NYS SBDC Goes to China

The Great Wall at Badaling

2008-08-25T13:35:00.000-07:00

One of the places I most wanted to visit while we are in China is the Great Wall, and I was thrilled that we would have the time to fit it into our schedule. Our guides told us that average Chinese people are fascinated by the way the rest of the world is fascinated by the Great Wall. To many Chinese, the Great Wall represents bad memories of repressive leaders, from ancient times when being sent to work on the Wall was not only a punishment, but a virtual death sentence. To tourists like us, it is one of the Wonders of the World, an incredible achievement.

We visited the Badaling section of the Great Wall, the section most visited by tourists because of its proximity to Beijing, the Capital city. Badaling is approximately a one hour drive from Beijing. We climbed toward the Wall with numerous other cars and trucks on a busy highway.

There are many ways to reach the Great Wall, and our hosts recommended that we climb some steep stairs to a cable car station, then take the cable car to the base of the Wall. It sounded like a great suggestion to us, considering the time we had and our collective physical condition. It is possible to hike, bike and run up the mountain to the base of the Wall, but we had neither the time nor inclination. As you may recall, I was recovering from a broken leg that happened about 2 months before the trip. The picture on the right shows our group waiting for the next cable car, with our two escorts.

Contrary to my understanding that the top of the Great Wall was flat, there are great inclines and declines along the top of the wall. And in some places there are stairs. The pictures on the left and right illustrate my point.

Lucille is the figure with the blue shirt and light green bag in the pictures on the left and above. The figure in navy blue in the picture on the right is one of our escorts. If you are planning to visit the Great Wall, be sure to wear comfortable walking shoes.

The picture on the left below shows the four of us that walked on the Great Wall that day. Jinshui decided to stay behind and work. He told us he had visited the Wall many times with other delegations, and that we would be in good hands with our escorts. He was right.

Beijing: Day One

2008-08-24T13:33:00.000-07:00

We left Tianjin in a thunderstorm and saw thunder and lightning for nearly half the trip to Beijing. Once we cleared the storm, the ride was sleep-inducing, with steady and heavy rain falling from dark skies and the hypnotic thrum of the windshield wipers. Everyone on the bus was quiet during the trip, perhaps because of the storm or the cumulative fatigue of travel or the knowledge that Beijing was out last stop before heading home. We saw more farmland and farmers residences than industrial scenes as we approached the city from the eastern side, certainly more than we saw as we neared Tianjin.

Our in-country travel coordinator booked us into the Rosedale Hotel in the international embassy district of Beijing. The Chaoyang District (facing the sun) is in the rapidly expanding eastern part of the city. It is the largest and most populous in the city. The hotel is near two beautiful parks in a thriving neighborhood, and is just 15-20 minutes from the new Bejiing Capital International airport. I think the hotel is located between the city's 2nd and 3rd ring roads.

The Rosedale Hotel is a nice older hotel, with a large lobby that features a tea bar along with a cocktail bar. We spent a good deal of time waiting in the lobby waiting for our rooms, and when meeting each other for activities. The lobby also featured four foot tall figurines of the Olympic mascots, which a few of us used as a backdrop for photos. One of the stores in the lobby carried many Olympic-themed products.

The first rooms assigned to Lucille and me were nice, but in close proximity to part of the hotel that was undergoing remodeling. There was an intense unpleasant chemical smell in the air, and we could feel headaches developing before we were in our rooms for 10 minutes. Lucille called Jinshui, who was able to secure rooms on another floor. The new rooms were very nice and thankfully far enough from the remodeling work that we could not smell anything.

I discovered an interesting feature with the guest rooms. The key card that opened the door also enabled the power to the room. Once you opened the door to the room and entered, you had to insert the card into the appropriate slot on the wall near the door.

That night we had dinner in a neighborhood restaurant just a few minutes walk from the hotel. It was the first meal we had that was not in a private room. We ate in one of the restaurant's open dining areas and the noise level was tremendous! Michelle, one of our travel coordinators, and Mr. Tang. a wood importer, ordered dishes that we recognized from Chinese restaurants at home - chicken & cashews, pepper steak, and so on. They were much better than the versions we'd sampled back in the US. The picture on the left shows one of our Beijing escorts leaving the neighborhood restaurant.

After dinner, Lucille and I decided to walk around the neighborhood. There were a lot of people out walking. Along the way we discovered a few hotels, more restaurants, and a small shopping mall attached to a Holiday Inn. We also saw a man walking a golden retriever - the biggest dog we saw since we landed in China. While in Beijing we would see several dogs, most of them Pekinese.

Other Experiences in Tianjin

2008-08-23T13:31:00.000-07:00

Our last night in Tianjin found us atop one of the TEDA's best hotels dining in a revolving restaurant. The views were stunning, in spite of the overcast. On the left and right are two of the things we saw from our sky-scraping private dining room. On the left is one of the many monuments we saw in our drives around the city. On the right is one of the many Friendship stores - the Chinese version of WalMart?

