OCMetro Business - ('Churm in Asia')

Two countries, seven nights ...

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 08:13:00 GMT

Two countries, seven nights, eight days, 178 hours and more than 15,000 miles: The city of Irvine Friendship and Trade Mission to Japan and Korea is over. Jet lagged? A bit. Energized? Without a doubt. Ready to visit North Asia again? Name the date and time, I’ll be packed. On a dawn-to-dusk tour of government projects, world-class businesses and meetings with top political leaders, my view of modern Asia evolved dramatically in the past week. I’d been to China, the 800-pound giant on the Asian economic block. But never to Japan or Korea.

Traveling with 13 other Irvine officials and business leaders, this trip completed my trifecta of North Asia. I arrived home with a keener sense of the economic might that has been building this decade on the other side of the Pacific Rim. Impressive, industrious and hungry, the Japanese and particularly the Koreans have the capital and work ethic to be agents of economic change. They already dominate the global auto, electronics and shipbuilding markets, and they want a much bigger share of the bio-medical, technology and education sectors. Distracted by our own economic morass at home, it’s easy to lose sight of what’s happening beyond our troubled borders. But eight days in North Asia was a serious eye-opener about the powerful economic engines that are accelerating as the worldwide recession eases.

My understanding – and appreciation – for both Japan and Korea has grown exponentially. The impressions of Tsukuba, Japan, (Irvine’s sister city since 1989), the Korean capital of Seoul and the surrounding Gyeonggi-do Province are too many to satisfactorily recount. But I will try by offering up my top 10 moments and memories.

1. Tsukuba: An hour north of downtown Tokyo, this scientific and research center is almost a Xerox copy of Irvine. With a population of 210,000 (Irvine has 220,000 residents), Tsukuba is barely two decades old but already is home to scores of government and private R&D agencies and firms, including the Japanese space program, JAXA. Increasingly populated by young professionals and their families, Tsukuba is a model Japanese suburb – safe, growing and master planned with one of the country’s best universities. No wonder the Irvine Co.’s Dan Young and Mike LeBlanc, both on the trip, took such a fancy to Tsukuba.

2. Two mayors, one world: In an extraordinary show of friendship, Irvine’s Sukhee Kang and Tsukuba’s Ken-ichi Ichihara bonded to the point that the two mayors ended our three-day stay in Japan with arms locked, calling each other “brother.”

3. Chi Hun Choi: A division president at Samsung Electronics in Suwon-City near Seoul, Choi may have been the most compelling leader I met on a trip filled with encounters of powerful people. Born in Mexico City and educated in the U.S., Choi worked for Jack Welch at General Electric, and he displayed a remarkable grasp of world affairs and economics with a sense of humor and candor rarely seen in a first meeting with strangers. It was a two-hour lunch I won’t soon forget.

4. Crash-test dummies: Costing $200,000 to $1 million each, 100 human-like dummies were lined up in a warehouse at the ultra-secret Hyundai-Kia Motors R&D Center outside Seoul. From infant to adult size, the dummies are wired with highly calibrated sensors and electronics to measure damage and impact during nearly 1,000 crash tests the company performs on its new models every year. It was a somewhat bizarre scene seeing all the dummies seated with arms raised waiting for their next high-speed demolition assignment.

5. Beth Krom: The Irvine councilwoman delivered the best one-liner of the trip. When the $1 million male crash-test dummy was pointed out with his wires partially exposed, she deadpanned: “I’ve never met a man worth $1 million … inside or out.”

6. Korean Street Food: Legendary. Octopus jerky, peanut molasses clusters and silkworm larvae (oh yes, I did ...).

7. The Big Echo: In the largest karaoke club in Tsukuba, two cultures found a common ground – music. In a scene from a movie, it was the U.S. versus Japan in a global karaoke challenge for the ages. With the beverages flowing and ties loosened, the highlight of the evening was Irvine Co.’s Young and former Lennar CEO Emile Haddad (now CEO of Five Point Communities, the developer of the Great Park) singing a duet of John Denver’s “Country Road.”

8. The Rolling Incubator: When you put 14 Type-A professionals and executives together for eight straight days, you are bound to get a chemical reaction. In this case, our red-and-white Daewoo bus that shuttled between stops became an incubator on wheels for breakout sessions – even debates – about business models, partnerships and foreign policy. Unfortunately, what was discussed on the bus stays on the bus.

9. Irvine: When the city was incorporated in 1971, the founding fathers in their wildest dream never could have predicted Irvine would be better-known 7,000 miles away in North Asia than in some parts of the U.S. But it’s true.

10. Sukhee Kang: Word was Kang was a “rock star” in his homeland because of his historic election a year ago as the first Korean-American to become mayor of a major U.S. city. If there were doubts, they were dispelled the first night in Korea when we had a private audience with the charismatic mayor of Seoul. He was one of several top political figures, all considered challengers for Korea’s presidency that our delegation met with. Why us? It was Kang and what he has accomplished in America that opened doors. It’s good for Orange County and great for Irvine. Now, can the city leverage and build on this international profile and recognition going forward? Time will tell.

The Irvine trade delegation gathers at the world headquarters
of Samsung Electronics in Seoul.

Irvine Mayor Sukhee Kang and Councilwoman
Beth Krom pause in historic Suwon near Seoul, Korea.

Pictured above is a formal dinner between
Irvine delegation and governor of Seoul's
most important province.

Dried octopus is sold on the streets of Seoul.

There is nothing like a crash to get the juices flowing

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:47:00 GMT

There is thing nothing like a good crash to get the juices flowing first thing in the morning. Standing on a second-floor observation deck at the sprawling Hyundai Kia Motors just outside Seoul, the coat-and-tie trade delegation strained against the glass for the best view as the facility supervisor counted down in Korean – three, two and one. A moment later a silver Hyundai Sonata speeding at 40 mph appeared and then slammed into a steel block in the center of the warehouse. BAM! Ten cameras positioned around the impact zone each captured the collision at 1,000 frames per second as the 13 members of the visiting Irvine trade delegation gawked at the Sonata’s crumpled front end while a half-dozen technicians inspected the damage down below.

The crash test facility is part of the 840-acre Hyundai-Kia RD Center in Namyang, a sparkling testament to Korea’s rise as one of the world powers when it comes to automobile manufacturing and, more recently, design. Home to 10,000 engineers, this center is at the core of an ambitious strategy to link similar design incubators for Hyundai-Kia in India, Germany, Michigan and Irvine, the North American headquarters for the automaker. Thanks to John Yoon, vice president of human resources and general counsel for Kia Motors America, a private two-hour tour revealed a company racing 24/7 to one-day challenge Toyota’s supremacy as the world’s biggest auto producer. Hyundai-Kia moved into No. 4 behind Toyota, General Motors and Volkswagen, and the mission is to jump into the top three with sales worldwide of 6.3 million cars and trucks by the end of 2012. My two cents: Don’t bet against them.

On a gray, cold Friday morning, it was easy to feel the competitive heat that is driving this auto giant. Toyota, GM and others around the world must be looking often in their rear-view mirror.

“We simply want to be the best,” said Ryan (he didn’t make me try to pronounce his real name), a young Korean test-drive specialist who was riding shotgun as I punched the accelerator in a candy-apple red Kia Soul at the Namyang test track. Cars are tested on 71 different road surfaces at the proving grounds. “Hyundai has always been good, but now it is the quality we want to change,” he added. “We are getting there quickly.” Minutes later, I was in the front passenger seat of a sleek Hyundai four-door sedan speeding at 130 mph through the 40-degree banked turn. When the driver casually removed his hands from the steering wheel, the chatter from the back seat between The Irvine Co.’s Dan Young and Starpointe Ventures’ Patrick Strader stopped cold. “See how well this handles?” the driver asked, grinning. My response choking the armrests with both hands and staring straight head: “How long have you been doing this?” He said 25 years; it was his anniversary with Kia Motors, where he started in 1984 as a rookie test driver. Good to know as I looked out the passenger window at the asphalt just a few feet from the glass.

