ChinaOneCall’s Marketing Director Michael Sinclair and Marketing Manager Teresa Kwok invite you to meet us at one of the following travel exhibitions to explore potential partnership opportunities.
Destinations London – The Holiday and Travel Show
5-8 February 2009
Earl’s Court, London
Stand no: AP41
Business Travel Show London
10-12 February 2009
Earl’s Court, London
Stand no: 105
Destinations Birmingham – The Holiday and Travel Show
27 Feb-1 Mar 2009
NEC, Birmingham
Stand no: AP34
TNT Travel Show London
7 Mar 2009
9.30am-6pm
New Connaught Rooms, Holborn
Stand no: 84
For your complimentary tickets and to arrange an appointment to see us call +44 (0)845 500 4142 or email ukshow@chinaonecall.com with your name, company and details of which show you wish to attend.
Chinese New Year or Spring Festival began on 26th January 2009. More information on the festival and other news can be found in our latest newsletter.
To view the January 2009 newsletter (ChinaOneNews) click here.
To sign up for our newsletter click here.
The fifth update of the Confucius family tree has recently ended in east China’s Shandong Province, putting the revered Chinese philosopher’s descendants at more than 2 million.
The latest revision took 10 years to complete. It gives the most complete and systematic record of Confucius genealogy, said Kong Deyong, a 77th-generation descendant and founder of the Confucius Genealogy Compilation Committee. “The previous revision in 1937 included 600,000 members. Since the new revision started in 1998, we have collected data from more than 1.3 million new people. Another 11,000 members registered after we stopped soliciting for possible descendants. It took time to confirm whether their identities conform to the Confucius genealogy”, Kong said.
The new list, which includes overseas and female descendants for the first time, is expected to be published sometime around Confucius’ 2560th birthday which falls on the 28th September 2009. Confucius’ family tree recorded 83 generations of his offspring. The newest descendent is a little girl in Liaoning Province.
Confucius, born in 551 B.C. in Shandong, was a great teacher and thinker whose theories held sway as orthodox ideology in China for more than 2,000 years. His teachings, which advocate peace and social harmony, have enjoyed a renaissance in China in recent years.
The Chinese New Year – the lunar year of the Earth Ox – begins on Monday, January 26th 2009. The Earth Ox (there are four other types of Ox) is believed to be dependable, patient, methodical and calm.
Celebrations can continue for up to fifteen days until the full moon on the 9th February 2009 and include traditional customs such as discarding old things, spring-cleaning, getting a haircut, and repaying debts before New Year’s Day. Most important of all is the family reunion dinner on New Year’s Eve.
The earth element is about stability and any movement will be slow and steady. The Ox is considered to be the most persevering and responsible of the twelve animal signs and its influence will make us more hard-working and inspire us to bring some order to our business and home lives after the turbulence of the Rat Year.
Top Tips for the Year of the Earth Ox
1. Avoid short-cuts and quick-fixes
Earth holds back water and communications can easily be hindered. Extra care will be needed to avoid misunderstandings.
2. Check the small print
Put the pedantic nature of the Ox to good use by checking the small print in all documents.
3. Marry one!
And finally, think about marrying, or making an Ox person (born in 1949, 1961,1973, or 1985) your partner. The Ox is a lover of stability, a great traditionalist and a homemaker.
In a realistic but ultimately optimistic New Year Message to members of the UK’s leading Anglo-Chinese business society, The 48 Group Club, its chairman, Stephen Perry, wrote China faced its biggest challenge in 30 years. When the international markets collapsed due to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Bear Sterns & Lehman Bros all collapsing too, China was suddenly thrown into a major review of policy, of options, and of fall-back positions.
China has almost $US two trillion in reserves, although $US 500-600 billion of that may be caught up in the Fannie Mae/ Freddie Mac debacle. China has a budget surplus and only about 25% of GDP is the state compared to Europe, which is generally over 40% and rising. So China has a lot of scope for stimulating the economy, but effective targeting and avoiding waste and corruption is a real challenge and will hold China back from huge amounts being thrown at the problem too fast.
Stephen Perry’s advice for those involved in China? Don’t dream. Be realistic. Listen to those who are close to China and not to the prejudiced media. We cannot expect a sudden change in China’s stock markets, although it would be welcome. We cannot expect China to suddenly suck in the world’s excess capacity. But they will make moves in the raw materials markets to replenish stocks and maintain growth above 7%. Probably the 4th quarter and 1st quarter of next year will be less than China’s leaders would require but the years of 2008 and 2009 will probably meet their minimum demands.
For those who have not already obtained a copy of ChinaOneCall’s How to do Business in China, please click here. The guide contains valuable information and tips on how to get started and approach China armed with the knowledge on how to tackle many situations.