Whats the Story Morning Glory?

Well there have been a number of new developments that have happened with respect to my business prospects in China and so I thought I would give everyone a quick update seeing that I have some time at the moment. Have just got back from a great 2 week trip in Msia, the details and photos of which will have to wait until another time ;-)

As many of you will know, I am representing an Australian company, The Tomlik Group who is attempting to set up a shopping centre development and management company within China with the intention to build regional shopping malls within the growing suburbs of China. We started this off with our first project at Dalian Peace Plaza which was a consultancy project to try and improve the design and management of the centre.

We have just come to the end of our one year contract and some changes have been made mainly in the design of the 3rd Floor, the increase of tenant occupancy from about 60% to now around 98% and also a small improvement in the overall feel of the centre. If one is being honest, whilst a lot was achieved, perhaps a lot more should have been achieved in one year however cultural differences of opinion, company politics and perhaps misunderstanding on key objectives with respect to management of shopping centres have made progress steady but slow.

Realising that there is a limit to what you can achieve as consultants which has never been our end but purely our means to learn about China we felt it was time to put our money where our mouth is to speak and ask for a new contract that provides us with management license over the centre along with incentives and penalties should our methods not prove effective. We are now waiting on the outcome of our talks. It is with bated breath that I await a decision that could mean a very short or prolonged stay in Dalian depending on the outcome.

Not wishing to put all my eggs in one basket especially when it comes to matters of money, we have endeavoured to start looking for alternative projects and have talked to various other shopping centre bodies, universities and developers alike to see what the market might have in store. Further to this, I have partnered somewhat with an Irish English teacher here in Dalian attempt to put together a business english training service that incorporates some of the hard and soft skills we take for granted in the west such as email communication, conference calling, team work and team management. Seeing that there is an abundance of MNC here in Dalian and China is very keen to start to make inroads into some of the English speaking BPO market, we have felt that this might be something to tap into.

However there is the very real possibility that all projects fall through and I am left back at the drawing board with no cash to play with =) I guess these are the risks or attempting to be somewhat entrepreneurial and trail blazing. As such considering that I will have a very lovely Senia Kalfa joining me in Dalian in September, one must take into consideration the financial needs of PhD students haha so should cash flow not be obtainable, a move back to the MNC world would not be unfathomable. Hopefully it will not get to this and should it, I will have done enough work in the last year to secure a role still within China and my chosen industry of shopping centre development and management. The personal deadline is December as it is at that point that funds run out, so wish me all the best of luck in securing what I hope will be some stability to my career come the start of 2008.

Thanks to all of you who have taken an active interest in my efforts in China to date and until more clarity arrives, I will be continuing to concentrate on getting my spoken and written Chinese to as high a level as I can through the Chinese University system haha.

The coming alive of the Dalian party scene

Some of you may remember my first email from China with its swashbuckling tales or leaking sinks, difficulties of not speaking Chinese in China and landlords from hell. If you have joined facebook and have browsed my photos there you will have no doubt by now realized that things are slightly different =) As one friend Chad pointed out, as the majority of my pictures feature the familiar red faced TKoo, Dalian is more reminiscent now of my times in London than the difficult stomping ground it was upon first arrival.

A lot of this has been due to a recent very good friendship struck up with an American Taiwanese friend, Wayne Hou. Having grown up in Chicago and Seattle, he is a DJ with a passion for bringing something different to the Dalian scene of music and parties. From cheap drinks at the Shangrila hotel, raves at up and coming bars to infamous house parties, Wayne along with my housemate Paris have contributed more to the decline of my liver in the last 3 months than in the last 3 years in Sydney. Also being a connoisseur or all that is food in Dalian as well as a wanna be cook who is looking to open his bar / bistro in Dalian, my association with him hasn’t done my belly any good either! But when you know the party man in town, cheap drinks, good food and beautiful girls are in abundance so not much to complain about here ;-) A recent visit from a good friend Troy from Australia will I am sure further testify to the party town that Dalian has become recently. Whether it be drinking vodka at Dave’s bar, beer at the Nepalese or Bavarian Beer House, smoking hookah’s at Hopscotch, playing poker at the Tin Whistle, dancing at a beach rave, eating goat on a stick outside JD’s, or fine dining at the Tapas Spanish restaurant, life has indeed picked up.

Life in Dalian has been further enhanced by a number of other networks mainly the playing of Gaelic football, the start of jamming again with some fellow Chinese musicians and the introduction to some other ethic groups such as Mongolians and Japanese. Amazing what a difference some good friends and a basic understanding of the Chinese language makes! With the infamous Dalian Beer Festival and Fashion parade just around the corner as well, who knows what the next 6 months will bring.

Beijing on a Qantas Package

My very good friend Ivy Yap from Uni decided to make use of her low paying but high flyer points job in Qantas to come and visit me for a few days in the capital of the Middle Kingdom. Being the young professionals that we are, we decided to splurge a bit for a 4 day 3 night package which included all the accommodation, most meals and all the necessary tourist attractions. If I was slightly dillusioned about the package tours before, this trip more than sealed my belief that I will never do one ever again =) Whilst the normal Great Wall, Forbidden City, Tiananmen Sq, Temple of Heaven, Ming tombs etc etc were all good to go and see, the crappy Chinese food, lack of an air conditioned car and Beijing’s highly polluted air left much to be desired. Touristy photos are attached =)

http://picasaweb.google.com/terence.koo/Beijing2007

The trip came much more alive at night when we were joined by my friend Adrian Chua and I duly introduced both of them to the joys of the AIESEC alumni network which does indeed reach to every part of the world =) Nights out with good food ended with a spectacular Saturday night with cheap drinks, lots of singing to U2 and suddenly finding ourselves in a very dodgy bar called Suzy Wong’s. Very memorable haha. Thanks to Tzzy, Da and co for the warm welcome to their home city. And very good to get some quality time with V who had to use earplugs for a week to drown out by dulcet tones at night =).