This is the case with Gord Hotchkiss’s blog, Out of My Gord, where he usually writes about Google and other warehouses views on search and inventions in this field. But recently he went to China, to take part in the Search Engine Strategies Conference and Expo in Xiamen. On his blog you can now read a four-part story of his venture into the land which the Western (or Euro-American) mind finds difficult to understand.
This difficulty in understanding shines through in the first two posts, occasionally making Gord appear rather arrogant. You can’t help painting this conventional image of a self-confident Westerner who looks at every “alien” country with a degree of disdain. However, it soon begins to look like this arrogance may be more of a defense mechanism in the face of the culture and people whose language you don’t know.
One of the strong images you take away from Gord’s notes is that China may be a country of extreme contrasts (at the first glance, at least). In the first chapter Gord narrates the perils of Hong Kong’s humidity. ‘New York is bone dry compared to Hong Kong. I had worn what I thought would be a nice light shirt. Within 3 blocks, it was literally soaked everywhere.‘ Yet eventually he finds his ‘little slice of Hong Kong heaven. There was a nice park and walk way by the harbor, with a breeze blowing in. I found a park bench, put on my headphones and just watched the amazing scene as spectacular cloudscapes blew in over Hong Kong’s mountains while the ships and ferries passed below.‘
Later in Xiamen, he was taken by taxi from the airport to the hotel, and the description of his ride makes up to a good laugh. ‘The traffic lights were a complete puzzle to me, with blinking red, green and blue lights spread in random patterns, with no indicators of what they might mean. The cab weaved back and forth across the entire width of the road, often running down the lane marker itself, cutting in front of vehicles, then being cut off in turn, always accompanied by blast of horn…; And the bikes came from every direction, then took off in every direction. It seems that riding a bike in China makes you invincible, because these riders were obviously not concerned for their safety.’ I must admit it reminded me of Moscow’s traffic, although there would be no bikes, only cars.
As he notes in Logging from China – Part II, ‘this is a culture of immense complexity and contradiction that defies the attempts of the western mind to define it. My brain is a linear thing, that tends to value unambiguity and clarity. In China, my brain is on overload.’ But at the same time, ‘China has lived with complexity for thousands of years…; It’s only the western mind that tries to impose clarity where none may be required. China is a vast, dense and vibrant organism, a society of immense ambition and near unlimited resource…; But I sense that as China stirs and finds it’s global potential, it will rewrite the definition of success, eliminating the Anglo-American bias that marked the last two centuries.‘
Last but not least, Chinese experience in search also appears nothing like Western.
Searching in China is a totally different experience than it is in the US. We use search as a tool. China uses it as a window to the online world. They spend more time on the search results page…; In North America, we tend to very quickly scan a few results, looking for signs of relevance. In China, the entire listing is scanned, and in Baidu’s case, the entire page is scanned. I interpreted this as a less successful user experience. One person who came up to me after the presentation offered another interpretation: this was how the Chinese spend their time online. In North America, information is something to be begrudgingly waded through. In China, information is treasured. We tend to scan and discard the irrelevant quickly. The Chinese like to savor information, to digest it more slowly, to take the time to judge the relevance for themselves.
And ‘the visit to Beijing was a perfect end cap to an unforgettable trip. I won’t bore you anymore with how amazed/dumbfounded/assaulted I was with China. It was important to be here. It’s important for anyone from the West to make their way here. It’s the emerging Yin to the western Yang and will form a very powerful counterpart to the historic western world dominance. I will never understand the market, the people or the culture, nor should I. It’s not really for me to understand. I was glad to experience it, even just for a week…; You can’t get a sense of China unless you’re here. There’s no way you can do this at arm’s length. It’s an immersive experience.’
What I always like taking a notice of is how the experience of a new country suddenly makes you philosophical and poetic. So, follow the links to Gord’s blog to read his experience of China. Whatever thoughts or comments you have, do share them with us.
Out of My Gord: Logging from China – Part I
Out of My Gord: Logging from China – Part II
Out of My Gord: Logging from China – Part III
Out of My Gord: Logging from China – Part IV