The Covered Call podcast has just returned from a whirlwind 2 week expedition to the middle kingdom 🇨🇳+ 🇭🇰. We (@KaufLovis + I) wanted to see the place first hand, on the factory floor, away from the Marriott meeting rooms. So what did we come away with? 👇

RT @Nutterproject: @yesokyeahsure You forgot to mention the massage robots. Awesome experience.

Borders, Freedom, and the Pursuit of Truth: Jayant Bhandari's Insights on Society

BJJ, Bali, and Big Returns: Inside Trader Ferg’s Contrarian Journey

Family, Freedom and Finance: Becoming unstoppable with Luke Gromen

From East to West: Louis Vincent Gave on Investing, Resilience, and China’s Rise

Willem Middelkoop on Curiosity, Crisis, and Carving Your Own Path

Inside China’s Strategy: Peter Alexander Unpacks the Trade War

Full Episode: The Future Runs on Power Dynamics - Jen Zhu Scott on AI, China, and Resilience

Our episodes with a few of our guests were really the motivation to make the trip. Sincere thanks 🙏. @gave_vincent @jenzhuscott @JayantBhandari5 @trader_ferg @LukeGromen @wmiddelkoop.

There isn't an obvious conclusion to take away from all this, other than perhaps calling out the contrast between our languages and cultures. @KaufLovis will now go into the etymological insights for the western words of Busi-ness🇬🇧 and Beschäftigen/Geschäft🇩🇪 Ha!

Together, these words show that Chinese sees “business” not just as something to do, but perhaps as:. Growth (生).Intention (意).Discussion (商).Structure & Vision (企). Each reveals a layer of how their culture has shaped what we have come to simply term commerce or business.

企业 (qǐyè) means enterprise, a future-oriented venture. It implies a business that’s not only active, but excited for what is next, aspirational and organized — with a long-term vision. 企 = to stand on tiptoe, to look forward with anticipation. 业 = profession, endeavour

商业 (shāngyè) refers to the world of commerce — retail, markets, industries. It’s business as a domain or ecosystem: where commercial activity happens on a large scale. 商 = commerce/discuss. 业 = profession, industry

商务 (shāngwù) means business affairs, especially in a formal or corporate context. It emphasizes commerce as a matter of structured negotiation and responsibility. Business here is something you discuss and manage, not just do. 商 = to discuss, consult. 务 = affairs, duties

Quick dive:. 生意 (shēngyì) means doing business, often small-scale or trade-oriented. Literally: a “living idea” — business as a way of sustaining life through meaningful exchange. 生 = life, grow, to give birth. 意 = meaning, intention, idea

It occurred to me, that unbeknownst to most outside of China, the root words for most nouns and verbs in the language hold tones of meaning. Specifically, for business, they reflect not just trade or profit, but life, intention, consultation, and future vision.

While the impressions we collected were numerous, one that stood out to me yet again was how business oriented the Chinese people are on a whole. We were discussing some chinese words on one of our many high speed rail trips, and the words 生意came up. Chinese for business.

Hand selecting the beans before making the pour-over. Suzhou, Jiangsu Province

When was the last time you had an espresso made with Italian pressure, german grinding, served in a Tibetan cup, with a cake from Jiangsu, and a traditional caramel sweet from inner mongolia? . It is never east vs the west in China, but east meets west all day every day.