Learning About Bamboo

Did you know that there are several hundred varieties of bamboo? It was new information for me. We learned that 75% of Anji county is covered with vegetation and 71% is forested; there is a lot of bamboo. After lunch at the Sunny Holiday Resort, our hosts took us to the China Bamboo Museum to learn more about the plant we had heard about in our meeting. "With a variety of bamboo species, Anji has actually become the largest bamboo growing and research base in Asia," said an official with Anji County Government, " the bamboo museum ... can not only satisfy the demand of systematical research, but also provide knowledge on the history and culture of bamboo growing and bamboo arts and crafts for an increasing number of tourists." As you can imagine, much of the bamboo grown in Anji is used to produce flooring, furniture, and other products for sale in China. Anji products are now exported to more than 20 countries and regions, and about one-fourth of the county's gross output value of agriculture and industry comes from bamboo-related industries. Here are Mark and John, the Evergreen Timber guys, standing in front of some of the bamboo we saw.

Su Dongpo, a renowned Song dynasty (960-1279) poet, said, "We could eat without meat, but couldn't live away from bamboo."

AN'JI - Bamboo Town

The Anji economic development zone was approved as a provincial level zone in 1994, and is a center for ecology-oriented county development. Anji , also known as the Land of White Tea, is home to China's largest bamboo exposition park, at which many scenes for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" were filmed. We met the local economic development officials, who led us on a tour of a couple of industrial parks and then to a chair manufacturing facility. We learned there are several chair manufacturing enterprises in Anji. The picture to the left shows John Barber and Mark Ehrhardt talking to the general manager of the facility in a showroom in which were displayed hundreds of office chairs, as well as easy chairs, recliners, and couches.

After the tour, we drove to the Sunny Holiday Resort for a formal meeting with Anji government and development zone officials. The resort and meeting room were nicer than any of the meeting rooms we'd experienced so far on the trip. As with most formal meetings, each person at the table was given a bottle of water and a cup of hot tea. As you can see from the picture, they hung a special banner welcoming us to the meeting. At least that is what we assumed it said... From l. to r., Mr. Huang, a local business owner; Ruilin Yan, deputy director of the Anji Foreign Trade & Economic Cooperation Bureau; Yenan Zhu, director of the Zhejiang Anji Economic Development Zone; Lucille, Mary, John, Jinshui, Mark; and Hu Liu Sun, director of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of Huzhou. As you can also see, there was fresh fruit & vegetables on the table, along with fresh flowers. This is typical of most of the meetings we attended in Huzhou.

The order of the meeting followed a pattern that would repeat in most meetings to follow. The number one host went first, introducing everyone on his side of the table, then providing an overview of the economic development in the area. He called on the important attendees, one by one, giving them a chance to introduce their area of interest. Then he invited me or Jinshui to introduce the members of the SBDC delegation. I provided an overview of the SBDC, Jinshui described the International Business Development Program, Lucille talked about the Farmingdale regional center, and John Barber talked about Evergreen Timber and his intention to do business with some Chinese companies. Then we talked about common goals and working together for mutual success. We invited them to visit the SBDC in Albany and to meet some New York businesses. They invited us to return to Anji in the near future. Then we exchanged gifts. A nice luncheon followed, featuring bamboo (cooked) and bamboo juice, two specialties of the region.

Road Trip to Nanxun

Today we boarded the minibus and drove to Nanxun, to visit some factories that produce wood flooring. It was the first opportunity on our trip for John and Mark from Evergreen Timber to meet businessmen and talk about logs. Nanxun is part of the Huzhou economic development zone. In the poems the town is described as "thousands of households gather here on this water town market, and fishing boats and merchant vessels call at it side by side."

On the way to the business meetings, we took time for a tour of Xiaolianzhuang (small lotus village), an ancient village that included the former residence of Jiang Zemin, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China from 1989 - 2002. It was an impressive place, with much carved wood and traditional home decor. Here is a group picture of many of us in one of the courtyards of the residence, l. to r., Quing Wang, Hui Qin Li, Jinshui, John, Judy Wu, Mark.

It was a hot & humid day, and the beginning of the Dragon Boat Festival. The date is the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar (June 8th in 2008). Traditionally, the fifth lunar month is supposed to be fraught with danger, as the forces of ying and yang are out of balance. The day is celebrated with zongzi - delicious dumplings made with glutinous rice stuffed in bamboo leaves. The rice "packages" commemorate the suicide of poet Qu Yuan, who threw himself in the Miliu River on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month in 278 B.C. Local fisherman at the time threw rice on the water to honor him. Later he appeared to a fisherman in a dream and asked them to wrap the rice in silk to protect it from the fish. Eventually, the silk was replaced by bamboo leaves.

After our tour of the ancient village, we visited two wood flooring companies, Green Home (a small operation) and Sunyard (a larger company). John and Mark from Evergreen Timber were enthusiastic about talking business with the two companies. To the left below, you'll see a picture of John Barber showing pictures of his logging business to representatives from Green Home and some of our escorts from the Huzhou economic development zone.

