May 2008

With the weekend off, we decided to take a train to nearby Nanjing. Nanjing was the capital of China before it was moved to Beijing so there is a lot of history in the city. We went by train leaving our hotel at 6:45 AM and returning at 11:00 PM. The trip was approximately 2 hours and the train accommodations were better than I expected. The train went between 150 km/hour and 250 km/hour depending on the distance to the next stop. That’s roughly 100-150 mph.

While in Nanjing, we visited the Presidential Palace and the Ming Tombs (yes, more Ming Tombs since some were buried in Nanjing before the capital was moved to Beijing). There were 10 of us so we needed 3 taxis. This caused us to spend a lot of time trying to figure out where each taxi let people out at. We wasted quite a bit of time allowing us to only really see 2 attractions. We did, of course, leave plenty of time for eating. We had 2 rather large meals. We quickly learned that Nanjing is far cheaper than anywhere we’ve been. The meals were 30 RMB each ($4) and you could get a bottle of water for 1 RMB (14 cents) although the average water cost 3 RMB (43 cents).

It was incredibly hot today. 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees F) and not a hint of wind! I don’t remember the last time I sweated that much. We were all happy to be home and jump in the shower! Tomorrow is a more relaxing day with a little group work for our project in the morning and then touring some more around Shanghai.

Check out my pictures from the trip.

Today was a tiring day. I got about 5 hours of sleep last night after karaoke so it was pretty tough to get up by 7:30 for our 9:30 meeting with the Suning executives (an electronics retailer in China). The meeting went well and then we went out to lunch with our group. Our Chinese group members continue to take us to some excellent restaurants where we try interesting dishes. The food continues to be amazing… and cheap! This afternoon’s meal with 10 dishes plus drinks and deserts was only $75 RMB (that’s only $10.75). Tonight a friend of mine and I went to this great little restaurant called Amy’s and had 2 courses (lemon chicken and sweet and sour pork) plus fried rice and drinks for a total of $88 RMB so only $5 each!

We also did a bit of shopping today. We’re finding it difficult to do any laundry so our solution is to buy. Luckily I’m doing ok since I brought so much for Vietnam. But I did find some cheap clothes – just a couple shirts. Now it’s off to bed. We’re going to Nanjing tomorrow morning by train for the day. We leave at 7:30 AM and return around 10 PM.

Thursday was a very, very long day. Four of us in our group work for Target so we visited Target Sourcing Services where we met with the Director of Import Transportation and a manager in sourcing. It was very interesting to learn about Target’s operations here in China. Afterwards, we had a lecture followed by our welcome dinner. The dinner was originally scheduled for Monday, but moved to Thursday due to the 3 day mourning period for the earthquake. During that time, there could be no entertainment – no music in stores, no karaoke, no bands, etc. The dinner was excellent – our best meals are when our Chinese friends order for us! We definitely learned that they like to drink! We had lots of beer (Tsing Tao), a Chinese wine, and Chinese liquor (incredibly strong – someone read 52% alcohol). They do bombs similar to Irish Car Bombs with beer and the Chinese liquor. Needless to say, we all were a bit tipsy and then had to go attend a conference call with a director from Polaroid. That was interesting given our state, but we made it through.

After that, we all ventured out to try some karaoke. We all (30 or so of us) piled into a small room where we did karaoke from like 11 – 2 AM. It was very fun and an interesting experience. A very late night though followed by a meeting with the VP of Suning (a electronics retailer in China) this morning!

I forgot my camera in the room so I'll try to get some pictures posted tomorrow!

Today began with a 3 hour lecture about global acquisitions. I found it difficult to concentrate with my computer open in front of me – email, weather, and news calling my name. Afterwards, we grabbed a very quick lunch at a supermarket (similar to our convenience store) of pineapple bread, a Coke and a Magnum bar (ice cream) all for $9.50 RMB, equivalent to roughly $1.25.

We then jumped back on the bus for a trip to two electronics retailers – Best Buy and GoMe. The Best Buy was very interesting – set up similarly to those in the US but with 6 floors. We actually ran into some managers from Minneapolis and learned a lot about the consumer electronics market in China. GoMe utilizes a slightly different model, but is much larger sales volume than Best Buy.

Then it was on to the textile market, where you can get custom made clothing. There were 4 floors with vendor after vendor displaying their goods. Many people purchased business suits, spring and winter jackets and shirts. I settled on a spring khaki trench coat for less than $50. We’ll see how the finished product is, but the one I saw was very cute! Hopefully in Hanoi I’ll be able to get some more clothing made?!

Tonight we finally met with the Cheong Kong Graduate School of Business Students. They took us out for dinner and drinks. We had a wonderful time getting to know them (must develop a personal relationship before business/school work). They sure like to drink!

Tomorrow we have a full day – visit Target Sourcing Services (TSS) in the morning, lecture in the afternoon (aka computer time), welcome dinner in the evening (previously delayed due to the period of mourning for the earthquake), and then a conference call with Polaroid later in the evening!

Beijing Pictures

Shanghai Pictures