I see the sun, but it should be sleeping

China 5/16/13

Left Beijing at 5am in the morning for a 13 hour ish flight to land in Chicago for a short layover (realized how amazing a clean bathroom really is), then finally to Dallas. I've already unpacked, started some laundry, taken a shower (with safe and happy water!), but avoiding my bed as much as possible (I have essentially stayed up all night and it is now 6:45 am the next day for my body). 

This GLP trip was absolutely wonderful. I loved being in China and cannot imagine having a better experience than on the trip I was placed on. As for the rest of the semester, we have a presentation to give on Tuesday regarding the GLP trip (I'm not on the presentation team but will be attending and excited to hear about the other group's trips). After that, the first year of grad school is done!

I am also proud to say that I accomplished a little goal I had for the trip - I can now eat (slowly) with chopsticks in my non-dominant hand though that's pointless. I also learned how to hold chopsticks the correct way! 

The sun is shining, but I really wish it would sleep so I could as well.

~Elizabeth

BBB - Batteries and Big Brother

China 5/14

Drove 2.5 hours to Tianjin to visit the zone and two companies. There really is a consistency of these companies and their presentations to us. There is a showroom, pictures of 'famous' people visiting the company. And sure enough, that's what we saw. 

The first company was Schneider Electric - which we had not done research for but was an interesting tour through their manufacturing warehouse. Next was Lishen Battery (they make batteries). They make 30,000,000 batteries every month! They warned us that when a battery says not to 'drop or put in fire', they really are serious and know by personal experience haha. 

Lunch was provided by the chairman of the industrial zone in Tianjin and was a wonderful spread of fruit, caviar, doubled eggs, sushi, smoked salmon, prawns, pork, chicken, beef, other dishes and 20 different desserts with an ice cream bar. 

After lunch we visited Tiandy Digital Tech which is a security systems company. There was, again, a nice showroom with camera watching, identifying, and following different faces throughout the showroom. Kinda creepy thinking about 'big brother' watching our every move but hi-tech was pretty spiffy!  

After the 2.5 hour drive back (3 with traffic), some went back to the pearl market to pick up suit and pearl orders and shop some more - another group ventured to the silk market which is basically the same but with an emphasis on silk (big surprise!). Dinner and relaxing on patios in gorgeous weather soon followed. The weather really has been absolutely fantastic the entire trip (except the rain in Xi'an) which is definitely something to be grateful for.

~Elizabeth 

A street game of some sort

some amazing noodles

Dairy cows and Embassy affairs

China 5/13

This was quite a contradicting day! The first company we went to was Wonder Milk at Hua Xia farm. This was more fun than many expected. We got to taste some yogurt (delicious! Unless you eat about 5 of them like Kyle...). The presenters were both non-Chinese and their perspectives were a relief as it seemed heart felt comments and not a possible facade. They offer a luxury item with their brand - Wonder Milk ($6 per liter vs $1.75 of the competitor). Because its a dairy farm, this industry is very front loaded capital investment - have to buy the cows or calves and wait until they are able to produce milk.  

After we made a quick stop back at the hotel to change from jeans to business dress, we headed to the US Embassy. We heard from Keith Anderson- the #2 in commercial affairs and Bill Zaret (sp). Some interesting facts we learned were: 

- there are 300 million middle class in China 

- China has an aging population such that predictions are by 2020 they will import labor 

- there are 900 million cell phone users in China. 

- China has 115 billionaires which is #2 in world behind the US. 

- the political elite consists of engineers and economists unlike the US usual of lawyers. 

We then heard from 'Xan' Alexander Moody-Stuart who was instrumental in helping Subway move into the Chinese market. A major difference in Subway China in the last 6 years is labor costs. In 2006, labor was 800 RMB / month. In 2012, labor was 1900 RMB / month plus bonuses. 

After our visits, quite a few went back to the pearl market to shop around. Various other groups went to dinner etc.  There was an SMU sanctioned dinner with alumni and other networking opportunities. I joined a few others and ate at a wonderful restaurant and had Peking duck which was absolutely fabulous. 