We enjoyed dinner with a local businessman in import and export, who was interested in talking to John and Mark about timber and very interested to see the photo album of pictures from the wood lot. We enjoyed the food very much, and watched a soccer game on a field near the restaurant. During the course of dinner, the restaurant moved full circle, facing the southwest once again when watermelon and other fruit were served to end the meal.

Ms Feihang Wu and Ms. Cai Hui, two of our hosts, knew we would enjoy a brief shopping expedition, so they arranged an outing to an old town shopping district during our tour of the city on our last day. It was a great way to spend a few hours, soaking in the music, sights and ambiance of ancient China. There was a large courtyard with a raised platform for performers and we listened to several traditional songs by solo performers and groups of singers. Across the courtyard from the performers stage, there was a temple - an example of "historical and stylistic architecture" with a lyrical name - The Queen of Heaven Palace, which according to the sign, was provided very important protection.

There were vendors selling everything from embroidered paintings to clay figurines to silk scarves and carved wood items. I found a lovely cane with a dragon head and flowers carved along its length. Lucille, who is posing in the picture on the right, found a lovely traditional teapot and a couple of chess sets for family members. John and Mark made similar discoveries in some of the small shops along the street. We only had time to visit about a quarter of the shops in the old town; we could have spent an entire day there. I was taken with some of the tea carts spaced strategically along the way, a few of which had lovely dragon tea pots.

On our drives around TEDA, we saw many people doing what I would call green work - planting trees, shrubs, flowers and groundcovers in preparation for all the visitors during the Beijing Olympics. This area is planning to see many of the millions of visitors to Beijing, especially because of its proximity to the capital city - and with the new high speed train.

Our hosts from TEDA decided to make our last stop in their city at a very special place - a traditional dumpling house.The atmosphere and food at the restaurant, which was celebrating its 150th year in operation, were great. In one of the pictures below, Jinshui poses with a plate that commemorates the anniversary of the restaurant.

Partway through the meal, a chef rolled a cart into our room and showed us first-hand how to make dumplings. It was a memorable meal, and we appreciate the thoughtfulness of our hosts (hostesses) in this city, as we have in all the cities we've visited. The meal ended with watermelon, as so many meals have on this trip, in another spectacular presentation of fruit, as you can see from the picture below.

The table in the restaurant was a good demonstration of the use of napkins to show where the most important people at the table should sit. Look at the napkins in the picture below. Jinshui is sitting in the place of honor, behind the elaborately folded napkin. Our server was very impressed with Lucille and my use of chopsticks and presented us with chopstick holders similar to the ones on the table for our meal - white porcelain dogs.

A New York Company in TEDA

2008-08-23T13:22:00.000-07:00

One of the highlights of our trip to TEDA was a factory tour at Gorbel, a Rochester company that, with SBDC assistance, opened a facility in TEDA in 2006. The company, which makes workstation bridge cranes, or ergonomic lifting solutions, as you can see in the picture on the left and below, shares its tech park neighborhood with Motorola, Volkswagen, and the most successful noodle manufacturer in China. Good company, indeed!

The staff at Gorbel welcomed us warmly, with cans of American soda and bottled water on the meeting room table. After a brief conversation, we donned safety glasses and walked through the facility. It was fairly quiet the day we were there, but as you can see from the pictures we walked through most of the open factory space.

The General Manager, Baoshun Guo, and the International Project Manager, WeiLoon Leong, demonstrated the operation of one of the cranes and introduced us to Gorbel Tianjin's facility.

I got the following from the Gorbel website:

Gorbel Tianjin currently manufactures enclosed track workstation cranes, jib cranes, and gantry cranes to serve the China and Asia market. These products carry the same 5 year warranty that is offered on products in the USA. Gorbel® products are manufactured at state-of-the-art facilities in New York and Alabama and sold through an extensive dealer network.

90 Miles from Beijing

2008-08-22T13:38:00.000-07:00

Tianjin is a big city -with a port, big city landscapes, skyscrapers, monuments, billboards, narrow side streets, loads of small storefronts - and an estimated 11 million people (at the end of 2007). Tianjin is just a 90 minute drive from Beijing, depending on traffic. Soon there will be an even more convenient way to travel between the two cities. In July, about a month after our visit the central government will launch high speed train service to link Tianjin to Beijing, just in time for the Olympics. This is confirmation the Tianjin-Binhai area is increasingly important to the national economy.

When in Tianjin, I felt the same buzz of excitement I feel in NYC or any large city in the US. We saw lots of cars and other motorized vehicles, lots of people, and a typical cityscape. There is mix of wide boulevards with narrow city streets. Yes, we did see many people on bicycles, pedalling mini-cabs, and similar vehicles also. Some areas have lots of trees and green pocket parks while others are all brick, concrete, metal, and so on. It was a sharp contrast to the agricultural and industrial scenes we passed on the highway and into the city itself.

