It’s been a long last day of walking around the city of Shanghai. Yaros and I spent our free time wandering West Nanjing Road and going up several a hotel elevator and a few shops as well as Yang’s Dumplings. Our several hours of walking in the sun were soon followed by several more hours … Continue reading China day 10! →

Today we went back to the markets as veteran bargainers. The Pearl market in Beijing allowed us to practice and get our bad trade deals (worst in the history of trade deals) out of the way so we could get some real deals on fake goods today. I purchased a shirt that says “I come … Continue reading China day 9! →

What a beautiful day in China. We explored the historic Tiger Hill park under beautiful smog-free blue skies in the morning and toured the ultra-clean Abbott infant formula plant in the afternoon. The park was very lush and full of great photo spots, including but not limited to the Chinese leaning tower of Pisa and … Continue reading China day 8! →

After our long day of touring around the water garden and Caterpillar, we were left to our own devices. Around 20 of us found our way to a Western style gastropub, which was a refreshing slice of home after eating at traditional Chinese restaurants for so many meals in a row. I ordered the Monday … Continue reading China day 7! →

Today we traveled, surprise surprise. Zhangjiakou -> Shanghai -> Water Town -> Suzhou. Chinese domestic air travel was a very different experience than US domestic travel. Security was comparatively lax, the plane took off at a much more severe angle, and we were served eggplant, which was surprisingly delicious. A brief refill at the McDonald's … Continue reading China day 6! →

Today proved to be a hodge-podge kind of day: we went dairy factory -> old people home -> wind farm -> middle school -> elementary school -> Mongolian restaurant -> hotel -> spa. My favorite part of the day was the post-dinner karaoke that even got JQ to let us stick around and order more … Continue reading China Day 5! →

Today we became heroes and can now say we visited China. The great wall was way cool despite the smog, and the experience really drove home that we are in fact in a fabled foreign land. It amazes me that military factions marched along that wall for hundred of years--they must have had legs of … Continue reading China day 4! →

Today was one for the books. We took an early morning bus to John Deere and heard about how agriculture operates in China. Since the state owns all the land, it follows naturally that the state is the largest customer of tractors and combines. Overall very different feel than John Deere in the states. Boeing … Continue reading China day 3! →

Today marked the beginning of the "simulated business" portion of this simulated business trip we have found ourselves on these days. We had two markedly different business experiences today; one established Western company and one Eastern start-up. BP was very informative as to how a foreign company must operate in China. I was surprised to … Continue reading China day 2! →