Yue’s Yappings

There was a great article last week in the New York Times about an American settling down to live in an old part of Shanghai. Inspired, I thought I’d chime in with my own thoughts.

I often visit Shanghai for business. When I visit, I usually stay at my parent’s place for a week or two at a time. Over the years, I’ve made some good friends in Shanghai, and I try to spend as much time with them as I can. So although I’ve never lived in Shanghai, I’ve spent enough time in the city to get a good feel for day to day life.

Xiaoqu

18 million people live in Shanghai, making it one of the biggest cities in the world. The city is broken down into many residential areas called “Xiaoqu”, which literaly translated means “Little district”. Each Xiaoqu is a perfect ecosystem. There is a guard at the gate and workers to maintain the garden, plumbing, pick up the trash, etc. There is often a kindergarten and a number of small convenience shops - barber, fruit stand, shoe repair place, magazine stand and food market. In the morning, people gather to practice tai chi and ballroom dancing. During the day, you’ll see all the nannies hanging out together taking care of the children in their charge.

Food

Most locals buy food daily since it’s so convenient and the food is considered fresher than what you can get in a western style grocery store. However, Chinese kitchens do not get the same respect and treatment as they get in US. Most of them are small and not nice - no place you’d want to hang out.

Eating out

So Shanghainese love to eat out. Rain or shine, the restaurants in Shanghai are always packed. There are some amazing restaurants in Shanghai - both food wise and size wise. Some restaurants span multiple floors, connected by elevators, and are staffed by an army of people. Most of Chinese restaurants are quite noisy - too noisy for most westerners tastes.

If you like it quieter, you can reserve a private dining. Often times the private dining rooms have their own wash rooms and private wait staffs. With service like this, its no wonder that Shanghainese almost never hosts parties at home - instead they just rent out a room at a restaurant.

Laundry

Chinese don’t use dryers, which is a good thing considering how much power they use, its really a decadent western thing. Instead, clothes (including underwear) are all hung outside on bamboo poles to dry in the air. You can even see the laundry hanging on a rope on the street some times. And the clothes you buy in China are often not meant to be put in a dryer - as I have learned the hard way one too many times.

Cash

Cash is still king. There are no personal checks. Credit card have been introduced, but only major department stores, hotels and fancy shops accept them. So you have to carry a lot of cash - particularly when traveling on business. The largest bill is 100 Yuan ($13) - you’ll have lots of them in your pocket. This can be a bit unnerving if you are not used to it. But on the bright side, every one is the same predicament.

Also transactions are done differently. In China, there are many places that require you pay up front. So don’t be surprised when you go a restaurant in Shanghai, the waiter asking for money as soon as you ordered the food from the menu.

Banking

A trip to the local bank in Shanghai can be quite an experience. There are always long lines, and an interminable amount of paperwork and approvals. Most of the times, you have to bring the bank passbook which contains all your deposition and withdraw history. The good news is that most banks in Shanghai are open on the weekend, so there is plenty of time to stand around.

Little Luxuries

Shanghai is an expensive city to live. Some things that are considered common in US are splurges in Shanghai.

1. Haagen-Daz ice cream. Haagen-Daz is more expensive in China than the US, but Chinese love it.
2. Seeing a movie. There are few large, western style movie theaters in Shanghai so ticket prices are equivalent. Plus, with so many cheap DVDs that cost around 70 cents, many Shanghainese just stay at home and watch DVDs instead.

And of course, there are things that are much cheaper in Shanghai than in the US. I try to take advantage of these services as much as I can when I am in Shanghai.

1. Hair cut and coloring. You can get a good hair cut for less than $5, and color and highlight for less than $30.
2. Tailoring. Shanghai has great tailors and you can get custom shirts and dresses made at very reasonable prices.
3. Spas. There are many good, cheap spas in Shanghai -definitely worth checking out.
4. Dry cleaning.

