After three weeks in China, it's clear Beijing is Silicon Valley's only true competitor

And, yes, China has massive issues, from freedom of speech (The Great Firewall) to competition that can get out of hand in terms of business practices. But that doesn't change the fact that there is much to learn from here.

Do I love Silicon Valley and my home country Germany? Oh, yes. And because of that, it's so important to look outside and bring fresh thoughts and input home. After all, entrepreneurship combined with science is the engine of all our futures — whether you live in the U.S., Europe, China, or anywhere else.

In Beijing, entrepreneurship feels like a raw — and sometimes more authentic — form of Silicon Valley. We can learn a lot from China. (Or perhaps "relearn" might be the more appropriate term.)

Let's keep the inner Silicon Valley spirit alive, and be focused on creating awesome things out of almost nothing. That's entrepreneurship. Let's beware of getting perked out and distracted by stuff that doesn't matter.

—By Cyriac Roeding, Recode.net.

CNBC's parent NBCUniversal is an investor in Recode's parent Revere Digital, and the companies have a content-sharing arrangement.

Source: After three weeks in China, it's clear Beijing is Silicon Valley's only true competitor