Cameras and even cell phones were not permitted at the Hyundai-Kia facility. The multi-trillion dollar auto business is serious stuff, and secrecy is an ever-present part of the landscape. Even the location of the Namyang facility south of Seoul is set off the main highway in a rural area. “This company wants to be taken seriously, and they have committed the resources to make that happen,” said Yoon, who was born in Korea, is Harvard educated and now calls Orange County home. “It’s a remarkable business story.”

Chuck Hong is the face of the ..

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:03:00 GMT

Chuck Hong is the face of the modern Pacific Rim entrepreneur. Born and raised in Seoul, he has three college degrees, lives in Newport Coast and piles up frequent flier miles faster than a Korean Air pilot. He is founder and CEO of Irvine-based Netlist, a technology firm not yet 10 years old. He runs sales and marketing from his Irvine Spectrum headquarters, and he has a manufacturing plant near Shanghai in China. In an ever-shrinking business world, he connects the dots – Irvine, China and his native Seoul – with a stealth honed by years of working on both sides of the Pacific. What makes Hong compelling is who he is, one of many who are leveraging multiple cultures to carve out an accelerating business career that transcends time zones.

The son of a Korean journalist, Hong is smart and committed. Failure is not an option for this high-tech executive and his generation of Koreans. For much of the 20th century, Korea struggled under oppressive Japanese rule, then civil war in the early 1950s and eventually military rule for almost 40 years. Democracy and free elections in this nation of 48 million didn’t arrive until the late 1990s. Now stable and hungry to compete, Korea has moved at hyper-speed to become the 13th-largest economy in the world and America’s seventh-largest trading partner. Half of the world’s oil tankers and 60 percent of all cruise ships are built here. Four out of every 10 computers are manufactured in Korea, which ranks ninth in global innovation. Seoul-based Samsung has surpassed Sony as the world’s biggest seller of flat-screen TVs.

Korea isn’t just an economic wannabe. The nation has arrived at the big-boy table. China is bigger and Japan more prominent. But Korea is the hot new kid on the economic block here in north Asia. And, if you don’t pay attention, Korea just might own that block and everything on it. What’s most impressive is how quickly Korea has ascended into world-class economic status.

“Give Koreans a task or a target, and nobody is better right now at hitting that mark,” said Hong on a 90-minute bus ride from Seoul to Incheon. “What sets Korea apart is the speed at which they get things done. Japan, for example, may be more creative and more methodical when it comes to business. But nobody can touch the Koreans for the speed output.”

It explains, in part, Korea’s transformation almost overnight as an industrialized nation. Being competitive comes naturally to Koreans, said Hong, who has degrees from three American universities, including MBAs from George Washington and Pepperdine. Hong is part of the new Korea. He worked 15 years in Korea and San Jose for LG Electronics, and then was recruited to run the semiconductor business for Viking Components in Orange County before starting Netlist in 2000. A $150 million company at its peak, he took Netlist public in 2006.

“The difference between Koreans and others is the willingness to work 24/7,” Hong said, staring out at the endless clusters of high-rise apartments that crowd the landscape between Seoul and the mega-port city of Incheon. A light snow was falling, adding a winter look to the bumper-to-bumper traffic. “Koreans work hard to survive. They are willing to do almost anything to get ahead. They even sell their farms or businesses to put their kids through school. When you live in a country of abundant natural resources, you tend not to work as hard. Koreans have had to work for everything.”

When they succeed, they like to show it. Koreans drive bigger cars than the Japanese, the dress is more fashion forward and the lifestyle faster. China and Japan are bound by tradition. Korea is about the “now,” and so is Hong.

Chuck Hong, CEO of Irvine-based Netlist,
dines with Chris Lynch, vice president of Irvine
Chamber (left) and Michelle Grettenberg and
Emma Green of Irvine city staff.

Irvine Mayor Sukhee Kang, John Yoon, vice president and
general counsel of Kia Motors America (left), and Chuck Hong,
CEO of Netlist, pause in downtown Seoul.

Sukhee Kang stood at the end ...

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:32:00 GMT

Sukhee Kang stood at the end of the jetway beaming. He was home, and it felt good. Presidential looking in his blue suit and bold red tie, the Irvine mayor had just stepped from the jumbo jet onto Korean soil at Incheon Airport and was absorbing the moment, almost oblivious to the stream of passengers filing past into the terminal.

“It feels good,” he said to no one in particular. “It’s a beautiful day.”

Two hours earlier, Korean Air Flight #706 had left Japan under cloudy skies. But now a bright noonday sun filtered through the windows at Incheon, casting a warm yellowish glow on the mayor Wednesday. All was right in Kang’s world. This was not the first trip back to his native Korea since making history 12 months ago, becoming the first Korean-born American to win an election as mayor of a major U.S. city. But it was the first official visit with a delegation of city officials and Irvine business leaders. It is a coming out of sorts for a man who immigrated to the U.S. in 1977 and has built an expanding political base in one of the most diverse cities in California. His victory made headlines on both sides of the Pacific, and he has been leveraging that mandate ever since.

It was evident at a late-afternoon meeting with the powerful and highly popular mayor of Seoul, Se-hoon Oh, that Kang has political juice in this megalopolis of nearly 12 million residents. He orchestrated a 30-minute closed-door meeting in Oh’s private board room during which the Seoul mayor referenced Kang as the “Obama of Irvine,” an obvious nod to the arrival here overnight of the U.S. president, who is also hop-scotching Asia right now. Oh, with his boyish good looks and soft-spoken delivery, called Kang a “good friend” and expressed a desire to expand relations as he ends his first term and prepares for a re-election. Back on the bus after meeting with Oh, Kang was energized.

“He is a leader that moves people and agendas,” Kang said of Oh and their budding friendship.

Thirty minutes later across from the Han River at Korea’s National Assembly building, Kang stepped from a tour bus and was greeted with a vigorous handshake from his boyhood friend, Korean General Secretary Kye Dong Park. Walking shoulder to shoulder up the steps of the landmark government building, which houses the Korean legislature, the two seemed like they’d never been apart. Park led Kang and the Irvine delegation on a rare after-hours tour of the Assembly’s chambers, and then he hosted a private dinner there, which was further confirmation of Kang’s widening reputation on the Korean peninsula. One reason is the connection between Korea and Orange County, which has nearly 55,500 Koreans, third highest in the U.S. Kang gets it and wants to leverage the ties by bringing more Korean businesses and investors to Irvine.

With tours of Samsung’s Suwon Complex, Samil Pharmaceuticals and the Hyundai-Kia R&D Center still ahead, Kang is trying to impress on the business leaders on this trip that Irvine and, frankly, Orange County, must get aggressive about attracting new business. Kang knows his vision is ambitious, but doing nothing to create new jobs is unacceptable. That’s one big reason he has traveled halfway around the world. The other was plain as day as he stood smiling in Incheon Airport today. Like most native sons and daughters, it’s special to come home.

Irvine Mayor Sukhee Kang just stepped off
Korean Air onto his native soil in Korea Wednesday at noon.

Irvine Mayor Sukhee Kang and Seoul, Korea, Mayor
Se-hoon Oh pause together.

Downtown Seoul from the 23rd floor of the Lotte Hotel

OC METRO Publisher blogs at Narita International Airport
Wednesday morning waiting to board Korean Air bound for Seoul.

I’m exhausted and hungry and I haven’t...