The picture on the right shows John after he presented Evergreen Timber hats and a burlap bag full of "log pencils" to Sunyard's business manager (on the left) and general manager (on the right). John and Mark were pleased with the results of both meetings.

After the meetings, we drove to a hotel to meet with Nanxun and HED officials over lunch - or as they referred to it, dinner. Dinner was listed as supper on our official agenda. We enjoyed conversation with the group as much as we enjoyed the food - and the air conditioning in the hotel.

SBDC Signing Ceremony: Cooperation with HED

On the afternoon of June 6th, I participated in another signing ceremony, one between the Huzhou Economic Development zone (HED) and the NYS SBDC. Here is a summary phrase from the agreement, "in order to promote the two places in the economic field of multi-level, multi-form and all-round exchanges and cooperation comprehensively, and strive to complement each other, sharing resources through friendly consultations..." Basically, the NYS SBDC and HED agreed to work together to create business and trade opportunities for New York companies in the zone.

During the meeting, we met the leaders of Houzhou people's government and learned about the environment of the HED. The ceremony and official picture concluded a meeting with officials from the Huzhou Economic Development zone - Mr. Liushun Yang, the Director of HED, Mr. Hulin Sun, the Director of the Office of Overseas Chinese Affairs, Mr. Younliang Zhou, the Vice Director of HED, and Mr. Suofang Zhu, another Vice Director of HED.

After the meeting, we drove to Xi Nan, a subzone of HED near Taihu Lake, to visit the site of a new high technology innovation centre. The HED officials enthusiastically related their plans for the site and their progress toward completion. It will be interesting to see if they can achieve their goals within the timeline they've set.

Zhejiang Investment and Trade Symposium

One of the features of the Investment and Trade Symposium was a ceremony in which companies from the municipality of Huzhou signed agreements with companies from other places. As Mayor Ma and other officials looked on (they are the men standing), dozens of business owners, in groups of 8 or 10, were escorted to a table in the front of the room to sign their name to an agreement.

The men, most dressed in dress shirts with ties, were escorted to the signing stations by young Chinese women dressed in traditional red dresses while the theme from "The Magnificent Seven" blared from speakers around the room. It was quite a spectacle!

A Formal Meeting with Press Coverage

On June 6th after breakfast, Jinshui and I went to a meeting called by Mr. Yi Ma, the Mayor of Huzhou Municipal People's Government. It was a formal meeting that involved the mayors and economic development officials of Huzhou and surrounding areas. Others at the meeting from outside Huzhou included the president of the Western Australian Chinese Chamber of Commerce, the managing director of Arcadia, a consortium of companies that deals with premium properties, and the owner of a Japanese company looking to do business in the HED zone. The formal meeting was a prelude to a session of the 10th Zhejiang Investment & Trade Symposium.

The mayor spoke first, providing an overview of Huzhou and its economic development progress and initiatives. Huzhou, in the central region of the Hangtze River Delta, includes three counties - Deqing, Changxing and Anji - and two districts - Wuxing and Nanxun. The municipality has been recognized as the China Tourist City of Excellence, China Environmental Protection Model City, China Landscape Garden City, and Chinese Charming City. Its traditional industries - silk, textile and construction materials - have been joined by other high technology and new technology industries, including biomedical, electronics, IT, and environmental protection, to name a few. In 2007, Huzhou was ranked first in Zhejiang Province for industrial growth.

After the mayor spoke, each of the attendees had an opportunity to make some remarks. Meeting participants were seated in bright yellow easy chairs arranged in an open square, with a second row of less comfortable seats behind the first row. On a table next to each chair in the front row, there was cup of hot tea, a bottle of water, and a microphone. As I learned, this was a fairly standard set-up for formal meetings. A woman sat behind me to translate the remarks of the mayor and others. A man with a video camera roamed in the middle of the open square, filming each participant as he made his remarks. After half an hour of remarks, the meeting adjourned and everyone walked to a large meeting room on the same floor of the hotel for a signing ceremony.

Our First Supper in China - Huzhou, Zhejiang Province

The Deputy Mayor of Huzhou, Mr. JianPing Li, hosted our first supper in his city. In deference to our long flight and the resulting fatigue, our hosts allowed us to wear casual clothes and some of the usual formalities were waived. We were joined by Mr. Hulin Sun, the director of the Huzhou Office of Overseas China Affairs, and Mr. Yongliang Zhou, the Vice Secretary and Vice Director of the Huzhou Economic Development zone (HED). This was our first introduction to hosted meals in China.

We learned there is a protocol for taking your place at the round table. The number one host sits at the top of the circle. At his or her place, the napkin may be folded differently or it may be a different color. The number one guest sits at his or her right. A translator generally sits next to the number one guest. The number two guest sits to the left of the number one host. The number two host sits directly across the table from the number one host. The number three guest sits at the right hand of the number two host. And so on...If you happen to sit in the wrong chair, you will be directed to move to the correct chair. If you are unsure where you should sit, you can ask your translator or one of the hosts. After a few meals, we had a good idea of our place at the table.

