The End of Copycat China: The Rise of Creativity, Innovation, and Individualism in Asia

4The Innovation Curve Stage 3Innovation for the World

A gigantic oblong glass and concrete structure rises out of the middle of a rice paddy field like an alien spaceship, with white sand and crashing blue surf in the distance. I walk toward the building. The sun beats down, and a light breeze sways the palm trees lining the road. I am in Haiteng Bay in Sanya, the main resort destination city of Hainan Island, often nicknamed the Hawaii of China. I cannot remember ever breathing air this clean in China before, and I take it in using long, deep breaths as I walk.

The building is a hospital, the Hainan branch of the famous People's Liberation Army (PLA) 301 Hospital in Beijing. As I walk inside I pick up the distinctive half-swallowed err sounds of the Beijing accent echoing through the empty halls and lobby. The chatter seems out of place; just as the building itself does, thousands of miles away from the capital. I walk into a patient examination room because I have a slight cough to find Dr. Peng waiting for me. He is in his late 30s, with a round face and the beginnings of a middle-aged man's paunch. He starts speaking, also with the strong err-inflected Beijing accent.

Most of the doctors in the hospital are from Beijing, Dr. Peng tells me, forced to move to Hainan for two-year rotations. He hardly sees any patients. In this hospital, unlike every other Chinese public hospital ...