I have been back in California for about 20 days now, yet somehow have lingering feelings that I am still in China. I don’t know if it was the travel coupled with a general lack of time to unwind upon my return, or some other factor, but I have yet to feel settled. I think by the time the trip was most of the way through, I stopped thinking I was in a foreign country and became comfortable with my then familiar surroundings.

Perhaps a more logical explanation is that there was some consistency and structure to the trip, despite the million and one things we did and saw. I woke up every day and had breakfast in a hotel. The coffee, when served, was always sure to arrive just before I had to leave for the bus, and an egg, my main source of protein on the trip, could continually be counted on as part of the meal. I saw the same people on the bus, day in and day out, and with them, struggled through the same heat discomfort (save the ever temperate Mr. Beaton), cramped leg space, and mysterious stomach happenings. Seated naps and malfunctioning microphones became expected occurrences during almost every bus travel, and very late night attempts to contact my wife by IM or video conference bore a regularity that helped me cope with the ever shrinking amount of sleep I would manage to enjoy.

But all of these things simply helped me feel more comfortable, and helped tone down the reality that I was traveling through such an amazing country, each day seeing and experiencing more than my senses could absorb. The real symbolism of the trip, and perhaps what I am struggling with the most, is that it represents the closing of a major chapter in my life and the beginning of a new one.
. . .

The two and a half week trip was simply the capstone to the last ten months I had spent learning, growing, and laughing with the same individuals. Would an unforgettable business-oriented trip to China help me learn about international business and culture? Most certainly. But during my compacted time in the MBA program, as well as on the intense trip overseas, I learned more about life, myself, other people, and how much I don’t know — all lessons and experiences that will help shape me many, many, many years after I forget why it is that guanxi is important.

So I don’t really have any final thoughts about my time in China, just a mass of memories, some greater clarity about issues I am passionate about, and perhaps greater fuzziness about a few issues as well. If I were to have some organized, outlined, and well-prepared synopsis of what I learned, it is almost certain that the business climate would change fast enough to make my summation look outdated and visionless. What I am certain about, however, is that I was blessed to have been surrounded by such an awesome and powerful group of people, and that I will be forever changed (hopefully for the better) as a result.
. . .

Despite my feelings that it doesn’t make sense for me to attempt to put in writing my “final thoughts” on China, or on doing business in China, I am able to speak to several experiences or subjects which greatly impacted me during the trip. I don’t want to be redundant and make the same comments that I have in my “daily” posts regarding the trip (primarily in the image captions), so I will keep these topics brief.

Life.

The daily structure of life in China continually fascinated me during the trip. I met some very poor individuals as well as a few extremely wealth ones, and their respective daily realities couldn’t be more different. That observation could be made about any “wealth divide,” but the one in China is more pronounced and extreme than I have seen previously.

I didn’t struggle as much as I expected with the pollution we witnessed, but I also have never seen a situation quite as bad. The ugly days in Los Angeles where you are afraid to open your mouth, lest it get dirty, are actually pleasant days in some of the cities we visited. I am sure the state of China’s environment will improve with time, but I doubt it will be anytime soon.

At first, the seemingly lawless driving habits as well as the curious need to pretend that a line hadn’t been formed yet continually surprised me. By the end of the trip, however, I found that it was quite a bit more efficient to make yourself big and push to the very front of wherever you wanted to be. …I have been wasting much of my life waiting in lines indeed…

Money.

I didn’t expect to see Capitalism in full swing, but I saw that and much more. From the factories where human beings are “cheap” resources, to the blossoming debt-friendliness of China’s savvy teen demographic (well, the middle class coastal ones at least), money rules and consumerism is on the rise.

Investments from foreign sources, as well as increasingly from within China, have fueled a massive “growth” in real estate. I personally think the country’s growth is going to slow down abruptly, and when it does, I worry that the less fortunate Chinese citizens (which I think will most likely be about 3/4 of the population) will get hit very hard.

Happiness.

Similar to many of my trip-mates, I noticed that most of the people I came into contact with were very pleasant. Most smiled brightly and were quite friendly. However, I don’t remember seeing too many people really happy. I think you could say the same about most places, including the US, but for some reason, I noticed that most of the people I saw and interacted with had a kind of quietness about them, as if they were constantly in thought or preparation. I didn’t see much joy or passion — just politeness, determination, discipline, and routine.
. . .

I hope to return to China someday soon, ideally in the company of my wife and children, and imagine that my experiences there will stick with me for the rest of my life. To the individuals I had the pleasure of traveling with, as well as the strangers I didn’t have a chance to get to know better, Thank You.

TAGS: China | Cal Poly

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