TEDA was our host in Tianjin, so the first order of business was a meeting at the Headquarters building, which we were told was designed by a US architect. The first floor space had the open space of a galleria, with some retail and professional offices lining an indoor courtyard. Adding to the feeling of being in a mall was a set of escalators leading to a mezzanine level - and the trees. The picture to the right captures some of the first floor atmosphere of the TEDA HQ building.

We had a formal meeting with He Shu Shan, the Chairman of TEDA's Administrative Commission. The Chairman gave us a concise overview of the history of TEDA, its accomplishments, ongoing initiatives, and future plans. TEDA employees are happy to describe the work done to reclaim the land from salt marches and point to the planned mix of residential, professional, commercial and recreational spaces within TEDA. The picture on the left is the formal picture taken by the TEDA photographer.

After that meeting, and after we posed for pictures in front of the TEDA HQ, we attempted to visit the port, purportedly one of the busiest ports in the world. Unfortunately, the closer we got to the port, the more congested the roads. Eventually, traffic ground to a halt a little over a mile from the port. We gave up our quest to see the port and went back to our hotel. We had to agree that from our perspective, it was a busy place.

After lunch at our hotel, the Renaissance Tianjin, we boarded the minibus to see more of the city on our way to a meeting with official from the Tianjin Binhai new Area, part of the Bohai Rim.

Enterprise Zones are Promising

2008-08-21T12:47:00.000-07:00

Our next stop was Tianjin and TEDA, the Tianjin Economic-technological Development Area. TEDA is about 40 minutes from downtown Tianjian, and about 33 kilometers square. TEDA encompasses a port, business buildings, urban residential areas, and an extensive transportation network - and room for continuing development. The Tianjin harbor is a comprehensive port with a capacity ranking it sixth in the world. It is located on Bohai Bay, which leads to the Bohai Sea, and the Yellow Sea.

Our program, the New York State Small Business Development Center, has a special relationship with TEDA. We are work to find trade opportunities for New York small businesses there and TEDA works to find businesses to locate within its borders. It is a win-win situation for everyone.

The Chinese version of the word TEDA is two words , which is pronounced in roughly the same way as its English counterpart. Its first word means "peace", and the second word means "prosperity". The picture on the left shows our delegation outside TEDA's headquarters. The picture on the right shows some very modern structures just around the corner from TEDA's main office.

On our first night in TEDA, we met Mr. Ni, Vice Chair of TEDA, and Mr. Ji, Director of TEDA's Foreign Affairs Bureau, for dinner at the best hotel in TEDA, the TEDA International Hotel of Tianjin. Mr. Ni welcomed us warmly to TEDA and throughout dinner told us about the history of TEDA and gave us a preview of plans for the future. He was a jovial host, generous and charming.

Most of the land designated as the TEDA was recovered from salt marsh and salt ponds. The developed sections feature modern buildings with lots of green spaces. Those who live and work in TEDA are still inspired by a quote from Deng Xiaoping when he visited the area in 1986 and said "development zones are very promising." The picture on the left shows Jinshui in front of Deng's words. The picture on the right features a large portrait of Deng standing on the land by the sea that would become TEDA. The portrait hangs in Tianjin's exhibition space at TEDA headquarters.

Don't Try Fatigue Driving! Keep Space!

2008-08-21T11:52:00.000-07:00

Between Deyue Lake and Tianjin, we passed farms large and small - rice paddies, tree farms, vegetable fields, and other agricultural land. It seems as if a lot of trees along the highway had been recently planted. As we neared the city, we saw more industrial complexes, complete with smokestacks and large power lines. We also saw more residential skyscrapers and the usual cityscape.

The highway was modern and well marked, and we might have been in any country, except for the language on the road signs, which were in Chinese and English. Some of the driving instructions, such as the ones in the title of this post, were a bit mangled in the translation. There were toll plazas, just like home, though the structures over the plazas were generally much more elaborate than the ones at home. The picture on the right shows the Xianghe Toll Gate on the Jingshen Expressway in Hebei Province.

On our trip to Tianjin, we shared the road with numerous trucks and luxury cars. We noticed that the cars, usually traveling at high speed, often rode on the shoulders and weaved in and out of the columns of slow-moving trucks to achieve maximum forward progress. Driving on the road's shoulder was actually a risky undertaking since the shoulder seemed to be the emergency breakdown lane. The recurring scene was reminiscent of highways at home, especially those approaching big cities. The picture in the middle below is a panoramic view of Tianjin, from the south and west.

