Page 29 - How China Is Winning the Tech Race

CHAPTER ONE

In a remarkable feat of reverse engineering and sheer chutzpah, the Chinese-born and
westernized entrepreneur Robin Li took what he learned in Silicon Valley to beat Google in
China by inventing a superior search engine in Mandarin. Less than a decade later, he
became a multimillionaire and tech superstar in his homeland.

Baidu—
China’s Boldest Internet
Start-Up

n the sprawling metropolis of
IBeijing, it takes an hour to go from
the Forbidden City, China’s centuries-
old Imperial Palace, to a modern
high-technology zone some 10 miles
to the northeast. On Chang’an Bou-
levard, which cuts east-west through
the heart of Beijing, my taxi crosses
several ring roads or expressways that
circle the capital while dodging pedes-
trians and crowded buses spewing
fumes as we crawl at a speed typical of a Los Angeles freeway during rush
hour. Horns are a constant blare, and I find myself feeling nostalgic for the
bicycles that just five years ago filled this wide boulevard. Watching the
chaotic scene from the backseat of one of the city’s dusty red cabs, I have the
windows up and the air-conditioning on full blast to shut out the noise and
the choking yellowish pollution.
Finally, we arrive at my destination: the Zhongguancun high-tech district
for Internet and software start-ups. Bordering the northern route of the
Fourth Ring Road are one high-rise headquarters after another, just as

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Copyright © 2008 by Rebecca A. Fannin. Click here for terms of use.