Day 5, Beijing (Team 6: Moore, Bilsten, Zarcone, Kirk and Team 7: Haskell, Dip, Munio, Dundon)

June 18th, 2008

Team 6:

Today was the first day we had to ourselves in the wonderfully diverse and sprawling metropolis of Beijing. Many people took the morning to sleep away a long day and night. We used the free morning to indulge in a full body massage ($20) to release the tensions of an arduous educational experience – with full knowledge that the pace of the trip was about to increase considerably with the beginning of a new work week. The atmosphere breathed relaxation; candles and silk robes; and a slow quiet Chinese melody eased the strained mind.

Feeling refreshed, we picked a random direction to just walk around the magnificent city. We wanted to explore the old Beijing. We wandered past a Beijing barbershop. At the suggestion for past Beijing explorers, we heard a haircut was a must. For roughly $8, we got a 15 minute head massage, followed by a meticulous grooming session where each hair was cut with unexpected precision.

Moving on, we randomly ran into a Chinese entrepreneur. A man simply named Ben greeted us with an enthusiastic “Howdy guys!” In perfect English, he offered us a tour the great wall for 250 yuan. He had a whole binder filled with journal entries and references from people all over the world. If we hadn’t just been to the top, we would have acquiesced without hesitation. This was a textbook marketing case – his enthusiasm and passion were inspirational. He knew his value proposition and exploited it like a professional.

At this point, we were standing just outside the wall of the Forbidden City, and we knew we had to just get away from the hustle and bustle of the multitude of tourists that populated the area. Despite dozens of taxis just outside the gate, we were unable to find one available to give us a lift. We were saved by a friendly face motioning to us from inside a homemade motorized rickshaw. Without saying a thing we were soon sitting like sardines behind possibly the worst (or by eastern standards; the best) driver in Beijing. Upon arriving at our hotel, the driver pulled out a little book of fare rates, and flips to the outrageous price of 185 yuan per person. We looked at each other and laughed – our driver took us maybe 1000 yards. We offered 40 yuan and he refused to accept it insisting that we owed him 180 a piece. We left the 40 yuan on the seat and walked inside the hotel. From experience at the Silk Market and Dr. Peach’s class, we knew that everything is negotiable, especially in China. He knew as well as us that the price we paid was more than fair. From an ethical standpoint, we were comfortable paying for what we thought was reasonable, as a cab ride would have only cost 10 yuan.

We went to the concierge and said, “We want to see old Beijing.” They sent us to the Hutong district. It was absolutely beautiful, centered on a lake. We randomly wandered down labyrinth like back alleys, and witnessed how locals lived. Everything was small and cramped. We saw all the locals working on improving their meager quarters; washing their clothes in the streets, repairing leaks and cracks, and fixing their own windows. The Hutong district was so small and meager, but it made us think of how in influx of capitalism has changed the city. In a mere 20 years, Beijing has almost completely risen to rival Paris or Los Angeles in terms of living conditions (and housing prices). Only small glimpses of its long past remained.

The night was capped off by indulging in late night drinks with a local girl at a hookah bar on the lake. We discussed at length both the subtle and the significant differences between our cultures and governments. We shared pictures of our trip and discussed the paths of our futures as the rain pattered on the weathered roof and hookah smoke rose through the thick air of the Hutong.

The Hutong Challenge

Sunday was a free day.  Each student had the option of taking the day for ourselves to shop (which has been described by other members of our groups) or we could go to The Hutong, an event that Dr. Carr lines up for us.  The Hutong had been briefly described to us as a tea tasting adventure and upon that brief description a few of us decided to see what the adventure was about. Students decided early on within the curriculum whether they wanted to participate in the Hutong or not at a cost of roughly $80 USD. Initially we all thought this was too expensive but a select few of us (around 9 students only some of which were on Team 6 and the rest came from other teams; 4 faculty; and 4 China entrepreneurs lined up by Dr. Carr to speak to us) decided that the prospect of having a treasure hunt, cooking our own food, and experiencing rural China was priceless and decided to take the plunge. We learned early on in business you need to know when to take risks and when not too. This time The Hutong was worth the risk and could only be described as extremely profitable both philosophically and experientially.

