China can make, but can it CREATE?

“From the moment I saw you, I knew you were a foreigner,” the Chinese girl said.

“What?! How? I mean I’m 100% ethnically Chinese. All four of my grandparents are from China. I mean sure, I don’t look like I’m from here, but I definitely look Southern Chinese,” I spluttered, laughing, incredulous. “You must have heard me speaking!”

“No you weren’t saying anything, but as soon as I saw you I knew you were hua yi” (sp? means “overseas born Chinese”), she continued. She eyed me for a second over the dinner table. “It must be the way you’re dressed.”

To make my point I stood up and waved from head-to-toe. “Everything I’m wearing I bought here!” I had blue boots on, black tights, a long, chocolate brown cardigan and a ruffly, navy scarf.

“Mmm, then it must be your haircut and your makeup.”

“I got this here too! And I’m not wearing any makeup!!”

But somehow she knew, and she hasn’t been the first to say that despite the fact that I am obviously Chinese, for some reason I am also obviously foreign as well.

Talking about this to some fellow Chinese Australian friends of mine, one explained, “there’s something about how we put our outfit together.” (And I happen to love both these girls’ style, and yes, there’s something “Sydney” about both.)

“Wait, wait, wait. So all I would have to do is style a Chinese girl here, and I could make her look foreign?” I asked, doubtfully.

“Exactly.”

It’s a great analogy for this interesting (possibly a beat-up, but made sense to me at the time) July article from Newsweek that commented on the fact that China may be “famous as the factory to the world” – but they still lag behind when it comes to creating brand.

So far it seems clear to me China has no lack of energy, resources, or capital to assume the role of this world’s top dog. But it’s yet to bring the equally critical creativity, innovation and ideas.