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:16:00 GMT

I’m exhausted and hungry and I haven’t missed a single meal halfway through this eight-day friendship-and-trade mission to the Far East. The truth is I’m so busy trying to mind my p's and q's that I have missed entire courses. Mind you, I was raised right and it’s been a long time since my table manners were called into question. But the fear of creating an international incident here in Tsukuba has my stomach in knots. I’m approaching each meal with a detailed game plan that would make Emily Post proud. I’ve created a cheat sheet of “Do's and Don’ts” that I study right up to mealtime. It’s a wonder I’ve even been able to focus for more than five minutes on the business at hand, touring Irvine’s sister city of Tsukuba and, more importantly, developing business ties in north Asia.

From where to place the chopsticks on the table to who pours who a beverage and when, I’m a stress-mess as I try to impress our foreign hosts with the California cool. Cool? Hell, I’m a perspiring pool of nerves as I survey each dining room looking for clues and tip offs on my next move. Seasoned world travelers or diplomats know this etiquette inside and out. But so far I’ve been about as smooth at meals as a preschooler at the adult table for Thanksgiving. And what’s with no napkins? We get a washcloth to start each meal, so at least I start tidy and clean. But by the third course, using chopsticks on rice, finger-sized vegetables and Japanese delicacies, I’m done. Just hose me down.

Food is great, in fact, it's world class. Though someone forgot to tell me it was braised beef cheek (yes, you read that right) until I finished half of what I told Assistant City Manager Wally Kreutzen was a short rib. Delicious, but I’m still pondering which cheek I had. Oh well, I’m certain I’ll get better at this once we reach South Korea. However, Patrick Strader of Starpointe Ventures has promised more culinary surprises when we reach Seoul. Great, I am barely getting out of Japan with Churm Media’s reputation hanging by a thread, and now I’m going to a city known for street food of any spice. This trip is better than Nutrisystem.

Help! All I want to do is order a No. 2 at Wahoo’s and relax.

Patrick Strader of Starpointe Ventures
and Emile Haddad of Five Point Communities
at lunch in Tsukuba.

Take a look at a traditional Japanese lunch
in Tsukuba.

Here are appetizers at a French-Japanese restaurant in Japan.
All 24 guests received the exact same plate.
Fish, vegetables and a chicken ball.

This is the tale of two cities, Irvine and Tsukuba, Japan.

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:12:00 GMT

Who knew 20 years ago, when the officials of these two municipalities half a world away signed a friendship accord and became sister cities, that they would ultimately share such a common DNA. From their growth and core values to their present-day mayors, the two cities have a striking resemblance, as if carved from the same cloth and driven by twin desires to set the standard in their respective worlds for governance and quality of life.

Agreeing to exchange ideas and cultural artifacts every few years makes for good public relations and affords photo opportunities. It’s what elected officials and bureaucrats do from time to time. But the relationship between Irvine and Tsukuba is more than a lesson in civic obligation, because the two are eerily similar.

Sitting through a series of Power Point presentations in Tsukuba City Hall, the parallels between these municipalities are clear. Both Irvine and Tsukuba have about 200,000 residents. Both are growing, filled with young families and centers for research and development. Both place a high priority on education, public safety and planning when it comes to land use such as open space and parks. And both are located about an hour by car or train from a world-class metropolis – Los Angeles and Tokyo. Working professionals have flocked to Irvine and Tsukuba for the same reasons – a quality of life free from the numbing din and grind of an urban hub.

Touring Tsukuba by bus and foot, listening to local officials and interpreters explain the blueprint behind this increasingly modern suburb north of Tokyo, it’s evident that the Japanese government sees it as the future of this island nation. Little more than 20 years old, Tsukuba is grounded by a commitment to be “green and clean,” as it races to build on its reputation as a model city and R&D hotbed for modern Japan.

Sound familiar? It should. It’s Irvine, only a younger version on the opposite side of the Pacific.

Whether by design or sheer luck, or a little of both, when these two cities first shook hands in 1989 to form a cultural and economic partnership, no one could have envisioned they would grow to share so many qualities. Nearly one-third of Japan’s national research institutes and more than 120 private R&D companies with more than 19,000 employees have set up shop in Tsukuba. Japan’s space program, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), is here, along with Cyberdyne Inc., one of the world’s leaders in human robotic innovation. It’s a scientific and technology destination with a worldwide reputation. Once favored by the Japanese emperor for its rice, the highly fertile Tsukuba Inashiki Plateau is now sprouting business development similar to Irvine, including home-building and retail, with the largest shopping mall north of Tokyo.

It’s no wonder this delegation of Irvine officials and business leaders – including The Irvine Co.’s Dan Young and Mike LeBlanc, as well as former Lennar Homes CEO Emile Haddad and Chris Lynch, the vice president of economic development for the Irvine Chamber of Commerce – is here learning the lessons of Tsukuba. It’s a test tube for enterprise, and in a world economy where everyone has suffered, no one has the corner on constructing the perfect business model going forward. Tsukuba has its own challenges. Retail spending is way off. A tour of the gleaming, four-story iias Tsukuba shopping center across the street from the new Express train station revealed the same sharp decline in sales that storeowners are grappling with in Orange County.

But at the end of a 12-hour day of bus stops and presentations, tucked in a back room of the Big Echo karaoke club, the kinship between Tsukuba and Irvine entrepreneurs and officials was in full bloom. With the music pumping, the ties loosening and the Asahi flowing, the camaraderie underscored that the brotherhood between these two cities for the past two decades was secure for another 20 more.

A tale of two cities – Tsukuba and Irvine
officials and business leaders in Japan.

Irvine Mayor Kang inspects merchandise in
iias Tsukuba, the largest indoor mall north of Tokyo.

Vending machines only sell beverages, no food.
The selection is heavy on tea and caffeine.

Tsukuba City Hall briefing – two countries,
two cities, one mission: economic development.

Irvine Mayor Sukhee Kang and Tsukuba Mayor Ken-ichi Ichihara
pause outside Tsukuba City Hall.

Irvine officials pause outside the Japan Aerospace
Exploration Agency, Japan's version of NASA.

Electronics are big in Japan. Irvine Chamber
Vice President Chris Lynch price shops in a
Tsukuba super store.

Just for fun: Hawaiian coffee chain, Bad Ass Coffee, has a store
in Tsukuba shopping center.

Photos by Steve Churm

First impressions

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT

It is before dawn on a Monday in Tsukuba, Japan, a city remarkably similar in size and attitude to my home of Irvine. My hotel window is cracked slightly, and it is quiet on the streets below, surprisingly quiet here in the heart of the historic district of a city known as one of Japan’s R&D capitals. Yesterday when we arrived a wave of unseasonably warm fall weather greeted us as we stepped out of the massive Narita International Airport, which serves both Tsukuba to the north and Tokyo to the south. In fact, as our group of Irvine officials and business leaders walked to our bus we passed an American who was straight out of a Quiksilver catalog – shorts, pastel polo and sandals. But this morning, our first full day in Asia on this eight-day friendship and trade mission, the cool air filtering through the window suggests winter is not far away. We’ve been promised falling temperatures and perhaps rain as we explore Tsukuba, Irvine’s oldest sister city partner and its business and cultural offerings over the next 48 hours.

As we made the 90-minute drive late Sunday afternoon from Narita Airport to our hotel, two things struck me: First, the road we traveled. It was narrow as it wound through tiny towns and past rice fields. Within minutes of leaving the terminal the roadway was two lanes and the landscape turned rural. My perception is skewed by the scale that is Irvine and Orange County. In almost any direction from John Wayne Airport there are multiple lanes of traffic and high rises dotting the skyline. There are some modern hotels near Narita Airport, but very quickly the roadside scene becomes traditional and agrarian. We passed familiar retail brands – 7-Eleven convenience stores, a Bob’s Big Boy and even a Coco’s at one intersection. But fields of rice and vegetables and a sense of a simpler life in Sunday’s fading light dominated the view from the bus as I absorbed my first impressions of this island nation of 127 million people.

