Showing posts with label Zhengzhou. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Zhengzhou. Show all posts

Aug 30, 2012

China Welcomes Kevin Garnett

Thursday, August 30, 2012
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Just saw a story/press release about NBA superstar Kevin Garnett coming to China. No, not permanently - he isn't leaving the Boston and the Celtics for the CBA (Chinese Basketball Association). Instead, its just a short visit sponsored by one of his sponsors, Chinese sportswear company Anta which is headquartered in Fujian Province (my current home). Garnett blew off Addias (his former shoe sponsor) for Anta in 2010 and I assume that decision had at least as much to do with money as it did with shoe quality or preferences.


 
Kevin Garnett in Chinese Anta commercial with English subtitles

Surprisingly, one of the four cities Garnett is supposed to make a stop at is Zhengzhou, where I worked for a year before moving to my current home in Xiamen. Zhengzhou certainly isn't a well-known city to foreigners (or even to many Chinese) and isn't one of the nicest cities in China to spend time in - its a dirty, gloomy city, overpopulated city (like many in China) although I found the people to be very nice and it does have some interesting ancient history going back to the Shang Dynasty. Anyway basketball is huge in China so I'm sure KG will have no problem drawing humongous Chinese-sized crowds in Zhengzhou and any other cities he appears in.
Me in one of the scenic parts of Zhengzhou



Nov 13, 2011

Coffee Time in China

Sunday, November 13, 2011
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I'm currently living in the city of Xiamen 厦门, but spent the previous academic year teaching at a university in Zhengzhou 郑州 in Henan Province in central China. I just came across this photo taken at a coffee shop appropriately named Coffee Time in Zhengzhou that I used to go to ocassionally. I met a friend there who loved the artistic coffee design so much she almost couldn't bear to drink it. 


Of course, coffee drinking is a relatively recent pasttime in China which has traditionally been (and largely remains) a tea drinking nation. However, coffee is definitely experiencing an upsurge, mostly among young, affluent Chinese. Nowadays, every major Chinese city hosts at least one Starbucks (big cities will have several) as well as several local coffee shops.
Starbucks recently opened its 500th store in China and there's probably still plenty of room for expansion in the future. While relatively few Chinese have become coffee afficionados, many like the various coffee-based drinks that shops like Starbucks offer. More importantly, they enjoy the upscale atmosphere (Starbucks drinks sell for about the equivalent price as they do in the U.S. which is outrageously expensive for most Chinese). While I personally would like Starbucks and other foreign luxury brands to offer their goods at slightly cheaper prices to be affordable to more Chinese (not to mention myself), this might actually hurt their business in China since the affluent seem to want to pay high Western prices as a status symbol of their newfound wealth.

I also enjoy the coffee shop atmosphere, but unfortunately there are no coffee shops close to where I live although there are several in Xiamen (including one which bills itself as China's biggest Starbucks). I guess I'll just have to wait and in the meantime, do as the vast majority of Chinese do - drink tea. 

Aug 24, 2010

Henan to Add One to Huge Population

Tuesday, August 24, 2010
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Henan Province (河南) is the biggest of China’s 22 provinces, with its population exceeding 100 million in July, 2010. For comparison, this means that Henan has a bigger population than many countries including Germany, France and Great Britain.
One downside to this is that its huge population creates a substantial strain on Henan's economy which is 20% less in per-capita GDP than China overall. While China's one-child policy (计划生育政策; jìhuà shēngyù zhèngcè; literally "policy of birth planning") is controversial and has been often denounced in Western media, it has limited population growth which poses increasing burdens on the Chinese economy, especially in Henan. Consider that without the one-child policy, Henan would have reached a 100 million population about 13 years ago and would have a considerably higher population today. 

In a few weeks, Henan will be adding one more person to its population when I move to Henan's capital city of Zhengzhou (郑州). Being a foreigner, I won't count for census purposes, but I guess I'll just have to get used to being one of 100 million +.

Aug 4, 2010

iPhones From Zhengzhou

Wednesday, August 04, 2010
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Foxconn Technology Group has opened a new factory in the city of Zhèngzhōu (郑州), my soon-to-be new home, located in Henan Province. 
 
Foxconn is a multinational, Taiwan-based company which basically acts a a subcontractor, manufacturing electronics and computer products for other companies. The new $100 million factory in Zhengzhou will mainly produce Apple iPhones and is expected to crank out about 200,000 iPhones a day. The plant is starting out with about 900 workers, but is anticipated to grow to as much as 150,000 eventually.

Foxconn has been shifting some of its manufacturing from the southern, coastal city of Shenzhen inland, having already opened a plant in Chongqing and investing in Chengdu.

Foxconn has been the subject of criticism in China after 10 workers committed suicide in its Shenzhen facilities from July 2009 to May 2010, allegedly due to harsh working condition. Foxconn responded by increasing pay twice since then.

Henan Province is the most populous province in China with over 100 million people so it has a substantial workforce.Additionally, the cost of living in Henan is generally lower than coastal cities such as Shenzhen where rapid industrialization has resulted in increasing wages. Foxconn will reportedly pay workers in Zhengzhou the same wage rates as it pays in Shenzhen, so the lower cost of living will benefit Zhengzhou workers. 
 

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