~Elizabeth

Driving along in the bus with Mary

The subway warnings

A great day for a wall.

Beijing 5/12/13

The morning was spent walking around Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Tiananmen Square is the 3rd largest city square in the world and is in front of the gate to the Forbidden City - the gate being built in 1415. The square is supposed to hold a million people - wow. It was exciting to be in a politically historical location.

The Forbidden City is pretty large and you can tell it used to be quite impressive. The only men allowed to be in the city were the royal family men (emperor and son etc) and the eunuchs. There were 2,000 eunuchs at a time in the city. Another interesting fact is that the emperor's concubines were my allowed to leave the Forbidden City until their 'husband', the emperor, died.

The Great Wall is the result of unification of the separate 7 provinces by the 1st emperor of Qin Shi Huang between 220-206 BC. Some of these separate walls had been built as early as the 7th century BC. Little of that original unified wall still remains as the majority of the wall was reconstructed during the Mind Dynasty.  We took lots of pictures including some attempts at a group all in the air with the wall in the background etc. I think a few turned out ok. haha.

We returned to the hotel a couple hours later and followed one of the Japan GLPers (go Ben!) to a large market where we met his Beijing friend who showed us some favorite vendors in the market. Those vendors loved seeing all of us and definitely tried to haggle us into buying whatever they were selling ('genuine' Louis Voutton etc). A few gifts were bought.

Random groups took off for dinner and Beijing night life. I ate McDonalds (sooooo good) and relaxed at the luxury hotel we are in (yes please, I'd like my shower mat in a velvet bag. Some free treats? Don't mind if I do).

It was absolutely wonderful sunny weather today with a little breeze. Perfect for walking along a rather 'Great' Wall in China.

~Elizabeth Bauman

Teresa and I before entering the first court of the Forbidden City

Mary pushed me on the wall... 

Kay-tea-way and the dancing noodles

5/10/13

Last day in Xi'an went well. It warmed up but was still a very pleasant temperature. We visited two companies - Siemens and Shaanxi Auto Group.

At Shaanxi, it was interesting how obviously tied to the government they are. This company produces heavy duty trucks including being (I think) the only producer of trucks for the Chinese government. An interesting note that I have is that for most of these business presentations we've been given, there is a dedicated presentation room with impressive graphics and technology.

After we got back from the company visits there were quite a few who did their own thing but 2 main groups split off with intent to meet later in the evening. They did either dumpling dinner or disco noodles. I was with the disco noodle crowd which ended up being a hot pot dinner with the finale of a guy stretching noodles while tossing and throwing and dancing around. It was quite impressive and fun. Culture note: the waiter would not take any tip at all and said that 'his job was enough of a 'blessing' and that he could not accept more than that'. not verbatim

Our disco noodle waitress took us to a karaoke place we had previously planned to visit and we ended up with the 'presidential' private suite (with private bathroom -what!!?? to date the nicest of the trip) and we sang our lungs out for the next 2 hours (Jennifer literally lost her voice). It was 'clutch'.

We tried to meet up with the other group but that failed. It has definitely been proven difficult to 'meet up with you later' when you don't have a way to communicate with each other.

My side note for the day - supermarkets in China are crazy and when Jess and I went for a quite moment, we were definitely the only white people in that building. Probably also the only ones able to speak English for that matter.

Tomorrow's agenda - traveling to Beijing and will meet up with the Japan GLP group.

We got to experience authentic Chinese karaoke - kay tea way - and saw a guy dancing with noodles. What cultural fun!

~Elizabeth Bauman

Me and Mary in the Shaanxi showroom

Jess and I with our required booties

Around the wall in 80 minutes

5/9/13

Today - Thursday we visited our first two companies. XHTZ and Applied Materials.