It was also hard not to notice the size of everything – smaller and more compact. From the roads to the cars and even the homes, big does not appear to be better or even an option. This is an industrialized nation, the second-largest free market in the world. But Japan, with its four major islands and 4,000 smaller islands, is slightly smaller than California. Connected by one of the best – and fastest – train systems in the world, Japan has developed its economic prowess in the last half century by being efficient and leveraging its space. This nation has few natural resources. It imports almost all of the raw materials it needs to drive its economic engine. The premium is on production, not consumption. There are no rumbling SUVs on the roadways. Homes are smaller, and this room in one of Tsukuba’s finest hotels is half the size of most rooms at a Holiday Inn. Even the food portions at our first meal with Tsukuba Mayor Ken-ichi Ichihara last night reflect the measured approach the Japanese have about life in general. Some of it is out of necessity, a strategy to compete on the world stage. But it is also a way of life that has sustained its people and culture in a modern world.

Fly Away

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 16:03:00 GMT

The cover on the binder of the thick itinerary stacked on the seat tray read: “Friendship and Trade Mission to Tsukuba, Japan and Seoul, Korea.” Just below the headline was a map of the world and the city of Irvine seal. Sitting in seat 38B on this Korean Air jumbo jet at 35,000 feet, the significance was clear. More than any other municipality in Orange County, maybe even Southern California, Irvine is and has been on the leading edge of Pacific Rim diplomacy and bridge building, particularly with Asia. As Councilmember Beth Krom noted as we boarded for the 12-hour flight, the seeds of this kinship between Irvine and the Far East were planted two decades ago when Irvine reached out to Tsukuba and the two became sister cities. Who would have known then that Irvine, with its ranching roots traceable to the era of Spanish land grants, would now be so closely linked to Japan and increasingly Korea.

Time magazine in its must-read cover story, “Why California is America’s Future,” proclaimed the huge head start the Golden State has in capitalizing on the power, the technology and appetite for products and services coming from the Far East. Irvine is smack in the middle of this tantalizing opportunity – geographically, demographically and, since November 2008, politically. Sukhee Kang, the first Korean-born mayor of a major American city, is now piloting the region and on his itinerary is an ambitious plan to open new doors in the Far East, particularly his homeland.

This trip, an eight-day, two-nation swing with city officials and county business leaders will pay tribute to Irvine’s existing partners in Japan and introduce future investors in Korea to the promise of Irvine and Orange County. It’s a bold play, but so is Kang, who sees Irvine’s economic future tied to city efforts to broaden business interest in Irvine. Historically, business development in the city and, frankly, much of the county, has taken care of itself, or been conducted through private entities like the Irvine Chamber of Commerce and the city’s largest landholder, the Irvine Co. The world-class climate, the proximity to the ocean and a lifestyle second to none has been a magnet for entrepreneurs and business owners. But the staggering blow dealt by the Great Recession has humbled local elected officials and executives alike the past two years. Record job losses, dwindling tax revenues and mounting business closures have prompted some decision makers to stop living on press clippings and start selling the county’s virtues again.

Kang is in that camp. Since election day 12 months ago, he has been saying the city has been resting on its laurels when it comes to bringing new business to the region. No more, he says quietly in the Korean Air customer lounge. He points to this trip as an example of a more aggressive push the city must make to retain and attract investment and innovation in the “new economy” that is slowly emerging from this recession. He has challenged all stakeholders inside and out of Irvine to seize the moment and be ready when the market turns, hopefully, in 2010.

“The time is right to make new friends,” says Kang, knowing full well he has the extraordinarily unique credentials to connect with Asia. He is the link between the old and new Irvine and, in reality, maybe all of Orange County.

In the days ahead, Kang’s near “rock-star status” because of his mayoral win will be on display as we tour, among other firms, the Hyundai-Kia R&D Center and Samil Pharmaceuticals Co., which has a partnership with Irvine-based Allergan. His political collateral will also be front and center during nightly receptions with government luminaries in both nations. It is a whirlwind schedule that may not produce meaningful ROI for months or even years. But Kang’s future success and that of Irvine may well be shaped by initiatives like this.

“You can’t sit and wait for things to happen,” he says, waiting in the Korean Air customer lounge. “You have to make things happen.”

Made in China

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 07:56:00 GMT

So what do I really think after 11 days in Beijing at the Summer Olympics? Sitting at 36,000 feet in the middle of the night somewhere over the North Pacific is as good a time as any to download impressions of my maiden trip to China, the most populous country on the planet. I have titled this blog “Made In China,” because just about everything else seems to be.

But before I dish my “Top 5” lists, I owe the imperial city of Beijing an apology. On our final full day in the Chinese capital, the true Beijing, the one visitors rave about in spring when the cherry trees blossom, or in the fall when the air turns crisp and the skies sparkle, was simply glorious. For more than a week, I had whined about the insufferable humidity, the dawn-to-dusk, steel gray skies and the tofu thick air. I painted a picture of a city in need of one gigantic facemask. But, just in time for the start of Olympic track and field events and, more importantly, in time for this California journalist to see Beijing in a new light (and yes, that was real sunshine and honest-to-goodness blue overhead) the weather took an unexpected and welcomed turn. It was a glorious final two days in Beijing as we walked the Olympic Green with tens of thousands of spectators, most of whom seem to be snapping pictures. It was refreshing not to be perspiring like a cold can beer in the hot sun. Beijing is indeed beautiful and the skies are truly blue and I am thankful to have seen its best face.

With apologies delivered – and I hope accepted by my many new Beijing friends who are reading this – here are my “Top 5…”

BEST BEIJING MOMENTS…
•   Stepping off the plane at Beijing Capital International Airport. The stunning $2 billion makeover of the airport was completed in February. Using 50,000 workers, a half-million ton of steel and 2 million tons of concrete, Terminal 3 is the centerpiece of this architectural wonder that stretches 1.8 miles in length and offers retail that rivals South Coast Plaza.

•   Trying to flag down not one, but two cabs in a driving thunderstorm outside the Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium at rush hour. Wearing a plastic poncho and wading in nearly two feet of water, I needed wiper blades for my glasses and my son needed fins. We were two soggy Californians looking very much out of place. The four-door taxis are so small that the five-member Team Churm always needed two cabs. My wife and I apparently didn’t listen to Mao and his one-child per family edict.

•   Standing in my hotel elevator when NBA superstar Chris Bosch stepped in. I’m 6-1, 195 pounds (no comments, please) and I felt like a midget next to the 6-11, 235 pound All-Star who is a member of the Team U.S.A. Olympic team. Imagine how most Chinese feel next to Howard, Kobe Bryant and the rest of the “Dream Team,” all of who were encamped on the upper floors of our hotel in Beijing’s Financial District. NBA stars are like Greek Gods to the Chinese, who last year built 70,000 basketball courts at elementary and secondary schools and plan to construct another 600,000 in the next five years. It was heaven for a hoops junkie like me, if not a bit intimidating.

•   Walking on the Great Wall. At the risk of swollen hyperbole, it’s a breathtaking, and then some. I can’t begin to fathom how this 4,000 mile long brick barrier was built in terrain that no clear-thinking mountain goat would ever scale.

•   Shedding tears as I sang the national anthem during the gold medal ceremony at the National Gymnasium, minutes after American gymnasts Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson finished 1-2 in the women’s individual competition. Half way around the world from home, in a city where Chinese nationalism is strong, loud and on constant display at The Games, a sense of deep pride and privilege at being an American was hard to hide.

