Asia Magazine #15

asiamagazine 2010 NO 15 A MAGAZINE by Chalmers students in Asia

A taste of okinawa Big Trouble in Rural China Catching the Taiwanese Wave

Chalmers Asia - Taiwan office

asiamagazine WHAT IS CHALMERS ASIA? Chalmers Asia was opened in March 2003 and is the result of a bilateral exchange agreement between National Chiao Tung University (NCTU) and Chalmers University of Technology. The Chalmers Asia office is strategically located at NCTU, near Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park.

PURPOSE - Increase awareness at Chalmers about the development in East Asia, with focus on Taiwan.

- Support mobility of students and staff between NCTU and Chalmers.

- Enhance Chalmers’ visibility in Taiwan and the neighbouring region.

THE CHALMERS ASIA MAGAZINE The purpose of this publication is to increase the awareness of Asia among the students and the staff of Chalmers. The articles are written by the Chalmers exchange students in Asia.

Editor HENRIK KJELLGREN

henrik.kjellgren@asia.chalmers.se Art Director CARL CHRISTOFFERSON

carl.christofferson@asia.chalmers.se CONTACT ADRESS Chalmers Asia, National Chiao Tung University, 1001 Ta-Hsueh Rd., Hsinchu 300, Taiwan, R.O.C. web www.asia.chalmers.se phone +886 (0)3 573 73 69 +46 (0)31 780 41 55 fax +886 (0)3 573 74 69 Front cover: China pavilion at Shanghai World Expo Back cover: Chongqing highrises Page 1: Umeda Sky City, Osaka Photos by Carl Christofferson

asiaContents asiaOffice 2 Letter from head of office 3 ASIa chronicle 3 office representatives 36 Asia Apply

asiaReport 4 A Platform to Success 6 UNDERGROUND TOKYO 9 “I’m sorry to leave before you do.”

10 Singapore – a Graduate’s Perspective 12 Hong Kong: A Good Outpost for Engineers 14 ZEB in Singapore 16 A Taste of Okinawa 19 A Common Language 20 A Traditional White Box 23 Flavours of taipei 24 “Better City, Better Life” 26 Big Trouble in Rural China 29 P1.cn 32 Speeding Development 34 Catching the Taiwanese Wave

asiaLetter

D

uring April I travelled around in China to collect data for my Master’s thesis. The trip brought me to fascinating places in China and I had the opportunity to meet many friendly and interesting people. This is some of my thoughts on the differences between China, Taiwan and Sweden.

I was sitting in our hotel room in Chengdu, Sichuan province, when I got an email that made me jump of excitement. I was asked to come to Sweden for a job interview! I quickly rearranged my ticket back so I would do a de-tour to Sweden on my way back to Taiwan.

Now, about three weeks later I’m sitting at Qatar airport on my way back to Taiwan. My short trip back to Sweden has given me a lot of thoughts about the differences between the two regions.

I’m waiting to board my plane to Hong Kong and I suddenly realise that every time a Chinese person walks by I nod my head as a “hello gesture”. I act like most Swedish people do when they see another Swede in a far away country.

Seeing these Chinese people, probably from Hong Kong, makes me feel at home.

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These people must think I’m crazy; I’d better focus on my letter instead.

My first impression of Sweden, besides the cold weather, was the lack of people and how silent it is everywhere. I know I have been complaining a lot during this year about how loud Chinese people can be but back in Sweden I really miss it. On my train ride into Stockholm I almost panic, I can hear the old man sitting in the other end of the car pushing the buttons on his cell phone. It’s too silent!

Minutes after my small panic attack I see something that I think signify another big difference between Sweden and China and Taiwan. The train passes by a construction site; some kind of bridge is being built. Its Friday around noon and all I can see is an empty excavator and some lonely worker hanging around. In China and Taiwan I have never seen an empty construction site, not even at night! About three weeks earlier I was in Xian, China´s fastest growing city. I was struck by the enormous construction sites that surrounded the city centre. I have never seen anything like it anywhere in the world! By the time that

bridge outside Stockholm is finished there is probably a new city next to Xian.

The last impression I will tell you about regards the crazy game Mahjong. When I walked up and down the steep streets of Chongqing in China I noticed how this impossible-to-understand-game is played everywhere. The difference is not that we don’t play Mahjong, it is how this game brings people together.

Any time of the day you can see large groups of people gathered along the streets to play it. Instead of sitting at home watching TV, like many Swedes do, the Chinese people go out, socialise and play Mahjong. I envy this kind of warm and open culture.

Oh! One last thing before I let you move on to read the rest of this Asia Magazine issue. When people in Sweden have asked me what day I will return to Taiwan, I have unwittingly answered: “I’m going back home on Wednesday”.

That’s how I feel about Taiwan, I call it my home.

Jesper Moberg / Head of Office

asiaChronicle

T

he Chalmers Asia office has continued to attract attention at NCTU during the spring. At Easter we held a much-appreciated egg painting activity and at the NCTU anniversary food-fair we embarked upon the task of presenting four different European dishes to the Taiwanese students. Just to mention two things.

When it comes to travelling we all have one thing in common. All office members, for various reasons, ended up going to different places in Mainland China. However, we still have very diverse stories to tell each other from this huge and contrast rich country.

As we write this we have just presented the Chalmers Asia office to a delegation of German politicians. Before we leave Taiwan we also plan to help the Taiwanese exchange students who are soon going to Chalmers prepare for the Swedish lifestyle. (Which, when we think about it, might be a lifestyle we hardly remember ourselves.) For some office members the final challenge before going back will be an attempt to ascend Jade Mountain in central Taiwan.

Finally, we would like to say that working with this edition of Asia Magazine has been fascinating regarding the exciting articles we receive from all over Asia.

Turning these pages you can read about students who seek out truly unique things and goes to very unexpected places. We would like to encourage all students who go to Asia to find and explore the unique opportunities here. And then of course, -give your story to Asia Magazine!

asiaOffice Representatives Jesper Moberg - Head of Office Graduate student at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at NCTU. Holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering at Chalmers University of Technology. Currently studying the second year of the Master’s programme Sustainable Energy Systems.

Carl Sylow-Rynning - Deputy Head of Office Graduate student at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at NCTU. Holds a bachelor’s degree in Information Technology at Chalmers University of Technology.

Henrik Kjellgren - Representative Editor of the Chalmers Asia Magazine. Graduate student at the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management at NCTU. Holds a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering and Management at Chalmers University of Technology.

Carl Christofferson - Representative Art Director of the Chalmers Asia Magazine. Graduate student at the Department of Architecture at NCTU. Holds a bachelor’s degree in Architecture and Engineering at Chalmers University of Technology.

Hugo af Klint - Representative Responsible for the Corporate Relations group. Graduate student at the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management at NCTU. Holds a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering and Management at Chalmers University of Technology.

Martin Persson - Representative Responsible for the Academic Exchange group. Graduate student at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at NCTU. Holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering at Chalmers University of Technology. Currently studying the second year of the Master’s programme Sustainable Energy Systems.

Sean Long Hoang - Representative Responsible for the Alumni group. Graduate student at Department of Management Science at NCTU. Holds a Bachelor of Science in Bioengineering at Chalmers University of Technology.

Henrik Kjellgren / Editor Carl Christofferson / Art Director

PS. I want to thank all the wonderful people that have made this year so great and give a special thanks to my colleagues and close friends at the Chalmers International Taiwan Office.You have all done an incredibly good job this year! / Jesper

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A Platform to Success Naming ceremony of two offshore platforms in Singapore Text & photos: Sofia Eliasson

At Chalmers University of Technology there is a Master’s programme called Naval Architecture. I have always been curious about this particular programme and when it was time to choose there was no doubt that it was going to be my first choice. During my third year at Chalmers I was offered to study the upcoming year at the National University of Singapore. For me this was a great opportunity since it meant I might be given the opportunity to study Offshore Engineering which is not being offered at any university in Sweden.

My wish to study Offshore Engineering has not been very easy to fulfil, and it has not been very easy once I finally started the actual studies. There has been a lot of running around to departments and professors to get the modules I wanted and

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many sleepless nights when trying to design a platform on my own without having any background in this particular study field. Even though it has been a lot of hard work, it has really been worth it. I have learned a lot in school this year and it has not only been about lectures, exams and assignments. When you are an exchange student in Singapore you go to a lot of fun parties and you do a lot of travelling around South-East Asia or maybe even further away.You get to see and experience amazing things. Although, the most exciting moment for me this year is not from any of all the great parties I have been to or from any of my own trips. It is actually from a school trip. Together with three other students from my class I had the great honour to attend the naming ceremony of two oil platforms that was built in Singapore.

