Book Review- Postcards from Tomorrow Square: Reports from China

Overview:

Postcards from Tomorrow Square: Reports from China gives readers a topical view of economic conditions in various regions of China. It explores the truths and myths behind the American conception of the growing economy in China. The book was written by James Fallows who lived in China during the 1980s and again from 2006 to 2008. He mentions that China “is simply too big and too contradictory” (pg. xiv) to represent an overall picture of the country. Fallows has compiled 12 articles of his first-hand accounts from his living and traveling in China while working for a newspaper called The Atlantic Monthly. The book was copyrighted in 2009 and published by a Division of Random House, Inc. The book costs $15.00 and is under the ISBN 978-0-307-45624-3.

“What are we thinking in considering China an overall threat? Yes, its factories are formidable, and its weight in the world is huge. But this is still a big, poor, developing nation trying to solve the emergency of the moment” (pg. 142). The purpose of Fallows’ book is to expose the vast array of social and economic conditions in China. Fallows is able to provide a firsthand comparison of the progress China has made. Having twice lived in China, separated by roughly twenty five years, he is able to account for the progress the country has truly made. He wants readers to question the current belief that China is simply the United States’ competitor. This book is intended for a broad audience. He aims to influence the general public’s view of China. This book is particularly useful as an initial introduction to China for anyone preparing to travel there. Rather than giving a reader an in-depth understanding of how China functions, the book simply gets the reader thinking about China in a non-stereotypical manner. Fallows utilizes a conversational tone in his writing. As a writer for the Atlantic Monthly, he is able to successfully write in an objective, informative manner.

The Relevance of Postcards from Tomorrow Square: Reports from China:

China and the United States are becoming increasingly more mutually dependant on each other. Fallows discusses how the Chinese government has invested heavily in American currency. If the value of U.S. currency plummeted, the 1.4 trillion dollars that China has invested in U.S. treasury notes would vanish. It is imperative to understand that the success of each economy is important to the other. Fallows states that China is reliant on the U.S. to purchase its goods and the U.S. is reliant on China in order to leverage cheap labor costs. This book is relevant for any company that does any business in China. It gives the reader a more realistic vision of what the Chinese world of manufacturing entails. Fallows states that, “The problem in China is typically the opposite: Foreigners don’t know where to start or whom to deal with in the chaos of small, indistinguishable firms” (pg. 82). This book reveals the fast-paced cluster of companies operating in such places as Shenzhen. It is crucial to understand the basics of China prior to creating an offshore manufacturing operation. Fallows spoke with an Irishman stationed in Shenzhen, named Liam Casey. Casey simply states that, “Supply chain is intellectual property” (pg. 84). This book demonstrates Fallows’ opinion that someone manufacturing in China must be able to leverage relationships in order to be successful.

Fallows also presents China as an economic opportunity for the United States. He discusses how the U.S. can capitalize on the exorbitant amounts of pollution in the city. As mentioned in the book, “The business of improving China’s environment can be a very attractive business indeed” (pg. 208). This book finds relevance in looking to the future prospects of China. The United States will be looking to aid the 750,000 Chinese people who die prematurely due to pollution, while reaping the monetary benefits. As mentioned by Fallows, “Trying to build anything more at the moment – sewage-treatment plants, for a start, which would mean a better life for its own people, or smokestack scrubbers and related clean technology, which would start to address the world pollution for which China is increasingly held responsible” (pg. 157). In the chapter titled China Makes, The World Takes, Fallows states how the demand for cheap goods propagates the low standards of pollution. For example, if the production cost of an Ethernet cable rose from three dollars to four dollars, corporations might look to switch the entire operation to a country like Vietnam. The economic and environmental problems that China faces are our problems as well. Fallows has complied a book that is both relevant to the current operations in China, as well as the prospective opportunities of the future.

Where Fallows Excels:

Fallows’ greatest achievement in his book is his comparison of the different lives the Chinese lead. Fallows presents a China that is completely foreign to that of the traditional American understanding of the country. One of the first experiences discussed is his visit to Broad Town. It is a city constructed around the business tycoon Zhang Yue’s fantasy. The town is the manufacturing center for Zhang’s industrial air conditioner plants. All employees receive free housing and food, as well as moderate pay, by Chinese standards. The employees have no reason to leave their manufactured city. Mixed through the city are Zhang’s extravagant displays of wealth, from his Versailles-like palace, to his scaled replicas of the Great Pyramids. What shocked me most was Fallows’ account of the apparent cleanliness of the factory. He describes how most Chinese factories operate with the motto of, “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing sloppily,” (pg. 44) but Broad Town operates on the Japanese paradigm of cleanliness.