XHTZ is the Xi'an Hi-Tech industries Zone. The tour was pretty neat and very well organized. There were interactive models of the zone and historical and informational displays that were 'awesome' (Hana Litterer's description). The zone is China's government's attempt to move hi tech companies west from the developed east coast. The zone land that is being developed was farmland 10 years ago and is already 60 out of 306 sq km completed at full capacity. An interesting financial point of interest is that 90% of revenue stays in China.

Next we went to Applied Materials. Some interesting facts - for 1976 transistor prices, a typical iPod would cost $3.2 billion. Very neat how much technology has improved in the last 40 years. They also had a strong desire to be an environmentally responsible company - even further than producing solar panel technology. They are self proclaimed visionaries in this area. The three pillars of why Applied Materials settled in the XHTZ are: Talent, cost, and similar vision with the zone management.

After we got back from the companies, we reconvened for lunch and walked to a random street to a random restaurant. It was quite an adventure because no one spoke English (and we weren't with any of our helpful translators) so we ended up pointing at pictures and hoping for the best. We ended up with bull frog, unknown meat, rice and chicken. ... We think. It was spicy but quite delicious - which was an adventure for me as I don't typically eat spicy food, and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

After, we met up with some others and took a bike ride around the inner city wall. It was legen... wait for it... dary. We met a wonderful older Chinese man who rode almost the entire way around the wall with us. He was quite eccentric and had a contagious laugh. We named him Larry. We had quite interesting 'conversations' with him (who spoke no english). The wall ride was about 8 miles long and most of us were on tandem bikes and could take some cool photos and videos while biking on the stone wall. How amazing a wall like that is and how long it must've taken to build. Good prep for our trip to respect the Great Wall in Beijing later next week.

On our walk back from the wall, we did a little shopping and bought a few little gifts from street vendors. Once back to the hotel, we took a break before dinner.

Some went to dinner at a traditional Chinese dance show which included many many different kinds of dumplings - sweet potato (purple), fish, shrimp, tomato, cabbage, pickle, pork, egg, fried, ham. Needless to say these were amazing. We also had white sweet rice wine that tasted like apples. The show was culmination of traditional dance and music. Elaborate costumes with the typical long sleeves and hair ornaments. We got cultured.

Joined back with others who had eaten at other dinner places to go to a pub. Apparently a place to mingle and experience some local culture. We couldn't find the place so we ended up at another culturally unique location. Not much else to say unless you were there. 

Nathan's take away from the day: impressed with the broad vision for the XHTZ including their sales pitch. And how questionable the accuracy of their statements and projections.

Side note. Every street in Xi'an looks exactly the same.

-Elizabeth Bauman

Of Monsoons and Karaoke.

5/8/13

What wonderful sleep occurs on a bed instead of an airline seat! Ahhhh. Woke up (apparently much later than all the other rooms) and ate a very big breakfast. Part of our group (8 guys I think) hiked up a mountain....  And we didn't see them the rest of the day.

The rest of us took a bus to the terra-cotta warriors which were about an hour ride from the hotel. Some of the favorite parts of the trip - the 'number one pit' (there are 4 pits total of figures) because the warriors were lined up and you can see how much excavation they have done as well as how little they have done. The warriors were discovered only 30 years ago in 1974. It used to take a full year to restore a warrior but now it is only 6 months.

A comment by Hana Litterer was how this place will be a fun site to visit in another 30 years because of how much will change in that time. It is the constantly changing 8th wonder of the world. (Not sure if that is a self-declared title or not. Research to be done later)

Nathan Crow's favorite part of the day was the lunch that we had at the museum. We watched the chiefs make stretch noodles and sliced noodles and then we ate the same noodles right after. It was quite impressive.

We toured a few other buildings that had excavation details, some bronze figures, and some other historical items. On out way back to the bus, we passed a farmers market and practiced our bargaining skills (with the help of my indian friend Charit I got something originally for 350 yuan for 150 yuan- thanks Charit!) others purchased terra cotta soldier figurines, miniature swords, fur hats, and panda merchandise.