The food was relatively simple, but good, and most dishes were served family style, placed on a rotating glass tray in the middle of the table. We were served a combination of vegetable and meat dishes -nothing that was too spicy. The meal began with a sweet cold soup and ended with fresh fruit. The presentation was wonderful, including birds and other animals or flowers carved from vegetables. I found that my hosts often put food on my plate, particularly if it was a specialty of the area or something that he or she wanted me to try. As it is polite to taste everything, I did. Sometimes I had a second serving.
At the first supper, there was not much conversation. The Vice Mayor spoke some English, as did Mr. Sun, but they could tell we were tired, so we did not talk about anything important. There was minimal toasting - just one toast from the vice mayor to begin the meal, a counter-toast by me to thank our hosts, and a second toast from the vice mayor to conclude the meal. As we disovered later, this was unusual. I'll talk more about toasting later, when I describe a meal during which it seemed there was more toasting than eating. As with many things, there is a protocol for offering toasts during meals.

It was an enjoyable meal and we all managed to stay awake until the Vice Mayor declared it over. Soon afterward, we went upstairs to our rooms to get some sleep.

June 5th - First Contact

A small delegation from our hosts in Huzhou, led by Madame Hui Qin Li, Vice President of the Overseas Friendship Association of Huzhou City, met us at Pudong Airport. They greeted us warmly, then loaded us and our luggage on a minibus and drove us to Huzhou. This was the beginning of our introduction to the tremendous hospitality of our hosts throughout the trip.

As we would discover during the trip, the minibus was a common mode of transportation for delegations visiting industrial parks, enterprises (businesses), and traveling to meetings. Almost immediately upon boarding, we were given a bottle of water. Generally, we - the guests - were given the seats just inside the door, and the hosts sat in the back of the bus. The host's appointed translator sat with or near us to help provide an introduction to the area, answer our questions, and to translate questions and remarks directed to us.

The trip from Pudong Airport - located outside Shanghai - to Huzhou took about 2 and a half hours - rather than the hour and a half we were told it would take. The trafffic was relatively light and most of the other vehicles on the road were trucks. We took a modern highway past rice paddies, farmers houses, and a lot of open fields planted with crops. Tired as we were, we tried to take it all in while our hosts told us about the area, which is located in the delta of the Yangtze River. As we turned off the highway, a special landscape display told us we had reached the city of Huzhou.

We arrived in Huzhou during evening rush hour. Though a small city, we could see the vitality as we drove toward our hotel, which seemed to be in the heart of downtown. There were cars, buses, small trucks, bicycles, motorbikes and people sharing the road as we inched along.

There didn't seem to be room for the minibus to pull into the driveway at the hotel - the Zheibei Hotel - but the driver didn't hesitate. Somehow he manuvered the bus through the chaos of cars and people to the front door of the hotel without coming into contact with anything. We were greeted like royalty, handed our room keys and escorted upstairs. We were told that our luggage would be delivered soon. We were nearly late for dinner, so they took care of the check-in process for us - something that surprised even Jinshui. We had about forty minutes to prepare for our first dinner in China.

A Long Flight

It is a long flight. There is no doubt that the flight to China is the first challenge of the trip. When and if you decide to join the SBDC for a business and trade mission, consider whether you can tolerate 14 hours in economy/coach class, or if you would be more comfortable in business or first class. The five of us flew economy class from O'Hare Airport in Chicago to Pudong Airport in Shanghai. I found that there was more leg room than I anticipated. Whatever the amount of leg room or the location of your seat on the plane, it is important to get up and walk around the plane as often as you can.

On our flight from Chicago to Shanghai, they showed four movies, fed us a few times, distributed magazines, and made sure everyone had pillows and blankets for the inevitable napping. You'll have enough time to participate in all the flight-sponsored activities, and to talk to your mission mates, especially Jinshui.

The flight is a good time to review the advice shared by your international business advisor. The first time he explains the protocol for greeting foreign officials and business leaders, you probably think, "that is very interesting." The second time, you'll probably think, "I should remember that." Then when you actually meet officals, you'll think, "what did he tell me to do?" My advice is that you pay attention to everything Jinshui tells you about interacting with the people you'll meet along the way. You'll use every scrap of information he shares, from what to wear to what to say and do. Don't assume that everything you've learned about doing business in your community will be the same in China - or any other country.

Be sure to ask Jinshui about the agenda for the rest of the day after you land in China. Don't assume that you will go to the hotel and sleep. We were fortunate to have just one activity when we arrived in China on June 5th, an informal dinner with our hosts.

Technicalities and Practicalities

You probably noticed that there were no blog postings while we were in China. A myriad of factors, including limited Internet access, a tight schedule, and mental fatigue confronted us during the trip. My apologies for not providing an "on the spot" account. I kept a journal and took many pictures to prompt my memory once I returned to Albany. So, for many technical and practical reasons, the postings will be made from a computer in home territory. I hope you enjoy the story of our successful business and trade mission.

Albany to Shanghai

On Wednesday, June 4th, the NYS SBDC delegation will fly to Shanghai to begin the 2008 business and trade mission to China. Most of the delegation members will meet at Chicago's O'Hare to catch the 14 hour flight to Pudong Airport. A few business owners will join the delegation later in the trip. Preparations for the mission are nearly complete.