FOOD ENCOUNTERS…

•   All the dim sum, chicken fried rice, Won Ton soup and watermelon I could eat from the breakfast buffet at the Intercontinental Hotel. Oh, they had scrambled eggs, pancakes and bacon. But what’s the point? My wife isn’t conditioned to serve stir-fry for Sunday brunch, so I went for it in Beijing. And, I wasn’t the only Churm having sautéed Chinese vegetables for breakfast. "Pass the soy sauce” replaced "pass the cream" at our daily Olympic training table.

•   Speaking of breakfast, my daughter Carli rated the bake beans (need your daily dose of legumes, right?) as some of the best ever. Her morning Beijing menu just might become a new diet fad: Fresh brewed breakfast tea, a bowl of corn flakes, kiwi and melon and two helpings of baked beans. She must get those taste buds from her mother’s side of the family.

•   McDonalds on Day No. 8 of our Olympic odyssey. As we learned again, the Golden Arches is the same in any land – predictable and welcomed. Hold the soy; just extra ketchup, please, as the Churms devoured nearly a dozen 99-cent cheeseburgers on the Olympic Green at the biggest Mickey D’s I’ve ever set foot in.

•   Biscuits, Snickers and Tsingtao beer at the Olympic venues. For many Americans, a live sporting event is as much about the Grande Nachos and barbecue tri-tip sandwiches as the game itself. Not in China. The fare at Olympic venues consisted of crackers in a box (known as biscuits), Snickers (the official Olympic candy bar) and warm beer or sodas. Oh, yes, they did serve hot dogs – on a stick, cold and no bun. No wonder the Chinese are thin. There was nothing to eat while watching the events.

•   Scorpion or centipede on a stick. Considered a source of protein and sold at street carts, we never indulged. But do I get points for contemplating it?

•   Fruits and vegetables were unbelievable and fresh.

LASTING IMPRESSIONS…

* Olympic-size construction. From the lacy tangle of steel twigs that formed Beijing’s National Stadium (nicknamed the “Bird’s Nest”) to the National Aquatics Center (“Water Cube”), the city’s subway system and the endless high rise apartments, Beijing has been the world’s largest construction zone during the past decade and it shows. China spent $43 billion preparing for The Games and the great news is most of it was on buildings and infrastructure that will last well into the next century.

* Peking University, site of the Olympic table tennis, is one of the most peaceful settings in Beijing. Founded in 1898, the university, with his stately brick buildings and tree-lined bike paths, could be mistaken for any Ivy League school.

* The cleanliness of Beijing. Aside from the murky (substitute polluted if you like) air quality during the first week-plus of our trip, Beijing itself is remarkably litter-free. Compared to other great world cities, there was hardly a bottle or scrap of paper to be found on the streets or sidewalks. Maybe it was the Olympics and a push for positive press, but Beijiners did one heck of a good job polishing the look of this city of 17 million residents.

* Security. The post-9/11 world we live in requires it in heavy doses. You could not move in Beijing (the Olympic venues, the subways and even our hotel) without having your backpack searched, your ID checked or passing through an X-ray machine. It clearly put a damper on things and limited access and the spontaneity in terms of celebrations and gatherings that have long made the Olympics one of the world’s great parties every four years.

* The Beijing people. The Chinese are deeply proud of hosting the Olympics and they worked overtime to make sure as foreigners our stay was as comfortable and special as possible. On every corner, at every Olympic venue and at every turn in this vast city, people wanted to help. Countless times Beijiners would approach with a smile as we tried to decipher our maps. We felt safer and more welcomed in Beijing than many U.S. cities.

Two final thoughts: Our hearts are still saddened by the senseless and random death of Todd Bachman, father-in-law of Hugh McCutcheon, head coach of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Men’s Volleyball Team. Bachman was killed and his wife seriously injured on the second day of The Games by a Chinese national who then took his own life. Thankfully, Barbara Bachman is recovering. The Bachman’s daughter, Elizabeth, and her husband, Hugh, have become friends and their loss touched our family.

And lastly, this trip was about family for me. I was fortunate enough to have my wife, Cinda, and our 3 children, Katie, Carli and Logan, along for this Olympic quest. We laughed, hugged and made memories for a lifetime together. I arrived back on U.S. soil tried, safe and very secure knowing that I have the best of all worlds when surrounded by my family.

Team Churm visits the Temple of Heaven in central Beijing.

Blue skies return to the Olympic Green and the Bird's Nest.

There was no shortage of spectators.

Two admirers go face-to-face with a bigger than life Olympic hero Michael Phelps.

The Chinese spent $2 billion to renovate Beijing Capital International Airport and it shows.

Team Churm on one stretch of the 4,000-mile-long Great Wall.

Blue skies finally appeared over the Olympic press center.

It was the people of China that made our Olympic Odyssey so special.

The Golden Arches means food in any language.

THE RISE OF CHINA’S MIDDLE CLASS

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 06:14:00 GMT

Bill Chong is the face of the New China. Young, educated, married and an apartment owner, Chong is part of the rising middle class that is transforming modern China. They are mesmerized by Western ways and want the freedoms we take for granted. A tour guide by profession, Chong understands China’s history and respects his ancestral roots. But the gap between the 29-year-old Beijiner and his Manchurian parents who live a one-and-a-half-day drive to the north of China’s capital city is widening.

For China’s emerging middle class, this is an age of aspiration—but also a time of anxiety. The New China often clashes with the old. The once rigid structure of China’s 5,000-year-old culture is bending and pressure continues to mount on the government to lessen its centuries-old iron grip on every-day life.

Chong and his wife, also in the booming hospitality industry, could easily be the poster couple for the new middle class, something China’s most famous leader, Mao, sought to stamp out less than a half century ago. The Chongs are among an estimated 100 million to 150 million people now considered middle class, often defined in this industrializing nation as those with a household income of about $10,000 annually.

The Chongs could easily pass for a young professional couple living in Irvine or elsewhere in Orange County. They furnished their two-bedroom, one-bath suburban apartment at the Beijing IKEA superstore. They watch TV to relax and eat out with friends for entertainment (Pizza Hut is a favorite for special occasions). Chong commutes to work, sometimes up to 90 minutes depending on his assignment, from the city’s eastern edge and his workdays are long—10 to 12-hours and often six days per week (during the Olympics Chong will work non-stop for nearly a month leading tours of foreigners daily). The couple has no children, but want to have a family someday. “We are saving because children are expensive,” he shared on a 90-minute bus ride from central Beijing to the Great Wall in the mountains to the northeast.

Friendly and unassuming, Chong talked openly about being twentysomething in China today, including his fears and hopes for this economic powerhouse of 1.3 billion people. There was just my wife, three children and myself along with Chong and the driver on the bus as we rumbled past lush green fields of corn and orchards of peaches and apples. “I’m optimistic about the future, yes, I truly am,” he said confidently as we navigated the narrow country road. “There are problems in China’s future, but the opportunities we have now are good.”

Home ownership is a big one. In 1998, when the government launched reforms to commercialize the housing market, it was the rare person who owned an apartment. Today, home ownership is common and prices have risen beyond what most young couples can afford. It’s as if everything that happened in America over 50 years was collapsed into a single decade in China. With the help of his parents (“they save and save and save,” Chong said), Chong was able to purchase his apartment three years ago in a rapidly growing suburb 25 kilometers east of downtown Beijing. The area is dotted with scores of high-rise apartments that have transformed the skyline in many Beijing districts. Once a flat cityscape, Beijing has skyscraper fever. Construction cranes hang in the air like pre-historic birds in nearly every direction. Disappearing are the traditional courtyard houses that date back to the days of the emperor’s in the mid 15th Century. Progress has its costs and Chong sees more pluses than minuses in Beijing’s emergence as a true global center. Owning his home is one of those benefits.

“Today, my apartment would cost about $900,000 yuan (about $133,000 U.S.),” said Chong, a university graduate with a degree in English literature. “My same apartment downtown would cost $3 million yuan ($444,000 U.S.). I feel lucky to own a home.” Real estate in the past 5 years has been appreciating in Beijing, Shanghai and other large Chinese cities at a double-digit clip.

