Since I have been back in the US for several weeks, I have had some time to reflect on my trip. I believe we had an amazing group to be with, from the young, daring students to the organized-when-they-need-to-be, fun-when-they-need-to-be professors. The students and teachers, as well as the tour guides and Chongqing University students truly made the trip for me.
I accomplished all of my goals. My first goal was to learn how companies do business in a communist system, visit my former co-op employer BiOWiSH Technologies, and see some awesome cultural sites along the way. I accomplished my first goal by visiting 3 very different companies. I learned that doing business in a communist country is not so different from doing business in the US. The main differences were that a foreign company needs a Chinese "partner" company before they can do business. In BiOWiSH' case, the partner was NARI Yihe. Also, in China, property owners are only allowed to use a property for 70 years before the government seizes control of it. This impacts the real-estate market and how people buy/sell properties. The rapid expansion of China's cities are creating some very wealthy real-estate professionals. Also, because of the rapid expansion, cities are outgrowing their sewer systems which is creating some serious water pollution issues. BiOWiSH is tackling this problem by using naturally-occurring microbials to consume organic pollutants in China's canals, rivers, and lakes. I accomplished my second goal when we visited BiOWiSH Technologies in Beijing. I believe that all of the students, regardless of their major, found this visit interesting. The finance majors were asking finance questions, the engineers were asking engineering questions, and the professors were asking interesting questions as well. Professor Hanson even got the chance to present about the history, logistics, and value of UC's co-op program and invited me up to say a few words about UC's international program and how valuable the trip was from a student's perspective. I think that we truly impressed BiOWiSH and NARI with our presentations. I accomplished my third goal by visiting some very cool cultural sites along the way. These sites included, but were not limited to, the Great Wall of China, the Old City Wall of Xi'an, Yu Garden, the Terra Cotta Warriors, Shanghai Tower, the Summer Palace, the Forbidden City, and Tiananman Square. These visits gave me a very deep breath of knowledge about the cultural intricacies and history of China and
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BWhile we were in China, we traveled to 3 cities and saw 3 companies, 1 university, and had countless cultural experiences. The tour was very well organized and I found it valuable in a plethora of ways. We started in Shanghai where we saw amazing things like Yu Garden, Shanghai Tower, and an Acrobatics show with the rest of the group. While we had free time, a few of us visited the Bund for happy hour and enjoyed the view. On our last day in Shanghai, we visited Eastern China University of Science and Technology (ECUST). Here, we mingled with Chinese students and got a very interesting lecture on the Chinese education system. We enjoyed a lunch with the students before going back to the hotel. Our next stop was the old capital city of Xi'an. This is the cultural hub of China because of its rich history and unique geographic position; a plain surrounded on the north and south by mountain ranges with a lush river flowing through the center. In this city, we completed a scenic 8-mile bike loop on the old city wall, built over 400 years ago. We then visited a night bazaar to munch on local food and test our bargaining skills. We only spend one day in Xi'an. If I were to do the same trip again, I would wish to spend multiple days in this historic city. Our last stop was the current capital, Beijing. This city is full of bustling streets as well as quiet, slow neighborhoods. We visited GBBN Architecture to learn about the architecture and volatile real-estate market in Beijing. We also visited startup incubator Innoway to see the startup business culture in Beijing. On the last day, we visited my former co-op employer BiOWiSH Technologies and their partner Nari Group. This was a very informative visit followed by a tour of the beautiful Summer Palace, where BiOWiSH has been working on a project for several years now. In Beijing, we also took a cooking class and got to explore the Forbidden City during our free time. Over the course of the trip, we were accompanied by some outstanding tour guides Sylvia, Cynthia, Jane, Nick, and Chris as well as Chongqing University students Dunn, Tommy, Eric, and Andy. Their presence was very appreciated and it was fun to interact and talk with them about their political views, opinions, and what they do in their free time. For me, this was the most valuable part of the tour, and it made the trip for me. Below are a few highlights from the trip. Click on the pictures to see the captions. Enjoy! During my time in Hong Kong last year, I learned about the politics, culture, and how business is done in Hong Kong. I fell in love with the Special Administrative Region and vowed i would be back.
Instead of going back to Hong Kong, I chose to go to China in the winter of 2019 to study professional development and learn more about the culture. I wanted to learn about the differences in culture between the Mainland and Hong Kong. I also wanted to see the political and governmental differences between the communist and democratic systems. This was my main motive for going on the trip. Another benefit was that the trip took place in December, one of the coldest months in northern China. I wanted to experience the stark contrast between simmering Hong Kong in July and frozen Northern China in December. This would be the cherry on top when comparing my two experiences. |
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