Billions of Entrepreneurs: How China and India Are Reshaping Their Futures—and Yours

Chapter Twelve

Film Stars and Gurus

Soft Power in Bollywood and Beyond

Late one night I was strolling around Beijing’s Forbidden City with a Chinese colleague, and we ran into a thin, wiry man who politely offered us his services as rickshaw driver and local guide. I immediately took to him; a Westerner might have been concerned at his ability to pull a rickshaw, but I am accustomed to seeing far more emaciated men do the job in India and Africa. Mr. Ji from Anhui Province pulled us along effortlessly for more than an hour and seemed grateful for the 50 percent tip we offered. He explained that he and his wife, who sold tea-boiled eggs and noodles in one of the ubiquitous roadside stands, had come from Anhui Province and became part of Beijing’s ...