China Dispatch: You gotta negotiate
Posted on October 26, 2009 at 11:02 amWithin our group, there are several people already doing business in China who provided first-hand experience about their investments here. Dr. Ming Wang, who was born in China and has lived in Nashville for many years, has been a part owner in a privately owned eye hospital in China.
So far, he feels his investments have been secure and have produced modest returns. The health care industry in China is many years behind the U.S.’, but his company is about to go public on the Chinese exchange and he is excited about the future opportunities.
I also enjoyed speaking with Chris Schmid from Brentwood, who works for a supply chain management company that works with companies to export and source products in China and abroad. He, too, has had much success dealing with China, but every day is a new day and requires him to stay engaged with his Chinese counterparts.
Before we left Beijing, Aubrey Preston and I took a short $2 cab ride over to see Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. The square was a massive gathering area for thousands surrounded by government buildings and museums. This was the site of the 1989 student demonstrator who stood in front of the tank.
To the north is a large parliament building with a huge photo of Chairman Mao, the founder of The People’s Republic of China in 1949. I joked with Aubrey that he should put his photo on one of his buildings in Leipers Fork.
He didn’t find that as amusing as I did. Although, since our visit, he has bought a book of Mao verses he intends to donate to the Puckett’s library. His face may be appearing soon.
We had to get back quickly to the hotel to catch our bus to the airport, so we caught a small rickshaw. In a hurry, I forgot to negotiate a price with the woman driver who had to be in her 70s. She drove like the little boy in “Raiders of the Lost Ark” — in and out of cars, inches away from getting hit about five times. I’ve learned that street lights are merely a suggestion as to what drivers should do.
When we arrived back to the hotel, the woman told me I owed her $30. Remember when I said it only cost $2 to get to our destination? I attempted to refute the charge, but she loudly scolded me in Chinese like I was an eight-year-old thief, so I shamefully handed over the money. I should never complain about the price of a cab in Nashville.
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So Aubrey is planning to do to China what he did to Hillsboro (now known as Leipers Fork).