Everything started one regular Thursday in school. Our professor, Mr. Choo, announced that he could bring four students to the naming ceremony of the two platforms “PV Drilling II” and “PV Drilling III” if anyone would be interested. Well, if you are asking this to about 30 students taking the module “Analysis and Design of Offshore Engineering” of course someone is going be interested. Those who wanted to go could write their name on a piece of paper and put it in a bowl. Thereafter Mr. Choo picked four students who were going with him. It felt like my lucky day when one of the names he called out was mine.

parts of the visit was when we climbed up on the helipad and looked down at the water and also when one of Singapore’s ministers approached me and Erik to shake our hands. He was really interested in where we came from and why we were in Singapore. The ceremony ended with a huge buffet where you could find a lot of typical Singaporean food. I could not have enjoyed this day more and as I said in the beginning; it is one of the most exciting moments I have experienced during my year as an exchange student in Singapore.

When the day of the naming ceremony finally arrived I was feeling both nervous and excited at the same time. We met outside Mr. Choo’s office and from there we went by car to the shipyard where the platforms had been built. Before the event I had no clue of what it was going to be like. When we arrived at the shipyard, precisely on time, I realised that it was going to be quite fancy and that I maybe should have worn something else than shorts and T-shirt. We were greeted by several women wearing beautiful traditional dresses and we all got nametags to wear during the day. A red matt had been rolled out leading us to a big party tent where we were seated.

The tent was filled with engineers, dressed up in suits and skirts, from all over the world. When all the speakers had said what they wanted and all gifts had been switched between the builders and the owners it was time for the actual naming; -it was time to smash champagne bottles against the platforms.

Since the naming ceremony was held on the 9th of November 2009 the actual naming was performed at exactly 9:09 am.

There were decorations all over the platforms and when the champagne bottles were smashed a lot of confetti was shot out into the air.

Finally it was time for the big moment; -it was time to enter one of the platforms. My legs were actually starting to shake and if it had not been for my Norwegian classmate Erik I might had been a coward and turned around. For two months I had been sitting in a classroom doing calculations on platforms and learning what to think about when designing one, but I had actually never been to one. I was amazed by how big it was.

I knew in meters approximately how big a platform normally is but it is really hard to visualize. Everything on the platform was very clean and there were workers standing everywhere to welcome us and guide us around. Inside the platform it felt like being on a ship; there were control rooms, accommodation and a lot of other facilities for the workers. The best

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UNDERGROUND TOKYO Text & photos: Hanna Mangs

Tokyo is often associated with earthquakes and an extensive metro system, but few know that the Tokyo underground also hides more man-made structures of interest. In Saitama prefecture, a one-hour metro ride from Tokyo city centre, the world’s largest and most advanced storm sewer system is situated, designed to save the residents of Saitama from flooding.The system is often mentioned in the same sentence as ”cutting-edge technology” or ”world-class engineering” and it has recently also gained quite a lot of attention due to its monumental architecture.

Saitama is an area which always has been prone to flooding because of its low-lying land surrounded by several rivers.

As there were frequent floods in the area, especially during typhoon season, the government in 1992 decided to start the construction of a new flood control facility. 14 years and 240 billion yen later the Metropolitan Area Outer Discharge Channel was completed and ready to use. Nowadays the system is used around five to seven times a year and when it is not

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active a part of the system is open for tourists. Together with some friends from the school of architecture I decide to go there to learn more.

Upon arrival we are greeted by our Japanese guide who quickly apologises and explains that there is no English-speaking guide. Fortunately, this is not a problem since there are a large number of scale models of the construction. All of them have a high degree of detailing, complete with light, water and electricity and explain the flow of water through the construction in a very pedagogic way. I throw a glance at my friends and we all seem to think the same thing, -this is typical for Japan.

For a while we are engulfed by the models but then we realise that this fascinating structure also exists in full scale and soon we are going to see it.

Our guide informs us that there are five shafts, or silos, strategically placed along the rivers where flooding usually occur.

To make it possible to transport water through the system the silos are connected to each other by a 6.4 km long tunnel lo-

cated 50 m underground. The tunnel is the structure reaching deepest into the ground in the whole Tokyo area, including the entire metro system. During heavy rainfall the water is led to the closest silo and then further transported via the underground tunnel to a giant water chamber. The chamber stands tall at 25 m and is 78 m wide and 177 m long and also features 59 giant concrete columns for structural support. After reaching this enormous storage space the water is pumped to the nearby Edo River which finally culminates in Tokyo bay. Overall this flood control system can store as much as 670,000 m3 and engineers estimate that the sewer discharge channel reduces the flooded areas by more than 80%.

saving thousands of people’s homes and possibly even lives. A megastructure at its best I found myself thinking while walking around looking up at the most tremendous columns I have

We are led over the above situated soccer field and down the stairs to the giant underground water chamber. We catch a glimpse of one of the silos but unfortunately it’s a non-accessible area because of the safety risks. We are only allowed to walk inside a marked area that is running through the middle of the vast room. It is hard to imagine that this immense empty space sometimes are completely filled with water, Saitama River.

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ever seen. Not only does it serve a good cause, the space itself is breathtaking for an architecture student like me. ”Is this really a storm sewer? I thought I was caught in the grand finale of the next James Bond movie.” I hear one of my friends say.

The world’s largest flood control facility, a high-tech construction and an exciting tourist attraction it definitely is. But does it serve its purpose? Since the opening in 2002 the storm sewer has been used several times, reporting satisfying results every time. One example is during typhoon no 6 in 2002.

Within 48 hours 141 mm of rainfall was recorded, approximately the same amount of rain that fell in July 2000 before the storm sewer system existed. Thanks to the flooding control system the flooded Naka River could be drained and no 8

houses were flooded. In comparison there were 236 flooded houses in 2000.

Now the inhabitants of Saitama can rest a little easier. The flooding threat is not entirely over but significantly smaller since the storm sewer was introduced. Japan can, not surprisingly, call themselves the world leader in disaster management control and Tokyo can add another intriguing structure on the list. I have to agree with what I read before my visit; Japan’s flooding control system stands apart from any other in the world. Appreciated both for its ingenious engineering and breathtaking aesthetics Saitama Storm Sewer is a true piece of art.

“I’m sorry to leave before you do.” (”Osaki ni shitsurei shimasu.”)

Text & photo: Sara Förbom

In Japanese there are two expressions you won’t find in any other language, “karoshi” and “karojisats”.

What do they mean? –Death as a consequence of too much work and suicide as a consequence of too much work.

During the last month I have had the chance to explore the Japanese working society close-up. Everyday at 8.30 am I and about 10 million other Tokyo citizens tried to squeeze onto the trains that would take us to our workspaces throughout the city. At 12 pm I walked down to the nearest konbini (a small shop that is open 24/7 selling everything you need) for a quick snack and at around 3 pm I had a coffee. So far everything is more or less the same as what I as a Westerner is used to. But the difference starts here. I didn’t leave the office at 6 pm. The day had just started and not until midnight did I rush down to catch the last train taking me home. Most people may have left their offices a bit earlier though and had time for a meal and some beers at the izakaya down at the corner. Therefore the last train home is more or less as crowded as a late Friday night queue ouside one of the most popular clubs back home (except for the fences and the free coffee).

The office I was interning at is one of these small and upcoming firms and has all in all about 30 people making up the staff.

15 are regular employees and they host at least 15 interns and staff candidates (people working for free, trying to become an employee). Half of the crowd is Japanese and the other half come from all over the world. All are young, ambitious and eager to make a career.

According to statistics the average working time in the Japanese society is about 60 hours a week. This means working six days a week, 50 weeks a year and doing two hours of overtime every day. This is the case even though regulations and recommendations say something else. And all overtime is unpaid.

The expression karoshi appeard in the late 1960s but didn’t become a well known phenomenon until the 1980s bubble economy years when media started to report about sudden deaths amoung young and healthy people. The victims were usually highly educated and had well paid jobs. This led to warnings and restrictions in working hours at offices since the deaths were said to be caused by the stress gained from too much work.

