Chinese Numbers

Een groep van 16 UvA/VU/HvA-studenten bereidt een reis voor naar het land van de onbegrensde groeimogelijkheden: China!

Wekelijks schrijft een van hen een blog. Hieronder de blog van Maaike de Reuver.

‘There are nine million bicycles in Beijing’, sings Katie Malua happily in her sweet voice. The number of bicycles in Beijing is not something to be particularly shocked by, especially not for The 16, coming from Holland, where we have a lot of bicycles; in Amsterdam there are even double as much bicycles as citizens. Though, if we think a little further about the numbers of China it does become shocking.

The whole population of Holland fits in one single city in China, in a lot of single cities in China actually. Amsterdam, our big capital we are so proud of, is what Chinese people tend to call every city with less than a million people: a village..

60% of the world population these days is Asian, in 2050 it is estimated to be 90%..
China is taking over the power in Asia, everywhere in Sri Lanka for example you can see Chinese characters on busses, shops, houses, etc. They are all influenced by Chinese power and/or money..

There are more Chinese learning to speak proper English than there are native English speakers in the world.

I won`t say it`s a bad thing China is rising, but I would say a lot of European, a lot of Dutch people don`t see this. They believe in the power and growth of Europe without looking further. They will be overwhelmed by Chinese influences sooner or later if they close their eyes for this worldpower and don`t interact. We, The 16 from Amsterdam, will go to China in May 2012 to experience this atmosphere in China and see and feel what all these Chinese numbers mean in real life. Let us know if we can do or find out something for you/your company as well!

This is why we go to China. This is why we are so excited about actually experiencing the vibe of Chinese entrepreneurs.