Just a quick message for my China trip cohorts that might be stopping by here… I uploaded all of the images that are from the trip on this blog (including ones that have yet to be posted here) if you wanted to check any out. I spent a lot of the past week or so looking at everyone else’s — we have some awesome photographers in our group! Be sure to upload some if you haven’t had a chance.

- Tsingtao.

[Note: Read a more chronological account of Day 14 on calpolymbatrip.com]

The combination of the overnight train ride, the few rather sleepless nights prior, and general travel fatigue must have set in on our fourteenth day. We arrived at the Beijing train station in the early morning (7am I think) and made our way through the huge mass of passengers all departing their trains at one time. It seems that every single train in the country gets into Beijing at the same time, and oddly, nobody seems to get crushed in the dash to surface from the station…

We arrived at our hotel, were given a few hours to ourselves and then headed out again for a few company visits. Though I had my camera with me, I didn’t take any photographs during the “business” portion of the day.

TAGS: China | MBA | Cal Poly | Beijing

[Note: Read a more chronological account of Day 13 on calpolymbatrip.com]

Still in Suzhou, we would make a short business visit before we boarded the bus and headed back to Shanghai. We had a train to catch in the late afternoon that would take us overnight to Beijing. Another overnight trip that would put us in a new city early in the morning — my disorientation was sure to continue.

In addition to a great deal of culture and history (the gardens as well as a number of temples and other cultural destinations) Suzhou also sports an industrial park that has a curious twist. The park is a special partnership between the provincial government and the government of Singapore and sprawls over 288 square kilometers just outside of the downtown portion of the city. The logistical structure of the park is very innovative, both from a literal transport/logistics standpoint, as well as in terms of the special assistance and benefits businesses can realize by locating in the park (check out the MBA blog entry for more details about the park). We were treated to a rather informative presentation from the park’s director.

I took a lot of photographs outside the headquarters of the industrial park and have some thoughts about what I saw (check out the photo captions below). It was definitely a little surreal standing in the massive courtyard of the park headquarters, watching an insect die, and seeing the rest of the landscape rather barren of activity…

After a quick lunch, we were treated to an important modification in our planned schedule. During our last night in Shanghai, our group connected at the dinner hosted by Alex Smayda with Jason (I regrettably do not remember his last name), an executive with NatureWorks, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cargill. I was very interested in the sugar-based plastics the company produced (as opposed to the petroleum-based plastics that we see everywhere) and was very grateful to have had the opportunity to hear Jason’s presentation. We also heard from a representative of UNIC, a plastics extruder and pellet manufacturer that is working with NatureWorks to produce PLA plastics in China. Alex Smayda, through recent developments, sells PLA plastic coat hangers (using UNIC and NatureWorks) to Wal-Mart. …It’s all starting to make sense (I hope!).

The UNIC factory was somewhat toned-down from what I would have expected. It appeared to be more of a warehouse than a factory, though there were several rooms of workers emptying plastic pellets into machines. We experienced similar ventilation complications in one of the rooms, as we had at previous factories, but to a much lesser degree. You could definitely tell that you were breathing plastic fumes of some sort (either particles or fumes from a heating process), but there was far more ventilation than in our previous encounters.

Later that evening, our second overnight travel experience proved to be just as fun as the first. The night train from Shanghai to Beijing really gives you a glimpse about life in China, though I imagine we were traveling with a relatively privileged subset of the population. The cabins throughout the train were quite nice and upscale — my understanding is that the more regularly used trains are bit more uncomfortable (e.g. no cabins, more people, older cars, etc.). Suffice it to say, our two small-quarter, four to a cabin with bunk beds experiences couldn’t have been more different. The first was quirky, dirty, and gave little confidence that we wouldn’t be stuck in the middle of the canal all night due to technical glitches (we were being towed the entire way, after all), yet probably indicative of how most travel is like for the majority of the Chinese population. The second was upscale, clean, relaxing and very western, but probably enjoyed by only the middle and upper middle class. Both experiences were phenomenal and much appreciated.

TAGS: China | MBA | Cal Poly | Suzhou | Shanghai | Beijing | NatureWorks | Cargill | UNIC

[Note: Read a more chronological account of Day 12 on calpolymbatrip.com]

The boat trip from Hangzhou to Suzhou was quite an experience but left me rather disoriented. We docked in Suzhou at 6:30am and took a bus to our hotel. Arriving early in the morning, especially after several days of little sleep, left me wondering what time it was despite repeated glances at a clock. I took the first real nap of the trip that morning, and woke up a few hours later to set out with our group again.