If someone left the office before the last train I would hear “Osaki ni shitsurei shimasu.” before the door closed behind the one leaving. It litterally means “I’m sorry to leave before you do”. The emplyees at the office don’t cope for long and most of them don’t stay for more than two years. Two long years of hard work, –for what you might ask? It is definitely not for the salary because the office pay the minimum wage of 100,000 yen a month. And this even though the office has done projects that has been published in more or less all the architectural magazines there are, is doing loads of well paid works abroad and the founder is travelling the world giving lectures.

The answer to why the employees cope with this kind of work is a result of many, many circumstances. One is being their only chance to express some creativity at a small but hardworking office and to avoid becoming just another white-collar salaryman. Another –and maybe the main reason, is to be able to start their own business and to do so they need a reputation and connections, –things they might acquire while working at this office.

I knew that these weeks were going to be crazy in amount of work. Now when I look back at my tired face in the mirror I see that I have been doing 14 hours a day for seven days a week. But I also see that I have learned a new working method and learned some about the contemporary Japanese architecture.

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Photo: Carl Christofferson

Singapore – a Graduate’s Perspective Text: Daniel Forsberg, Ken Leong, Thomas Lindberg

Singapore was no exception when the financial crisis hit the global market about two years ago. Being an international trading hub with important relations to Europe and the United States it was the first country to enter the recession in the South-East Asia region.

The banking industry took a big hit and the manufacturing an even bigger. As a student you cannot help feeling a bit worried when you have invested a lot of money, effort and time in an education that might only result in student loan debts.

Singapore has two of the highest-ranking universities in SouthEast Asia and attracts bright students from all over the world.

With 45% of the post-graduate students being foreigners there is not only bound to be competition but also cultural shocks.

As mentioned the current economic downturn can make it difficult for graduated university students.You may realise that you are about to graduate soon and do not know what to do.

Will you get any job or is the economic situation so bad that you have to either lower your salary expectations or grab any 10

job you can find? And if you get a job, how is it to work in a multi-cultural country like Singapore?

In order to answer these questions and get a perspective from the real world we met with Gireesh Kumar Bogu, 25, who moved to Singapore from India in 2008 to pursuit a Master’s degree in Bio-Informatics at Nanyang Technological University.

One year after graduation Gireesh works at a prestigious biomedical company in Singapore. A typical day he spends most of his time developing and implementing algorithms to examine genomic complexity. He got the job even though the country was in the middle of a financial downturn. It was a direct result of doing a great work on his Master’s thesis that was partly carried out at the company. It seems, however, that he was one of the lucky few in his class where more than 70% did not manage to get a job within their field of study after graduation. During the interview we could clearly see his gratitude to actually have found this job.

Singapore was not Gireesh’s only opportunity. He was torn

Photo: Hanna Mangs

Photo: Ken Leong Gireesh Kumar Bogu.

between Denmark, the United States and Singapore but he finally decided to go with Singapore mainly because of the relatively low tuition fee. In addition, the tuition fee can be further discounted if you agree to sign a service obligation agreement.

This is what Gireesh did and currently he is fulfilling his agreement that constitutes that in exchange for smaller tuition fees he has to stay and work in Singapore for at least three years after graduation.

Gireesh described the company that he works at as a typical Singaporean company; the workplace is very multicultural and mainly dominated by Singaporeans and Europeans. There are also some Indians, Canadians and Americans working at the company.

Comparing the average salary in Singapore to the Western world is certainly unfair. For example, an employee in McDonalds only gets around S$5 per hour (which is approximately 25 SEK) and that would not be enough to survive in Sweden.

However, looking at the countries surrounding Singapore the salary rate may not be that bad. A fresh Master-graduate

student in Singapore gets around S$2800 per month, which definitely is not bad compared to other countries in SouthEast Asia. “The salary rate and position you get in a company usually depends on your education level and qualifications,� says Gireesh.

Another aspect that was raised concerning the salary was how it could sustain the high cost of living in Singapore. Looking at recent data, Singapore is ranked as one of the most expensive cities to live in. According to Gireesh, Singapore is undoubtedly an expensive city to live in, especially compared to India. Since Singapore is so small the land price is higher than in most other countries. It is also difficult to find places to stay because of the limited space in Singapore. However, this mainly applies for the places close to the city centre. Gireesh continues to explain that there are cheaper alternatives outside the centre.

Singapore is considered as one of the most developed countries in Asia and is in many aspects comparable to the Western world, nonetheless, the working culture. “The working atmosphere is friendly and the co-workers are professional.

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In addition, the company Gireesh is working for offers great benefits to its employees. Some of the benefits such as health care and insurance are probably seen as inherent for most people in the Western world, especially in Sweden. In South-East Asia where poverty is a major concern and worker exploitation is common, it means a great deal to get benefits. On the other hand, Singapore is perhaps an exception in South-East Asia. Being a central-hub in the region, many multi-national companies will definitely be present here. This means that the working culture and standards in Singapore are more likely to reflect the ones in the Western world because most of the larger companies originate from the West.

After working at the company for over one year Gireesh has never been afraid of losing his job even though the economy has been a bit unstable. When Gireesh started working he was instantly given tasks with a lot of responsibility. To help him if he ever felt unsure or ran into problems he was assigned a mentor from one of the seniors at the company.

Another interesting point that was raised during the interview was about the social activities in Gireesh’s company.

In the Western world it is quite common with after-work activities such as going out for a beer together but in Singapore, or at least at Gireesh’s workplace, social activities after work are not that common. “Grabbing a beer after work is not common at all for Singaporeans,” says Gireesh.You have to find people who share similar interests and like to have fun. “I had the luck to meet people that enjoyed hanging out after work in the beginning but sadly they are not with the company anymore.”

Despite the cultural differences, that can sometimes complicate even the simplest task, Gireesh says that Singapore is overall a great place to work, live and earn money in especially compared to India. However, he feels that the world has more to offer and a permanent stay in Singapore is not likely. After he has completed his service obligation agreement he will try to continue his studies for a PhD in the United States.

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Photo: Carl Christofferson

Sometimes though, it can be difficult to get feedback from the co-workers especially in terms of criticism. This can perhaps be explained by the co-workers’ worries of being criticised themselves,” says Gireesh.

Hong Kong: a Good Outpost for Engineers Text: Anders Bennehag

Why is Asia in general and Hong Kong in particular interesting to Western engineering students? Well, it can’t have escaped anyone that Asia is a region that sports massive development at the moment, with a huge influx of technology and knowledge from all over the world.

Hong Kong is important because most of the investments in the southern part of China over the last 30 years have been coming from this small but densely populated peninsula. Hong Kong has one of the freest economies in the world and the government interferes very little in everyday life. This is very different from the strict regulations in mainland China which caused many multinational companies to establish a presence in Hong Kong instead. It’s not only the free market that is attractive to foreign companies but also the geographic location. Having access to a very good harbour and the fact that Shenzhen, a major economic centre in mainland China, is just across the border have cemented Hong Kong’s role as a major trading hub. Most of China’s manufacturing industry, including the very profitable electronics industry, is localised

Photos: Anders Bennehag The view over Hong Kong island from Victoria Peak.

in the Pearl River Delta next to Hong Kong. This inevitably creates a huge demand for engineers and many of those engineers live and work in Hong Kong. It is not a coincidence that the largest electronics fair in the world, the International ICT Expo, is held annually in this megacity. As you walk along the Avenue of Stars in Hong Kong at night, looking out over the river, you realise that most of the light actually comes from huge glowing company names and logos covering every skyscraper on the other side of the water. I heard someone say about the multinational electronics companies: “If you don’t have an office in Hong Kong coupled with a big name on a skyscraper, you don’t exist”.

But back to the main topic, -what is in it for engineers? It is crucial to realise that Asia and China in particular, are attracting a great amount of foreign investment and with that, creating a middle class with greater income. As the large population gets wealthier the world will see the greatest demand for cars and brand-name appliances coming from China. This causes Western companies to establish themselves in Asia in order to compete on the local market. But Asian culture is rather different from the Western and for the engineers to succeed, they must have an understanding of the local culture and way of life. That was not the case when Ebay tried to establish

A Hong Kong tram.

themselves in China. –Alibaba, a startup company, knocked out the American giant with a business model that is more adapted to the Chinese culture.