Zhang’s utopia is presented as an immediate contradiction of the lives of the residents of Western China. Fallows discusses a trip to the western provinces, where he saw the subsistence economy in which nearly 300 million people are trapped. In the chapter After the Earthquake, Fallows recounts his trip through four rural western villages that were ravaged by earthquakes. He describes it as a desolate area with few luxuries. To further distinguish between the vast differences in the lives of the Chinese people, he discussed how different people recall the most colossal disaster in modern Chinese history. “If they said the Cultural Revolution, it meant they were from the city and viewed losing their careers and being sent to the farms as the ultimate hardship. If they said the Great Famine, it meant they were country people who had seen many of their neighbors starve” (pg. 237). By showing the diversity of the country, it enables readers to be more open to different views of China.

By constantly relating China back to the United States, Fallows is able to give his work more relevance. For example, in the chapter The $1.4 Trillion Question, he compares China’s slower and more balanced growth to the rapid growth of the U.S., which has left us reliant on China’s subsidies (pg. 168). Another example of a similar comparison arose in identifying pollution issues. He exposes a similarity in that both the U.S. and Chinese government “are afraid to make the public pay the true cost of cleaning up the country” (pg. 206). Fallows wants to create a different image of China in the minds of his readers. By providing these comparisons, he is able to create a meaningful text.

A final point that Fallows clearly distinguishes is that China is heavily regulated. Both social and business interactions are highly controlled or monitored. Whether relating to the internet or business regulations and protocol, the government is present. In retelling his experiences in Shenzhen, a reader can grasp the chaos that takes place in outsourcing manufacturing. Fallows effectively sums this up in saying, “Today’s China is a disorienting combination of the very tightly controlled and the seemingly out-of-control” (pg. 235).

Where Fallows Falls Short:

Postcards from Tomorrow Square: Reports from China was a quick and interesting read with few flaws. One of the issues I had with Fallows’ writing was his unwillingness to take a stand. Though this may be the nature of The Atlantic Monthly’s publications, I was irritated when he did not chose sides in presenting contradictions. For example, Fallows presents The Great Firewall as a measure instituted by the government to control what its people can view and to screen activity with other countries, but later mentions that it is “ostensibly a way to keep hackers and other rogue elements from harming Chinese internet users” (pg. 171). After finishing reading the chapter The Connection Has Been Reset, I was left with an unsure idea of how The Great Firewall currently operates, both before and after the Olympics. He then states that all “the government cares about is making the quest for information just enough of a nuisance that people generally won’t bother” (pg. 180).

As mentioned previously, the book is a culmination of articles which were written while Fallows was living in China. This led to the inclusion of topics that did not serve to state crucial points. For instance, the third chapter, Win in China, was all about a Chinese game show based on the idea of the American show The Apprentice. The point of the chapter was to express that China had fallen behind in innovation and that they hoped “that the program would encourage more people in China to start their own businesses” (pg. 64). In addition, I found that the chapter Macau’s Big Gamble did not add much to the book. Macau is a gambling haven that has been economically growing by twenty percent a year. The chapter serves to contrast Las Vegas with Macau in how the strategy and regulations differ. Macau is so small in size that it doesn’t represent the diversity of China that I will encounter.

The other problem I had with Fallows was that he did not expand on certain issues that I believe to be more prevalent. He states, “It is conceivable that bad partnerships, stolen intellectual property, dilution of brand name, logistics nightmares, or other difficulties have given many companies a sour view of outsourcing” (pg. 94). These occurrences are major problems that prohibit companies from outsourcing and have led to IP theft. I personally had hoped to gain Fallows’ insight as to the actual weight of these problems, as well as insight from someone like Liam Casey.

The information presented in the book was based on Fallows’ personal accounts of his experiences. I found one inconsistency though that sparked further investigation. Having studied the Japanese concept of Lean Manufacturing, the cleanliness and order of Broad Town seemed to contradict the anti-Japanese sentiment discussed in the first chapter. The Japanese idea of cleanliness is clearly outlined in such books as The Toyota Way, by Jeffrey Liker. Fallows does make this connection, but does not expand on why. In order to gain greater insight into this paradox, I would suggest additional research on the strategies of business in Broad Town.

Conclusion and Recommendation:

Postcards from Tomorrow Square: Reports from China is a compelling book to introduce someone to China. I would highly recommend it to a person traveling or doing business in China, in order to give them insight into the country. This book is an excellent introduction to the subject of business in China, but should be supplemented by additional books in order to gain a deeper understanding of the country. Based on my background in medical manufacturing, in which I worked with Vietnamese assemblers, I can attest to the difficulties in language and the cultural barriers. Again, this book serves to introduce the chaos of Chinese outsourcing, but must be witnessed to be fully understood. It has furthered my interest in learning about the intricacies of outsourcing. This final quote gives readers insight as to how Fallows views the Chinese American relationship. “A look at China can help America address its main shortcomings – reckless fiscal and foreign policies, delay in moving away from dependence on oil – and perhaps also suggest ways the nations can work together on challenges, mainly environmental, that threaten them and others” (pg. 142).