Cheap labor

Shanghai has a huge number of poor, migrant workers from the country side. Which means that there is an abundance of cheap labor. Many locals simply hire these workers to do the work they don’t want to. Do it yourself home improvement projects which are very popular among American home owners are unheard of in Shanghai - why not just hire a cheap migrant work instead?

Where do Migrant Workers live?

There are 4 million migrant workers in Shanghai, but unlike other large cities in poorer parts of the world, you don’t see very many slums, and certainly nothing like the shanty towns in other parts of Asia, Africa or South America. Most companies who hire migrant workers also house them, dormitory style, within the city. The sad part is that most of these workers will spend many years in Shanghai, working non-stop, but will never obtain “Hukou” (registered permanent residents) status of the city. Without Hokou, these workers don’t have the benefits and protections as the rest of Shanghainese. Some of of their children can’t even attend the school. Most of them have close family members in their home towns that depend on the money they send back and only see them once a year, during the Chinese New Year.

Three months ago I went to a baby shower for one of my friends. I had a great time, and am so happy for her (its her third child).

But I’ve been bothered to this day by some of the comments made at the party. Most of the women at the party had good careers, but left them to have children and become stay at home moms. They are all lucky to have husbands with good jobs, so economically they can afford to stay home.

As you’d expect when a bunch of married women get together, the conversation inexorably trends towards kids and husbands. At the end of the shower, four of us stayed late to help clean up.

All four of us are roughly the same age. One is a mother of 4, one is a mother of 3, one is a mother of 2, and I’m a mother of 0. So of course the conversation turned towards me. It was the usual litany of:

• Yue, when are you planning having children, you are missing the best thing in life
• Yue, you are selfish for not considering having kids
• Yue, you love money too much, that’s why you are working, money doesn’t buy happiness
• Work is meaningless, it won’t give you the joy that kids do
• Look at us, we are so lucky that we don’t have to work

No matter how many times I hear such comments, they still make me feel awful.

Most people don’t seem to understand that not all women want to be stay-at-home moms. I know for a fact I would hate it.

Growing up, my mother had a full time career and my parents fully expected me to have one also - with or without children. I work because I love it. I love it because:

• Its an intellectual challenge - every day brings something new at work and I wouldn’t give up for anything in the world. What’s unfair is that males are expected to think this way, but if females do then they are somehow misguided or missing out on life.
• It gives me financial independence. I would never willing become financially dependent on anyone - even if my husband was a billionaire. Life changes - people die, people get divorced, etc. I want to be in charge of my own destiny at all times.
• At most importantly its a large part of my self-worth.

Right now I am reading a great book called the “Feminine Mistake” by Leslie Bennetts. One of the main points of the book is that women are constantly told its too difficult to balance family life with a career. Being a working women is difficult - there are many frustrations at work and its hard to compete against men. As a result, many women “opt out” of working. As part of the book, Ms. Bennetts interviewed many of these women, and they usually said the major reason for their decision was to serve the needs of their husband and children.

In addition, many claim their husbands prefer them staying at home. Which I find ironic, because most of the stay-at-home moms I know spend very little time at home. They are usually shopping, going to the gym, having lunch with other moms, volunteering, taking their kids to activities, etc.

Unfortunately its a risky choice for a women to depend on another person. Today they are more women in America living without a husband than with one. And we all know how high the divorce rate is. Most of stay-at-home moms refuse to even think of the possibility.

At the end, I think there are trade off made from stay-at-home mom and career mom. I don’t see myself to be stay-at-home mom anytime soon.

People frequently ask me what they should do when they visit Shanghai. And now that my friend Paul asked me, since his son will be visiting next week, I decided it was finally time to write something down.

So here are Shanghai’s must-sees for first time visitors.

1. The Maglev Train

International flights arrive at Pudong airport, which is 30 km east of the city center. The best way to get to town is via the new Maglev train that connect the airport to Longyang Road Station. From Longyang Road station, you can either take a taxi or the subway to your final destination.

