Some Pictures!

Here are a few pictures from FDIB 2009 China.


















At Shanghai General Motors







At Victoria Peak, Hong Kong










The entire group at Sun Yat Sen University
















Farmers’ fanciful homes near Hongzhou




























Apartment blocks
























Chinese Lunch Pictures














United AirLines Polar Routes from Chicago to Shanghai.

Home!!

Saturday, January 17...Groundhog Day -- Again --Home!

The trip from Rocky Mount, NC to Shanghai, China took 23 hours door-to-door. The trip from Hong Kong, China to Rocky Mount -- not so good. It was about 32 hours. We were delayed on the tarmac in Hong Kong because BOTH ends of the runways had head winds. The pilot said we were so heavy that we needed a tail wind to take off. In Chicago we waited over an hour for the luggage to come off the plane. Then United rebooked everyone who had missed connecting flights to later flights. Mine was delayed until 10 p.m. Saturday night. I arrived home at three a.m. on Sunday.

I am writing this on Tuesday, January 20. Inauguration Day. It is also snowing in North Carolina. This is a very rare occurrence. North Carolina Wesleyan College just cancelled classes today. This is just as well as I am not quite over my jet lag.

I will collect some pictures for a summary of the 2009 FDIB. What a great experience! Professor Chen Ji made this a really unforgettable learning experience.

We had a great group of professors along. I will miss them!

Hong Kong Airport!!

Saturday, January 17, 2009

It is nine a.m. Hong Kong time. We have made it to the airport and through check in, immigration and security. We have about an hour until the flights starts seating for Chicago. This airport has FREE wireless internet, unlike Chicago. I will have to collect my bags in Chicago and go through immigration and customs there before boarding the flight to Raleigh/Durham.

I am sitting at an empty gate watching FinnAir and other airlines loading. This is an amazing airport with views of incredible mountains and the bay. I even bought Starbucks mocha with U.S. dollars. They gave me Hong Kong currency for change.

Airports here give free carts to use inside the terminal. Just pick one up and wheel it around. It is great for organizing bag, coat, etc. Announcements in the airport are in Chinese, English, German, etc.

We had our farewell dinner to FDIB 2009 at a traditional Hong Kong seafood restaurant. We walked through the fish market with dozens of small fish shops in a tight alleyway. All the seafood was alive and in tanks.

My call to my class went well last night. THANK you to the students who had questions. Again thank you to Greg and Allen from the Wesleyan IT department who helped me!

Two other trip members and I made the arrangements to get to the airport together. We paid for the direct shuttle and got our wake up calls. I had my last dim sum breakfast at the Ocean Pacific Hotel.

I think I will read the Washington Post online during the rest of the wait. I have about three hours of battery time. Each hotel provided me with a transformer to charge this laptop. China uses 220 volts and we use 110.

Next stop --USA!

Last Day In Hong Kong

Friday, January 16

This was our last day of meetings. We first visited the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology which has a large business school. It awards BS, Masters, and Ph.D. degrees. It is located in a new campus which overlooks a beautiful bay. It was just established in 1991. We had a lively discussion about the marketing and strategic efforts of business in China. The discussion also covered domestic and multinational firms. http://www.ust.hk/eng/about/index.htm

Then we toured the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park. This is a statutory body of the Government of the HongKong Special Administrative Region (HKSTP). It is a hub for startups in technology and engineering.

I had about an hour of shopping near the hotel on Canton Street. The “mall” is an extensive second, third and fourth floors of the buildings near the hotel. It ends at the bay (surprise!) where there is a large patio with benches to sit and watch the beautiful views.

We have arranged a 6 a.m. wake up call and reserved a shuttle to the airport.

My flight leaves Hong Kong at 11:40 a.m. Saturday, January 17. I arrive in Chicago, USA at 11:48 a.m. Saturday, January 17!!

Tonight I am calling my class to have a discussion about China. I am looking forward to hearing from my students.

A Day in Hong Kong

Thursday, January 15

Mr Simon Galpin the Associate Director of InvestHK gave a great discussion of his organization and the economic outlook of Hong Kong. Since 1997, Hong Kong has been part of China. This is “One country -- two systems” Hong Kong has a completely capitalistic system.

Hong Kong has lost its large manufacturing sector to cheaper producers from over the border in Shenzhen province of China. Hong Kong now has 92% of its GDB in the services sector. Shenzhen was a special area that was opened to the world only since 1978. It is just 30 years since this area opened.

Many people from the Mainland come to Hong Kong for shopping. Prestige brands are very popular. Buying these things in Hong Kong insures that the products are original.
We had a free afternoon and went up the tram to The Peak. What a wonderful view! http://www.thepeak.com.hk/full/en/index.php

The great IT department at North Carolina Wesleyan College worked with me to set up a web cam call to my students on Friday.

Thank you to Greg Boykin especially. We practiced the call today and I will call the International Business class tomorrow.

Last day in China

Wednesday, January 13

Our last day in China. We visited the Yantian International Container Terminals. It is the third largest port in the world. The port is currenly holding 102% density of shipping containers as compared to a regular holdings of 70%. This means the yard is full of empty boxes. Americans and Europeans are not buying as mujch stuff right now. Therefore, we could not take a bus tour of the facility as everything is too crowded. The management invited us to the roof of the 17 storey headquarters building to view the facility.

http://www.hph.hk/business/ports/china/yict.htm

When we crossed over the border we had to leave China and go through immigration and customs. We got back on the bus and had to go through the entire process again to enter Hong Kong.

Morning in Guangzhou

Wednesday, January 14.

After breakfast I walked along the Riverine Walk near the White Swan Hotel. This embankment was begun in 1859 as part of the foreign cantonment. Lots of Guangzhou people use this walk for morning exercises. Many are practicing Tai Chi Chuan; other forms of exercises, or dance. Several men stepped down the steep stairs into the Pearl River to swim.

I noticed some grade school children in uniforms and backpacks. Most were accompanied by a Granny or Grandpa. The middle school is located on the park-like pedestrian mall. Each window had a window box with plants. I can see the school from my window. The roof has several greenhouses and many plants.

Many people on the mall were also exercising. Some joggers and more Tai Chi. This area contains the old buildings from Colonial times. One building had been Citi Bank. A display map of the historical area had a note “you are here” in four different spots.

Guangzhou is known as the garden city. It is a tropical city with so many palm trees. Yesterday we drove for miles along a highway to the nearby city that had a planted median strip of PERFECTLY matched sets of three palm trees and shrubs. Miles of sets of three identical palm trees. I noticed a tanker truck driving next to a median spraying water on the planter.

There are plants everywhere. Every small balcony, every median; under electric transmission towers. Every viaduct has planters on both sides. Every pedestrian walkway over busy streets is lined by plants in planters.

All the apartments have a small balcony full of drying clothes and lined with plants in pots. Most roofs are gardens full of plants. I can see one roof from my hotel window that is landscaped! There are no weeds in China.

I have to say a word about the great group of faculty on this trip. Everyone has gotten along very well and has been very flexible.

Chen Ji our leader has had such an interesting background growing up in China and becoming a Professor at the University of Denver.

Late breakfast was full of families with adopted children. One little girl announced in the elevator “We are here to adopt a little sister.”