From the Minibus

In the smaller cities on our route, our hosts drove us from hotel to meeting to factory and back on small minibuses. Along the way, we were able to learn more about the area we were visiting. Jinshui also took advantage of the time to tell us about our next appointment: the name of the company and the people we would meet, the order in which we would speak, the information we should emphasize, and anything else he thought we should know. We were learning as we needed the info, just in time. We agreed that this type of briefing was critical to our successful meetings.


Our hosts also gave us a lot of information as we rode from place to place. They shared information about their economic development successes and plans for the future. They also told us about the culture of the area and the people. I'm sure Jinshui was glad we always had our hosts' interpreter with us, to translate the Chinese remarks into English - and to translate our questions into Chinese.


In the beginning of the trip, we drove past a lot of farmland on our way to visit businesses and attend meetings. We saw the vitality of the city streets as well as wheat being raked, dried and bagged at the side of the road near the fields. Now and then we saw a mule or water buffalo, but most of the time we saw people providing the brawn to pull a plow or pedal a fulled loaded cart. In the small towns, we saw fruits and vegetables laid out on tarps by the side of the streets, household products on tables outside shops, and more bicycles and small trucks than cars. On the main highways, we saw numerous trucks of all sizes, and long lines at the service areas that sold diesel. In the cities and the economic development areas, we saw sculptures celebrating the success of the planners.

We were always grateful for the air conditioning on the minibus, since we were touring during the summer and it was hot and humid during the time we were in the southern provinces.