It has been a short two years since I first encountered David DeGeest. I met him shortly after he came to an exchange program’s rescue by traveling to China to replace a teaching fellow who could not accept the annual honor. The volunteers from Grinnell College, one of America’s top liberal arts schools, are competitively selected by Grinnell’s office of Social Commitment and spend one to two years in cultural education pursuits around the world. In order to come, David had to first surrender admission to a law school in America and then join Grinnell’s long tradition of International humanitarian service–unequaled in numbers by any college of any size.

Within a few months of his arrival David was forced by local immigration laws to leave his duties because host and parent institutions had failed to make the proper arrangements for his visa. He spent four months of uncomfortable nights on my sofa in Guangzhou waiting to return and finish what he had started. During his layoff David made use of his time in ways that would soon change him, and those around him, forever.

“Dawei ” as he fast became known by his admiring students, fervently studied Chinese, gave freely of his time to help an insecure translation student edit several hundred pages in a world-class set of books on Chinese Penjing (the parent art of Bonsai), served as an administrative assistant for the interim CEO of China’s top corporate leadership training company, studied Taekwondo with Macau’s Olympic Team players, wrote articles on his experiences in China for the Blogger News Network and became the beloved “American Son” of the Unsinkable Ms Yue, the cancer survivor who, along with The League of Extraordinary Chinese Women, would become the inspiration for this blog.

During his stay in Guangzhou his association with Ms Yue inspired his voluntary, and uncompensated, co-teaching of college classes on blogging, SEO and International e-Business. It was in in concert with his students that he co-developed the Dreamblogue and helped write and promote the Onemanbandwidth blog that won the Best Blog in Asia prize at the annual Weblog Awards in 2006.

By the time he returned to Guangzhou, after finishing his fellowship assignment, he had a deep and abiding love for China, one that permeated his personal and professional aspirations.

Within a few months David, once again sleeping on the sofa, had written more than 50,000 words in support of the Dreamblogue in the form of: grant proposals to Global Voices Online, and the Knight and MacArthur Foundations. He drafted sponsorship support proposals for colleges in the UK and the US; authored PR Web releases about our mission; sent out hundreds of e-mails to potential supporters (not donors as we decided never to accept funds directly); developed project profiles on social networking sites; created several successful groups on Facebook; corresponded and coordinated activities with intended recipients of our charity; edited and revised over 22 articles about the mainland provinces we intended to visit; and trained handicapped and able-bodied interns in the subtleties of SEO and online networking.

David helped transformed my apartment into a two-man hermitage where he literally spent 15 to 20 hours a day, carpals to the keyboard, in preparation for dreamblogue adventures. The only breaks he took were to watch reruns of House, M.D. (while he kept editing and planning) and to play an occasional round of online Scrabble. Chinese studies continued and Mr. DeGeest devoured dozens of books on Chinese history, business, language and culture while learning podcasting, photography, HTML coding and more. He spent a few weekends traveling the roads running through rural China and wrote beautifully of the magical work of the Library Project, the Volunteer English Program and the US-China Medical Foundation.

David made his spending and food money by teaching corporate communication classes for one of China’s top companies. Later, the generous support of students and staff of the best pound-for-pound MBA program on the planet, Cal Poly, kept us traveling, writing and promoting…

…until David realized that a more sustainable income was needed. Being in a country where non-governmental charities cannot be officially sanctioned, David pointed us toward creating money the old-fashioned way: earning our keep by giving something for something and then turning any profits into good works. He suspended travel in hopes of bringing in much needed funds.

We started offering SEO services to SMEs and Multi-nationals. It was during this time that David learned that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has a long maturation period ahead of it and is not always born of true good will or altruistic intentions. David was lied to, cheated and humiliated by some of the most high-profile advocates of engagement and good on the Internet. It was enough, at times, to make a saint doubt his world-view. But, he always looked for the good that came of his efforts and the fantastic people he met along the Internet Superhighway

Years ago, there was talk of a self-perpetuating machine…If he could have figured out a way to not take a food break daily he would have.

After we were contacted last year by a Fortune 100 company in Silicon Valley, David was certain that we would have the money we needed to help our interns and continue this blog’s original goal to promote rural education, literacy, charity and a positive understanding of China through travel and blogging.

