CHINA

I am finally posting about the trip to China that I went on at the end of October for the MBA program. It was a really great trip. As a part of the class I had to write a short paper talking about my experience in China. I'm including excerpts from that paper here.

Summary

The MBA trip to China was a tremendous experience for me. I’ve had a difficult time answering the question so often put to me since our return, “What was your favorite part of the trip?” The truth is that I really can’t isolate any one thing. For me, the trip was one great experience. I enjoyed meeting Chinese people. I liked it that there was a language barrier at times, and that we had to improvise in order to understand one another. I enjoyed getting to know my Westminster MBA comrades better. I loved traveling to a country that is so rich with history and culture. I really just loved the experience of being in a country so much different from my own.

Cultural and Social Impressions
I thought that the Chinese people were somewhat reluctant to interact with us. That may have been because we were a pretty big group and somewhat intimidating, but it was difficult to get a true social or cultural sense. It seemed to me the Chinese people were very reserved and polite (unless I was waiting in line at McDonald’s). The women actually seemed to be a little more outgoing than the men. I thought the men were stand-offish at times, unless we could really convince them that we didn’t mean any harm.

At the same time, I was blown away by how prevalent prostitution is in China. It just seemed to be a part of everyday life. In fact, it seemed that most people just accepted it and didn’t think much of it one way or the other. To have a 15 or 16 year old boy trying to hustle us into a massage parlor, or to be propositioned by a 17 or 18 year old girl was heartbreaking to me. I really didn’t like seeing that at all.

One aspect of the people in China that I found interesting was their attitude toward the government there. Things in China appear to be quite different when compared to the Soviet Union, but the people that we talked to really didn’t seem to have any problem with the government. While I do think that things are better there than compared to what I know of other countries that are/were under communist rule, there were still things that I didn’t like. It seemed to me, though, that people had largely been placated because of the economic possibilities. Why aren’t more people upset that only one party controls the government? Why don’t they get more upset about the restrictions against the press, or the internet censorship? I didn’t realize until this trip how important those things are to me. To see “listeners” gathering inside the gates of the Forbidden City as they prepared to mingle among the people in order to spy on them was one of the most surreal things I’ve ever witnessed.

Despite what’s been said above, my overall impression of people in China is that they are a very hard-working and humble people. They were respectful and polite. The people that I was able to enter into conversations with struck me as very normal. They seemed basically the same as us in all the things that were important.

Business and Economic Impressions
In Hong Kong it was impossible not to be impressed with shipping areas. The sheer volume of cargo was incredible. It was an amazing sight. I also noticed that there were a lot people emptying garbage cans in the city and sweeping streets. It seems like everyone who wants a job can have one.

It’s hard to say, based on our short visit, what aspect of China’s economy is most significant in relation to the global economy. The biggest thing is probably just how much it is growing. It’s just so big that it’s impossible to ignore. The consumption is huge and the capacity to produce, given the lower than average labor costs, is something that will keep China involved in the global market for years.

The thing that I really took away was that China is a lot like the United States. If a person wants to start a business and be an entrepreneur it is possible. I was surprised that the government wasn’t more involved than it seemed to be. Like the United States, it seems like it is basically up to the individual to choose their own path.

Business and Cultural Visits
My favorite visit was to Westminster's MBA partner school in Shanghia, Donghua University. It was really fun to meet the students there and to listen to their stories. It was a pleasure to talk to them about their plans and the possibility of them coming to Utah. It was a really good experience just to get to know people from the other side of the world.

International Relationship and Cooperation
It’s hard to form an accurate picture of the relationship between the U.S. and China having only been there for a week and a half. Right now it seems like the relationship is mutually beneficial. Certainly as a supplier China is a good partner for the United States.

I suppose that this is also a divisive point from a different perspective. Many people here in the U.S. don’t seem to appreciate the fact that the relationship is all one way. Once China makes it easier for the U.S. to export to China I think that the relationship will be better. I also imagine that it is frustrating for the entertainment industries that there is such a piracy problem in China.

Final Thoughts

I think that the trip was beneficial from an overall perspective. It’s always valuable to learn about new cultures and to see what life is like for other groups of people. I also got a lot out of traveling with this group. It was great fun to get to know people better. For a group as big as ours I thought things went incredibly smooth. Everything was well planned and executed.