. When you are willing to demonstrate the ability to the Chinese of putting your own needs and agenda on the back burner, a whole new world will open to you!

We made many friends in all walks of life, from hotel staff to Communist Party and Central Committee members. It helped us to reaffirm that if you are willing to GIVE of yourself, your rewards will indeed be tenfold!!

One small example was our desire to employ a feng shui Master to help ensure the success of the factory in Dongli. We believe that in order to reap any benefits from life (financial, social, spiritual) you must first give unselfishly with no obvious return.

We hired a feng shui Master (with the help of our friends Thomas and Cathy) to come to the factory and assess its ability to harness and focus qi (pronounced "chee") successfully. Qi is the life force of the universe and although "poo-pooed" by many, can be utilized to help any business or individual to maximize its potential.

We paid for the master out of own pocket knowing that only in that way could we expect the maximum result. Many of our co-workers had no belief in the powers of qi while others understood the potential. The result is a factory that is now profitable after more than one year of losses - of course, following the good practices learned in business school and refined through sixteen years in manufacturing didn't hurt!!!

The desire of the local Chinese to succeed is something not often found in American factories. When I would propose a course of action, rather than hearing 50 reasons why it would fail or dead silence, we were repaid with not only enthusiasm, but always a few additional ideas that would help to improve the chances of success!! This is unheard of in most American factories today where the prevalent attitude seems to be "what's in it for ME" - or...DEAD SILENCE!!!

The people of China are willing to work for a brighter tomorrow, and no doubt they will build it.

We found the Chinese to be a very sensitive people. Family ties are still very strong. One would think that such a large population would tend to desensitize people about interpersonal relationships (think New York!) but in fact the opposite is true. The embrace we received from the people in Tianjin constantly overwhelmed us. Fortunately, the Chinese have not yet learned to appreciate "superficial relationships". If you are considered a friend, you are truly a friend - not just an acquaintance.