The call I mentioned, and subsequent promises from Silicon Valley, were cleverly crafted lies that cost both of us hundreds of hours of labor and all of our savings. Culture Fish Media was born to accommodate the wishes of a company that we now know never meant to follow through with assistance. But, David learned much from the ordeal and undaunted, kept right on writing the blog, managing the photo group on Facebook (it now has amateurs and professionals lending him their work), writing business plans and teaching 20 hours a week at a college as a China certified foreign expert in education and culture –did I also mention he filled in for free when graduate professors in South China’s best University needed a replacement in Literary Studies?And he tirelessly campaigned for a chance to carry the torch in the Olympic relay (a glitch in the Lenovo voting software cost him a slot) as a tribute to the cancer victims to whom he had dedicated so much time (his essay is still in the top five results that come up on Baidu for “Olympic Torch Dream”)… He did all of this while negotiating with respected country and international marketing managers, answering digital marketing request for proposals, and optimizing small and formidable websites with only two, 3-day vacation breaks the entire time: one was to Yangshuo where he spent half of his time working on the computer and the other half in playful contemplation…

David went from reticent, inquisitive new graduate to passionate liaison engaged in negotiations with world renowned companies, service providers, Internet luminaries and educational institutions. He practiced and succeeded at tasks, with a BA in Math and English, that MBA students only dream of tackling….No, it wasn’t all work and no play–almost–and yes, there were cherished moments of complete frivolity:

There is more, but I will save that for future posts and maybe even a book. Many of his well-researched proposals are still making their way through the digestive tracks of various commercial and organizational enterprises–and anything that is achieved by the BOD, or its soon to be retired offspring, is directly due to David’s perseverance and dedication.

I’ve read several stories on the Internet this week bemoaning the lack of medical care in China, the widening gap between rich and poor, and descriptions of the continuing disasters in north and the south that have devastated China. We have a “surviverthon” scheduled for October that will aid the blog’s regular charities and contribute to cancer and disaster survivors. While some people may think the fforts are new others know that David started work two years ago trying to make life better for those challenged by cancer, flooding, poverty, earthquakes and lack of educational opportunities. Just ask Thomas Stader of the Library project what part David’s viral marketing gifts played in the building of numerous libraries this year in orphanages and rural communities throughout China. The first 400 members of the Facebook group devoted to their project were in some way connected to David and the BOD. And he has never asked for credit.

David has been my colleague, student, family member, friend and valued counsel. The only thing he has ever wanted in return for his efforts is that people would socially network his honest requests, give a few minutes of time and space on blogs (which he knows are valuable), and share when and where they could of their time and talents.

And before he sounds a little too altruistic to be true, you need to know what has been in this for him: He has selfishly wanted Ms Yue and the League of Extraordinary Chinese Women to live longer, he has wanted a new prosthetic leg for “Coffee” and he has wanted Chinese students to be able to achieve dreams of a better life.

He is off now to graduate school in pursuit of an MBA en route to a finance/Business PhD so he can teach at the University level. Some farsighted college needs to be putting in an early bid for his services.

Thanks David.

Post Script:

One of my favorite stories of the year was David’s first short return to the US after the visa issues. It involved his bewly learned ability to communicate with his adopted Chinese mom, Ms Yue, and her unique language. It seems appropriate to end with it here:
Read on »

The Top Business Schools in the US for Chinese Students

After a year of interviews and research we have started to compile our lists of top business schools and Executive MBA (E-MBA) programs for Chinese students looking for study opportunities in America, Australia, Canada, UK, Singapore and New Zealand.

We will be listing the top five schools in each country in no particular order. The criteria used to evaluate schools differs greatly from that used by US News and World Report and others. We queried parents and prospective students during our travels about those issues that most concerned them and most affected their choices before and after admission. The rankings displayed are unbiased and were not affected by our affinity for any program despite one of the schools being a strong supporter of the Blog of Dreams.

Criteria:

• Openness Toward Foreign Students/Ethnic Diversity
• Financial Assistance
• Post Graduation Placement Assistance
• Faculty to Student Ratio
• Overall Reputation of Graduate School
• Campus Safety
• Ease of Application/Admission Office Attitude
• Affordability: Living Costs, Tuition
• Curriculum
• Student Life
• Internship Options
• Salary After Graduation
• Alumni Network

Top Five Business Schools in no particular order:

• Purdue: Scored highest in Ethic diversity (Chinese students make up 2nd largest population), Alumni Network, Graduate School Reputation, and Curriculum

• Ohio State: Scored highest in Student Life, Ease of Application and Financial Assistance

• Cal Poly: Scored highest in Affordability, Campus Safety, Faculty to Student Ratio, Graduate School Reputation (Top Overall Masters Degree Granting Institution in the West) and Post Graduate Placement

• Harvard: Scored Highest in Reputation, Alumni Network, Salary After Graduation, Faculty to Student Ratio, Ethnic Diversity, and Internship Options

• University of Minnesota: Scored highest in Ethnic Diversity, Curriculum, Campus Safety, Ease of Application

Other schools close to making the cut: University of Arizona, Columbia University, UCLA, University of California at Berkeley, University of Pennsylvania and the University of Iowa…

We will publish results of other surveys intermittently throughout the next few weeks.

