Today we checked out of the Grand Hotel Beijing at 10:00 am; this would be our last day in Beijing.

We began the day with a fascinating presentation at a nearby conference room from an expat and executive from Ogilvy, a marketing consulting firm. He began his speech by discussing the internet in China and the latest issues surrounding it. Topics included the demographics of China’s “netizens”, the internet’s major uses, and marketing tactics. He mentioned that the Chinese use the internet mainly for entertainment purposes and prefer instant messaging over email. He also discussed the misconceptions concerning the “Great Firewall of China.” This term is really a misnomer and its myths mirror those of the Great Wall of China (it cannot be seen from space and it can be penetrated). There are relatively easy ways around these restrictions for those who are computer savvy and 99% of internet users don’t care much about said firewall restrictions. In addition, he noted there are only 30,000 “internet cops” policing the entire population of China’s internet users. It is a challenge for this enforcement group to control the country’s netizens. He also provided insightful, honest and enjoyable information about his business experiences in China. It was an excellent and informative presentation.

Our second visit of the day was to Beijing United Family Hospital where many of the doctors are expats. The operations manager of United Foundation for Chinese Orphans (UFCO), talked to us about her efforts in helping orphans find medical treatment. For several years sge has been enlisting young volunteers to help be caregivers to orphaned children, and often abandoned infants. Her stories were remarkable and touching, and at some points seemed overwhelming. She is a very strong individual to be able to deal with such emotionally charged cases. She talked about different sources of funding for her non-profit organization including fund raisers, and talked about the interaction with international adoptees and the financial incentives ($3,000 per adopted child) for the orphanage.

Before boarding the night train for Suzhou we visited Carre Four, a French retailer equivalent to Wal- Mart. Our goal on this visit was twofold — first, to load up on snack and dinner for the beckoning 11 hour train ride, and second, to compare and contrast with the Wal-Mart business model. Upon entering we noticed that we were in a small mall which eventually turned into Carre Four. We went up flat escalator ramps to the second and third floors. The floor was huge and the layout was similar to familiar isles back home, the products however, were very foreign. There were isles dedicated to rice wines, and isles dedicated to instant noodle bowls. Familiar products were also available, from red wines to deodorants, but these came at a steep premium. The perimeter of the store was like that of a grocery store back home it had delis, butchers, bakeries and fresh produce. The amount of seafood was comparable to the amount of other meats and most of the seafood was live or very fresh on ice. A lot of the meat products and cuts seem to be oddities to people from the west, but it is important to understand that many people who came from rural areas or poor families grew up on these more affordable food items, but have grown accustomed to them and enjoy eating them even once they move into big cities and earn higher incomes.

The train station at Beijing was incredibly packed; many people in China seem to have no reservations about pushing and shoving. It is difficult to imagine a similar scene at a U.S. train station. It just shows that public transportation is still the main form of transportation for many Chinese residents. We were fortunate to avoid much of the afternoon rain and we finally boarded the sleeper cars at 7:30 pm on our way to Suzhou.

Day 7 – Suzhou to Shanghai

We arrived in Suzhou by train at 6:30 AM and promptly packed our things into our bags, clearing out of the sleeper cars. The walk through the train station was quite a challenge as we maneuvered up and down sets of stairs. We met our new bus driver and headed out to the Lotus Gardens. Suzhou is known as the Venice of the East due to its numerous canals and while the many waterways do add to the uniqueness of the city, the real beauty lies in Suzhou’s gardens. We walked through the gardens for an hour and then met to take a boat ride along the canals. What we thought was going to be a tour of the canals ended up being a 100 yard journey, but luckily the driver sang for us so we didn’t feel cheated out of our money. The short boat ride gave us extra time to spend before we needed to be at our firm visit, so we stopped and walked through a local farmer’s market. The sights and smells were enough to overwhelm many in the group. Live chickens, ducks, fish, crawdads, and frogs were all throughout the meat section. Vegetables and spices of all kinds could also be found throughout each of the many isles of the market. We were greeted by surprised but welcoming faces from each of the vendors and we often heard “hello” or “how are you”. There was a little bakery that sold muffins which ended up being breakfast for the entire group as we got back on the bus to head to the Suzhou Industrial Park.

Our first firm visit was to the China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park. The Industrial Park is huge development with 74 Fortune 500 companies, over 100 R&D organizations, commercial and residential space and much more.  Our host gave a presentation that detailed the history of the park and the plans for future developments. He discussed two important economic areas, the Coastal Economic Belt and the Yangtze River Economic Delta, which conveniently intersect near the park.  Our host’s specialty is working with companies to get through what can be a very challenging regulatory environment in China, so his insight was quite valuable. After listening to his presentation and the discussion afterwards, it was clear that China is still interested in high growth. But this growth is no longer at any cost since there are now strict environmental regulations to be able to develop in the Suzhou Industrial Park. After a group picture with our host, we were on our way to our next firm visit, a short bus ride away.

Our next stop was Hip Fung Electronics, an electronics manufacturing service. We were lucky enough to know top management at Hip Fung from a family connection in our MBA class. They organized a wonderful visit which included a presentation, fed us lunch, and provided us a tour of the factory. The presentation detailed the history of the company and which actions have helped to increase Hip Fung’s success. It was interesting to note that once Hip Fung switched to a high mix low volume strategy, they became much more successful. We took this as another example of why lean manufacturing is so important and will only continue to become more popular. The lunch we ate was the same meal that factory workers are served each day and it was quite delicious. After a banana for dessert and the brightest lime anti-static outfits ever, we entered the factory for a tour. One of the first things we noticed was the absence of men on the assembly line floor. Women’s smaller and more nimble hands allow them to be superior at the intricate tasks required for electronics assembly. The factory was clean, organized, and appeared to have great working conditions. A few people in our group were allowed to go see the dormitories where the factory workers live. While the building was minimalist and workers slept six to a room on thin padded wood frames, the general sentiment was that the living conditions were better than expected and were very clean and well kept.

The next factory we visited was Positec, a manufacturer of machine tools and the popular Worx line. We toured both the showroom and factory and were impressed by the massive injection molding systems used to make their products. We left Positec to go visit Plantronics where we watched a presentation about the unique culture of the firm and then toured the factory. The factory had a similar look and feel to that of Hip Fung but on a larger scale and was a LEED certified campus. Plantronics had their complete service chain located in-house and maintained a strong focus on employee total well-being.

After our final visit of the day at Plantronics, we headed to the nearby McDonald’s for people to get food and bring on the bus so that we could arrive at a decent hour in Shanghai. Barely into our journey, the traffic on the freeway stopped completely. The bus driver thought it was better to avoid the traffic so he turned around in the middle of the freeway and drove off the on-ramp. After a few games of “chicken” where our bus ultimately won, we were back on a different road heading to Shanghai. We often hear Chinese people described as adaptive and flexible. This was first hand experience of that phenomenon.

Today provided our first look into the highly-used reference of China as the “factory of the world.” It was quite impressive to see the various scales and technical capacities that the companies operate at. We watched the nimble hands on the production line assemble products that will be on the shelves of retail stores when we return—and it provided that connection in the product life-cycle between production and consumption. While this might not have been a representative sample of the manufacturing facilities in China, the company visits reinforced the idea that this is good for the people. The workers work and live comfortably, and retain an image of pride and happiness.