Lunch with Madame Ma

2008-08-20T13:27:00.000-07:00

Our last meal with our hosts from Dezhou was at a restaurant on Deyue Lake, which is actually a reservoir. We had lunch with Madame Ma, the executive of the area. In the picture on the left, she is making a toast to John Barber, Evergreen Timber. All the fish we ate at lunch came from the Lake, and was very fresh. The vegetables served also were fresh from fields in the area surrounding the lake. The fish were cooked whole, with various spices, and were served bones and all. Each one was more favorful than the last. One of the platters contained dozens of tiny shrimp cooked until crispy with little seasoning beyond salt and pepper. The meal concluded with a fruit platter featuring fresh watermelon.

On our way to the restaurant, we drove out into Deyue Lake on a long causeway to a picturesque spot with a small pavilion circled with rose bushes. We stopped for a few minutes to take in the scenery and to take some pictures with our Dezhou hosts. On a clear day, it would have been a beautiful place to visit. As you can see from the pictures, there was a lot of low fog over the lake. We then drove along the lakeside for a considerable distance.

Madame Ma was a charming hostess and we all wished we had more time to spend with her. She was delighted to receive an I Love NY button and a US-China flag pin. She graciously invited us to make a return visit to see her again.

Dedicated to a Local Scholar

2008-08-20T12:05:00.000-07:00

The small cultural museum in Lingxian was dedicated to a local scholar (wise man). The grounds, which contained statues, character-etched stones and exhibits, included dozens of rose bushes in full bloom.

One 8 foot tall tablet, with characters etched all over both sides, is housed in the building in the picture on the left. The tablet is more than 600 years old. Our guide informed us it took 30 years to transcribe the characters on the ancient tablet and etch them into a new tablet displayed in a similar pavilion across the courtyard.

The picture on the right shows the statue of the scholar to whom the museum is dedicated. In the picture below the scholar, our host interpreter, Lin Fen and I are taking a close look at the tablet. Other pictures show some of the roses, the main courtyard in the museum, and Lucille posing in front of the pavilion that houses the newer version of the tablet.

Lingxian County with 12 rural communities is a major agricultural county, producing wheat, corn, cotton, soybeans, vegetables and fruits, that also has textile, chemical, machinery, light industry facilities. We saw many roadside stands selling watermelon and other farm products during our ride around the County.

Breakfast with the Mayor

2008-08-19T08:13:00.001-07:00

On June 12th, we had the great honor of dining at breakfast with Mayor Wu at the Meililua Hotel. We ate in the impressive dining room at the hotel, the one with the elaborate turntable. After greeting us warmly, she told us that she would have to say farewell after breakfast. She originally planned to spend the morning with us touring a cultural museum, but had a big project that needed her attention.

Over breakfast, Mayor Wu asked for our impressions of Dezhou, the economic development area and everything we'd seen. We told her that we enjoyed the chance to visit her city and were favorably impressed with the development zones and everything we'd be told about the new city initiatives. We invited the Mayor to visit us in New York so we could reciprocate the wonderful hospitality she and her staff had shown us. She told us that a delegation from Dezhou was preparing for a visit to New York in the fall. In the picture on the left, Jinshui is presenting a message sent by a SUNY campus president to Mayor Wu.

After we finished breakfast, we posed for an official picture with the mayor, along with some informal pictures with some of our new friends. In the picture below, I am posing with Ms Song and Ms Lin from the Foreign Affairs Office of Dezhou Municipal People's Government (Shandong Province).

Respect is Important

2008-08-07T08:28:00.000-07:00

Before we left Albany, on the flight to China, and prior to most meetings in China, our international expert, Mr. Jinshui Zhang, spent some time preparing us for our meetings with our Chinese hosts and the business and economic development experts we would encounter. His instruction had one central theme: respect and courtesy. Some of what we learned was common sense, and echoed lessons from childhood. Other things were new.

One of the first things we discussed was something I learned from my parents. There are many ways in which we show respect for people - especially the people that make time to meet with us. One is the way in which we dress. Jinshui told us that we should expect to wear formal business attire: suits and ties or dresses with good shoes for every occasion except when we were on our own time. For all intents and purposes, we would be "dressed up" for all meals, meetings, and most tours. In the picture at the right, you can see that we are appropriately dressed for a meeting with the Chairman of TEDA - the Tianjian Economic-Technological Development Area.

I had learned the Chinese way of exchanging business cards as a result of meeting the many delegations that had visited our office in Albany. Jinshui reminded all of us to present our business cards using both hands, rather than casually passing them to people or flinging them across the table. He made sure our business cards were printed on both sides, one side in English, the other in Chinese, so the people we met could readily understand our title (our place in our organization), and other pertinent information. When exchanging the cards, we were told to be sure the Chinese side of the card was facing the person receiving it. When receiving a business card, we were instructed to examine the card carefully for a few moments and then place it carefully into a card case or on the table, if we were seated at one. Jinshui said that we should never stuff a business card into our pocket, especially a back pocket, without reading it. That would be considered extremely rude.