That afternoon we toured one of the many extravagant gardens within the city of Suzhou. The one we visited was quite large and very well maintained. One of the more interesting things I saw were countless man-made cave/rock structures throughout the garden. Imagine a bunch of rocks cemented together in a semi-organic manner to create a structure containing both internal tunnels and rooms as well as external stairways on the outside to the top. Each one I explored was unique, some stretching down to a stream, yet all seemed to serve dual purposes as janitorial storage areas — almost all had brooms, mops and other equipment stashed inside.

Similar to our experience in previous cities, we made an effort to visit the “old” part of Suzhou. In comparison to our other, more history-centered visits, Old Suzhou was a bit of a letdown. It was far more touristy than other areas we had seen, and eerily empty. …Until you veer off the main stretch a block or two. The areas just beyond the tourist spot were bustling with locals and sporting a mix of construction chaos and buildings in decay.

TAGS: China | MBA | Cal Poly | Suzhou

Just a quick note about the image captions that I have been including and making reference to for all of my recent “China” posts. They appear when you click on the thumbnail for each image (the screen is darkened, and an enlarged image is displayed with the caption underneath). If you do not see the caption and are taken to an enlarged image displayed on a white page, JavaScript must not be enabled in your web browser and you will be unable to view the captions.

[Note: Read a more chronological account of Day 11 on calpolymbatrip.com]

Our eleventh day turned out to be one of the most memorable and enjoyable ones for me. We toured the West Lake of Hangzhou, visited a tea plantation and accompanying small village, and then took an overnight boat trip up the Grand Canal to Suzhou. Similar to my previous posts, I include the bulk of my commentary in the photograph captions.

TAGS: China | MBA | Cal Poly | Hangzhou | Grand Canal

[Note: Read a more chronological account of Day 10 on calpolymbatrip.com]

Having enjoyed quite a party the night prior (a very sincere Thank You to Alex Smayda) many from our group were a bit sluggish, tired, and very much recovering from the mysterious Mao Tai drink (imagine incredibly strong sake that tastes horrid and leaves a lingering flavor in your mouth all night) as we made the several hour bus drive from Shanghai to Hangzhou. Somewhere between the two cities we stopped for lunch and some free time at the historic village of Wuzhen.

Wuzhen is an active village that remains a functional example of how life was conducted hundreds of years ago. Many of the people we saw that afternoon still live in the village, in more rustic buildings than we had seen previously, and spend their time working in the many shops and attractions that dot the community. I took very few photographs (evidently the heat, a bit of dehydration, and the level of fun I enjoyed the night prior really took a toll on me) but will always remember the experience.

TAGS: China | MBA | Cal Poly | Shanghai | Wuzhen | Hangzhou

[Note: Read a more chronological account of Day 9 on calpolymbatrip.com]

As we began to wind down the remaining portion of our trip that would involve Shanghai, we tried to take in more cultural destinations. The early part of our morning was spent exploring the Shanghai Museum, which boasts quite a collection of Chinese art. My favorite exhibits were the paintings and the main exhibit on the first floor (which I naturally visited last, with little time left to walk around slowly). After such a culturally rich experience, we made our way to a nondescript building downtown for a meeting and presentation at Microsoft…

TAGS: China | MBA | Cal Poly | Shanghai | Museum | Microsoft

In one of my earlier posts I displayed the image to the right and noted in its accompanying caption that I wasn’t sure what the green liquid in the image was for. Regardless of what it was, I doubted that it was good for the factory worker given that he, and the several other individuals working at similar stations nearby, didn’t have any gloves on and the liquid was all over his hands.

Well…I now know what the liquid is: coolant.

Without inquiring further while still in the factory, there is little potential to find out exactly what kind of coolant is being used, whether or not it is as highly toxic/poisonous as all of the other coolant I am aware of, and if the employees coming into contact with it know of what they are working with every day. There is a slight (very slight) possibility that the liquid is pure spring water with organic green food coloring, but the likelihood that it is coolant, with the sole purpose of keeping the drill bit and materials from heating up too much, is far greater.

…And keep in mind that this is probably one of the “better” factories that exist in that region.

TAGS: China | Shenzhen | Sweatshop | Toxic | Poison | Human Rights

[Note: Read a more chronological account of Day 8 on calpolymbatrip.com]

Day 8 proved to be another slow photography day for me, at least until we arrived at our final company visit for the day. We started with a great presentation by Bryan Stiles, the Deputy CEO of HSBC’s Shanghai office. Following his presentation, Mr. Stiles treated us to lunch and entertained the many questions those of us seated at his table peppered him with. Following lunch, we took a bit of a drive outside of Shanghai for a visit at RR Donnelley, a US-based printing company. The visit was interesting, and eye opening. All of the photographs below are from the visit and include captions.

TAGS: China | MBA | Cal Poly | Shanghai