Hong Kong is a big pot where Western culture is mixed with Cantonese and other ethnic Chinese cultures. It is the perfect outpost from which one can travel to other places inside and outside of China. Another positive aspect is that the postgraduate, (or Master’s) education in Hong Kong is very good, mainly due to the high influx of talented students from mainland China. The interaction between the Western and mainland culture is interesting to say the least. For example, I had one professor who, during class, said that the Chinese mainland students are much better at solving textbook problems but the Western students knows how to ask the right questions, which according to him is equally important. Apart from being a strategic move for your career to go to Asia and Hong Kong, it is also probably one of the most interesting places for studies abroad. Embark on a journey through a culture that is different, and do it with an open mind and you will have the time of your life.

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ZEB in Singapore Text & photos: Karl-Johan Törngren

Singapore’s first zero energy building (ZEB) is an interesting example of how sustainable technology can be implemented in the tropics. With knowledge from Chalmers courses as well as visits to different European passive house projects it was very interesting to make a visit to this building.

One could believe that creating a ZEB in a tropical climate would be very easy since there is no need for any heating. But since the average outside temperature in Singapore is around 30 degrees and cooling is much more energy demanding than heating, this is not the case.

The solution is to set the zero emissions requirement on an annual basis. Energy consumption is allowed to exceed energy production at certain times as long as the annual outcome is a net gain or a zero balance. This can be achieved using two different strategies, -by active systems such as solar panels and by passive systems such as proper insulation.

BCA Academy is the education and research arm of Singapore’s Building and Construction Authority (BCA) and the zero energy building aims to be a show-case of different sustainable techniques usable in a tropical context.

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When visiting the building you are surprised by the fact that the indoor climate is very comfortable. Most buildings in Singapore are heavily air-conditioned and have an actual indoor temperature that is lower than their Nordic counterparts.

–Something that may seem very surprising to a visitor from northern Europe. The BCA building uses devices that can detect if there are people around and adapt the air condition accordingly. There are also systems for personal airconditioners around each desk so that the temperature can be adapted on an individual level. In total these features will reduce the need for air condition with 40%. That is quite significant in a country where 60% of the utility bill normally goes into air conditioning.

One of the most important features to reduce the need for cooling is proper shading. In the BCA building horizontal shaders with integrated solar panels blocks all direct sunlight but still allows a generous amount of daylight into the building.

Vertical plants reduces the heat gain through the walls as well as it creates an interesting facade. Different plants are being used and continuous measurements are undertaken to find out which plants that will have the most positive effect.

Several different types of photovoltaic systems are used in the

building. Conventional silicon wafer systems are used on the roof but there are also different types of thin film systems on windows and shaders. To date these systems exceeds the requirements and the building produces about 15% more energy than it uses.

In a conventional building in the tropics you will normally find single glazed windows and no wall insulation. In the BCA building high performance double glazing (which is a standard product in Europe) is used. There are also systems such as sen-

sors for lighting and passive day-light system that through light pipes illuminates the interior of the house.

Singapore’s government has decided that 80% of the buildings on the island should be green by 2030. Hopefully this project will serve as an inspiration and a motivator to go more green, not only for the Singaporean construction industry, but for the whole tropical region.

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asiaLeisure

A Taste of Okinawa Text & photos: Joakim Olsson

Naha, Okinawa. 5 a.m. on a Saturday morning. I reluctantly woke up, feeling my body shaking as the earth was trembling beneath me. A 7.0-magnitude earthquake had struck in the deeps of the Pacific, some 85 km off the Okinawan coast.The earthquake was big enough to shake things up for about 10 seconds, but no damage was reported.This was the first time I experienced a bigger earthquake.

Maybe you are a student at Chalmers University of Technology reading this magazine, thinking about studying in Asia next year.

Or perhaps you are just interested in seeing the best sights Japan has to offer. The greatest thing about studying abroad at a place as far away from Sweden as Japan has been the opportunity to travel to many unique places. I have tried to travel as much as my time and money have allowed me to. I would like to share some insights from my favourite destination in Japan, the Okinawa islands, located some 1500 km south-west of Tokyo. It consists of a few dozens of subtropical islands, stretching about 1000 km in a chain between southern Kyushu (one of Japan’s four main islands) and Taiwan. The climate is 16

subtropical with temperatures above 20 °C during most of the year.

Okinawa was the first stop on a longer trip in the southern parts of Japan, which I did together with some other exchange students. Naha, the vibrant capital of Okinawa, was the perfect start of our trip. After landing next to an airplane decorated with “Pikachu”, a clear reminder that we were still in Japan, we headed for Kokusai Dori. That is the main street in Naha and a hub of Okinawan culture. Here you will find everything from traditional crafts to restaurants and bars. We ate taco-rice, a popular dish in the Okinawan cuisine. I also bought some traditional wooden lions and a bottle of 40 percent Awamori, a famous alcoholic beverage made from rice. The best Naha experience was a beach party arranged by the staff at our hostel.

We stayed at Guest House Kerama, a great place for as little as 1000 Yen (about 80 SEK) per night. The beach in Naha was one of the weirdest I have seen. Sure it had nice sand and the water was pretty clear, but a big highway-bridge just in front of it kind of ruined the view.

Kokusai Dori, Naha.

Okinawa has had an eventful history. It is frequently referred to as the Ryukyu Islands, a name from the time when the islands were independent and united as the Ryukyu Kingdom.

Its central location in the East China Sea made it a prosperous and important trading nation with closer ties to China than Japan. The kingdom relied only on peaceful trade and barely had any military defense.

I worked fine for almost 200 years, until the Satsuma clan of southern Japan decided to invade in 1609. The Ryukyu Islands then became a territory of Japan and during the Meiji restoration in 1879 it was renamed the Okinawa Prefecture. The area around Naha is filled with remains from the Ryukyu culture.

The most famous is the Shuri castle, the old home to the Ryukyu kings. As many castles throughout Japan, it has been destroyed during wars and fires several times, but a reconstruction makes it possible to experience this cultural treasure.

Since the castle is built on a high hill, what impressed me most was the panoramic view of Naha at the top.

In 1945 Okinawa suffered severely as it became the stage of one of the bloodiest and most brutal battles of World War 2, -the final clash between the American and Japanese armies.

An estimated 200,000 people, including more than 100,000 civilians were killed. The Battle of Okinawa was the only battle fought on Japanese soil. After the war it remained under U.S. control until 1972. As of today, thousands of American troops are still stationed on the main island, making it a highly controversial and frequently debated issue. According to a poll in 2007, 85% of the Okinawan population opposes the presence of U.S. forces. However, hosting the military bases is a major source of income for the Okinawa Prefecture.

Located deep inside a mountain is the former headquarters of the Japanese navy, consisting of several hundred meters of underground corridors and rooms. It now serves as a museum where visitors can go inside the tunnels to get an idea of what it was like back in the days. I highly recommend a visit there while in Naha. It was quite moving to walk in the tunnels, see

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the shrapnel from the grenades, and learn the stories of some of the people involved.

Okinawa is well known for its rich underwater world, filled with colourful coral reefs and an abundance of marine life.

This makes it an idyllic place for snorkeling and scuba diving. I remember my Japanese professor telling me before I left not to miss out on this. I took his word for it, and me and some friends took a scuba diving license. The first day was definitely an interesting experience, with a Japanese-only speaking instructor. Fortunately one of my friends speaks decent Japanese.

The fact that most of the diving-vocabulary is adopted from English helped a lot too. If someone plan to take the license in English it is possible, just make sure look things up in advance.

Less than an hour by ferry from Naha you find the Kerama Islands. We stayed one night at the island Tokashiki, famous for beautiful beaches and great snorkeling. This island was inhab-

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ited, but not by more than a few smaller villages. For the more adventurous traveler, there are also many uninhabited islands.

A great thing about going to Okinawa in the end of February was that we had the beach all to ourselves. It was warm enough to walk in flip-flops, shorts and t-shirt most of the time and you could go for a swim without getting cold.

To sum up: Okinawa is home to a vibrant city, exotic nature, a colourful underwater world and the most beautiful beaches in Japan. It also has an eventful history and plays a controversial role as one of the main centers for the U.S. military forces in Asia. Although I experienced a quite powerful earthquake, there was no harm, damage or tsunami caused by it.

In my opinion, Okinawa is definitely Japan’s answer to Hawaii, but be sure to also get out of Naha, preferably to one of the surrounding islands to really experience the nature. And –try the snorkeling or scuba diving!

