We’ve all somehow been there, even though we’ve never set foot there: Tiananmen Square, The Square of Heavenly Peace. This is — as they say — China’s “money shot.” Andreea & I were on a very tight schedule which almost caused us to miss our Shanghai connecting flight, but these were some the moving images we snagged as we traversed from north to south along the expanse of this Beijing landmark, from the Forbidden City to Mao’s Mausoleum. Sorry I’m mumbling a bit, but the capital was positively freezing on this day. Wind gusts and the like. Thanks again for watching!

This episode was born after spending an evening at a Shanghai vegetarian restaurant owned by a Japanese lady. Our impressions? All in the clip, baby. Enjoy!

So you’ve scored yourself a shiny new college diploma and want to take a big step up on the career ladder. You’ve read and heard about how China’s growing like the jolly green giant so you think your best prospects of landing a promising new gig are squarely in the PRC’s lap. Well, think again. While China is indeed on its “peaceful rise,” you may want to re-examine things before you make your own “great leap forward.” If you’re not delivering some beneficial skill to the Chinese market — something the Chinese don’t already have — you might be making a mistake in thinking your English is sufficient. That’s the subject of today’s episode and thanks again for watching!

Today I’m standing on Shanghai’s Nanjing Lu (Avenue), one of China’s most storied shopping thoroughfares. The street is a 24-7 hive of activity and — I kid you not — it’s worth it to just stand there with a cuppa joe just to watch the throngs go about their business in the district. The Double E whipped out the cam so you all could get an eyeful what “Socialism With Chinese Characteristics” looks like. The harsh reality of the matter is that everything — and yes, we mean absolutely everything — is possible in the PRC except for one thing: do nothing to challenge the nation’s authorities. Otherwise you’re free to do whatever the heck you want, as you’ll see in the coming days with more Chinese Vitamin C episodes. And, oh, thanks again for watching!

There are a ton of pretenders out there claiming to be another of the so-called “China experts.” Truth is, there’s no such thing as a “China expert.” If one thing’s for certain, the PRC keeps on changing and not even China’s hardline leaders know where things might ultimately head. Where better to debunk the “China expert” theory than from atop the country’s Great Wall? That’s right, Episode #51 comes straight at ya from the Great Wall of China north of Beijing, at the Mutianyu entrance. Enjoy the half-millennium of architectural grandeur and as we juice you up with your daily dose on China…*in* China. Thanks again for watching!

Well how about that?! Vitamin C: Your Daily Dose On China has just turned 50 years old! Half a century of existence, eh? And who would have thought we’d have made it this far? Well thankfully the more important story is China, and, moreover, where it finds itself exactly after 60 years of independent statehood. As today’s “People’s Republic” grows with characteristic blistering abandon, is that same PRC starting to fray apart at the seams, ethically and morally? In Episode 50, ADM recounts a common urban Chinese horror story and let me tell you, friends, it ain’t pretty. As China surges ahead towards apparent superpower-dom, is the nation somehow checking and balancing itself? Are its citizens safe in their own cities? Is the country going to hell in a handcart, as people disregard their fellows’ well-being with their only concerns revolving around the almighty yuan? And as cloying as it sounds: are Chinese citizens still nice to each other? You can decide for yourself at the end of this episode, and thanks again for watching. Looking foward to seeing you at 100!

There is “good” Mao and “bad” Mao. There is the Mao of the Chinese Civil War, and then there’s the Mao of the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. So which Mao Zedong is the “real” Mao Zedong? Peter Levenda gets into all of this in his latest book, “The Mao of Business: Guerrilla Techniques for the New China,” where he describes how the majority of Chinese you’ll be dealing with as part of your China business will have come of age during the worst years of Mao’s sordid reign and why you should be reading Mao’s “Little Red Book” instead of more traditional Chinese strategy tomes like The Art of War. It was a compelling read, and that’s what we talk about in today’s pod. Thanks again for watching!

So you think you’re just going to come into China and fling product to 1.3 billion starving customers? ::: buzzer sound! ::: Not going to happen! It’s not nearly that easy. Bigger names with even deeper pockets have managed to crap out and fail (Rupert Murdoch anyone?). So if you’re not prepared for a deeper commitment to the PRC, don’t invest. Just go and enjoy your holiday. Oh…um, and thanks again for watching!

DISCLAIMER | Trying something slightly different today. Hope you don’t mind. Please let us know what you think, by the way…

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So have you ever wondered what’s the big hullabaloo about the Chinese — in one fell swoop — having the power to undermine America’s national economy if they one day up and decide to cash in their US foreign debt? We’re talking about somewhere in the neighborhood of $1 trillion US. Well, it’s more of a media-spun thing than anything, and I explain why in this episode. Thanks again for watching!

Welcome back, it’s been quite some time since our last episode, hasn’t it? Anyways I’ve been on a reading tear of late and just ploughed through Robyn Meredith’s bestselling THE ELEPHANT AND THE DRAGON: The Rise of India and China and What It Means for All of Us, a thin comparative study between the two juggernauts and how this affects the US’ future prospects. I was so inspired by the content that I made a short list of the main themes, comparing and contrasting as I have a tendency to do. Man it’s cold out there…thanks again for watching!