The faculty and students gathered in the lobby of The Grand Hotel in China at 2:30 pm for the authentic adventure into rural China. Dr. Carr had described finding The Hutong as akin finding Narnia (a fantasy land found when four children open a wardrobe door and wander to the back only to stumble out into “Narnia” as described by author CS Lewis). Three of us were smart enough to bring the maps handed out earlier by Dr. Carr and we divided up into taxis for our hidden destination, each taxi with one map. Our taxi ride was short 10 minutes or so (15 Yuan or roughly 2 dollars or a short taxi ride). Our taxi driver looked very confused and called the number on the map and then charged us 3 Yuan for the call including the 17 Yuan for idling at the post office near the Hutong village within Beijing.

Dr. Carr and his taxi group showed just in time as our taxi driver was getting impatient about whether he had driven us to the correct location. We exited our taxi and met up with the rest of the group and began our slow decent into the rural Hutong of China. The alley ways were almost comforting as aged Chinese residents smiled at us with curious affection. A small puppy with matted fur and watery eyes peaked out of a cardboard box to let out a playful yelp as his master’s gap toothed smile reassured us of our safety. A left turn then a right, then possibly a left and another left and we heard Dr. Carr say, “Welcome to Narnia” as we were about to enter the land behind two mysterious wooden doors.

He opened the traditional red doors and sure enough, we stepped in to a Narnia like world. Mark, one of the Hutong partners greeted us with a traditional Aussie accent and the utmost hospitality. From this point on we were treated like kings and queens. Mark runs an exceptional establishment and I was not exaggerating when I told my friends that The Hutong was the best experience of the trip thus far.

Our Hutong adventure started off with a brief introduction to the Hutong and how it came to be, the business difficulties it had to surmount and the people it involved. The background was then followed by an extremely detailed tea history and information session that explained the intricacies of tea as a culture and market. For instance, who knew that you’re not supposed to leave tea in the water for more than a few seconds? Leaving it in the water increases the acidic content and ruins the tea.

After our brief overview of tea, we were handed out a detailed scavenger hunt and divided the group into two person teams. We had 30 minutes to wander around the Hutong Village and accomplish goals such as buy something green and slimy and round and seedy in a hidden market, take a picture under a white archway, translate a police warning poster and count the number of security cameras. Upon returning to The Hutong we were given aprons and assigned new teams. We were escorted to the kitchen where numerous recipes were laid out on the kitchen table with a wealth of ingredients for each recipe nearby, including Red Capicums (Australian for Red Bell Peppers). Mark jibed us a few times for not knowing what a capsicum was but we immediately laughed it off as he constantly provided us with cold Tsing Tao’s (The Bud Light of Chinese Beers). Each group came up with a creative name and cooked an absolutely amazing dish. We had dishes ranging from spicy tofu with Chinese characters of peace and love scribed on the plate to meat kabobs with flower cut mushrooms and Red Capicums (Mark forgive me if I spelled “capsicums” incorrectly). The dishes were (and I say this with absolute honesty) utterly amazing. Each group created an absolutely fabulous dish and they were all intensely delicious. Our dessert was an orange poppy seed cake with whip cream and concluded the meal perfectly.

Our dinner was followed by presentations by each entrepreneur and a description of their businesses and passion. We heard from The Library Project, an intensely passionate program run by Tom Stader that focuses on utilizing $1,000 to build libraries for Chinese school children in rural areas. Next was a film executive director and producer, Siok Siok Tan, who focused on documentaries on the Olympics (Boomtown Beijing) and a documentary on graffiti within the Chinese community. The last presenter was MCK, an owner of a branding company called Khaki Creative, focusing on the Chinese market. Each presenter was unique and special in their own area of expertise. They were inspiring people to learn from and we thank each of them for their time.