Private-ownership of cars is another middle class status symbol, though Chong and his wife have not jumped into the auto market. “What’s the point?” he asks. “Gas is expensive (almost the same as in the U.S.) and there is very little public parking in Beijing. We take taxi or subway (both cheap by big city standards) and save money.”

Chong is part of the societal change sweeping China, including the largest urbanization in human history. An estimated 150 million people have left the countryside, mostly to work in the factory towns on the coast. One in four residents of Beijing is a migrant from the country. For three decades China’s economy has grown at an average annual rate of nearly 10 percent, giving rise to the middle class and Western wants and desires. American companies are rushing to capitalize. There are more KFC’s in Beijing than you can find driving through Louisville and you can find Subway on nearly every corner. Hooters and Starbucks are here and so is LensCrafters eyewear. Chong and his friends now communicate by emai and cell phones; long gone is the cheap onionskin paper his parent’s generation used to send letters. China has the world’s largest number of Internet users—220 million—surpassing Web surfers in the U.S. Cell phones in China have grown from 87 million in 2000 to 432 million today.

This moment is history is not lost on Chong nor is the importance of the Olympics. “This is a big chance for China to show the world that we are modern,” Chong said. “We want to be accepted.” He acknowledges problems—pollution and terrorism and internal political unrest in region’s like Tibet. He also worries about China’s younger generation because “they may lose touch with our values.” Obesity has never been much of a concern. But the convenience and cache of eating regularly at a Western “burger joint” or pizza restaurant has triggered fears of childhood obesity. “I worry that families become lazy and eat out because its easy and quick,” Chong said. “We have to be careful not to become a lazy society.”

Despite the challenges, Chong believes China is better today. More people have been lifted out of poverty in China than in any other country at any other time because of 30 years of economic expansion. “I have freedoms and choices now that my parents never dreamed of. It is a good time in China. I just hope it continues.”

China's love affair with autos...

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 08:07:00 GMT

Looking out my 11th floor hotel window at the Fuchengman Dajie Freeway this dank Friday morning, it’s impossible to tell that half the privately owned cars in Beijing have been removed from the roadways. In a drastic step to dent Beijing’s legendary and exploding traffic crisis, government officials have banned up to 1.5 million cars from streets and freeways every day during the Olympic forte night. They’ve done it by restricting driving depending on whether your license plate ends in an even or odd number.

Sipping a bottle of water and watching the bumper-to-bumper traffic inch along the freeway far below, I can only imagine the road rage on a non-Olympic workday. Add to the mix thousands of bikes and scooters and it’s a commuter free-for-all that makes the 55 Freeway at rush hour look like an easy drive.

China has a crush on cars. It is fast becoming the ultimate status symbol for the rising middle class. China recently surpassed Japan as the second largest car market, after the U.S. Car culture has already transformed daily life, with wildly popular car clubs, “self-driving” vacations and drive-through eateries, not to mention traffic jams and eye-stinging smog in Beijing and other major cities. The number of privately owned cars in China is 11.5 million and more than 1,000 new cars are registered in Beijing every day. Moreover, 37 percent of the people driving in China today did not know how to drive 3 years ago. China began encouraging private car ownership in 1994 and the love affair with autos has bloomed ever since. By 2025, China is expected to have more cars than the U.S. though today this superpower has the same number of cars per capita as America did in 1915. But that will surely change. A price war has dropped the cost for new car by as much as $2,000 U.S. dollars. A small, four-car sedan costs about 122,000 RMB or Yuan (about $12,700). A bigger and by China standards more luxurious Subaru Forrester is priced at 350,000 Yuan or approximately $50,000.

“Everybody wants a car,” said Bill Chong, a 29-year-old university-educated tour guide. “It’s a status thing. Problem is no place to park it in the city. Once you get it, some people can’t afford to drive it.” Not only is parking a problem in Beijing but the cost of gas is about the same as the U.S., roughly $1 per liter or $4 per gallon. Moreover, if you own a car driving in this historic city is not for the faint of heart. It’s not so much the speed people drive (it’s nearly impossible to find a stretch a road in the central city where you get going more than 50 miles per hour). It’s the lack of apparent order on the roadways. Even after a week of traversing this city in all types of conditions and times of the day, its fruitless trying to figure out who has the right of way. It’s not pedestrians who seem to cross any street at any time no matter the signal or on coming traffic. It’s shocking we don’t see more accidents with the wheel-to-wheel jousting that goes on between drivers at nearly every intersection. When we cross the street we’ve learned to tuck ourselves in the middle of the pedestrian pack. We never walk on the outside or lead the way. It’s called a respect for life and limb.

The sobering bi-product of this lust for cars is air pollution. Call it fog, haze or just August, but the air quality in Beijing is unsettling. It reminds me of growing up in north Orange County in the late 1960s, where smog alerts were a way of life. During the past three decades, China’s GDP has averaged an astounding 10 percent per year as this country races to modernize and compete with the U.S. The demand for natural resources and energy to fuel this galloping growth has fostered an environmental crisis and air pollution is at the top of the offenses. Even the Chinese people have protested calling for more government regulation to curb emissions. In response, auto makers like Volkswagon and Audi are introducing hybrid autos into the Chinese market, including an entire Olympic fleet that is shuttling officials between venues.

For Beijiner’s like Bill Chong air pollution, congestion and other issues are part of the price to pay for an emerging China. “The environment is such a big issue. It’s hard to get our arms around it. We must do better, but it’s complex.” That is true for almost everything in this nation of sharp contrasts and driving ambitions.

The real rock stars of the Beijing...

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 12:39:00 GMT

On Day No. 7 of our Olympic journey, the jingoistic gene in me kicked in – big time. No more flying under the radar in plain dress as we travel the breadth of Beijing. Wednesday it was all about the red, white and blue and the pursuit of the supreme Olympic color – gold. I broke out my U.S.A. T-shirt and wore it proudly during the morning rush hour on the city’s remarkably efficient subway system. Logan, my 17-year-old son, went one better in his blazing red U.S. men’s basketball shirt. He even draped the American flag over his shoulders and the two of us were clearly magnets for scores of curious Chinese commuters on another gray, steamy morning in the capital.

With my wife and two daughters, we rode the Beijing metro for nearly 50 minutes (four transfers and two security checks) for 2 yuan, each or about 28 cents per ticket. But the stir we created isn’t in the same universe as one triggered by Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and the rest of the NBA stars who make up the U.S. men’s basketball team. Except for American swimming freak Michael Phelps (5 gold medals in his gym bag and a legitimate chance at a record 8 before The Games end), Bryant and Co. are the ultimate rock stars of this Summer Olympics.

The U.S. players are the Greek Gods of basketball in the states and abroad and their box office appeal is on full display in this hoop-crazed city of 17 million. In fact, thanks to smart marketing by NBA Commissioner David Stern and the emergence of Chinese star player Yao Ming (China’s flag bearer in the Opening Ceremonies and the tallest athlete in The Games), basketball is the fastest-growing sport among the nation’s 1.3 billion people. Nearly every elementary and secondary school in China, even in the country, offers basketball. Walking in Beijing, little boys in Houston Rocket jerseys (Yao Ming’s NBA team) are a common sight. Near the Forbidden City one afternoon, I watched two boys dribbling basketball balls down a narrow cobblestone street – a striking contrast of new and old in a culture that spans nearly 5,000 years. The new Beijing National Arena is a state-of-the-art basketball palace complete with luxury boxes and high-definition video screens. The Chinese even have their version of the Los Angeles “Laker Girl” dancers who would have most assuredly caused Chairman Mao to blush with their belly exposed attire and hip-thrusting moves. Close your eyes and you think you’re at Staples Center in L.A.