On the bus back, we learned some Chinese phrases including (phonetically) hello = nee-how, thank you = shey shey, and good morning = shung showe how. I completely apologize if any of that was a misunderstanding of pronunciation and instead was actually cussing. We then had a session on the hand signals for one through ten, some of which are familiar american university hand signs - including west Texas a&m (8), and half of Smu (9).

Back at the hotel, some took a nap, others to the gym, showers, spa, and some explored around the hotel. Dinner - walked to a mall that was said to have 'Hot pots' and eventually found one. Ordering was made easy with a couple of mandarin speakers (thanks Teresa and Jennifer!). A Hot Pot is entirely nothing like what it sounds like. It is, in fact, a plate of cooled rice, onions, sauce, spinach, and your choice of meats (pork, dog, rooster, or lamb) and served with kikkoman soy sauce. Alright... That's not true - it was so much better than that and very much as the name implies - a bowl with a hot flame under it, cooking seafood and vegetables, and self-served on a bowl of rice after it bowled. As Jillian and I decided against this course of action we had the most delicious udon noodles. Jillian has already accomplished a trip goal at dinner today - becoming a master at chop stick usage!  

Because it was raining, we attempted to hail a cab - to no avail as Americans can't do that in china apparently - and proceeded to walk / puddle hop out way back to the hotel. Interesting notes: Jordan's 'waterproof' jacket was, in fact, not waterproof. And the monsoon in Xi'an smelled liked eggs. Ew.

Tomorrow's agenda is a business visit with XHTDZ / Applied Materials, a bike ride on the city bridge, and dumplings with a show.

Ill try to recompile a quick story of the mountain adventure to kiddos.

The term  'karaoke' is old school. They now call it (phonetically) 'kay tea way'.

-Elizabeth Bauman

My usual imitation photo

Our group (not amongst real soldiers..)

28 hours and its 41 hours later.

5/7/13

We left Chicago and landed in Shanghai for a 4 hour layover - perfect for customs and immigration, quick bite to eat (practicing my goal for the China trip- to be ambidextrous with chopsticks), and a drink before we left for a quick 2 hour flight to Xi'an.

I don't know how much food I've eaten in the last 27 hours - nor which meals they were. It's slightly disorienting. The last flight's food (China Eastern Airlines) didn't smell so appetizing even for airplane food (fish or pork with rice or noodles) so I passed on that. I will be curious to see how many people decide not to be adventurous food-wise. The SMU admin scared us slightly into not drinking or eating anything suspicious in fear of getting 'sick'. Some have already experimented with free water at the Shanghai airport so the countdown for water/food poisoning begins.

We have a wonderful guide as we drive the 1 hour to our hotel from the airport. Hab (pronounced hay-bee) is telling us about some Chinese history and culture. She explained the different kinds of noodles that they have here. Apparently there is a kind of noodle (forgot the name already) that you can eat 1 and be full.

Made it to the hotel and excited for a real bed :)

Tomorrow's agenda: free day with options of Terra Cotta soldiers or a mountain hike.

Time zone changing / date line crossing = wonderful confusion

-Elizabeth Bauman

Our first bit of Chinese food (in the Shanghai airport)

Will boarding the plane from Shanghai to Xi'an

Reading more pages of the World

'Twas the night before leaving, and all through the house - not a creature was stirring.. except for this little mouse!

Currently, I'm packing for the far-away land of China - as I know many of my colleagues are as well - but taking my sweet, sweet time. Our flight leaves at 545am tomorrow (yikes!) and I'm leaving at 3 to pick up a friend and meet up with others to carpool to the airport. If leaving at 3... Why sleep? So, I'm currently downloading a couple books, refreshing my iPod playlist, and writing a little bit on this blog.

I'm very excited about this excursion. For one very small reason - I have finally done my loads of laundry from my time in the Philippines and can now see my closet floor! Who knew it only took another trip to get my room in order..

I was voluntold (though happy to do it!) to be the blogger for our group in China, so follow this link for updates on the trip as I cannot upload to this blog as easily. Be sure to leave comments for the group!

Turning the 6th page of my international trip book...


~Elizabeth



"The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page." - Saint Augustine



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