The Maglev train is a wonder of modern engineering. Its the first commercial high speed maglev line in the world and can accelerate to 350 km/hr (220mi/hr) in under two minutes, with a top speed of 431 km/h (268 mi/h). The train ride takes less than 10 minutes - versus 40 minutes for a taxi or car (assuming no traffic of course).

2. The Jinmao Tower

The Jinmao tower is the tallest building in Shanghai and third tallest in Asia. Although Shanghai has many other tall buildings, the Jinmao tower stands out for its elegance and style. It has 88th floors, with an observation deck on top, that has by far the best view of the city. There is also a bar and restaurant on the 88th floor, so if you have time, you should stop by have a drink or so.

The tower is right on the river - so go outside and take a walk. There is a nice park and you’ll have great views across to the older part of the city. When you get tired stop at the nearby Starbucks and grab a drink. The view of the bund on the other side of river is usually spectacular.

3. The Bund.

The Bund is the financial district of Shanghai. It’s made up of a number of older buildings constructed by foreigners between 1840 to 1930.

4. Chenghuang Temple & Yuyuan Garden

This is a famous landmark, and probably the most visited tourist site in Shanghai. During Chinese New Year, many locals visit the temple to receive blessings for the upcoming year. The temple is surrounded by many shops and restaurants - so its a good to spend an afternoon. And right next to the temple is a delightful garden called Yuyuan. The garden has many courtyards, corridors and foot bridges - its well worth a visit.

5. Nanjing Road

Nanjing road is the major shopping street in Shanghai. Part of it is pedestrian only, and is packed wall-to-wall with people almost all the time. My favorite time to visit Nanjing road is in the evening, where all the neon signs light up. It’s really quite amazing.

6. Huaihai Road

Huaihai Road is another major shopping street in Shanghai - and my favorite place to go shopping. It includes many boutiques as well as department stores.

7. Xin Tian Di District

Xin Tian Di is known for its restaurants, western style bars and clubs, and fancy shops. Its a favorite hangout for tourists and expats. I like to come here with my American friends, especially in the evening, to have a drink or hangout at the street cafe and bar.

8. Shanghai Museum & People square

This is my mother in-law’s favorite place in Shanghai - its one of the best museums in China. It includes a number of exhibits on Chinese history, art and culture and has a great gift store.

9. Night clubs

There are many cool night clubs in Shanghai. Some of my favorites are Face Bar (118 Ruijin 2 road), New Height Bar (No3 Bundt, 7th floor), and if you like dancing, try JZ Club, 46 West Fuxing Road.

RFID has been one of the most hyped technologies over the past decade. Study after study has breathlessly praised its benefits and predicted an industry worth billions upon billions of dollars. And on the contrarian side, we’ve heard ghastly visions of living in an Orwellian surveillance society.

RFID is a vibrant, steadily growing market. But its not exploding, as you would expect from all the articles in the main stream press. And that has left many people disappointed. Thousands of companies jumped into the market with dreams of riches. Today, many are struggling to survive, including tag suppliers, reader suppliers and even system integrators.

So let’s take a look at what’s holding the market back - I think it a good example of how hard it is for any new technology to establish itself.

What is RFID?

Let’s start with the basics - what is RFID? Its a technology that consists of two parts - a tag and a reader. Tags are attached to anything you want to track - clothing, boxes, animals and even humans. Each tag has a tiny chip that encodes information about what is being tracked. Usually product ids are stored on the chip - when the tag is detected the id is read from the chip and looked up in a database.

Which brings us to the second part of RFID - readers. Readers are devices that detect nearby chips and read their embedded information. Depending on various technical factors, nearby can be anywhere from a few inches to 60 feet.

Why is this Useful?

The basic idea of RFID is to replace barcodes. For all their utility, barcodes suffer from one big disadvantage, they have to be read by a laser. If you’ve ever used a self-check out line at the grocery store you know what a pain it is to search for the barcode and line it up just right with the laser. Wouldn’t it be nicer if you could just walk up to the check out machine, press a button, and have it recognize all the groceries in your bag without you having to remove them?

