I have over the past few months attended 2 meetings with Western Cape Government relating to a developing relationship with a region of China with respect to the sport related industry.  In the most recent presentation details pertaining to China’s accelerated growth and success in sport, with specific reference to the Olympics, were highlighted.

In my previous position as CEO of the Exp Group I was involved in the marketing of some of the world’s top brands as they entered the Chinese market in the early 2000’s.  In those days penetrating the Chinese market was no easy task, but it is amazing to see how things have improved for outsiders but at the same time how all things Chinese have continued to accelerate.  This includes China’s global progress and that country’s intention to become one of the dominant global players, both at brand level and with respect to their global intentions re influencing global trends and exporting Chinese culture.  China is an accelerating but still emerging economy in which people are intent on chasing their dreams. 

On the golf front there can be little doubt that over the next decade there will be several young Chinese talents challenging their western peers on the major tours of the world.  Perhaps KeNako Academy can forge some mutually beneficial relationships and share knowledge and learnings with Chinese Academies in the coming years.  But for this month let’s consider some interesting facts (fun & economic and ancient & modern) about China outside of golf.

• The modern word “China” probably derives from the Qin (pronounced “chin”) dynasty.  Emperor Qin Shi Huang (260-210 B.C.) of the Qin dynasty first unified China in 221 BC, beginning an Imperial period which lasted until AD 1912.
• China is often considered the longest continuous civilization, with some historians marking 6000 BC as the dawn of Chinese civilization.  China also has the world’s longest continuously used written language.
• China boasts the world’s largest population, with about 1,36 billion inhabitants.  Despite its size (world’s 4^th largest land mass), China has just one time zone.
• China gave the world things like Paper, Printing, Gunpowder, Math and the Compass and in the fashion world Porcelain and Silk.
• The Chinese were using the decimal system as early as the 14^th Century BC, nearly 2,300 years before the first known use of the decimal system in European mathematics.  The Chinese were also the first to use zero.
• Chinese mathematics evolved independently of Greek mathematics and is of great interest to historians of mathematics.
• The Chinese have made silk since at least 3,000 BC.  The Romans knew China as ‘Serica’ which means ‘Land of Silk’.  The Chinese fiercely guarded the secrets of silk making and anyone caught smuggling silkworm eggs or cocoons out of China was put to death.
• Chinese legend has it that Tea was discovered by the Chinese emperor Shennong in 2737 B.C. when a tea leaf fell into his boiling water.
• Toilet paper was invented in China in the late 1300s.  It was for Emperors only.
• The Chinese invented kites (‘paper birds’ or ‘Aeolian harps’) about 3,000 years ago. They were used to frighten the enemy in battle.  Marco Polo (1254-1324) noted that kites were also used to predict the success of a voyage.
• China invented ice cream by packing a milk mixture and rice into snow.  Marco Polo is rumoured to have taken the recipe (along with the recipe for noodles) back to Europe.
• The number one hobby in China is stamp collecting.  It is viewed as a status symbol.
• White, rather than black, is the Chinese colour for mourning and funerals.
• Red symbolizes happiness for the Chinese and is commonly used at Chinese festivals and other happy occasions such as birthdays and weddings.
• By the 4^th Century BC the Chinese were drilling for natural gas and using it as a heat source, preceding Western natural gas drilling by about 2,300 years.
• By the 2^nd Century BC, the Chinese discovered that blood circulated throughout the body and that the heart pumped the blood.  In Europe, circulation wasn’t discovered until the early seventeenth century by William Harvey (1578-1657).
• China is currently the world’s second largest economy and the world’s fastest growing economy, with growth rates averaging over 10% over the past 30 years.
• Despite being the world’s largest exporter; second largest importer; and the largest manufacturing economy in the world; China is only ranked 92^nd by GDP on a per capita income basis.  China is intent on becoming a fully developed nation by 2049, which year will be the 100^th anniversary of the founding of the Peoples Republic of China.
• China represents an amazing mix of the old and the new.  China is showing its intent in sustaining its heritage but embracing the future.  Chinese characters represent the core of Chinese civilisation.  They are an art of their own and the source of Chinese written language.  Note: With respect to embracing the old and the new both KeNako Academy and its new sister organisation Rundle College (www.rundlecollege.co.za) share this intent with China as they maintain the fundamentals of both golf and education but look at evolving dynamic new methodologies that will afford students attending these 2 organisations an edge as they move forwards with their lives.
• As China has emerged from hard-line Communism, there has been a meteoric growth in the Chinese middle class.  In some ways this can be compared to South Africa since the abolishment of apartheid.
• Almost 50% of Chinese enterprises intend to take their companies global in the next decade.
• The expansion of the Confucius Institute, a centre that teaches Chinese language and culture, is growing worldwide.    There are now 858 Confucius Institutes around the world of which 81 are in the United States of America.
• There are more patent applications in China than in the USA.
• The Chinese Film Industry is going global.
• In 2010 over 80,000 students graduated from Chinese art schools.  This was 15 times as many as in 2000.
• It is anticipated that by the year 2020 people all around the world will be exposed to and involved in a variety of Chinese art forms and traditions, including watching Chinese made films, listening to Chinese songs and using Chinese invented products.
• By 2015 the value of the online shopping industry in China is expected to be 18 Trillion Yuan ($2,86 Trillion USD).  The anticipated forecast for online shopping in the USA for 2015 is a mere $84 Billion USD!  In simple terms that is 34 times as big as the USA!
• It is expected that by 2015 e-commerce will account for 10% of all retail sales in China.  The Chinese government is helping to accelerate this growth by subsidising high speed internet access to its people.
• Today China represents 12% of global demand for luxury goods but by 2015 this share is expected to increase to 29%, making China the world’s largest luxury consumer market.
• The most important holiday in China is the Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year.  Chinese traditionally believe that every person turns one year older on the New Year and as a consequence that day is considered to be everyone’s birthday.
• And finally …. Cricket (insect) fighting is a popular amusement in China.  Many Chinese children keep crickets as pets.

A consideration for KeNako’s sister school Rundle College moving forwards is to offer Mandarin as a subject option.  When one considers the importance of China, Chinese influence and the Chinese economy moving forwards perhaps such offering should come sooner rather than later!

Final Thought:  For those of you that think that ‘Fortune Cookies’ are a traditional Chinese custom, they’re not.  They were invented in 1920 by a worker in the Key Heong Noodle Factory in San Francisco, USA.

Ron Boon
Chairman