China's own way at Olympics

Beijing: Armed with new age mantras in the art of managing a booming economy coupled with the still relevant, but slowly fading tenets of Confucianism and Taoism, China once again punched big holes into the long harboured perceptions of the West by hosting an Olympic Games that will go down as one of the greatest of all time.

Beijing brought the curtain down on the XXIX Olympics Games with a mind-blowing closing ceremony on Sunday giving the world a front row view of China's global relevance.

The hosts did not just top the gold medals tally, it left its guests absolutely awe-struck with its hospitality, quiet but firm efficiency and an understated yet strong sense of prosperity.

One thing was for certain: China does not do average.

The Games reiterated that the Chinese business model would be relevant in any context - even though most first time visitors to the country desperately try to make sense of what makes China tick.

The Olympics was the culmination of three decades of China opening up to the world. It also provided an adequate glimpse of the country and its position as a global power.

Even though the results of the post-Games balance sheet may take a long time coming in, China won the battle for influencing global opinion by opting to impress, on a human level, all those who visited Beijing.

The battle was won through people-to-people contact. The city, at normal times a throbbing chaotic metropolis, was the epitome of quiet efficiency and security.

Visitors have realised that China was far different to what they had thought it to be: that common Chinese people were like everyone else despite age-old perceptions harboured about them.

Behind the boom

So what makes China tick? On a business level, despite an obvious slowdown, it was a growth of 10.4 per cent that was recorded in the first half of the year coupled with serious ambitions of hitting 10.2 per cent in the third quarter.

Although this percentage was a little lower than last year, it was in stark contrast to an argued 1.8 per cent global rate of growth as assessed by the United Nations.

And China's momentum was not just perceived through a glimpse of the Beijing high-rises, hotels and flyovers.

Rather it was the people's rising disposable income and more importantly the slow but steady growth in human comfort in the rural areas as well.

This of course did not mean that the problems plaguing the world have not hit China.

However the rapid process of industrialisation, urbanisation, marketisation and internationalisation has acted as a buffer.

The foundations of China are solid; this will not be no flash in the pan success story.

And the Beijing Games have effectively answered questions asked by the rest of the world.

Everyone who has been here has gone back with a theory and an opinion but also a respect for China's uniqueness.

Unlike the rest of the world the Chinese have a different method of doing business coupled with an unfathomable, yet effective, decision making process.

For example, the authorities were able to deal with the power of surrogate marketing, something that has tormented those paying top dollar to be part of the Olympic Games, by stamping out any brand that was not an official sponsor.

High-end shops and boutiques had their insignia blocked out with a strip of white cloth if it competed with an official sponsor.

It was an unusual way of granting exclusive status for those who had supported the Games.

But Beijing did not block out its guests. Visitors felt safe and comfortable despite the obvious chasms - be it the language barrier, or even cultural understanding.

Whether that was natural, or just part of being courteous for the Games, remains to be seen.

The citizens of Beijing did not show any signs of uncertainty, discomfort, or even dissatisfaction, with the way the world was gawking.

Armed with a sense of purpose, pride and cut-throat business acumen they went about welcoming the rest of the world into their restaurants, vegetable markets, silk shops and on their streets.

But they did it in their own matter-of-fact way.

Bargain buys

Deals were made by businessmen, hotels were making a killing, shopkeepers were selling items to tourists at ridiculously cheap rates after shameless bargaining.

Yet for every good deal there was a sense of wonderment afterwards: was that a great bargain, or did an elderly Chinese woman make a hefty profit selling some jasmine tea? The answer sadly was there for all to see.

While the rest of the world asks questions, China just steams along cashing in, big time, with its own philosophy.

And just in case we did not notice, most of today's new-age ideas in corporate governance have their roots in Chinese philosophy.

And the Chinese have applied it with obvious results.

They have stood by their principles, unflinching, even as the world has assailed them for their extreme and unrelenting stance on Tibet, their levels of intolerance towards religious freedom and their supposedly poor human rights record.

But these issues notwithstanding the authorities have stuck to their guns with discipline.

The enigma

And then again, a group of people in Beijing suddenly threw everyone off track by donating money in order to buy an Iraqi athlete a pair of running shoes.

Was this gesture spontaneous, or was it orchestrated? In the answer lies the enigma that is China.

The authority's penchant for regulation was also in evidence along parts of Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and the area where their former leader Chairman Mao's mortal remains are on display.

Row upon row of security guards were standing to attention for hours, unwavering, their faces devoid of emotion even as people swirled around them, taking pictures and trying to elicit some sort of response - an exercise in utter futility.

For a while the Tibet issue almost threatened to hijack the Beijing Games but China stuck to its policies ensuring that, in the end, the Games were on schedule and an unprecedented success.

Their persistence to a set game plan also led to them displacing the United States from the top of their perch as the sporting super power.

Controversy and China are perhaps the complete package.

But make no mistake the country has cranked up their gameplan a notch higher. Has the world noticed?

Perhaps not. And remains the essence of China. Walk softly and carry a big stick seems to be their policy.

So every time someone believed they had clinched a great deal and got China for cheap, they would have been well advised to think again. Somebody was laughing all the way to the bank.

As a Chinese teenager who, unlike many others, offered his philosophy in English while discussing his country's success story at the closing ceremony in the Bird's Nest stadium in Beijing, said: "Less is Mao."

Strangely, that could be true.

Beijing did not block out its guests. Visitors felt safe and comfortable despite the obvious chasms. Whether that was natural, or just part of being courteous for the Games, remains to be seen.