We learned there was a protocol for entering a room -our group should enter the meeting room in hierarchical order. Our Chinese hosts would assume that the first of us to enter the room would be the head of our delegation. Jinshui told us that if we had occasion to walk with our hosts on a tour or from one meeting room to another, the head of our delegation should walk next to the number one host. We would show our respect of their practices by acting according to their protocol.

In meetings, we were advised to be attentive, courteous and follow the protocol dictating the the flow of the meeting. When it was our turn to provide information or answer questions, we should speak in short, simple sentences free of jargon and slang. We should pause frequently to let the interpreter - ours or theirs - keep up with our remarks and to enable everyone to understand what you say. Much of this is simple courtesy, but I appreciated the reminder.

To prepare for the trip, I had read about Chinese culture and learned a few words of conversational Chinese. I knew that respecting traditional customs and practices would be important. The background reading helped a lot in understanding the context of our meeings and conversations. My upbringing had trained me to be prepared and patient with people from all parts of the community. This served me well in our travels around China.

Lingxian County - Another Furniture Town

2008-08-01T09:01:00.000-07:00

On the way to Lingxian County (a county in close proximity to Dezhou), we once again saw farmers drying their wheat by the sides of the road. We decided not to eat any wheat products during our trip. The local officials met us at the County Line, and they rode with us on the bus as we entered the county. We were pleased and surprised that there was a personal greeting for us on the local radio. We also were curious about the timing of the remarks that followed. For example, just as we drove past the sign for the economic development area, the broadcaster said, "welcome to the Lingxian economic development zone." Later we realized that the escort car directly in front of us carried the equipment used for the broadcast.

We visited a furniture company that had several people working - a treat, since many of our previous factory visits had occurred during the dragon festival, when all the workers were home spending time with family. We saw people carving, sanding and doing other detail work on headboards, benches, chairs, coffee tables, and other pieces of furniture. We especially liked some chairs with slatted backs. We saw rows and rows of chairs ready for packing crates, and stacks of boxes packed and ready for shipment to many parts of the US and other countries.

After the factory tours and meetings, our next stop was a small museum dedicated to a local scholar.

On the Road Again - Ningjin

2008-08-01T09:00:00.000-07:00

After lunch at the acrobatics school, we boarded the minibus for a trip to the Ningjin economic development area to visit some wood companies. On the ride to Ningjin County, we saw farmers drying wheat and hay along the sides of the main road, in parking lots, on country lanes - wherever the sun touched the ground. Along the way, we saw people raking the wheat into shallow piles for drying, and on our way back to Dezhou later in the day, we saw them raking it up and bagging it for transport. There are three pictures showing wheat along the sides of the road - in one you can see a farmer raking the wheat to spread it out, and in another you can see several bags of wheat ready to be picked up.

In Ningjin County, we saw many contrasting scenes: wide new streets and modern buildings in the industrial zone, acres of farm land with a few farmers and farm animals visible, and narrow streets in the towns crowded with people walking, bicycling, riding motorcycles and driving small trucks. On one street in what was evidently a poorer neighborhood, our hosts told us that the people were cleaning up after a festival. The streets in the towns were lined with many roadside vendors selling watermelon, local vegetables, food prepared over small grills, and every other household and farming implement you can imagine.

That afternoon we visited several furniture and wood processing companies in the Ningjin Industrial Zone. In one small town we stopped at a wood yard. Two men were unloading a good sized truck of pieces of wood, by hand. All around we could see wood stacked for drying.

Later that afternoon, we met with local politicians and economic development officials for discussions similar to those we'd had in previous meetings. The room set-up was familiar: two long table facing each other, with interested individuals (many business owners)seated around the sides. Once again, there was a lot of interest in seeing the pictures from Evergreen Timber, and many business cards were exchanged. In preparation for the meeting, our hosts, ever considerate, arranged for a few minutes rest at a local hotel and provided some fresh bottles of water. We certainly appreciated the water and the rest.

After the meeting we enjoyed dinner at the Ningjin Hotel with local officials, including the Communist Party Chairman of the area. He was quite a jovial man, and encouraged us to try his favorite, dried donkey meat. I was surprised to find it was actually pretty good - though not as good as the donkey I'd tried at lunch earlier in the day. Most of the entrees were familiar and we enjoyed the dinner amid numerous toasts.

Home of Chinese Acrobatics - Wuqiao

2008-08-01T08:10:00.000-07:00

On our way to visit several wood processing companies in Ningjin, our hosts had a special treat - a short visit to the home of Chinese acrobatics, Wuqiao. Acrobatics is a pearl in the treasure house of the traditional Chinese performing arts. The acrobatic art has been developing in China for more than two thousand years. We learned there are a lot of acrobatics villages in China, but in terms of the history, the influence among people, and the influence, both domestic and abroad, Wuqiao is the most famous one. The gate in the picture on the left is the entrance to the acrobatic school we visited in Wuqiao.

