Year In China
I created two versions of this blog post: a detailed friends and family version and a concise professional version. You can toggle between them based on your preference.
You are currently reading the professional version.
The friends and family version is meant for catching up given that I don't actively use social media. The professional version is meant for a more general audience and give a small peek into Schwarzman Scholars.
What is Schwarzman Scholars? It is a fully-funded master's degree and leadership program at Tsinghua University in Beijing. The program assembles future leaders form around world to learn about China, leadership, and develop friendships. Learn more here.
September
October
November
December
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
This is the end of the narrated experience in China, but I have a few concluding thoughts to share. Feel free to skip this section if you are not interested.
This year has undoubtedly been one of the most fun and enriching periods of my life. I met incredible people, gained valuable knowledge, and had a fantastic time wherever I went. I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to be a Schwarzman Scholar, and I look forward to what the future holds. In the immediate future, I will be executing some ideas I developed throughout the year. If any of these shows promise, I plan to invest more time and effort into shaping it into a company. If it doesn't meet my expectations, I will seek a position under an insane mentor, ideally within the space industry.
It goes without saying, but if you are eligible to for Schwarzman Scholars you should definitely apply! The master's is fully funded, and above that, they pay for trips, introduce you to amazing people, and give you some of the best friends you will ever have. If you have any questions about the program or the application process, feel free to reach out!
To briefly touch on what for many is the elephant in the room: China. I will say that it surpassed most of my expectations. What follows is a list of my personal thoughts, please do not consider this a comprehensive analysis.
- The people are incredibly friendly, the food is delicious, and the country is beautiful.
- China has the world's most advanced high-speed rail network, effectively connecting all cities across the country. This network is now expanding to neighboring countries, which are welcoming the investment. Although my sample size is small, I asked people from these regions, and the response was overwhelmingly positive.
- Over eighty percent of the cities I visited are developed to the point that they could easily be the capital of any wealthy country, with everyone praising their beauty and modernity.
- Regarding manufacturing, I share the same concerns as the rest of the world. I see few viable ways of competing with the scale and efficiency of Chinese industrial clusters. Eliminating manufacturing capabilities in nearly all countries except China is a very real, and potentially very dangerous, possibility. Production capabilities in China are so advanced that most e-commerce business models I considered, except for niche brand creation, are not viable. The factories themselves can do it better and now often ship directly to consumers, as seen with Temu and Shein.
- Historically, China can be considered a peaceful nation. However, current geopolitical dynamics, which some might refer to as Thucydides Trap, complicate international relations. As long as leaders lack mutual understanding, the likelihood of conflict increases, even though this alone does not resolve the issues (e.g. The Peloponnesian War). One of the missions of Schwarzman Scholars is to address this challenge, and I am confident that many of the brightest and kindest minds I know will fight tooth-and-nail to solve this.
- Mobile technology in China is the most convenient I have ever experienced, the country leapfrogged intermediate technologies to adopt the latest innovations. This, thanks to mobile payment, led to the effective elimination of cash, making transactions easier and reducing the risk of theft. While it clearly results in more centralized control, I believe the benefits of a digital economy far outweigh the drawbacks. One of my current projects aims to create these solutions in Mexico, and who knows, it might even be decentralized.
- Communism is only what they call their form of government. In practice, the country operates under so-called Socialism with Chinese Characteristics. This has created a very capitalist and industrious society, while giving the government a lot of freedom to experiment with policy. Not even close to what comes to mind when you think of communism.
I could rant about this for hours, but I will stop here. Other interesting areas that I enjoy researching in the Chinese context are: renewable technologies, Taiwan, the South China Sea, artificial intelligence, the Belt and Road Initiative, and the space industry.
Thanks for taking the time to read this and reach out if you have any questions or comments. I am always happy to chat with someone who read this far!