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Two weeks in mainland China helped us to learn more about the current economic and political situation. We met many government advisors and industry leaders and had the opportunity to discuss their business, future expectations and general thought about doing business in China. We also met many university students, who gave us new views into the changing economic situation in China.
Two weeks in mainland China helped us to learn more about the current economic and political situation. We met many government advisors and industry leaders and had the opportunity to discuss their business, future expectations and general thought about doing business in China. We also met many university students, who gave us new views into the changing economic situation in China.
Starting from Beijing, we visited one of our partner universities and attended lectures from business and government leaders. Beijing is not just the political capital of the country but also the cultural capital. The city has kept parts of the history of China alive amidst all the development in places such as Tienanmen Square, the Summer Palace, and the Forbidden City. I should say that the only problem I faced in the city was finding cabs. One of our classmates is from Beijing, and she extended all possible help she could to make our stay comfortable and fun. We got a taste of the Chinese hospitality when we were invited by Yumeng’s grandmother for tasty dinner at her place. A visit to the Great Wall made us realize why it is named so. Chinese Wall We also visited an NGO, which has an independent chain of thoughts on economy and politics of China. While it has run into problems, it has managed to exist for a long time. We had always heard that the Chinese eat weird food like bugs and insects. Well, we saw some of it, but no one was eating them.
We also learned that the most beautiful girls in China are from Yiran’s (one of our classmates) city. She really proves that story. The trip from Beijing to Nanjing was accomplished by one of the fastest modes of transportation on ground. As we touched the speed of 354km/hour, Beo and Arina gave new meaning to certain words in a game the team played along the way. Nanjing was previously the capitol of China and has the most investment from Germany in China. We did a case study with the students from Nanjing University, learned how our Chinese peers would handle a human resources issue, and saw first-hand the popularity of Dennis with Chinese girls.
The campus of the university had a lot of food shops around it, and so my quest for Kung Pao chicken started around the campus. All by myself and no Chinese help, I finally relinquished my treasure for some other awesome local food.
Next stop was Wuxi. We took advantage of precious free time and slept on our way in the bus. We awoke to find ourselves outside of a beautiful hotel. The executive director of He Bang, Xiaolan Deng, a former student of our academic director, met us at the hotel and took us from there on a tour of her family owned automotive part plant. She saw us as her fellow students, that’s what she called us. Wuxi is located close to Shanghai and has many manufacturing facilities due to its strategic location. Later, we learned that it is one of the pioneers in developing the proper infrastructure for the future direction of China, which lies within the service sector.
Last, but definitely not the least, we visited Shanghai. This city never sleeps! There, we visited the world’s second largest steel manufacturer. Their facilities are larger than the size of Frankfurt. They gave us a tour of a manufacturing plant and we saw the jaw-dropping process of rolling a red-hot, steel sheet from 10 meters to 1000 meters long within two minutes.
The city itself is huge and has the best skylines most of us had ever seen. We saw one of the world’s biggest buildings under construction and were constantly fascinated by the architectural wonders. A few of us went up the famous television tower, the “Oriental Pearl,” to peer between our feet, through the glass floor, at the dizzying height below us. The underground market in the city was a great opportunity to test our negotiation skills and buy some fun gadgets and clothes.
The last working night of the trip was complemented by a tasty dinner given us by Dennis’ mom. Saturday night was our last night in China and was spent dancing with some local friends as we enjoyed the Shanghai skyline alongside an aquarium of sharks.
Sitting in my seat, enjoying a refreshment, and thinking about which movie to watch next, I would say that the trip was an educational success and it gave us a new insight into the economy and culture of the Asian Dragon.
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