During this period， he gave careful and serious thought to theChina that was undergoing drastic transformation， the country whoselegal system was gradually being improved. He traveled between33 0 Beijing， Hong Kong， and Hawaii by air. He wrote several papers ofsignificance. In 1988， he published Intellectual Property in China， thefirst book in English to introduce the intellectual property situation inChina; the book made quite a stir， and sold well.
Subsequently， he accumulated information while working as aninvestment counselor for international corporations， and wrote hissecond book， NAGA China Pusiness Guide. After that， he publishedBanking and Finance in China， China Technology Transfer and IntellectualProperty Guide， Foreign Exchange Controls in China， a Guideto Corporate Survival and other books. These books were invaluabletreasures for those who had attempted to enter the Chinese market butfailed. His Re-engineering China， which spoke about the reform andchange in Chinese state-owned enterprises， also aroused great interestamong Western economists and investors.
A German ambassador once said that anyone who wanted toknow about present-day China， especially those intending to invest inChina， had to read the books written by Laurence Brahm.
At the time， Asian Development Bank was scouting for an eminentlyqualified person — someone who was familiar with the socialisticnations’ financial system reform — to help Laos reform itseconomy. Laurence thus became president assistant of Laos Bank andformulated several new laws. He then became a consultant to VietnamCenter Bank as well. During this time， he often came to China totake tips from China Bank， and returned to Vietnam to popularize thestock-holding system. From then on， he traveled frequently betweenBeijing， Vientiane and Hanoi. This went on until 1991.
Since 1991 he has lived in Beijing， and the center of his work isnow investment consultancy. In the mid–1990s， he carried out investmentfeasibility demonstrations for several foreign companies， includingbig international corporations.
“I was legal adviser when the Eastman Kodak company set up itsfirst and second joint ventures，” he says. “I participated in the negotiations and drafted the contract for a joint venture.
“The biggest vitamin pharmaceutical company in the world alsowanted to come into Chinese market. I persuaded them to move theirinvestment center to Pudong in Shanghai. Finally， they moved theirresearch center of the Asia-Pacific region from Hong Kong to Shanghai. Big international corporations had begun to realize the value ofhis judgment， his business insight; they were now relying more andmore on his acute understanding of Chinese culture and the Chineseeconomy.
The New Red Capitalism in the Courtyard HouseIn 1990， Laurence a Chinese friend who lived in a courtyardhouse， in Shijia Hutong， Dongcheng District. That day， he was toldthat the courtyard house next to his friend’s was dormitory usuallyrented to foreign experts， and was available for rent at the time. Thenext day itself， he moved into the house. So began his sojourn in a traditionalChinese residence.
332 “It is said that the decision to arrest the Gang of Four was madehere， in 1976，” he says. “The series of important reforms that followedalso started here. I am very interested in Chinese contemporary history，and so， naturally， I am interested in courtyard houses where importanthistorical people have lived and important events taken place. The legend of 1976 may be based on the fact that a top Chineseleader， who decided to arrest the Gang of Four， was living in thathouse. Although the veracity of this event still needs to be investigated，it is indisputable that numerous historic events have taken place invarious courtyard houses over the past hundreds of years.
Laurence was also told that many top Chinese leaders and celebritieswere fond of living in these traditional houses. All of this addedto his obsession with them.
“Afterwards I took an interest in the architecture of the courtyardhouse itself，” he says. “Architecture is people’s way of thinking inspace. There must be some reason that courtyard houses take such aform. In the process of discovering history， Laurence read books onancient architecture， consulted experts， and visited a great deal ofhutongs. As a result， he became something of an expert on courtyardhouses himself， quite possibly able to put the younger natives of Beijingto shame in terms of knowledge.
“Courtyard houses embody Chinese culture quite well，” he says.
“When you enter a hutong， you can only see the outside grey wall. Thegrey wall is very serious， and you cannot know what is inside the wall.
In contrast， if you walk outside a Western style house， you can see thegarden and the house directly. You can easily tell whether the owner isrich or not from the size of the house. The difference between endocentric Chinese culture and exocentricWestern culture is clearly revealed in the architecture. “Walkingin a Beijing hutong， people cannot see the inside of the wall， since allthe walls look the same，” he states. “Only the gate indicates the socialstatus of the owner.