Here I am LaoWei – China from a different perspective
by: Cornelius Mueller
date: April 11, 2011 07:34 AM
Whenever German or other Western entrepreneurs tell about their experiences and successes / failures in China, they
say „learnt the hard way“. When I saw some first few words of Dr. Bernhard Wessling’s book „Here I am LaoWei“ on a book page in the internet, my first thought was: another lamentation, another
document about intercultural failure – do we really need this? But when I read more on the available internet sample pages, my curiosity was replacing the original sceptical attitude and was soon
itself replaced by fascination.
The author, a German entrepreneur and scientist, encountered difficulties with his products in China, not much different from many of his entrepreneur colleagues. Also not so much different his
reaction and decision, to take over himself and go to China to fix the problems. That is how begins an exceptional story of a man, who suddenly finds himself in Shenzhen, a huge city with 15
million people in South China where life is so much different, at the first glance and quite obviously different from his previous life and work in a northern German province, where he enjoyed
his life with (in relation to then in China) plentiful leisure time with relaxing nature observations and playing with his grandchildren. Nothing of that can be found in Shenzhen, will be the
comment by many China experts. Wrong place, man, sorry for that.
Dr. Wessling’s observations are drilling deep below the outer skin. He has the eye for the usual-exceptional and he looks at people with whom he is dealing, with sympathetic interest. His view is
not dazed by intercultural training courses, “Sun Tzu for management” is unknown to him even until today. All these shortcomings are paying back and the result is „Here is LaoWei“. The book is a
historical document of a young town and especially about the people living there. Usual statistical information (gross national product, traffic density, average income etc.) are mentioned, if at
all, only as small side notes. While talking with the fruit vendor lady, the medical doctor (whose father was a farmer in the old Shenzhen village, still living in the village which now is part
of the boom town, but now as a real-estate investor) and the grandmother fish vendor who is concerned about her beautiful two grand-daughters’ future, Wessling describes China very humorously and
vivid from a perspective which even long-term Shenzhen residents did not uncover. He adds about 140 photos showing life and – very suprisingly – nature observations which again most of the
Shenzheners have never seen. China, in fact, is different as he says on the book cover.
In all his descriptions, the author avoids any slang and those platitudes who are so much popular in self-appointed China experts in order to cover lack of deep knowledge. In the “business
chapters” (if I may say so), the development and function of relationship networks in China based on trust is described in detail, without even mentioning the term „guanxi“ which is elsewhere so
often misunderstood and inappropriately used. A very well done description which probably is the closest one to explain the real original term „guanxi“.
This exceptional book is very well worth reading and recommended not only for those who had, have or plan to have some personal relationship to Shenzhen. Also everyone who has some more than only
average interest in China should not miss these views from a different perspective.
Links (with German reading samples): http://books.google.de/books?id=9X06cqfu1hAC& printsec=frontcover&
dq=hier+bin+ich+laowei& hl=de& ei=MKehTfD5GcvR4wbJsNWLAw& sa=X& oi=book_result& ct=result& resnum=1& ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage& q& f=false
http://www.amazon.de/Hier-bin-ich-Lao-Wei/dp/3842304803/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8& s=books& qid=1302439603& sr=8-1