We were led on a tour of the school, from one courtyard to the next, and enjoyed several performances. We saw a series of traditional skills demonstrated - card tricks, sleight of hand, tumbling, magic, balancing, plate spinning, aerialists, and cycling in a round cage, to name a few. The performers were varied in age, some as young as 6 or 7, and the eldest appeared to be in their 40s or 50s. The picture on the right shows a young acrobat rolling a huge ceramic vase with her feet. It took the four men in the picture to lift it into position. Later, they would take it down, help a large man from the audience climb inside, and hoist it onto the acrobat's feet once again.

In one of the courtyards, John from our group was selected from the audience to participate in a sleight of hand trick by Mr. Ghost Hands. His name comes from the fact that his hands move so fast you're not sure that you see them move. In the picture on the left, John is looking at the performer in amazement after realizing that somehow Mr. Ghost Hands transferred the balls from his own hands into one of John's fists.

There were several different venues at the school, each designed to showcase the performers - courtyards, small rooms in buildings, a tent, and so on. The tumblers were in two places, in a big red tent, and in a building that had a mural depicting acrobats from earlier times. In some of the performances, we saw an experienced performer and a novice working together.

A simple lunch was served in a plain dining room on the grounds of the school. We were served a speciality of the area - donkey meat, along with fresh cucumbers and greens, and local fish. During lunch, a couple of performers displayed their sleight of hand skills. In the picture below, the woman in the white tunic is giving our group a close-up view of her trick with rubber bands. The visit to the school was another lesson in Chinese culture. We learned that ancient acrobatics was handed down from generation to generation. Today, acrobatics has developed into a kind of performance art. In the past forty years, many Chinese acrobatic troupes have toured more than 100 countries and regions of the world and promoted friendship and cultural exchanges. You may be able to see a performance in your area at a county or regional fair.

Formal Meeting with Vice Mayor Li

2008-07-31T15:00:00.000-07:00

After lunch at the Biology Park, we returned to the hotel and prepared for a formal meeting led by the Vice Mayor of Dezhou, Mr. XiXin Li. The room was set with two parallel tables, equipped with microphones in front of the chairs where the principal speakers would sit. As usual, there was a bottle of water and tea cup in front of each place at the table. Our delegation sat on one side, facing the Vice Mayor and local government officials from Dezhou and the surrounding area. There was red banner hung on the wall at one end of the room to commemorate the signing of a strategic cooperative agreement between the city of Dezhou and Farmingdale State University. Just in front of the banner, there was a small table that would be used during the signing ceremony.

The meeting followed a protocol that we experienced in every formal meeting. The Vice Mayor began the meeting by introducing everyone at his table. When he was done, Jinshui introduced everyone at our table. Once the introductions were out of the way, Vice Mayor Li provided an overview of the economic and social development of Dezhou City. Our host interpreter, Lin, did the translating duties for the Vice Mayor and the gentlemen on that side of the table. A few of the gentlemen from the Dezhou area spoke about their area of interest. Jinshui interpreted what we said into Mandarin. I went first, talking about the SBDC and the purpose of our trip. Jinshui said his piece about the International Business Development program, then Lucille talked about Farmingdale regional center, and John followed up with some words about Evergreen Timber and his desire to trade with Chinese companies.

Then Lucillle, on behalf of the Farmingdale SBDC, signed an agreement for future cooperation with the city of Dezhou. The picture at the beginning of the post shows the table set up for the signing ceremony.

After the hubub of the signing died down, John and Mark distributed their brochure, price list and business cards. John brought out his photo albums and shared pictures of his log yard and different types of wood wtih the assembled businessmen. There seemed to be a lot of interest in the hardwoods Evergreen Timber harvests - hard & soft maple, beech, birch, white & red oak, etc.

We ate dinner with the Vice Mayor at one of the dining rooms in the hotel, then our hosts treated us to an after-dark tour of Dezhou. The Vice Mayor declined to join us. On our drive around the city, we stopped at the lake at the center of town, and then took a short boat ride on a canal decorated with neon. Actually, we saw a lot of neon around the new downtown area.

Mei Li Hua in Dezhou

2008-07-30T12:44:00.000-07:00

Our first full day in Dezhou was a busy one. We had breakfast in the same room in which we had dinner the evening before. I think it is a room for special banquets. Did I mention that the table seated 10 people comfortably? It had a huge, motorized turntable in the middle, and was equipped with artificial flowers and fountains. It was a bit distracting.

After breakfast, we met in the lobby and boarded the minibus. First on the agenda was a tour of the city, both old and new sections. The tour included brief visits to three city parks. One of the parks was built along a branch of the Yellow River, and featured a large checkers board in which each of the checkers contained a historical fact about Dezhou.

