I wrote a while back about my love affair with Alibaba (no, not the sheik, the website you perv) and I found out yet another reason why you should be careful who you give your business card to in this country. After I went to the sourcing event, (see Alibaboring), I got a call from some random guy named Chris from Anhui province. It appears that during the boring chaos of the event, I gave my business card out to about 50 random widget makers in the nether-regions of China's interior. Chris (his English name) it turns out is also involved in apparel, though it seemed kind of strange why he was calling me. I told him the nature of our business (i.e., we make every blazer from scratch, no set designs) and usually this is enough of a foresight into a realm of inefficiencies for the factory owner so that he runs scared like a little girl. Not so, he was persistent. He asked me more about my business, and I told him, cautiously. Eventually, I told him to just email me, I was occupied and couldn't deal with trying to explain (in Chinese...) to him every gear in our business plan. So, a week passed, and thankfully I heard nothing from him. Then, I got another call just yesterday asking me yet again about my business, and I had to go through the same exact lecture, testing the limits of my Chinese to the maximum. I again insisted that he email me, so that I might have an easier time forgetting I ever knew this guy by marking his email as Spam.

Finally, he emailed me this morning and here's the weird part. He wants me to invest in a factory to make custom clothes and other items! What the hell is wrong with China? What makes you think you can automatically just have one awkward conversation with someone and then expect them to become your best friend and business partner? Maybe next he'll offer me his daughter or maybe 1,000 Guanxi points. I don't even know how to respond to this email. I'm starting out my own business after quitting a full time job, eating Chinese food day and night, can barely afford to pay bills, and this guy wants me to invest in a factory with him. And they call Americans blut...