We visit the Beijing Steel Company and take a tour of the facilities. As this was our first business visit on the trip we didn't know what to expect. I was a little disappointed that we didn't really learn anything about the operations or get to meet with any of the business leaders. We simply watched a movie, were led through a museum and took a tour of the facilities. I didn't really feel this was beneficial to me as an MBA in any way, but it was neat to see. The steel mill was so hot and dusty – I am amazed that people work in this environment all day long and can still breathe! After just 30 minutes in the mill my clothes were covered in a fine layer of soot and the dust was in my nose, ears and mouth. I also found the scenery interesting – it was a juxtaposition of serene pagodas with steam towers and steel refining machinery.
In the afternoon we are granted a few hours of free time. We left the hotel in a group of about 10 with the intention of going together for lunch. We walked through a street market and I literally gagged from the smell of rotting food. There were buckets of seafood sitting in the sun with no ice and rotting vegetables, as well as some very pungent cooked food, one of which I learned was fermented tofu – ick! Several of the tour mates were making snide comments about China, the food and the people and my hackles went up. I was so sad and frustrated that they would be dismissing the culture after a mere three days and would be taking about how KFC was the only decent place to eat in the city. Rather than saying anything Meredith and I simply took a cab to the Silk Road Market. Once there we ran into Alain and Steve and had a lovely meal – probably my favorite of the whole trip as there were fresh vegetables and the ability to choose our own dishes. The snow peas with cashews were divine!
After, we spent about 2 hours shopping and haggling with the merchants. I am usually not one to do a lot of bargaining but after a little bit I found it to be fun and made a bit of a game out of getting the best deal. I was also surprised by the boldness of the merchants – they would corner us in a shop or grab your arm trying to persuade you to look at their items or scream at you as you walked away. I managed to get some really odd art pieces, a messenger bag and a tee shirt. Wish I had more time.
For dinner we tried Peking Duck, which was delicious but very fatty and rich – I could only handle a few small pieces of the meat. We celebrated Zach's 19th birthday with a toast and some very light delicious cake. He was presented the duck heads as a special treat. Alain ate the cheeks and said they were divine. After the group dinner a few of us headed out for a night of drinking back in Hu Yung. We ended up in a basement club where a girl was dancing on a pole and we paid about $80 US for a bottle of Smirnoff vodka – yikes! We had fun but there were definitely some hurting people the next day on the bus!
At dinner David encouraged us to make some cultural observations – Which culture do you like better – US or China? Should we adapt, should they? Should we meet in the middle? I believe that America could learn much from an ancient culture like China – we are such a young country and are isolated in many ways. I think there are certainly things we have advantages over, but I enjoy both cultures. Overall, I would change little about the Chinese culture – I found the people to be incredibly warm and welcoming, and I appreciate the rich history and willingness/ability to continue to learn from it. I think that China is in a bit of a weird spot politically and we will probably see some major changes as the younger generation grows up and takes control. I hope that they do not lose touch with the culture and become completely Americanized – fast food, materialistic, arrogant, etc. Although, I really do think our toilets are better. ;) I also like to refer to the traffic in China as controlled chaos – there is little regard to the rules, with people driving against traffic signals, weaving around cars and taking turns whenever, but it somehow seems to flow and there are relatively few accidents.
Showing posts with label beijing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label beijing. Show all posts
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Day Two - BadaBing BadaLing
After American breakfast we take a 2 hour bus ride to the great wall. Am struck by how huge the wall is, much bigger and steeper than I imagined. Managed to climb to the top and can see for miles. The air quality is also much better outside the city and we see blue, clear skys. The wall is incredibly crowded, but mostly with Chinese tourists. It's interesting to not see many foreign tourists, and again our crew is a bit of an attraction with the locals.
At the gift shop we share celebratory beers and buy souvenirs as we wait for the group to reform. The bathrooms are entirely squat toilets and are not well maintained. Due to limited plumbing throughout China, paper is generally not flushed and is instead kept in baskets near the toilets. It stinks.