We spent the next part of the morning in the Dezhou Economic Development Zone. Our first stop was a high tech incubator. The incubator director took us on a tour of the facility and introduced us to a couple of tenants. One was developing a new kind of toilet that uses a fraction of the water used in current toilets. The other was developing a kind of water purifier that used vibrations to break large water molecules into smaller ones. Their marketing pitch said that the water helped get clothes cleaner and was more easily absorbed by the human body. As we expected, there was innovation on demonstration at the incubator. Next, we visited three businesses in the Zone - a solar energy company, a filter press manufacturer, and an air conditioning manufacturer. The visits rounded out a full morning. On the way to lunch at the cafe in the Dayandao Biology Park, our hosts pointed out an impressive structure, the site of an international conference on solar energy scheduled for 2010.

After all the evidence of technological advancement, when I returned to my room to get ready for dinner later that day, I noticed the following on the back of the door to my suite -

Security Scattering Sretch Map

Dear customer: When the suddenness or fire alarm happen, please keep your head and live up to the two ways

1. Please dial 85110 or 85119 immediately;

2. Please according to the green direction channels what in the evacuate map to the safety exit, or following the waiter to give away the locale.
Meilihua Hotel

Rules around the Table

2008-07-25T13:31:00.000-07:00

While we were traveling to Dezhou, Jinshui told us that some things would be more formal there than in Huzhou. For example, he explained about protocol at the dinner table.

First, where you sit. There is a strict seating arrangement - the number one host sits at the top of the table. The number one guest sits at his or her right. The number two host sits at the bottom of the table, directly across from the number one host. The number two guest sits at his or her left. The interpreter for the host sits on the right side of the number one guest. And so on. In the picture on the left, I am sitting next to the Vice Mayor of Dezhou - the number one host at the meal - and Jinshui is on his left.

We learned that you can usually tell where the number one host will sit by looking at the way the table is set. The napkin is the key. The napkin at the number one host's place might be a different color, or it might be folded differently from the others. In the picture on the right, which was an informal lunch, we named Jinshui the number one host, and he sat at the place with the napkin folded like two fans, a much more elaborate presentation than the other napkins on the table.

Second, who toasts first. The number one host always makes the first toast near the beginning of the meal to welcome the guests to the table. The number one guest should make a reciprocal toast soon after to acknowledge the generosity of the host in inviting the party to the meal. The number two host makes the next toast, then the number three host, then the number four host, and so on. At some meals, there were as many people wandering around the table to make toasts as there are people eating dinner. At formal meals, most of the toasting is done by the hosts. In less formal settings, the guests can join in the toasting melee.

In the picture on the left, Lucille Wesnofske is toasting Mr. Sun, the number one host, late in the meal. In the picture on the right, Madame Jun Yun Ma, the Lingxian county executive and number two host, toasts John Barber. That lunch was at a restaurant near a reservoir in which much of our lunch (various varieties of local fish) grew to catchable size.

Third, the order of the meal. First the waitresses bring appetizer type dishes - fresh cucumbers, steamed lettuce, dried meat, and other dishes like that - and put them on the turntable. Then they generally bring individual cups of soup to every diner, often a sweet soup to begin the meal. If you are the number one guest, I learned, it is wise not to get too involved in eating until the number one host makes the first toast. You probably don't want to stand for the toast with a mouthful of food. Throughout the meal, waitresses bring most dishes family style and put them on the turntable. Gradually, the appetizer dishes, if not emptied, get pushed into the center of the table.

You'll find that the more elaborate meals are brought to the table later in the meal. Some times it is a large tureen with chicken or tofu or fish in a broth. Other times it may be duck with scallions, sauce, and pancakes. During the meal, the waitresses will bring individual portions of some dishes, especially soup to your place. At some meals I found I had three glasses (water, tea and wine), plus a soup bowl and one or two plates in front of me.

You can tell when a meal is in its final stages when the waitresses serve noodles, rice or dumplings. The second to the last thing that appears on the table is one of those three things. And last, but not least, the dessert is brought out, which invariably includes watermelon. That was my favorite part of the meal! The watermelon was usually served with other fruit, lychee, pears, other types of melon, berries, etc.

Fourth, can you just say no? Jinshui told us that often the host sitting next to us would serve us a portion of food from the communal dish. This did happen to me often, and fortunately it was always something I liked. I also found that if I ate all of it, the host would spoon another portion on my plate when the turntable brought the dish around again. I learned to eat most of it, but not all. I asked if I could refuse to try something, and he said, "you can....." I filled in the blank - ...but you might insult your host. I tried everything, even donkey, and survived.

The meal ends when the number one host stands up and makes the last toast of the meal. At the point, everyone drops his or her utensils and walks away from the table.