Cal Poly, home of one of the best international MBA programs, and a great China MBA blog, has arrived. On youtube, at least. The video offers a peak at the ten-day trip the 40 intrepid MBA students and professors took across China and into Beijing, Macau, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou and features such places as the forbidden city in Beijing, the Sands Casino in Macau, and Shenzhen and Shanghai factory visits.

Thanks to Steve Rodger and Kooltree productions for putting this together.

China MBA: Cal Poly State University

MBA留学：Cal Poly

中文:

One of the dreams of many Chinese and International students is to study abroad. Part of the mission of the Dreamblogue is to help individuals realize their dreams through information and financial support when and where we can offer it. This is part of a series of posts that will spotlight schools we believe to be the best in China, America, Canada the UK and Australia for overseas learning.

Top boxers are always being sized up against others outside of their weight class and are referred to by sports pundits as, “pound-for-pound” the best puncher, or overall fighter in the game. The same metaphor can easily be applied to International MBA Programs and especially those with China as their primary focus.

The China Dreambloue Team below as translators for Cal Poly Visitors to Zhongkai University. For more visit their popular blog CAL POLY MBA TRIP

Long before Cal Poly became partners with the Dreamblogue, Dawei had a chance to interact with students and faculty from the Orfalea College of Business: the best pound-for-pound International MBA program based in America. Cal Poly State University in San Luis Obispo, California via The Orfalea College of Business offers a 1-year program for qualified students from China and the world: The MBA program with a focus on international business in China, concludes with a 1-month tour of Chinese culture and business. Prospective graduates visit small and medium-sized”expatraneurs” and China manufacturers, educational institutions and renown multi-nationals like Walmart, Lenovo, and The Sands/Venetian. This year they climbed the Great Wall, toured the water village of Zhouzhung, and visited the UNESCO sites in the former Portuguese colony of Macau.

And the entire MBA program, located in one of the safest and most scenic areas of California, costs less in total than does a semester at a school with more recognizable branding. Despite named #1 by US News and World Report as the top Masters Degree granting institution in the west, Cal Poly is bit of a a well-kept secret, but that is not likely to last. Their leadership via Professor Chris Carr (Interviewed by the China Business Network Here) continues to innovate with its world-class faculty and curriculum.

You can download information in Chinese or English about Cal Poly’s programs here, as well as information about how to prepare and study for admission:

• About Cal Poly and Its Environment
• About Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, and the Orfalea College of Business
• Cal Poly’s China MBA Program
• GMAT Study Help

In addition to their MBA program there are other international options and several concentrations, such as finance, accounting, or agriculture available; one of the most successful has been their degree in Industrial Technology that provides students with lucrative and professionally fulfilling job opportunities in high demand in the private sector:

China MBA Admission Info, Cost Info, and Deadlines

Cal Poly Masters in Industrial Technology

Masters in Industrial Technology Admission Info, Cost Info, and Deadlines

Pound-for-pound we think the Cal Poly MBA is the best in the world….

To speak to us about any of our sponsors or just to chat you must first allow pop-ups from Geesse.com where we host 24/7 Live Help. Please share your dreams with us….

Read on »

The University of Maryland Smith School of Business Shanghai, China

Recently, during my trip in Shanghai, I had the opportunity to speak with Steven Feld, the Executive Director of Professional Programs and Services at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business at the Maryland Center China in Shanghai. What I found was a man with a conviction to foster the growth of a business school in China that could live up to the growing needs for talented managers and can provide people who have already succeeded at doing business in China a chance to hone their skills to a new level.

I have to admit that the interview’s beginning was little rocky. Because of a delay in my flight, I arrived at the Center, bags still in hand, about an hour and a half later than I’d planned. Fortunately, I was able to sneak into another interview and get a few shots at a question and answer. Dr. Feld was happily answering questions from a Chinese newspaper. I decided to go for the big one.