Although you won’t see RFID used at you local grocer (at least not yet), I bet you still use it almost every day. Do you have an E-ZPass for local toll roads? That’s RFID. Or maybe you have a security card to get into your building each morning? RFID again.

Or maybe your new Credit Card offers an “Express Pay” service? If you look closely at it, you’ll see an RFID chip embedded in it. All you have to do is touch the card against a reader, and voila, you’re done.

Or maybe you’ve just renewed your passport. If you look closely, it now also has a RFID tag.

In the business world, WallMart uses RFID to track its supplier’s deliveries, resulting in a more efficient supply chain. The US Military does the same. In China, employees in warehouses use handheld reader device to track parcels as they leave major Chinese ports on their way to the US or Europe.

With just a few seconds of thought, you can probably think of a dozen new ways of using RFID. Maybe you want to track your pets, or find your keys, or have your computer recognize you when you walk up to it.

A Slow Growing Market

If you think about the successful applications I mentioned above, they are all closed loop systems. One company controls both the tags and readers, and the communications between the tag and reader are kept simple. Once you start involving multiple products from multiple companies, or try to hook into backend systems, things start to get very complicated.

A Standards Mess

One reason is too many standards. There are multiple RFID standards, with ISO and EPC dominating. In addition, some countries, such as Japan, have their own standards, and others, like China, are developing their own standards.

The next problem is constant fights over frequencies. RFID can work at low frequency (LF), high frequency (HF) and Ultra High frequency (UHF). Frequencies vary from country to country, and are almost always politically contentious.

For example, in the United States, the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) specifies that UHF readers must communicate with tags between 902MHz and 928 MHz. In Europe, the regulatory agency is called ETSI, and is specifies that communication must happen between 865 to 868 MHz.

In additional to different operating bands in each country, there are also different rules on how readers should interact with tags and strict limits on spurious emissions outside of approved bands (some RFID bands are also used by cellphones).

To reliably interoperate, RFID tags and readers must be compliant with all of these standards! Needles to say, that a burdensome task, particularly for small companies. In addition, you can’t sell your product in a given country until its regulatory agency gives you its stamp of approval. And getting such a stamp is a long, expensive process.

Technical Problems

In addition to complex standards and regional regulatory constraints, RFID also suffers from a number of technical issues.

Tags, especially UHF tags, are extremely sensitive to the environment. They don’t work well around metal and water. This is problematic because most buildings contain lots of metal and people and animals are mostly made up of water. HF and LF tags work better with metal and water, but they have limited read range of only a few inches.

Security is also another big concern. Since anyone in range can talk to an RFID tag, how do you hide secret information and make sure it hasn’t been altered.

Patents
Patents are meant to encourage innovation. Ironically, in the RFID world, they do just the opposite. Patents have proved to be a huge impediment to the deployment of RFID systems. Just a few large corporations control most of the patents in the field. Which means if you are a small RFID startup, you have to pay a large royalty fee up-front.

Price
Finally, RFID is still too expensive. Barcodes are cheap. Really cheap. And in many industries, where profit margins are razor-thin, RFID tags simply aren’t yet affordable. Solving this problem is just a matter of time - although when you read some industry expert’s guess on how much longer it will take to reach price parity with barcodes make sure to multiply it by at least two and maybe five. Anyway, is certainly not happening in the next few years.

Future
So, what’s in store for the RFID market for the next couple of years? Many industry experts are predicating that 2008 and 2009 will finally be the breakout years for RFID. I’m skeptical. Without resolution of the issues I discussed above, its going to continue to be a long, slow growth for RFID.

My sister Xi Xi, who lives in New York, has been using an eyeliner from Bobbi Brown. She really likes it - its the only makeup that she puts on during her morning melt that can make it through a hot, humid, summer New York day.

Because of her recommendation, I went and bought myself some, in a dark brown color called Sepia. The eyeliner comes in a little pot, as you can see in the picture. Despite its name, it’s a cream and not a gel.