A Common Language Text & photo: Elina Friberg

Before going to Japan I could never have imagined how much of a problem the language would be. English isn’t understood by all and few can speak it beyond the normal conversation phrases, even within the world of the university. So how do we communicate when the languages that are spoken within the group are more than three, and English isn’t fully understood by all?

With the only language we all share; architecture.

The 2009 World Architecture Workshop (WAW) took place in Lianyungang (China) with participants from China, Japan, Australia and France. WAW consists of two phases; a domestic studio followed by an international workshop. The international workshop is held in the city which is the object of studies for the year, while the domestic studio is held in the participants’ own home countries. The theme this year was how to turn Lianyungang into a Post Waterfront City* and by what means such a development could be achieved. In the domestic studio (in Japan) we were two groups working on different proposals; six Japanese, two Swedes, one Norwegian and one French were divided into the two groups. So far so good!

The local Chinese government demanded and wished for their city something strong and with identity. The now rural and salt producing town Lianyungang was to undergo great changes in the future and transform into a city of almost five times the population and size of its present shape. The time was set to 2030, 20 years from now, a development with a speed around six times that of an equal progress in Sweden. In China how-

ever, a city with one million people is nothing, -and therefore they wanted something to put them on the map.

Already there we found ourselves in a new situation, with a scale and magnitude that were rather unfamiliar for most of us. Then add different languages, cultural backgrounds and the variety of educations and experiences. The project could start!

We discussed, we talked, we drew, we agreed, and then understood that what we thought we all understood and agreed on weren’t the same. So we discussed, we talked and we drew some more, and once again we reached an agreement. Just to start it all over again within a couple of hours or on the next day. Many times we found ourselves divided in the European continent versus the Asian, separated by a sea of misunderstandings, different views and assertions. At those times you begin to realise how much the cultural heritage and values of your own country actually have influenced and affected you.

The perspectives changes and your knowledge of Sweden and other countries grows. As for the Chinese city, it slowly grew as well.

So finally, after six weeks of dancing two steps forward and one step backwards, the city was full-grown and the domestic studio finished. United as one group, adopted to the local settings and planned with the future in mind, a first proposal for a new master plan for Lianyungang was presented. The proposal was indeed something made globally but strangely embedded locally. We had overcome our dissimilarities and the communication problems and the result was something to put on the map.

World Architecture Workshop is a multi-national studio and a collaboration between the architecture department of universities in cities of four continents and five countries. First established in 2002 by Tohoku University, Tohoku Institute of Technology, Miyagi University and ENSAM in Montpellier (France), the workshop has been held annually across the world with more schools joining every year. The purpose of the workshop is to develop the students’ capacity to view local issues through multi-national collaboration with others of varying ideological and cultural backgrounds. *With Post Waterfront City means how the 21:st century urbanism stands in proportion to a waterfront. This in comparison to the big trends around the 80s with a similar development.

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A Traditional White Box Text, photos & illustration: Ellen Oldén

The world-spread conception that people in Japan live in houses made of paper is of course a truth with modification nowadays, even though the uninsulated walls of Japanese houses are in general very thin. Instead a new modern house architecture has been established, that throws the concepts of traditional space into a white box and shakes it.

House/white box - Project #001 by Tokyo Jyutaku, 2008.

What we observe in the Japanese cities today is a free mix of architectural styles and urban conditions; temporary metal shells next to old British countryside brick copies, raw exposed concrete structures next to post-modern glass houses, and randomly scattered amongst them some true works of art. Ever since the late 1800s when the strict borders to the country were opened there has been crosswise exchange and influences between Western and Japanese building production.

Therefore, today it is somewhat difficult to determine any true Japanese style in the modern architecture. Occasionally you see a set of shoji, the paper filled sliding screens that the paper house expression derives from. In private homes these sliding

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doors often go together with a tatami-room, the only room of the house where traditional tatami, straw mats, cover the floor.

We see little of these elements in the modern buildings of Japan. In the early 1900s architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright and Bruno Taut studied and were influenced by Japanese architecture. At the same time the international style of Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe became highly influential in Japan. Many Japanese architects, amongst others Fumihiko Maki and Kenzo Tange, worked and studied in the US after the Second World War and developed the Japanese architecture in an international post-modern context. Later Japanese architects have faced the dilemma of how to develop architecture and be modern, and at the same time remain Japanese. For instance, the architect Tadao Ando works with sculptural light and darkness inspired by the traditional “praise of shadows”.

Kengo Kuma, who exclaims the vision to “recover the tradition of Japanese buildings and reinterpret it for the 21st century,” does so most evidently by the use of traditional materials and craftsmanship.

But what about the typically minimalistic and world-renowned white boxes from the latest generation of Japanese architects?

Strolling around in the central but surprisingly calm residential neighbourhoods of Tokyo you are bound to bump in to at least one of these tiny and original houses. They are easily recognizable by the clean concrete or metal facade, that is characteristically white and perhaps at some point set to peculiar angle. There is generally an absence of decoration or private belongings to the extent that you wonder if anyone is living there at all. Only a very fancy car parked next to the house proves the existence of a resident. Of course there is an undeniable influence to this architectural direction from SANAA, one of the most famous Japanese architecture offices, run by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa. Searching the pages of design magazines and web blogs of the same subject will soon reveal the following generation of architects and offices by names like Atelier Tekuto, Go Hasegawa, Takeshi Hosaka, Mizuno Architects or Hiroyuki Fukuyama to be the creators.

dining room or bedroom. This concept is translated into Ban’s house so that the family’s living area consist of two half stories hanging out over a combined restaurant and studio. The spaces have multiple uses thanks to the open relation between them and the adjustability of the outer walls.

Glass Shutter House by Shigeru Ban, Jiyugaoka,Tokyo, 2003.

These upcoming Japanese architects do not say themselves to be particularly confined to reinterpreting tradition or to create something typical Japanese and their architecture shows few obvious connections to such thoughts. The materials used, most often white plastered concrete, glass and steel, have little to do with the traditional Japanese. Neither do the interiors that appear to be flooded with light, as opposed to the half obscurity in the traditional indoor spaces. And still there seems to be something basic but slightly indefinable that they all have in common.

In my neighbourhood in Setagaya-ku I come upon a house with similar characteristics, designed by the Japanese architect Shigeru Ban in 2003. Its facade consists of glass shutters that can be opened and closed all the way up from the floor to the roof. Here the first impression is that of a giant shoji, with its curtain providing the same half transparency as the traditional paper screens. However, looking closer at the layout of the interior uncover a more complex connection to traditional Japanese houses. In Western conception the openness between a restaurant kitchen and private bedrooms would probably be considered quite unpractical. But the Japanese interior has always had multiple uses, flexibly depending on the accessories used at the moment and the degree of openness chosen by regulating the sliding doors. The same tatami-matted room could during different times of the day serve as living room,

Kristina Fridh, who has studied Japanese architecture from this viewpoint, describes in her book Japanska rum a traditional Japanese perception of space that is profoundly different from the Western thought. In the West we tend to see rooms as measurable volumes that are there regardless of the person who experiences it. Instead of this objectively defined entity the Japanese room is described with terms of flexibility, transformation and emptiness. It can be compared with the experience of a walk in a Japanese garden, designed as a pathway through different moods, views, openings and calm spaces for rest. In this conception space can only be described subjectively and must also take into account aspects such as time, feelings and movement.

Katsura Imperial Villa, Kyoto.

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Having explained this I must admit that these notions about space can be a bit difficult to discover in Tokyo. Stepping into a house or shop here usually reveals that there is almost no space at all! More obviously we can see the traditional concepts when visiting an old palace or a traditional Japanese villa such as the Katsura villa in Kyoto. Here the post-and-beam construction supporting the heavy roof leaves the floor plan totally flexible and the half translucent paper screens lets soft light and diffuse space flow throughout the building.

An old Japanese woman describes to me how it was to grow up in a traditional house on the countryside, where her bedroom was separated from the rest of the house only by these thin paper shutters. To her the calming feeling of always sensing the presence of her family around in the house, but at the same time being temporarily in a private sphere, is the most memorable feeling.

The same concept of transitional rooms and translucent connections is what the architecture office of Sou Fujimoto plays with in the newly built House N (conceptual illustration), Sou Fujimoto Architects.

House H in Tokyo.