The great wall is technically still in Beijing and runs east to west across almost the entire country, beginning in inner Mongolia, which is not the same as Mongolia, the country – it is just a Chinese subset. The wall was built more than 2000 years ago, stretched 3000 miles (8800 kilometers) and is protected by the government. In certain satellite images it can be seen from space. The Chinese map is compared to a rooster. There have been 3 main capital cities in China – Xi'an about 2000 years, Beijing about 1000 years and Shanghai the last 200 years. Quote: Don't build your happiness on the suffering of others.
On the bus, Simon gives us some Beijing and China facts. Cantonese and Mandarin are written the same way but spoken differently and sometimes cannot be understood - interesting to have two languages under one country. Cantonese is mostly spoken in the south. East Beijing is considered the central business district, with modern high rise buildings. South Beijing is the modern development zone, where all the manufacturing facilities are. West is the financial district and North is the sports and education center including more than 100 colleges, universities and high schools, as well as the Olympic park.
At lunch we taste Chinese liquor for the first time – very strong, smelling like rubbing alcohol and served in little tiny cups. There is more forced shopping here, mostly for enamel pots that we are demonstrated. The process is quite time consuming, with little metal strips being hand applied before the enamel and the firing process.
On our way back to town we stop at the Olympic Park for a 20 minute walk around. The birds nest is truly an amazing piece of architecture and I'm glad we got the opportunity to see it. The Watercube looked like it was made of jello and I wish we had more time to go in. The crew is now lagging and we are getting goofy and cranky. We are taken to a tea house for a demo and more forced shopping – getting really irritated with the constant sales pitches. The tea was lovely.
Afterwards we take a rickshaw ride around Hu Yung and see the interior of a traditional quadrangle home. The home consists of four building centered around a common square – very neat design, would love to have one if it didn't rain so much in PDX! The home owner is very nice and talks with us a bit about life in the quad house. We learn that they do not have a bathroom, instead they use a public toilet / shower facility nearby. There is some running water for dishes, etc. The bars we pass on the rickshaw have sofas used as outdoor seating and we see hookah pipes – seems to be a very hip place to hang out. There is also a manmade lake with paddle boat rentals that seems picturesque. People are doing Tai Chi in the park.
At dinner we have some very interesting dishes, including a fish that is nearly black in color. After dinner we have a small amount of free time to explore near the Wafujing “BBQ Street.” There are rows of carts filled with all sorts of bizarre BBQ foods, such as snake, worms, sea horse, starfish, shark, dog, and a lot of penis and testicles. I try the snake – it's chewy like calamari and a little salty but not bad.
At the gift shop we share celebratory beers and buy souvenirs as we wait for the group to reform. The bathrooms are entirely squat toilets and are not well maintained. Due to limited plumbing throughout China, paper is generally not flushed and is instead kept in baskets near the toilets. It stinks.
The great wall is technically still in Beijing and runs east to west across almost the entire country, beginning in inner Mongolia, which is not the same as Mongolia, the country – it is just a Chinese subset. The wall was built more than 2000 years ago, stretched 3000 miles (8800 kilometers) and is protected by the government. In certain satellite images it can be seen from space. The Chinese map is compared to a rooster. There have been 3 main capital cities in China – Xi'an about 2000 years, Beijing about 1000 years and Shanghai the last 200 years. Quote: Don't build your happiness on the suffering of others.
On the bus, Simon gives us some Beijing and China facts. Cantonese and Mandarin are written the same way but spoken differently and sometimes cannot be understood - interesting to have two languages under one country. Cantonese is mostly spoken in the south. East Beijing is considered the central business district, with modern high rise buildings. South Beijing is the modern development zone, where all the manufacturing facilities are. West is the financial district and North is the sports and education center including more than 100 colleges, universities and high schools, as well as the Olympic park.
At lunch we taste Chinese liquor for the first time – very strong, smelling like rubbing alcohol and served in little tiny cups. There is more forced shopping here, mostly for enamel pots that we are demonstrated. The process is quite time consuming, with little metal strips being hand applied before the enamel and the firing process.
On our way back to town we stop at the Olympic Park for a 20 minute walk around. The birds nest is truly an amazing piece of architecture and I'm glad we got the opportunity to see it. The Watercube looked like it was made of jello and I wish we had more time to go in. The crew is now lagging and we are getting goofy and cranky. We are taken to a tea house for a demo and more forced shopping – getting really irritated with the constant sales pitches. The tea was lovely.