I applied it using a tiny brush, which I dipped into the pot. The eyeliner applied smoothly and gave me beautiful line - not too harsh like many other gel eyeliners. Best of all, the eyeliner didn’t smudge and lasted all day without any touch ups.

So I’m with my sister - this little pot will become one of the staples in my beauty bag.

On April 20th, 2007, China released regulations for UHF 800/900 RFID. Unlike Europe and North America, there are two separate UHF bands. The first is between 840.25-844.75 MHz and the second is between 920.20-924.75 MHz. Both have a max power of 2W [erp].

The good news is that China finally has UHF RFID regulations. The lack of regulations was a serious damper on the internal market - companies were waiting for final regulations before entering the market.

However, now all readers sold in China have to be certified, similarly to the United States where the FCC regulates the market. I expect that the certification process will be time-consuming and expensive, just as it is in the United States and Europe.

I have uploaded a copy of the new regulations in Chinese and English.

I am back in Denver after spending the last two weeks in Asia. As always, I’ve found it difficult to get over jetlag when coming back from Asia.  So instead of taking a nap on Sunday afternoon, which is what I wanted to do, I decided it was better to keep busy during the day.

Inspired by our neighbors who have beautiful rock gardens, Charlie and I decided to build our own on the north east corner of our house. With help of my mother in-law, who is an expert gardener, we bought a variety of flowers that fit well in Colorado’s dry climate.

They included:

• Ice Plant (short plant with small pink flower)
• Blue queen sage
• Gay feather
• Arizona Sun Indian Blanket,
• Sedum / Autumn Joy
• Coneflowers in yellow and red
• English Lavender
• Blue Delphinium
• Silver sage
• Pink Lupine
• Red Yarrow
• White Digitalis
• And finally Boxwood, a type of evergreen.

And here is the final result:

I woke up this morning, and saw the Eiffel tower outside the window. For while, I thought I was in Paris. Here is a view of Tokyo from my hotel window in Shinagawa.

When I left Shanghai on Tuesday, it had started to rain and the temperature mercifully dropped almost 10 degrees. After a short 3 hour flight I arrived in Japan at Narita airport. Right now it is rainy season in much of Japan, which the Japanese call “tsuyu”, or “plum rain.” While it doesn’t actually rain every day, the temperature tends to stay much cooler.

From Narita, I headed to Tokyo on the Narita express, which is roughly a one hour train ride. My hotel is near Shinigawa station, walking distance from the west entrance. After settling down at the hotel, I took a little walk.

Whenever I come to Japan, I’m always amazed by how polite everyone is. Considering Tokyo has over 30 million residents (yes, you read that right), there is absolutely no pushing and shoving to get ahead of other people. Quite a world of difference from China.

I like shopping in Japan because everything is of such high quality. Everything you find is perfectly made and presented in beautiful packing. Of course it costs more, but people are willing to make that trade. In contrast, both Americans and Chinese focus on price, not quality. Maybe that’s why the United States and China are becoming so integrated - China likes to make cheap goods that Americans like to buy.

Walking around Shinagawa station, I passed a number of small cafés and restaurants. During the evening, you’ll see lots of business men, dressed in suits, having a drink and a quick meal. Most places serve Udon (noodles) or a rice bowl with a variety of toppings - quite delicious if you ask me.

However, I wasn’t very hungry, so didn’t stop. Rounding the next corner, I found a “Dean Deluca”, a very high-end deli and grocery store that got it starts in New York city in the 1970’s. Wanting just a snack, I bought a bottle water and a small French baguette - both perfectly wrapped in their own carrying bag. Then I walked back to my hotel and starting planning for my meetings tomorrow.

I slept well Saturday night for the first time on my trip. Since its the weekend in the US, I didn’t have to wake up midnight to call into the office. Hooray.

Sunday was a typical, hot, sultry, summer day in Shanghai. I didn’t event want to stick my head out the window! But I have to go out since I had meetings all Sunday morning - the Chinese don’t understand the concept of weekends. And in the afternoon I got to catch up with my friend Jane and her family.