“So, how are you going to compete with Harvard? How about Duke? What have you got for the big guns?” I ask. Dr. Feld Steve Feld just grins. I know he’s been asked this question a dozen times before, and his response is fitting for a man who left Wharton to manage a program sitting on the fence between great and unbeatable.

“It’s all about service,” he said. “If you come to the University of Maryland’s EMBA program here, you get the same quality and the same teachers you’d get as if you were in the US. We don’t water down our program for China.”

And with that, I smiled, reached for my notebook, and realized I’d left it in the cab. Red-faced, I grabbed a sheet of paper from my bag and began writing furiously as Dr. Feld talked about this EMBA in China.

He also pointed out the way in which the program had been made administratively simple. “Our students have an average of 15 years of experience,” Dr. Feld pointed out, “and they are juggling families, running their companies, and completing 54 credit hours of school in 18 months. So we need to help them by making the administrative process of this course–buying books, registering for courses, receiving grades–as simple as possible.”

There were several key points that stood out as Dr. Feld talked. One was his sense of commitment: from everything he said, I could tell that the Smith School is not some kind of attempt to offer a mediocre program to a China hungry for, but an administratively simple program designed to produce the same quality of education that has given the University of Maryland its distinctive international reputation. A key point of the program is that the same professors who teach at the University of Maryland deliver the lectures and do the teaching just as they do in the US. Dr. Feld also stressed the three core competencies of the program: globalization, techonology, and innovation and entrepreneurship, which he believes will be core principles rising entrepreneurs and businesspeople need to master in the coming years of business.

Smith has some impressive ranking as well. Though it’s name is just beginning to come to China, it’s international reputation (ranked #17 in the world and #5 for its research department) is long-standing. One of the most interesting points of discussion I had with Dr. Feld was about the school’s impressive research rank. Can a school with a rank like that deliver good quality teaching, I wondered? Or would the faculty at the U of Maryland feel so much pressure to perform in research that they would neglect their teaching duties? Dr. Feld, as always, gave a delightful response. “Well, we have two ways to respond to that. First, we have research centers designed to disseminate the information from our researchers to the public and to interested parties. Second, we have a really smart dean who created a staff of teaching professors who aren’t obligated to do research. And what this has done is increase the standard of teaching at the University of Maryland, so that both the teaching staff and the research staff frequently get rated highly for their teaching.”

There is a saying China (isn’t there always?): “麻雀虽小, 五脏俱全.” Though the sparrow is small, it has all the vital organs. And though Maryland is by no means a small school in any sense of the word–its reputation and abilities place it among the best in the world–its name is only beginning to gain weight and force in China. Despite this, the programs the University of Maryland offers in China–its EMBA as well as its professional development courses–are designed with care and clever precision to deliver high-quality instruction to China’s business leaders.

A final update: interested readers can check out the Smith Business Intelligence site, a great source of useful information about the latest business information in China.

We’ve been encouraging our readers to send us their dreams, and now I want to share my dream with you to carry a torch for the 2008 Olympics. You can help us out by voting here. Here’s my essay about why I’d like to carry the Olympic torch:

中文

I want to carry the torch for Ms. Yue. A year ago, I came to China on a fellowship from Grinnell College in America. My commitment was to teach English and engage in cultural exchange for groups of college students. And while I met many remarkable and people during my time there, Ms. Yue stands out. Offering to be my adoptive Chinese mother (or “中妈”), she took me into her home, taught me Chinese, offered me home-cooked food, and showed me how to enjoy everyday Chinese life: I want give back to her and China and pay my respects by running and by writing on my website, the China Dreamblogue. I will travel with Lonnie B. Hodge, a Zhongshan University professor, and write about the amazing dreams of China’s people. I want to create a place for positive engagement between the East and West, and share a place where I can speak about my great respect for this country.
I also want to show Ms Yue respect by carrying the torch for her Olympics. I believe in the spirit of the slogan: “One World, One Dream”. It rings true for me: Professor Hodge has worked and trained Olympic-level athletes, and during my year in Macau I acted as a language liaison for their Olympic Tae Kwon Do Association. I was privileged to train with members of Macau’s Olympic team. Part of my journey will include stories from Olympians and include medalist’s dreams from around the world. I support the Olympics as a forum for international understanding and the promotion of cross-cultural appreciation.