Afterwards we take a rickshaw ride around Hu Yung and see the interior of a traditional quadrangle home. The home consists of four building centered around a common square – very neat design, would love to have one if it didn't rain so much in PDX! The home owner is very nice and talks with us a bit about life in the quad house. We learn that they do not have a bathroom, instead they use a public toilet / shower facility nearby. There is some running water for dishes, etc. The bars we pass on the rickshaw have sofas used as outdoor seating and we see hookah pipes – seems to be a very hip place to hang out. There is also a manmade lake with paddle boat rentals that seems picturesque. People are doing Tai Chi in the park.
At dinner we have some very interesting dishes, including a fish that is nearly black in color. After dinner we have a small amount of free time to explore near the Wafujing “BBQ Street.” There are rows of carts filled with all sorts of bizarre BBQ foods, such as snake, worms, sea horse, starfish, shark, dog, and a lot of penis and testicles. I try the snake – it's chewy like calamari and a little salty but not bad.
Day Zero PDX to BEI
As we arrived in the airport, everyone is excited and overwhelmed, talking about all the things we are going to see and experience, wondering what our hotels will be like, how we will be received and what we will spend. Initial group consisted of Niki, Lee, Stefanie, Nick, Julie, Meridith and David. A few group members were late – a source of frustration and the team was wondering if it was an omen of things to come.
In the airport waiting area we are already becoming a minority, with 3 blond girls among us we wonder if we will get stares and we wonder who we will be paired up with on the trip. The flight to Narrita was fairly uneventful, watched a few movies, slept and read the first of three books for class.
As we fly into to Narrita we are hopeful to catch a glimpse of Tokyo city but have no luck – the airport is amid farmland and green fields. It was startling how much it looked like Portland – I'm not sure what I had expected but I was not thinking it would be so green and lush. The airport is very modern and efficient as expected, with very nice art displays and fun shops with foreign goods. An interesting display of paper art and Potato magazine are very popular items. McDonald's has a shrimp sandwich and interesting local flavors, the group is highly amused.
We re-plane headed for Beijing, everyone exhausted and a little loopy. When we arrive we are instructed to wait on the plane for the health officer, who will take our temperature and clear us of the swine flu. The take our temp with a hand held thermometer to the forehead. Once on land, after the customs gate, people are randomly taken for additional testing. Arlene is taken to X-ray for further study, Zach from Michigan was held in Quarantine – taken to hospital for 24 hour observation. His professor was not informed of his whereabouts, how long he would be held or how he could be contacted. We wait at the airport for nearly 2 hours before we are informed of this. Finally make it to the hotel around 2 am. Take a quick shower then 6 hours of sleep.
In the airport waiting area we are already becoming a minority, with 3 blond girls among us we wonder if we will get stares and we wonder who we will be paired up with on the trip. The flight to Narrita was fairly uneventful, watched a few movies, slept and read the first of three books for class.
As we fly into to Narrita we are hopeful to catch a glimpse of Tokyo city but have no luck – the airport is amid farmland and green fields. It was startling how much it looked like Portland – I'm not sure what I had expected but I was not thinking it would be so green and lush. The airport is very modern and efficient as expected, with very nice art displays and fun shops with foreign goods. An interesting display of paper art and Potato magazine are very popular items. McDonald's has a shrimp sandwich and interesting local flavors, the group is highly amused.
We re-plane headed for Beijing, everyone exhausted and a little loopy. When we arrive we are instructed to wait on the plane for the health officer, who will take our temperature and clear us of the swine flu. The take our temp with a hand held thermometer to the forehead. Once on land, after the customs gate, people are randomly taken for additional testing. Arlene is taken to X-ray for further study, Zach from Michigan was held in Quarantine – taken to hospital for 24 hour observation. His professor was not informed of his whereabouts, how long he would be held or how he could be contacted. We wait at the airport for nearly 2 hours before we are informed of this. Finally make it to the hotel around 2 am. Take a quick shower then 6 hours of sleep.
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