Chinese culture optimizes for long term gain of the group. BP often cannot pursue ventures without partnering with a State Owned Enterprise (controlled by the Govt) and DiDi speakers attested that long term goals were more important than short term. The culture is competitive, bureaucratic and follows unspoken rules of social etiquette. Despite these differences … Continue reading 5/15: BP, DiDi, and McDonald’s →

I thought the two company visits today (BP and DiDi) were very interesting to compare to each other with respect to how their business rely on/interact with the government. As a foreign company BP seems to rely heavily on partnerships with SOEs to get most of their work done. On the other hand DiDi, a … Continue reading Day 2 (5/15) →

Today started with the flag raising, leaving the hotel at 3:45 am. One of my goals of being was not to waste any day, so I wanted to make the flag raising no matter what. I was definitely affected by the loss of sleep during the first site visit to bp, but I do not … Continue reading 5/15 day 2 →

Today was pretty exhausting but also interesting! I was really impressed with both DiDi and BP. At BP I feel like I was able to learn a lot more about China beyond the surface level. I really enjoyed the first presentation where she discussed China’s population and also the state of their economy. I’m really … Continue reading 5/15/19 Day 2 in Beijing yay! →

Today was a very interesting and informative day. I really enjoyed visiting both BP and DiDi because of the wonderful presentation and the professionals who were very excited to talk to our group. One thing I especially really appreciated was Lucus's presentation because we could relate to him since he was an UIUC alumni and … Continue reading May 15 Blog →

The two companies we visited today had completely different identities that were manifested in the presentations we saw. BP was clearly a Fortune 500 company: polished, data-driven, and thought out. I enjoyed learning about BP’s businesses in China and my main takeaway was that the China energy market is shifting rapidly- coal usage is declining, … Continue reading Beijing Day 2 →

The Forbidden City is really well manicured. Orange roses line the street as the City Flower, and unexpectedly I realize that Beijing's greenery reminds me of Amsterdam despite the drastic difference in weather and air quality. I particularly liked how important a beautiful city is to Chinese people, but they would still sacrifice beauty for … Continue reading 5/14: Tourism in Beijing →

Although I have been to the Forbidden City and Temple of Heaven before, I learned a lot of new information from our tour guide, Andy. One interesting thing our tour guide talked about was the importance of specific numbers. He specifically mentioned the number 9 （ 九 ）which means "long lasting" or "eternity". In the … Continue reading 14 May 2019- Beijing →

We visited what seemed like basically most of Beijing today! From the Temple of Heaven to the Pearl Market to Tiananmen Square to the Forbidden City, all the attractions were amazing to learn about. Our tour guide, Andy, did a great job explaining the historical meaning behind each of the attractions. Although I was exhausted … Continue reading All the Attractions →