For a week now, I have seen, up close, the stars that are driving this international basketball frenzy. The U.S. men’s and women’s teams, their families and handlers are staying in our hotel on the upper three floors. The hotel, located in Beijing’s financial district, has been sealed off with temporary fencing for The Games. Getting in and out requires a body check and all bags and backpacks are X-rayed by military police in the driveway.

Inside the hotel, the players – among others, Jason Kidd, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul on the men’s side, and Lisa Leslie and Candace Parker on the women’s – move freely from the fitness center to a special banquet facility set up for the teams. We’ve had a half-dozen encounters with players from both teams in the elevators and hotel lobby and they seem genuinely excited about being medal favorites. But on the street it’s a different story. Police tape holds back fans, including one Chinese teen-age girl who has stood watch in her purple and gold Kobe Bryant jersey since we arrived on Aug. 7. Even a torrential downpour didn’t drive her from her vigil to spot Kobe. The day after the father of a former U.S. women’s volleyball player was stabbed to death about 6 kilometers from our hotel, security was ratcheted up several more notches, all in the name of celebrity.

On Wednesday a handful of players from the men’s team ventured out to the Olympic Aquatics Center. Sitting poolside in the athlete’s bleachers, Kobe, LeBron, Kidd and other “ballers,” as the kids call them, signed autographs and posed for pictures, this time with other Olympians. They had come to pay respects to another superstar with the last name of Phelps. Waving flags and chanting “U.S.A. U.S.A” along with thousands of others, the basketball boys who want to make history themselves by winning back the gold medal had come to witness some. Phelps didn’t disappoint as he picked up two more gold to run his Beijing total to five and send the Americans in the crowd into delirium. As my son and younger daughter danced and waved Old Glory high up in the stands, a group of international basketball icons showed they’re human as they high-fived each other just like the rest of us proud Yankee homers. Go U.S.A.!

(Above) It's all about the red, white and blue at the Beijing National Aquatic Center as U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps wins his 4th gold medal.

(Below) A pair of Australian swimming fans who spent the entire session chanting, "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie." "Hello Mate!"

(Above) Team Churm goes red, white and blue at the Olympic swim center.

(Below) Oh Canada, our neighbors to the north.

(Below) An Oregon couple were a patriotic sideshow, posing for more than 30 minutes with Beijiners in the foyer of the Olympic swim center.

Weather or not, it's Beijing in August

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 15:38:00 GMT

There was a rare sighting yesterday in Beijing—the sun and what passes for blue skies in August in this Chinese capital. For the first time in five days here, we actually spotted our shadows as we continued our version of the Olympic marathon, criss-crossing this grand city of deep history and 17 million people. The sun actually burned through the thick haze (who knows what we are actually breathing) that blankets Beijing like a silk comforter. And it was hot. Another searing and sticky day. The combination left me longing for Orange County’s "June gloom" as I peeled my backpack from my soggy T-shirt. Beijing weather is extreme – even wacky – by my cushy coastal standards.

Temperatures the first two days here were downright tropical. Highs were in the upper 90s, with oppressive humidity to match. Many foreigners, in Beijing for the Olympics, are part of large tours riding in air-conditioned buses or they hire drivers to shuttle them around in Audi and Hyundai sedans. Team Churm, however, is the mass-transit gang. We walk or ride subways or take taxis so the elements have been in play from the minute we arrived at our hotel in the city’s bustling financial district. The result is that we are constantly checking weather.com.

The heat is the killer. Without getting too personal, I used the public restrooms exactly once in two days, and not because of any phobia (though one trip to the public facilities could cause you to rethink eating and drinking for the duration of your Beijing stay). The fact is, you sweat out everything you drink. And believe me, we are chugging gallons of bottled water. Even the occasional beer never seems to reach your personal plumbing before it evaporates. Lord only knows how the Olympic distance runners will perform come race times next week.

The Beijing Summer Games motto is “One World. One Dream.” How about adding “One Puddle” for the perspiration on every forehead you pass by.

It could be worse. It could rain every day like it did on Day No. 3 of our Beijing visit. The morning broke with a light rain, a welcome change from the previous day’s heat. But by late afternoon, conditions went monsoon like. As we exited the Olympic Basketball Gymnasium we were handed plastic ponchos. One look outside told us why. Thunder, lightening and some of the heaviest rain I’ve ever seen had turned the massive concrete common area outside the arena into a lake, and nearby streets were torrents of foot deep runoff. The ponchos (with the Made in China tag) did little to stave off the inevitable soaking as we tried to hail a cab in the middle of rush hour.

The downpour lasted for nearly five hours and we were told later it was the result of “cloud seeding” efforts by the Beijing Municipal Meteorological Bureau to make it rain and clear the air. What it did was clear the streets of the crush of bicyclists who were seemingly swept away, or throngs of pedestrians that huddled in large knots beneath storefront awnings or under bus shelters. Weather has been a big concern for months leading up to The Games. The Chinese government hired nearly 32,000 specialists to help “engineer” the best conditions and deployed them at 26 stations throughout the central city and suburbs to monitor temperatures and air quality. The use of aircraft has also been employed to chemically inject the constant cloud cover over the city and cause it to rain on certain days.

Who really knows whether any of this is making much of a difference. The fact is, since the days of great Chinese emperors, there is plenty of evidence that Beijing this time of year isn’t much different than Chicago in late July. It’s miserable. We’re obviously not here for the weather.

But there is one consolation to all of this. My midday appetite has all but dried up. I think it’s the heat, but my wife is convinced it’s the lunch options—hot dog or deep fried scorpions on a stick. With a little red chili sauce both are considered tasty treats. I’ll stick to my granola bar.

The No. 1 Olympic Sport

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 14:35:00 GMT

What is the No. 1 sport at the Beijing Summer Olympics? Gymnastics, swimming, basketball or track and field? The answer is none of the above. It’s picture taking, hands down. Everywhere you turn in this capital city, especially near Olympic venues, cameras are raised and someone is posing or smiling. No special skills or training are needed for this event. It’s international friendly and everyone it seems wants to freeze an Olympic memory with one click of a shutter.

The cameras are as diverse as the people carrying them. There are palm-size models, ones with long lenses, even some mounted on fancy tripods. Curiously, there are very few video cameras. Chinese officials have discouraged their use, fearing I guess a host of silly things winding up on You Tube, or worse. However, there are TV crews roaming most Olympic sites, recording the “man on the street” view from this muggy metropolis. At least 4 channels on Chinese TV are carrying The Games start-to-finish 24/7 in this nation of 1.3 billion people. The problem is the broadcasts are in Chinese, a steep challenge when my command of the language extends to “hello” and “thank you” and “Tsingtao,” a popular Chinese beer. So I sit nearly every night here in Beijing staring at a TV screen wishing for my 10 o’clock ESPN sports center update in English.

But there is no language barrier when it comes to snapping photos. The pantheon for picture taking is the Bird’s Nest, the architecturally stunning and awe inspiring Beijing National Stadium, where the Opening Ceremonies unfolded. Located north of downtown Beijing in the Olympic Green, the stadium and the Olympic torch are a magnet for shutterbugs. Late in the afternoon on our second day here, I spent nearly 2 hours photographing people photographing other people. It became a fixation watching others position, direct, nudge, command and beg their subjects to smile, move to the left or get crazy for the cameras. It is the best entertainment value so far at The Games. The price of admission to watch this Woody Allenesque comedy is free and I loved it.

In one sequence, I witnessed a big Belgium family holding their national flag and waving in front of the Olympic Stadium. Nearby, 3 U.S. college students from the University of Missouri were hamming it. And then there were the Chinese. This is their special moment and they all seem to want a digital keepsake. They mugged and hugged for the cameras. Groups of Chinese girls in heels and summer dresses flirted with photographers like Marilyn Monroe. One elderly couple went old school and stood at attention while holding a red flag. And one little Chinese boy not more than 5 did pushups on the hot concrete as his mother squatted to take pictures.