It is of course not by any means a traditional house, but literally a white box punctuated by big square holes in all directions, even in the roof and floor slabs. The result is a threedimensional elaborated tree-like living space for one family. The open space is divided into partitions without heavy walls or doors, vertically generating the same kind of flowing space as in the horizontal layout of the traditional house.

Sou Fujimoto Architects have many innovative and exploring projects in their portfolio, of which the House N is another.

Here the Japanese engawa-space is conceptualized and reinterpreted. The word Engawa describes a space in between

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House in Landskrona, Sweden, Elding Oscarson, 2009.

outside and inside, created by the overhanging roof eaves and layers of sliding doors in traditional Japanese architecture.

The non-existence of heavy load-bearing outer walls in these buildings makes possible this fusion or undefined border that is also transitional; sometimes it is inside, sometimes outside, sometimes both at the same time and sometimes a space in between. It is this mix of interior and exterior, resulting in a third spatial situation, that is the concept of House N. The so characteristic transparency and flexible open space of modern Japanese architecture is thus not new, but perhaps taken to a more extreme level now than ever. Even the walls to the bathrooms in the newest house designs are made of clear glass – if there are any walls at all! And the new house in Landskrona, Sweden, by former SANAA employee Elding Oscarson, is a clear sign that this kind of architecture is appreciated not only in Japan.

asiaDining

Flavours of Taipei Text: Sean Long Hoang

Photo: Carl Christofferson

Upon entering Taipei’s most well-known night market in Shilin, you’ll feel like you’ve arrived to a different world.The huge mass of people, noises, small streets and people eating while shopping and walking is Taiwan’s food culture and lifestyle.

When unassuming restaurants or food stands in Shilin night market sell food and snacks for around 40 NT dollars (around 10 SEK) the question on the tip of everyone’s tongue must be: -Is it any good?

The answer is -Yes! For starters, try black pearl tea. It’s regular milk tea with look-alike black pearls at the bottom that has a consistency similar to chewing gum. Next, if you are ready to set the sail, you should try fatty pork sausages. Formed from lumps of pork fat and chopped pork it is moist and flavourful. The sausages are usually grilled and served with many different varieties of condiment. The next step is to try the oyster omelette – a popular seafood snack that is fried and served

with a sweet and spicy sauce. I know that this won’t make you full. So then grilled squid is another local dish to try, – it’s either dry or marinated and served on a stick. The last thing you have to try (save the best for last) before you leave, is stinky tofu.You haven’t experienced Taiwanese food culture unless you have eaten stinky tofu. It’s regular fried tofu given a very special treatment.You can say that it has an aroma that blows you away, -literally blows you away.You either like it or hate it.

The Shilin night market is a combination of new and old traditional dishes with influences from different regions in Asia. A visit at Shilin summarizes most of the night markets in Taiwan perfectly and make sure it’s on your to-do-list when you are in Taiwan.

One thing is for sure, it leaves you stuffed and happy. You also get the bragging rights saying you only spent 200 NT (around 45 SEK) for a unique dinner with dishes other people only have heard rumours about.

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“Better City, Better Life” Shanghai hosts the 2010 World Expo Text: Carl Christofferson

Photo: Henrik Kjellgren The Chinese Pavilion.

On the first of May this year, Shanghai opened up the gates to the 2010 world exposition. Bringing together most of the countries in the world for a huge cultural and technological showoff, this is an event bound to attract attention. During a six month period, the organizers are expecting about 100 million visitors.

World expositions have been held frequently over the years since the 1850s, promoting their host countries strength as a world power. During the 20th century there has been a steady recession in the amount of interest raised by these occasions, however China might be able to change that. As the country’s influence keeps on spreading across the globe, this is an event of no less importance for China than it has been for the (mostly Western) countries in the past. By hosting the largest ever world exposition in terms of amount of participants, expo area and costs, China clearly shows its intentions.

The theme for this year’s exposition reads “Better City, Better Life”. With these words Shanghai City wishes to focus on topics of urban conditions. Environmental aspects, urban development, and explorations of lifestyles are all topics they wish their participants to address in one way or another. Hidden beneath these big letter words one might sense there is a strong wish for national bonds to be made. This is, all in all, a business and promotional event of global proportions.

The World Expo might be important for China on a global scale, but it is also as important on the national level. This is an opportunity for the government to display to their citizens how far they have already reached. In that way the Expo can be compared to the Beijing Olympics in 2008 -it is a national happening that undoubtedly brings a lot of nationalistic spirit into the veins of the Chinese people.

Chinese officials seem never to be shy spending money on

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Photo: Carl Christofferson Happy visitors outside the Swedish pavilion.

big events and the 2010 Expo is no exception. Calculations show that the bill for the half year long party is going to touch down on about 400 billion yuan (445 billion SEK). That is more than what was spent on the Beijing Olympics and makes it the most expensive world fair in history. One should however take into account that a big part of the investments are made to improve infrastructure. For example the number of metro lines in Shanghai has increased from three to ten (!) and new roads, parks and public areas have been built. All these actions are most likely to benefit Shanghai also after the Expo.

There certainly seems to be much to gain for China, but what is in it for the others? As already mentioned, an opportunity to establish long-lasting relationships with the ever growing eastern economy is an opportunity few countries want to miss.

Out of the 192 countries participating, 45 countries have built their own pavilions, and Sweden is one of those.

The Expo committee of Sweden has been chosen by the government and their goals by participating in the Expo are as follows: National branding, creating business opportunities, increasing Sweden’s competitiveness in China, and marketing Sweden as an attractive country for tourism as well as for business investments. The motto for the Swedish participation is “Spirit of Innovation”, and around 20 big Swedish companies and their products are on display inside the pavilion for visitors to be astonished by. Focus lies on sustainability, communication and by which means Sweden has been able to establish itself as a country of innovation. Also, the pavilion has a restricted VIParea for Swedish companies to use when important meetings come up.

With several thousand visitors a day, Sweden can hopefully manage to make a lasting impression and raise people’s awareness about the pros (and not the cons) of northern Europe.

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Big Trouble in Rural China Adventure doesn’t come any bigger Text & photos: Jesper Moberg, Martin Persson

Cheers! Or 乾杯 (ganbei), as they say in China, was the first word that Mr. Chen, the head of Shaanxi Forestry department, said to us at our welcoming dinner.

In China it is customary to start with a drink of rice wine before discussing business.This was one of many representation dinners that we attended during our two trips to mainland China.The purpose of our time in China was to collect information for our Master’s thesis but what we also gained was amazing experiences from the Chinese culture.

When the president of China, Hu Jintao, held his speech on climate change at the UN climate summit in New York 2009 he talked about China’s plan to increase the forest cover in China with 40 million hectares until 2020. China has since many years been trying to increase the forest cover through six different forestry programs and today China is one of the few countries in the world that has a growing forest cover. The largest and most important forestry program is the Grain for Green Program (GGP), also known as the “Slope Land Conversion

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Program” which was introduced in 1999. The GGP is a nationwide program aimed to increase forest cover and prevent soil erosion on sloping cropland. It is the world’s largest conservation project and has converted 32 million hectares of land area into tree and grass plantations. The program provides money and food grains for up to eight years to compensate the farmers that convert their land. The GGP was initiated to increase the vegetation and reduce erosion and sedimentation that is the primary cause of the degradation of China’s Yellow River and Yangtze River Basin. According to the World Wildlife Fund the annual soil loss in the two rivers was four billion tons in 2003! Many environmental experts believe that soil erosion is the primary cause of the devastating floods that have been occurring in later years. In addition to reducing the degradation of China’s two largest rivers the GGP also increases the terrestrial carbon, since carbon is absorbed by the growing forest.

Although it was not the primary target of the GGP, increased reforestation is one way of controlling the carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere.

“Sichuan Pepper” covering the slopes of Shaanxi.

From an environmental point of view it is interesting to estimate the carbon mitigation potential of the stands under the GGP. We therefore chose to do this research as our Master’s thesis at Chalmers University of Technology.

In January we headed off to Beijing to start our research by trying to find background information regarding the GGP. During our stay in China we faced several great obstacles. One was trying to collaborate with the Chinese National State Forestry Administration. Even though we clearly stated that our research would benefit the GGP they refused to give us any forestry statistics regarding the program other than what we could find in the published forestry yearbook. It was especially frustrating to hear: “Yes, we have the information you are seeking in our database but we can’t give it to you because it is classified on national level”. Apparently the same forestry statistics is not classified at province level, which makes their bureaucracy even stranger. After a month in Beijing we decided to go on a field trip to visit some plantations in Shaanxi, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces. The purpose was to increase our understanding of the GGP and hopefully collect the data that we were not able to get in Beijing.

When arriving at Xian airport we were met by our translator and a personal driver holding up a sign that said: “Welcome Mr. Moberg and Mr. Persson”. It now started to feel really good to

be a forestry researcher and we asked ourselves if this is how it’s going to continue during our whole field trip? -It did! After checking in at our hotel in central Xian, all arranged by Shaanxi forestry department, it was time for dinner and a first meeting with the Head of GGP in Shaanxi. Since neither of us had been at any Chinese welcoming dinner before we didn’t know what to expect but it was definitely a warm welcoming. The table was filled with local dishes and plenty of the local rice wine that we had heard so much about. Since the Chinese society has a strong hierarchy the guys from the forestry department all individually wanted to propose toasts with us starting with the head of the office and continuing with all the official staff.

This of course meant a lot of drinking and after a while we all got a little bit too tipsy. That’s how the Chinese culture works, take it or leave it.

While working our way down through China we stopped by in Chengdu, Chongqing and Guiyang. On our second day in Chongqing we woke up to the sound of rain. We looked out the window and decided that is was not going to stop us from our planned sightseeing. Like every morning we started with breakfast and checking email. After a few quiet minutes of email reading Jesper says: “We should bring an umbrella today.”

Martin responds: “Why? It’s just some warm rain; it’s not a big deal!”

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Jesper: “No but Sarah (our new found friend in Chongqing) tells me that the rain has a pH below 7 today so it is acid rain and therefore it’s recommended to use an umbrella.”

Martin: “What?!”

derful people of China. What we have mentioned here is just a small selection of our two months of travelling, -there are many more stories to tell. If you are interested in the results of this research we will publish our thesis in the autumn 2010 at Chalmers University of Technology.

When the taxi pulled up outside Yunnan forestry department in Kunming we had a good feeling. After visiting both Shaanxi and Sichuan forestry department we both felt that we knew how this works. But in China you should never think that you are in control of the situation. When arriving at boss of the GGP’s office our translator had forgotten the recommendation letter which would allow us to interview him. Despite that we already had spent 10 minutes talking to the boss and that he wasn’t busy at all, we simply had to take a taxi back.

He refused to continue the conversation when he found out that we didn’t bring the letter. Going forth and back in a Taxi through the city of Kunming took us more than an hour just to spend five more minutes at the forestry department to collect the forestry statistics we needed. After our experiences with the bureaucracy in China we will never complain about heavy bureaucracy in Sweden again, that’s for sure.

Both of us have been travelling quite a lot before but nothing compares to what we have experienced during this trip. There is so much to learn and to love about the different but won28

Meeting in Shiyuan village, Shaanxi Province.

P1.cn Where the crème de la crème socialise Text: Carl Sylow-Rynning

Photos courtesy of P1.cn

What does a web community of fashion, networking and lifestyle do in a developing country like China?

P1.cn attracts young, wealthy, big spenders that want to build social networks, take part in fashion, get highend brand discounts or just be seen.Those days when China could be regarded simply as a poor country are long gone.

The founders of P1.cn,Yu Wang and Sophia Pan, met when they were students in Stockholm and came to understand that they both shared a common background with roots in Beijing, China.Yu and Sophia also shared a vision about going to China and take advantage of the booming economy and Beijing was the natural starting point.

From the beginning the idea about what they wanted to do was not clear at all, but after a while the concept that today is P1 started to take shape. Inspiration came from Facebook’s fantastic social interaction, stureplan.se’s ability to catch what is going on among the affluent people and asmallworld.net’s ability to let the users feel exclusive by the use of invitations.

In the early stage they were struggling with the lack of connections in Beijing to set their plan into action but a series

of random events eventually got them up to full momentum.

Many people saw a great potential in their project. Today the ownership of P1 is divided among several international investors and the two founders.

The website was launched in the end of 2007 and P1 quickly found an effective approach to attract the right users. They simply brought their camera and hit the streets of Beijing and Shanghai. There they captured fashion-aware people and people of satisfying social group which they invited to become members of their community.

When asked what the name P1 stands for Yu tells me; “It’s up to you to make your own interpretation, but it might stand for; people, privileged or premium, -who knows?” What’s obvious though, is that this website and the people behind it are not afraid to stick their necks out and segregate people into different social classes. The P1 crew kicks the Swedish “Jantelaw” in the nuts and they are proud of it. In my opinion, that is what will make their success. While others try to attract the big masses and the common people, P1 turns 180 degrees with a vision of attracting all (or almost all) wealthy big spenders in China. And those are not few.

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According to P1’s own market research, their targeted clientele are the top 3% most affluent people in China. That is equivalent to 80 million people. If P1 succeeds to attract a market leading share of 60% they will have 48 million users.

In other words the amount of users would be larger than the populations in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands and Belgium combined and they would all be able to conduct shopping sprees on economic steroids. When analyzing these figures one must remember that in the business of online communities there is no such thing as being second best. Today P1 has about 600,000 users and the corresponding numbers for their competitors focusing on the same client base are in the scale of a few thousands.

A user base of affluent people of course attracts many potential sponsors and partners. Today P1 works together with luxury brands such as Lamborghini, Hennessy and Versace, but also lower-end brands like Adidas, Puma and LG.

P1 management tells me that statistics shows that 39% of their users use an iPhone to access their mobile platform. (One should remember that an iPhone costs the equivalent to four months salary for a factory-worker in China.) To develop a native application for the iPhone, as well as for Android, is a top priority on P1’s agenda.

When I ask if P1 is planning to expand internationally the short answer is “No, why should we?” To explain further,Yu adds that it wouldn’t be a serious approach to start discussing these things while still having this huge potential market in China not yet fully covered.

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To get where they are today has not been a walk in the park.

P1 is an experimental venture business not expected to make any profit until 2012 and they are heavily dependent on their investors. As the business started up in late 2007 the second round for generating investment turned out to be in the fall 2008 when the financial crisis hit hard. Fortunately, P1 was able to survive thanks to a promising business plan and healthy relations with their investors.

Photo: Carl Christofferson

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Ambassadors, the most privileged users, are appointed by P1 and can recruit an unlimited amount of VIPs.

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The VIPs have unlimited invitations and can appoint 50 privileged members.

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Privileged members have 50 invitations and can be promoted to VIPs if they invite the right people.

Super networkers and organizers of high-end events will be appointed to ambassadors or VIPs and get access to exclusive events and private groups.

P1’s idea is to create a sense of being part of an exclusive group among the high status users. To increase networking and usage of services among the lower-status users it is also important to motivate them to climb the social ladder.

If this concept of P1 will work and eventually succeed to bring profit is unsure. What is not is that it looks damn promising.

Photo: Carl Christofferson

The usage of their services is not at full speed yet. Compared to Facebook, P1 still have to stimulate their users to use their services more frequently. Mikael Gustavsson, titled VP Product, admits that they have a lot to work on in this area and tells me that in a near future they will provide some solutions. The most unique one is that they plan to distinctively divide their most prominent users into categories with different privileges:

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Speeding Development Text: Henrik Kjellgren

If you put your finger at Shanghai on a map of China and then follow the Yangtze River far into central China you will find Chongqing. With well over 30 million inhabitants some consider it to be the largest municipality in the world.This anonymous megacity is now China’s new frontier of economic growth. In order to observe some of the development and meet two companies who are involved, two of us at the Chalmers Asia office pay a visit.

Photo: Carl Christofferson

The urban areas of Chongqing are spreading rapidly, skyscrapers are popping up everywhere and some areas look very sleek and modern. But in many ways Chongqing is not a nice place. Although it is “sunny” weather during our stay, the air quality is terrible and thick smog embraces most of the skyscrapers and makes it impossible to distinguish the horizon. The traffic is very rough and everywhere hard working but poorly paid “bangbang men” are seen. Bangbang men are men carrying loads of goods on their backs with the help of bamboo sticks. Each load seems to weight a lot more than the bangbang man himself and they are perhaps the most characterising part of the logistics in Chongqing. As we explore the city we walk to the point where the brown water of the Yangtze River meets the equally dirty Jialing River. It is not as beautiful as we thought it would be. The contrast is sharp from the sleek billboard illustrations we occasionally see in the

Chongqing city and the Yangtze River.

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city streets. They display a future Chongqing with a blue sky and crystal clear rivers. Efforts to improve the environmental protection are said to be made but hard to notice. It seems to be difficult to keep up with the expansion of the city and the rapidly increasing population.

Chongqing’s transformation to central China’s economic powerhouse has been directly led by China’s central government that took control of the area in 1997. They have actively used their power to direct Chongqing into the desirable progress.

For example they recently had a big crackdown on organised crime. The sweep did not only aim for underground gangsters, many local authorities and high-ranking police officers also faced long time jail sentences.

We pay a visit to ABB who manufactures some of the biggest electric transformers there is one the world market in Chongqing. Magnus Ström, President of ABB Chongqing, tells us that the Chinese demand for all their transformers was soaring before the financial crisis. Now it is a bit slow going for all products except for transformers for railways, mainly thanks to China’s big hunger for high-speed trains. Their factory in Chongqing looks neat and modern, –a must since ABB also want quality-demanding international customers to consider buying their Chinese made transformers.

On the assembly lines Volvo cars are a minority.Various

models of Ford Focus (and until recently Mazda3) dominate the factory. The agility of the factory seems quite impressive.

Especially when we study the long list of different car models introduced in the factory during the recent years. The main purpose of the Chinese made Volvos is to increase the competitiveness on the Chinese market by receiving the tax break for domestically made cars. It works well for Volvo and Jörgen happily shows us the increasing sales figures.

When we leave for the Chongqing Airport we are once again living on the edge in the backseat of a recklessly driving taxi.

I start thinking about how well the taxi’s breaks are working.

A few seconds later I realise that it does not really matter.

Just like Chongqing itself, the taxi driver is not very keen on slowing down.

Photo: Henrik Kjellgren

Another company we decide to visit in Chongqing is Volvo Cars. They are there because their owner Ford (still owning Volvo as I am writing this) together with Mazda, was assigned the Chongqing based car manufacturer Changan as joint venture partner in China. Jörgen Håkansson, Operations Director, shows us the factory where Changan rather than Volvo is in charge of the production. There is a high degree of manual labour, the assembly lines look somewhat crowded and the illumination sometimes seems a bit inadequate. Although the quality of the cars is good, Jörgen says he wish Volvo could influence the production more. But he also tells us that the young work force, both in the factory and in the administration, is very ambitious and eager to learn.

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asiaSports

Catching the Taiwanese Wave Text & photos: Hugo af Klint

Surfing in Taiwan began in the early 60s around the Jin Shan area on the north-east coast. At this time there were great tensions between Taiwan and mainland China.

American military forces had been sent to Taiwan to help defending the island if the situation got more critical. It was an era of martial law that among other things included tight supervision of the coastline. The Taiwanese soldiers were not familiar with surfing and were sometimes even firing at the surfers paddling in the water, believing they were spies from mainland China.

This was obviously inhibiting the growth and popularity of the new coastal sport. In the beginning surfing was mostly limited Taiwanese surfer Erik Yang. to American soldiers and a few locals. Some of the first Taiwanese surfers were the Sun brothers who still are active in the field of surfing. Jeff Sun, the older brother, still runs “Jeff surf shop” in the small town of Daxi on the north-east coast. This was also the first surf shop in Taiwan.

When the tensions with China calmed down, more and more people found their way to the ocean trying to manage the

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new water sport. Jeff and his younger brother, who were taught how to surf by the American soldiers, naturally became teachers to the local community. One of the younger surfers, who was coached by Jeff and also by a Japanese surfer named Naoki, was the 20 year old Erik Yang from Taipei. In search of a new lifestyle and because of a dedicated love for surfing Erik moved to Wai-ao, a small fishing village, where he opened a surf shop called Ohana.

It was in Wai-ao me and my friends met Erik for the first time.

One of my friends broke a fin on his board and Erik said he could help him repair it. He invited us to stay at his surf shop which also provides lodging and rental of boards.

Erik was very friendly and offered us lodging at his shop as often as we wanted during the year we would spend in Taiwan. He also offered us to store our boards there for a minor fee. Suddenly we became “Ohana surfers” and a part of the Taiwanese surfing community.

Currents, tides and wind condition affect the condition of the waves and every time we go surfing Erik drives us to the spot where the best waves are. He tells us where to paddle out depending on the currents, what wave is worth trying to catch,

how to stand up and how to turn. Erik is a true open hearted person who blindly trusted us from the beginning. He invites us to meet his friends and to join them for dinner in nearby towns. He also teaches me how to repair my board when accidents happen.

Erik is an experienced surfer with a history including several medals from surf competitions and he is still one of the best surfers on the north-east coast. He has told us amazing stories about what it’s like to surf in the giant typhoon waves that sometimes hit the coastline of Taiwan.

In the northern part of Taiwan you can surf all year around but you need to wear a wetsuit in the wintertime since the water is cold. In the south and The crowded waters outside Wai-ao. south-east areas the weather stays hot and humid all year around. The waves are usually better and more consistent here as well.

Every year there are two major surf competitions in Taiwan, one in the north and one in the south. There are also a lot of local competitions with smaller amounts of prize money.

So far, no Taiwanese surfer has been able to survive only on sponsorships and prize money without having a part time job.

Hopefully it is just a matter of time before surfing gets its real recognition here as more than just a hobby practised by a few enthusiasts.

Surfing in Taiwan is blooming right now. According to the R.O.C Surfing Association there are about 30,000 people surfing the waves and the number is increasing. The quality of surfing in Taiwan is also beginning to get international recognition. Nowadays lots of foreign surfers come here to explore the good waves.

The time we spent on the north-east coast became so much more than just surfing.

All the nice people we got to meet, the trust, the hospitality and the feeling of being a part of the surfing community will be a great memory for the rest of my life. As Erik once said; “Surfers support surfers”. That is a true description of the mindset in the Taiwanese surfing community. No matter where you come from, how old you are or what language you speak you are always welcomed by the surfers at Ohana surf club*. *Ohana Surf Shop, 273 Binhai Rd.,Toucheng Township,Yilan County 宜蘭縣頭城鎮濱海路273號 Phone: +886-988-306-388

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Photo: Carl Christofferson

asiaApply

National Chiao Tung University.

Chalmers Asienprogram National Chiao Tung University (NCTU) är det främsta tekni-

sant, dynamisk och utmanade. Allt fler med teknisk utbildning

ska universitet i Taiwan. Universitetet har sin starkaste profil

kommer att i sitt yrkesliv ha kontakter i hela området från

inom elektronik och informationsteknologi. I samarbete med

Japan till Singapore. Därför har Chalmers utvecklat ett spe-

National Tsing Hua University täcker utbytet alla civilingen-

cialprogram som ger studenter möjligheter till studier och

jörsprogram på Chalmers. Utbildning ges på engelska för

erfarenheter från dessa ekonomier.

studenter från Chalmers genom anpassning av de kurser som utbytet omfattar. Utbudet på kurser som kan ges på engelska

Programmet består av följande delar:

ökar men det är en fördel att kunna en del kinesiska varför

•

företräde ges till de studenter som genomgått språkkursen i kinesiska föregående sommar.

Ekonomierna i östra Asien har visat en enastående ekonomisk utveckling under slutet av 1900-talet. Japan har fått sällskap av Kina bland världens ekonomiska giganter. Regionen är intres-

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Intensivkurs i kinesiska, 6 veckor i juli – augusti 2010.

Kursen är förlagd till Hsinchu,Taiwan.

•

Studerandeutbyte med National Chiao Tung University.

•

Kontakt med andra partneruniversitet i Asien: Japan, Singapore, Sydkorea och Kina.

CHALMERS IN ASIA Studying at Chalmers does not limit you to Gothenburg, Sweden. Through many exchange programs Chalmers students are given the opportunity to study at a range of Asian universities. Likewise, students from many different countries are invited to study at Chalmers in Sweden.

Sendai, Japan Tohoku University Tokyo, Japan Tokyo Institute of Technology Seoul, South Korea Konkuk University Beijing, China Sino-Swedish Centre Shanghai, China Tongji University East China University of Science and Technology Hsinchu, Taiwan National Chiao Tung University

Hong Kong, China The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Singapore Nanyang Technological University The National University of Singapore

Chalmers University of Technology SE-412 96 Gothenburg, Sweden Phone +46 31 772 1000 www.chalmers.se