• First Person - Michael Doughty

When Michael Doughty first visited China he was the only foreigner for miles around; not any more.

In April this year I was again in China for around my 50th business visit. I reflected on the huge strides that China has made since my first visit during the 1970s. Today, my company Stentor Music Co. has a well established wholly-owned factory in Taixing, Jiangsu province, with modern electronic communications including broadband.

What a contrast to my early trips! Then, the only communication out of China was by post; I would literally disappear for the duration of the visit. In the early ‘80s, I was amazed to discover several ancient telex machines brought out of storage for use by foreign visitors; the one I used had a date plate 1944.

Even some years later I caused great merriment by asking to use the telephone at a factory employing 400 people; they didn't have one. A few visits later they proudly told me they were now on the phone. This proved to be one the first mobile phones. The later expansion of mobiles has contributed greatly to growth in China and bypassed the shortage of landlines.
 
One in six million
I was given one of the first visas for an independent factory visit and arrived in Guangzhou in 1978 to find that I was the only foreign visitor in a city of 6m people. Most traffic comprised thousands of bicycles and handcarts, and there were virtually no shops except the Friendship Store for foreign visitors, as it appeared to me.

Shortage of goods was apparent everywhere, many bicycles being ridden on the rims without tyres. A chronic shortage of electricity meant darkened streets with only an occasional low power bulb to light the way. Even in the early ‘80s there were only six taxis in the city of Guangzhou, yet today there are thousands. I marvel at the modern road systems throughout China, which have all been built during the last 10 to 15 years.

The journey to Taixing used to take eight or nine hours and sometimes our car would get stuck in the mud of an unmetalled road. Today, a motorway and bridge over the Yangtze has cut this to three hours. One of the first of new roads I saw was from Dalian to Shenyang. This dual track road some 150km was built within one year – an incredible feat.

Another of the great changes in China is the colour in everyday life. Until the mid-‘80s bright colours were absent in clothes, buildings and shops and everything was drab and grey. Air travel within China used to be restricted to government officials and the occasional foreign traveller. Tickets could not be booked in advance and obtaining a ticket entailed several personal visits and long waits at China Travel.

Once I was stranded in Chengdu for two days. Another time the captain came into the cabin with the VC10 flight manual asking me to explain some technical terms. As I see the thousands passing through Shanghai's futuristic terminal I reflect on the vast changes that have transformed life over so much of China.

My first visit to Shanghai was more than 20 years ago and then it seemed as if time had stood still. There were no modern buildings and most of the population seemed to live in crowded conditions in the city centre. The Bund was intact but very run-down with the buildings, including the Peace Hotel, divided into tenements or used for warehouse storage; some were home to chickens and goats.

One evening to the consternation of my Chinese contact in Shanghai, I was invited to dinner with the city leaders. They wanted to know everything about life in Britain although I was amazed at the knowledge they already had and their ideas for change. Later I remember counting 38 skyscrapers under construction on one visit.

Stentor commenced business with China in the 1960s when all musical instrument business had to be conducted through the state-owned import/export corporations. The first development came when we were allowed to deal directly with these corporations by telex. Next, all Chinese state corporations were permitted to trade, then a few joint ventures and then came the first wholly-owned companies. Over this period, doing business in China has undoubtedly become easier.

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