If you own stock in Canon or Nikon or Olympus cameras you should feel pretty good about your investment right about now. The sport of photography is alive and well is this Olympic city. Check out below some of the photos of people taking pictures. Leave me a comment and let me know which one is your favorite.

Beijing Tragedy Strikes Too Close To Home

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 21:16:00 GMT

We woke this morning to the tragic news of the stabbing death of American Todd Bachman in central Beijing yesterday. My wife and I did not know Bachman but in the last year we have become good friends with his daughter, Elizabeth, and her husband, Hugh McCutcheon, head coach of the U.S. Men’s National Volleyball Team. Elizabeth played on the U.S. women’s volleyball team at the 2004 Athens Summer Games and the Bachman family was widely known, respected and loved in American volleyball circles.

The depth of our sadness was heightened because just two weeks ago on a crowded restaurant patio in Anaheim the U.S. men’s team, which trains in Orange County and is a favorite here in Beijing to medal, was given a rousing Olympic send off. County officials and volleyball supporters cheered McCutcheon and his wife, who live in Irvine. After months of preparation, Elizabeth talked excitedly that evening about The Games finally arriving and the chance to attend this year as a spectator to watch her husband coach and spend time with her parents and family.
Inexplicably and without apparent provocation, those plans were horribly interrupted when a 47-year-old Chinese national wielding a knife attacked Elizabeth’s father and mother and a tour guide about noon at a Beijing tourist attraction. Todd Bachman died at the scene and his wife and the tour guide were taken to a local hospital where Elizabeth’s mother was in “serious and life threatening” condition today. Elizabeth, who was with her parents, visiting the historic site in the central part of this capital city was not hurt. The attacker died when he leaped to his death moments later from the 130-foot high Drum Tower building.

The news of the attack triggered worldwide headlines and cast a dark cloud over The Games, particularly the American teams and travelers. On this rainy, muggy Sunday morning talk in our hotel dining room turned to security, something that has not been an issue in our four days here in China. In fact, my wife, our three children and I have walked for hours here in Beijing, including part of one day very near to where the killing occurred, and have felt remarkably comfortable even at night. On almost every street corner there is a strong police presence for The Games. Beijing officials hired an additional 30,000 personnel to bolster security efforts during the Olympics. Curiously, none of the officers stationed in public view near competition venues, on busy boulevards, or on the city’s subway system carry weapons. But their uniforms and facial expressions suggest its all business during this Olympic fortnight.

As a family our overwhelming observation of China so far is how friendly the people have been. Time and again as we have huddled trying to decipher a map, we’ve been approached with smiles and a willingness to help. Language is a big barrier for Westerners, but even when communication has failed we have been treated warmly. It makes Saturday’s senseless killing seem surreal and, frankly, shocking. The U.S. Embassy said it believed the attack was an isolated act and not directed at Americans or foreigners, given that the Chinese tour guide was also hurt. "We don't believe this was targeted at American citizens, and we don't believe this has anything to do with the Olympics," embassy spokeswoman Susan Stevenson said in a statement.

In fact, the killing was a rare instance of violent crime against foreigners in tightly controlled China. Beijing is considered safer than most foreign cities of their size. Punishments for crimes against foreigners are heavier than for crimes against Chinese, and citizens are not allowed to own guns. The incident is exactly what China’s communist leaders did not want. They are hypersensitive to anything that could take the shine off the games, insisting issues such as China's human rights record, harsh rule in Tibet and ties with Sudan should not be raised at the sports event.

Why this attack occurred may never be known. But it most certainly will become part of Olympic history, the kind of chapter no one every wants or anticipated. Our hearts and prayers go to Hugh and Elizabeth McCutcheon and the entire Bachman family.

Living in the Moment

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 15:04:00 GMT

It’s show time and the people of Beijing sense it. In the final hours before the lavish Opening Ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Games, this capital city buzzed with anticipation. A decade in the making and $43 billion invested to pull it off, the Chinese seemed ready to celebrate their long planned “coming out party.”

We walked for nearly 7, shirt soaking hours in the central city and everywhere Chinese red bloomed. The national flag adorned storefronts. Cheeks of toddlers sported red hearts. Posters and banners seemed to cover every ancient wall near the fabled Forbidden City, where Emperors once ruled in a culture so closed only the most privileged were invited in. Today is a historic step to turn centuries of isolation into a new era of openness and hopeful acceptance of a different China, one that wants to play on the world stage. The theme for the Beijing Games, “One World, One Dream” was on display everywhere. For the first time, there is a sense that the Chinese want to embrace outsiders.

As we ventured further away from the main boulevards, down narrow streets where technology and time have not transformed life at light speed, we became objects of fascination. Taller, mostly blonde and clearly from a different zip code, my wife, 3 children and I weren’t hard to spot. If we lingered more than a moment on a street corner to study a map or seek directions, we attracted a crowd. Some stared and pointed. Many smiled sheepishly and the brave ones asked to have their picture taken with us. My two daughters (23 and 20) had their Brittany Spears paparazzi moment and awkwardly went with it.

It was Friday, but in the neighborhoods we wandered work was not a priority on this morning. Something much more important was hanging in the dense, muggy air. It had the feel of a national holiday. These people we passed weren’t going to Opening Ceremonies where tickets were selling at noon on the Chinese “gray market” for as much as $40,000 for the best seats in the Beijing National Stadium. They didn’t care. For the equivalent of 30 cents, you can buy a small Chinese flag and be a part of history. One young mother had a fist full of flags and red stick-on tattoos up and down her arms as two small children trailed behind. Cafes were stuffed with locals eating dim sum and the streets were thick with people. Everyone had a camera. We were only a few blocks from Tinanmen Square where 19 years ago the government tanks killed hundreds of protesting students as the world looked on. The mood in this city of deep history and now change is strikingly different as The Games begin.

Blogging from Beijing...

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 15:39:00 GMT

It’s Wednesday, the heart of the business week. United Flight 889 bound for Beijing from San Francisco is normally filled with sales executives, software developers and entrepreneurs who travel the U.S.-China trade route. But not today, two days before Opening Ceremonies for 2008 Summer Olympics in the Chinese capital. The suits and khaki’s have been replaced by warm up jackets and sweat pants, shorts and t-shirts. Most have U.S.A. emblazoned across the back or lapel and most have a Nike swoosh.

For more than a week now, Americans—athletes, coaches, media members, government officials and spectators—have been filling the 345 seats of Flight 889. Today, I’m lucky. Favorable winds will make this a shorter trip than normal—11 hours and 24 minutes to Beijing, my first trip to the Far East and China.

The Olympic buzz onboard is everywhere. One pilot moving through the cabin before take off said the atmosphere reminded him of a football tailgate party. Flags, banners, bear hugs and high fives were the order of the morning as the plane filled. “We’re rooting big time for the U.S.” the flight attendant announced on the intercom as plane departed.

This flight carried mostly track and field and wrestling Olympians, including 100 meter gold medal favorite Tyson Gay (in first class no less) and 200 meter specialist and medal favorite Allyson Felix (talked about muscles), No egos on this plane, no celebrity cool, only athletes with a job to do—represent America at the world’s biggest and oldest sporting event.

Final thought: In a sure sign rising fuel prices are squeezing airlines passengers were encouraged to take United’s in-flight magazine because it may soon disappear. “Ladies and gentleman this may become a collector’s item. To save on weight you may not find these in your seat pockets much longer.”

Photos below: (top) Our plane, flight #889; (middle) Downstairs at the airport, as people come out of immigration; (bottom) Arriving at the new $2 billion Beijing Capital International Airport