Whether he likes it or not, Toodou’s Gary Wang is becoming a real star in China. This month he was featured in the Chinese version of Esquire magazine, in an article about Web2.0. The picture from the article can be found here. Esquire’s website is here. That reminds me, I don’t have your autograph yet Gary!

Several foreign companies have been the victim of fraud in China according to the Dutch embassy website. What happened is that these companies receive a proposal for a large order from a Chinese company that they have never done business with before. They are then asked to come to China to sign the contract for this order. Once in China they need to pay for dinners, presents and some ‘administrative fees’. But after that the Chinese partner suddenly disappears, or after the business person is back home he is not able to contact the Chinese party anymore.

I am not surprised about this, although it certainly is the exception rather than the rule. So many foreign companies seem to think that doing business in China is just like doing business at home. But although some aspects are the same, this is not a country where you will sign a contract during a first trip, and certainly not if you get to know a company over the internet.

I heard several similar stories over the past years, and I always wonder why these foreign companies do not prepare themselves a bit more in order to make sure that they are not being fooled. It is not so very difficult to check out your business partner in China, and some advice before or during negotiations can save you tons of money and frustration. My company China Bay (www.china-bay.com, email: info@china-bay.com) can help with this, or you can ask your embassy in China to provide you with names of consultancy or law firms that provide this kind of services. Don’t be afraid to do business in China, just be well prepared!

The Rolling Stones plan to give a concert in Shanghai next month. There will be one show on April 8, on the Shanghai Grand Stage. Prices for the 8000-people event range from RMB 300 to RMB 3000. The last time the Stones planned to play in mainland China was in 2003, but then the concert was cancelled because of SARS.

A villager from central China whose daughter was murdered 6 years ago, kept her body in a refrigator for all that time. He felt the criminal responsible for the murder did not get enough punishment, so what do you do then? Simple, you travel to Beijing with the corpse and tie it to a 10-meter high billboard in the Chaoyang business district during the Monday morning rush hour. After 2 hours (!) witnesses called the police, who would investigate the matter.

Update: sina.com has some pictures (via Shanghaiist)