It has been just under 20 years since Belgian Jack Leblanc heeded a call to go to China and arrived in Chongqing with a suitcase of science books to teach at a university. The freshly minted nuclear physics graduate had abandoned the prospect of a car and a house in the Brussels suburbs for the unknowns of the teeming, riverside metropolis.
Since then, Leblanc has gone from teaching computer science on a pre-internet mainland campus to refining his version of the art of the deal in one of the world's most dynamic business environments. The ride along the way is mapped out in his boys' own business adventure, Business Republic of China.
The escapades in the world of commerce began with a phone call.
Jan, a family friend, was on the line with an offer: would Jack like to sell float glass in China?
Leblanc set off with some samples and a slide show in search of his first customer. He found Jackson Long, a well-connected construction materials trader with a taste for baijiu (liquor distilled from grains), karaoke and an American singer called Michael. Together, they spent the next year trying to convince design institute officials to endorse their glass for use in a government-backed five-star hotel and exhibition centre. They drank, ate, sang and dipped in hot spas - all in the cause of landing the contract.
It was Leblanc's baptism of business baijiu and the venture inducted him into a way of life that was not always profitable but, at least, consistently memorable.
