Fox News' report on extreme skateboarder Danny Way's jump over the Great Wall of China shows, if nothing else, the lengths and heights (or is it depths) to the sporting goods retailers like Quiksilver are willing to go to promote its products the Far East, in China.

I acted as faculty advisor to MBA Spring Trip to China in Spiring 2001. I am not sure whether the section of the Great Wall that Danny jumped on July 10th is the one we visited. More importantly, however, is what the subtext and the symbolism of this publicity stunt. For some time now, Western companies of every conceivable nature have been salivating and doing quadruple backflips at the prospect of gaining access to the 1.4 Billion person domestic Chinese market. In that light, an American skateboarder jumping the Great Wall is but a metaphor of the much larger and ongoing effort by companies the world over, especially those from the US and Europe, to surmount the world's most famous barrier to entry.