As the night winded down, each of us stepped back through the red door of The Hutong and out of Narnia, and back into the real world. A brief lapse of depression washed over us as we realized we now had to find our way back out of The Hutong maze of streets and buildings. I actually looked out and down each street for a recognizable face and upon finding none, ducked back into The Hutong to try and find friends and teachers to guide me back to civilization.

Over all the event was the best I’ve had by far and extremely memorable. I would recommend working with Mark to set up an event at the The Hutong to anyone coming to China. You will not regret the experience.

Team 7:

Today was our free day in Beijing.

Many students began the day by visiting the Silk Market. This was a great opportunity for everyone to practice the negotiating skills that Dr. Peach taught us last winter. People purchased everything imaginable, from suits to prescription sunglasses. Beautiful silk and bamboo fans, tea sets, purses, pearls, old coins, toys, silk ties, articles of clothing and traditional art work were also popular items. Shopping in the Silk Market was an educational experience. It became evident that “best prices” are suggestions, and that the stall keepers would most likely sell you an item for a lower price if you walk away from them. It was interesting to see that a simple fan may be quoted to you at 280 RMB but that you could walk away with that fan for 15 RMB. It also became clear that the seller would give different people different starting prices and handle the negotiations differently depending on the customer (classic market segmentation). A shopper could easily spend all day at Silk Street bargaining or even observing other people bargain. It was fascinating to see how the shopkeepers worked.

A couple of the Chinese students in our program tried shopping by themselves in the Silk Market, but without the true American-looking people surrounding them, little or no customer service was provided by the shopkeepers, and these Chinese students felt somewhat mistreated because they received less (or no) customer service, and sometimes simply ignored. The Chinese students then experimented, and started speaking to each other only in English, hoping the shopkeepers would notice and realize these Chinese students were from America, and start providing more customer service. It worked! However, once the shopkeepers knew these students were from America, they no longer wanted the extra customer service. The shopkeepers started getting more aggressive and as the Chinese students started walking away from a ridiculous offer, one of the shopkeepers started pulling on one of the Chinese students to go back to their shop and accepted the Chinese student’s price. These Chinese students realized that customer service was best given when the shopkeepers know you are a foreigner, and they also automatically assumed you were Chinese just because you looked Asian, and in addition would automatically assume you knew how to speak Mandarin.

In the morning, while some students went to the Silk Market, others visited the Summer Palace, which was opened to the public in 1914. This palace was built to celebrate Emperor Qianlong’s mother’s birthday in 1750. It was used by the emperor and his family for pleasure. The Summer Palace was burned down and badly damaged by the conquering colonial powers not once, but twice. The Palace is representative of how the Chinese people have and continue to be capable of building large scale magnificent projects rapidly. This site is rich in culture and home to an imperial garden and the Tower of the Fragrance of the Buddha. It appeared that people still come to the tower to worship. The architecture was remarkable. The Garden of Harmonious Interests is a replica of a famous garden in South China. The garden consists of buildings surrounding a lotus pond. We were fortunate to witness women in traditional dress posing on the bridges of the garden. Sitting on the long corridor in front of the lake, home to the largest painted gallery in the world, one could imagine sitting there in 1750 watching boats float by. Despite the large crowds of tourists and school children wanting to be photographed with Americans, it was very relaxing watching the boats and listening to traditional music.

For dinner one group of students ventured to Ghost Street in an attempt to eat in a local restaurant. The street was lit with red paper lanterns. After walking down the street and seeing many different types of cuisine, ranging from Taiwanese to Muslim, we decided to try a hot pot meal. For this type of meal, a pan divided into different sections is placed over a propane fueled burner at your table and you cook the items that you ordered at the table. The group concluded that it was one of the best meals of the trip despite the fact that we sweated more during dinner than on our trek up the Great Wall. Upon exiting the restaurant we discovered that it wasn’t our imagination and in fact it was hotter inside than out. We cooled down by purchasing delicious ice cream. While none of us knew what flavor we were buying we were all pleasantly surprised by our choices.

Entry Filed under: Beijing, China