Lien Chan once said, “The Chinese nation is confronted with unprecedented opportunities of development. Well-being and prosperity that the nation has long aspired after will never be a faraway dream.” In order to help China achieve its dream for prosperity for its people, and I dream of a positive network of engagement for China and the West, I am working tirelessly to create ways for people to interact with China: not everyone gets their own Ms. Yue.
I see my work as community service, helping others to make connections, tell the world about their dreams, and give ordinary Chinese people a voice with which to speak and to show their truest face to the world. I work with The China Business Network, a site which offers help and information to business leaders; California Polytechnic University, and its MBA program with a business study plan actively engaging China; and The Library Project, which builds libraries for orphanages and rural schools. I’ve given over 1,000 hours in community service work to provide the world a chance to share China’s greatest dreams.
My favorite proverb from Chinese culture is “the beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names.” I hope that my carrying the torch will help others to appreciate the Middle Kingdom and call China by its right name: an engaging culture with extraordinary dreams.

Read on »

We’ve been featured in 21st Century! Read the story here and tell us what you think:

China Dreamblogue 21st century

Thanks to Charlie Shifflett for his faithful reporting.

In a series of articles about our sponsors, we’ve decided to begin with The China Business Network, a website devoted to helping entrepreneurs in China make important business connections and create exciting opportunities here in China. Created by Christine Lu, The China Business Network has a large media, podcast and content network it uses to promote businesses seeking to operate in China. Now that network can help our sponsors, too.

The China Dreamblogue has partnered with The China Business Network, and now our sponsors will have the opportunity to enjoy an interview on their networks, and readers can look forward to regular updates about the Dreamblogue on CBN.

Interested in helping to sponsor the Dreamblogue? There are several things you can do.

First, WE DO NOT ACCEPT DONATIONS. If you are interested in donating money, please contact one of the charities we support, The Library Project (run through the 501(c)3 charity Nomadic Marketing) or The Reading Tub. The China Dreamblogue offers services-for-fee and service-for-service exchanges with sponsors. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor, we are looking for the following things:

• Individuals and Businesses: Link to us and favorite is on Technorati by clicking on the tab in our sidebar!

• We badly need 2 laptop computers–One of the current computers running the Blog of Dreams, Yanzhi’s prized Macbook, suffered a cracked screen and our second laptop caught a fatal virus, SO we are searching for laptop computers that will help us continue to create the Dreamblogue and maintain its content and projects for you while we travel.

• 2 high quality cameras to help us document the beauty of the people and places in China we encounter.
• 1 high quality digital movie camera to help us record the stories of the dreamers we meet along the way
• audio and video editing software to help us present the dreamers’ stories to you
• Educational institutions in the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand interested in attracting talented Chinese students to their universities
• Travel insurance to help keep us and the dreams we carry safe as we travel
• Airplane flights and acomodations from a travel company willing to help us arrange the legs of our journey
• Quality English-language training centers to help students prepare for their journeys to study abroad
• Other businesses willing to help individual dreamers achieve their dreams

Please note that we will give away all of the equipment and extra supplies at the end of the China Dreamblogue travels to our supporters and dreamers.

Interested parties can read more about sponsorship details here: Travel China Blog Proposal. Contact [*dawei@blogofdreams.com *] or [*yanzhi@blogofdreams.com *] if you or your organization are interested.

Keep Dreaming.

For those of you dreaming of going to America to study: We have posted pdf files of the guides in English and in Chinese (see the sidebar for Chinese)…

Study in the US part 1

This is a guide to undergraduate study and educational opportunities in the US. You can find Arabic, French, Spanish, and Russian versions of the text here: Undergrad Study in the US.

Study in the US part 2

This guide explains the process of applying for and preparing for graduate study in the US. It includes information about admission, types of institutions, degrees, course loads, and grading systems. It will also discuss the different academic culture in the US and the US academic environment. It also covers specialized programs of study in the US: US nursing school, American law schools, US veterinary medicine, and American dentistry. You can find versions of the text in Arabic, French, Spanish, and Russian Study in America: US graduate degrees.

Study in the US Part 3

This guide provides thorough descriptions of short-term study options in the US, such as: high school exchange programs, work and professional exchange programs, vocational and technical programs, short-term university study, and professional study. You can find versions of the text in Arabic, French, Spanish, and Russian here: Study in US: Short-term US study.

Study in the US part 4

This guide provides important details on preparing for study in the US, such as obtaining a visa, predeparture information, housing in the us, and travel to the us. You can find versions of the text in Arabic and Russian here: Study in the US: US Visas, Travel to the US, living in the US..

Keep dreaming: