Unraveling the Rise of Chindia: China and India as New Economic Powers
- brandonjbk
- Aug 20, 2023
- 3 min read
Updated: Sep 2, 2023
This was the second half of my winterim, focused on the rising influence of China and India collectively. This was back in the early 2000s, but I think its still applicable today. Both nations are not only large in geography and population, but they service a large array of manufacturing services throughout the world. This would be the focus of our studies, which we would discover each country has its unique set of strengths and challenges.
The above images are the skyline for Shanghai in the 2000s and what they are today. I recall from my first visit in the early 2000s, the uniqueness of the architectural design of the buildings and the pure volume of construction cranes building the various skyscrapers. I used to think NYC or London was the epicenter of the development, but after spending time in Shanghai, I further understood the rise of China's development and influence. The downside of the enormous development I had a chance to witness was the imbalance of opportunity on the east coast of China vs further into the country. We paid a few visits to local villages to the west, and the polar opposite could be witnessed. I had seen extreme poverty and limited economic opportunity. Which seemed to be on the opposite end of the spectrum from what I had just witnessed in Shanghai. Something that still seems to be a challenge for the country.
Our final trip on this winterim was to India. "Organized Chaos", as they say. I had the pleasure of visiting Chennai in this south, making my way up to Bangalore, and wrapping up in Delhi. While visiting Chennai in the south, we had the opportunity to visit Brakes India. This is a company that has been around since the 1960s and has been servicing greater India and the world around various brakes and other commercial vehicles around the globe. We had a chance to sit in one of their meetings and there was a moment when everyone stood in the room for a moment of silence. I was unsure what was going on at the time, to only learn one of the employees had passed away on their way to work. Something that I would later learn was unfortunately a common occurrence given the country's population and challenging infrastructure. From there, we headed up to Bangalore to visit the international tech parks. At the time, this is where Microsoft, AOL, Cisco, and other tech companies were outsourcing their data centers. The operation itself was unlike anything I had seen. They had operators at every station looking up data within their assigned geography, in this case they were studying old westerns on the U.S. to appeal to callers in their area. The commitment and professionalism was nothing that I've seen to this day.
My visit to Delhi was simply incredible. This final destination would wrap up an eye opening experience to another part of the world that seemed so distant from the western world, yet filled with energy, enthusiasm, and promise. We spent a few days in the city of Delhi spending time with small business owners and entrepreneurs showing us their hand craftmanship and care for their products. It's something that I truly cherish and continue to carry with me to this day. Just seems like we're missing this passion and commitment these days. In any event, my trip would culminate with a challenging bus ride up to Jaipur via bus during fog season to eventually land at the Taj Mahal.
Emperor Shah Jahan would build a tomb for his favorite wife in 1653. I believe it was built for roughly $1billion in today's dollars. The structure is simply jaw dropping. It's really hard to explain, other than you have to see it for yourself. The white marble mausoleum strikes you given the surroundings that the trip you had to take just to get to the area. You pass through a garden and once inside a large reflecting pool that leads towards this awesome structure.
This winterim trip would reinforce my curiosity and desire to visit all countries of the world. The amount of exposure I've had to different cultures, ways of life would only continue to pique my interest. From here, I was off to my second oversees living in Europe. I would spend a year in France and Switzerland studying and working. Allowing me the opportunity to see majority of Europe. More to come on these adventures!
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