I too have seen the Zheng character written onto the walls at many small foundries.

Just finished this book. It was great. A must-read for anyone doing business in China. Midler nails the true balance of power in the importer/manufacturer relationship.

The five-stroke character for zheng (correct) is commonly used throughout the Chinese character countries for tallying into units of five. It's a commonplace, worth a line at most.
Midler should be grateful for the access he enjoyed. If he tried to pull this stunt at a metal factory in the UK West Midlands, or anywhere in Japan, he would have got pretty short shrift. (Yes, I do speak from experience.) In fact, when I have tried to see inside a plant in China, buxing, buxing was always the answer. No go. It is not easy to see inside the workshop of the world.

Three uses of the the teen favorite "random" or "randomly" in such a short extract (and another in the intro) does not entice me to read any more of what this random guy has to say about his China experiences...

I got the impression that the highlight of the trip for Mr. Midler is the Chinese character, "Zheng". Finding out what it means made up a big part of the research into this "random" book.

Enough of this anecdotal garbage about China by the amateurs, to regale the bumpkins with college degree at home, who would like to tell themselves how enlightened they are about the rest of the world without making greater effort, say, of reading Jon Spencer or Lattimore. The commercial compromise they seek out is "light readings" like this.

Hardly an amateur, a man who not only did business in China, but thrived. One would think that this alone would qualify him to write.

Unless the dig was meant as an amateur *writer*, in which case it can be safely disregarded. Writers seldom have anything interesting to say other than about themselves, and people who have had interesting life experiences make good authors. Author isn't the same as writer.

Experience begets insights, which I have yet to be convinced that Midler's book provides any.

Mere years do not mean experience: see George W. for a fine example of how one can stay an amateur, inept at practically everything, forever. And, in general, the same applies to Western expats in Asia. Nights spent at Malone's nursing a pint may be pleasurable but perhaps do not necessarily contribute to "China experience". Even MBA admission officers in US are not that naive anymore.

And far from anecdotal.

I know for a fact that Mr. Midler spent many years in China from Sichuan, then Yunnan, to Guangzhou and then Shantou. He definitely is not one of those "live in a 5-star hotel for 4 weeks then write the know all China book" kind of guy.

Methinks Orpheus is feeling the heat because *his* "definitive tome" has not been published yet??

@LoveChinaLongTime: that instinctive suspicion of ulterior motive when meeting dissent is often ascribed to Chinese. I guess you have just proven the stereotype unfair.

RE "many years in China from Sichuan, then Yunnan, to Guangzhou and then Shantou": see my post re years vs. experience.

Your powers of deduction are astonishing, Orpheus. Here we have a short excerpt in which the author visits a factory and tosses in an observation about tally marks on the wall for a bit of color, and you conclude that not only was that the highlight of his trip, but that his experiences are little different than drinking in an expat bar.

I'll grant you that the excerpt is not really substantial and doesn't say much of anything about the author having rich experiences or justifiable conclusions, but by the same token, there's nothing to justify concluding that he's an idiot writing garbage.

I only know Jon Spencer through Blues Explosion. Care to share?

@Joel: thanks for the kind words on my "powers of deduction", of which I am generally known---OK, OK, that's enough applause for now.

The excerpt, as it stood in the quotation, is nothing but "anecdotal garbage". As to the whole book, if the excerpt is "not really substantial" and doesn't say much of anything about the author or the book, why was it offered here in the first place? Usually one would expect that, in the reviewere's opinion at least, the excerpt is reasonably representative of the book. And I, among others, felt "underwhelmed". And yes, I "got the impression"---didn't say "formulated the conclusion"---that the book is no good. Since when does a personal impression require in-depth research and background validation? Not a standard Danwei writers often hold themselves against.

While we are at it: look at how many lines are dedicated to "zheng" and honestly tell me it's just trivial. Incidentally, I found the author's comparison of "zheng" to prisoner "tracking the days as they passed" rather silly. Perhaps a reflex of someone indoctrinated about the "commie society" being one big prison? Now, Joel, that's a "speculative" barb, not a "deduction".

Typo: Jon Spence, not "Spencer". Sinologist. Author of "God's Chinese Son", "Chan's Great Continent", and
"Return to Dragon Mountain".

PS: "I would hope that a wise Chinese man with the richness of his experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than...... China Bounders".

RE: "Mr. Midler spent many years in China from Sichuan, then Yunnan, to Guangzhou and then Shantou."

So the British colonialists in 19th Century were mostly qualified cultural commentators, then? Some of us really need to read up on Maughm, Conrad and Greene.

Even the great Rudyard Kipling has not been given the benefits of doubt that some believe Mr. Midler is entitled to.

Anyone with business experience in China will know how accurate his book is. Most of the negative comments I've read about his book come from people who obviously haven't read the book and/or have no real business experience in China.

True believers are so funny.

@Orpheus - Holding up Jonathan Spence as a worthwhile read? Please, the guy is a university-bound intellectual, who has never worked in industry in China or anywhere else, and who, judging from last year's dull-as-ditch-water BBC Radio 4 Reith Lectures seems to believe that China is headed towards Confucianism. Spence is an ivory-tower braniac, end of.

The excerpt from Midler's book is okay in an "ain't that funny that they do that in that there China" kind of way, all I can add is that doing that in my old place of work down in Shenzhen would lead to you getting thrown out on your ear at the very least. The guy's website seems to be entirely about just how lame Chinese products are, which is hardly Pulitzer-winning stuff, but there's nothing I would object to that much. Orpheus, if you really object to this book here's a tip - don't buy it.

Hey, nobody said Spence is perfect; but reading him at least gives you some historical knowledge that may offer you some perspective in reading the Chinese society. What do you get out of Midler?

Besides, I have to name someone so that I don't end up saying the more obvious and less politic, that China attracts third-rate intellects and inept "professionals" from the developed world. Whether that has to do with contemporary China itself being third-rate is not the point. The tragic fact is that as a consequence of losers rushing in, trees get felled to make garbage like this, comfortably reinforcing the prejudice without anything new.

Thanks for the tip, FOARP; I need it because I would otherwise buy what I called garbage. You saved my life.

I have been to Taiwan visiting suppliers and spoke to them abot their dealings in China, and the responses i have received are quite similar to what i have read in the book "POORLY MADE IN CHINA".
The Taiwanese are not the Chinese and for the most part they seem proud of this, but some of the tactics that the Chinese use to lure naive business people in are shared; I know because some of these tactics where used on me personally, a small business owner. As for the Chinese, i have almost commited to a factory manufacturing goods for my customers and as usual, the supplier is willing to send top samples. Obviousley everything will be perfect initially, even the pricing seems great for now (still do not know how they will make a profit though) but i am really not sure................