From the Minibus

2008-07-20T12:00:00.000-07:00

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.

If it's Monday, it must be Dezhou

2008-07-18T06:48:00.000-07:00

Our hosts in Dezhou were every bit as hospitable as our hosts in Huzhou. A delegation of four greeted us at the Jinan Yaoqiang International airport, relieved us of our luggage, and showed us out to a minibus in the parking lot. Once every bag and every person was on the bus, our hosts handed out bottles of water. Dave Zhang, the Vice Director of the Bureau of Foreign Trade & Economic Cooperation for Dezhou and Lin Feng, our interpreter from the Foreign Affairs Office, cordially welcomed us to Dezhou and gave us an introduction to the city we would be visiting.

Traffic was heavier on the highway than it had been between Shanghai and Huzhou, especially truck traffic. We weaved around truck after truck along the four lane highway as we tried to travel at a good speed. After an hour of this, our hosts began to grow anxious about our relatively slow progress. They were worried that we would be late for our meeting with Mayor Cuiyin Wu. Evidently we were not only late for dinner, but also the press - there was a press conference scheduled for shortly after our arrival. The picture to the left of the text is Madame Mayor Cuiyin Wu, a very charming woman that we were delighted to meet.

At the outskirts of Dezhou, we picked up a police escort. Then, as we drove farther into the city, we noticed that there were policemen at every intersection. We weren't sure if the escort and other policemen were stationed along the route for us, but our hosts assured us that indeed they were. It was a novel experience for all of us (except Jinshui). While we had a police escort throughout our travels in and around Dezhou, that was the only time there was such a police presence at the intersections.

As the minibus stopped under the porte-cochere of the elegant Meilihua hotel, we were hurriedly escorted to the elevators and to our rooms. We weren't too rushed to appreciate the big red banner of welcome in the lobby. We had about 20 minutes to change into formal clothes, collect our thoughts, and go to meet the Mayor. A note to anyone planning to join a future mission with the SBDC - this was not an unusual occurrence. Be sure to pack formal clothes that can be worn right out of the suitcase without ironing, and be aware that you might have a formal meeting in the presence of the press on short notice.

Jinshui told us later that we all looked good on TV.

Domestic Flight on Shenzhen Airlines

2008-07-08T09:26:00.000-07:00

The airport in Hangzhou - Xiaoshan International -was bright & clean, and the waiting rooms were relatively quiet. We checked in without any problem at the Shenzhen Airlines counter, passed through Customs and security in good time, and went to find our gate. I was surprised to see fresh fruit at some of the kiosks in the waiting areas beyond security. There were a few people smoking, but not so much that the smell was noticeable. I was amused to hear an announcement repeated several times, "Flight number ### has been changed ... due to arrangement of the airline." It is different from any announcement I've ever heard in an airport, and a reminder that we were not in the US.

I found out later that this airport is considered a Garden Airport because of its lush setting and many flower gardens. It is also one of the most important territorial airports in China - and the eighth busiest airport in the county in 2007. The airport is on the southern shore of the Qiantang River and 27 kilometers from downtown Hangzhou.

Before leaving on the trip, I had heard a lot of stories from folks in my office who had travelled to China. One of the things I dreaded most, as a result of their stories, was a domestic flight. I was not looking forward to air fouled by cigarette smoke on obsolete and unsafe planes. Since my expectations were so low, I was pleasantly surprised to find that taking a domestic flight in China was comparable to taking the same type of flight in the US. I did smell cigarette smoke once during the flight, but that was all. The plane seemed to be in good condition, the safety demonstration and recitation was similar if not the same, and the amount of leg room was about the same. It was a good flight.

On the plane I had some time to consider our mission so far. I realized that the trip was a learning experience on a number of levels - business & economic development, cultural, culinary, etiquette, and so on. Our hosts in Huzhou were as enthusiastic about sharing their cultural heritage as they were about describing their economic development accomplishments and plans. Several of the people we met in Huzhou mentioned the description of the area by a famous poet, Dai Biaoyuan. His words:

Mountains Standing Around Tian Mu Mouintain,

Rivers Running from Tai Lake,

I traveled so many places along Yangtze,

Huzhou is the only place where I'd like to live.

This picture is characteristic of many Huzhou landscapes and shows the mountains in the poet's verse.

We felt a strong personal connection to the people we met in Huzhou, something that I did not expect. The picture below and to the left shows Lucille with Mr. Zhou, Vice Director, Administrative Committee of the Huzhou Economic Development Zone. The picture below and to the right shows Mr. Sun, Director, Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of Huzhou, and John Barber, Evergreen Timber.

West Lake Landscape Spot

2008-07-08T09:23:00.000-07:00

Our official agenda for June 8th included two items, a tour of Hangzhou landscape spot and departure for Xiao Shan Airport for our flight to Jinan. Most of us had read about the large public park in Hangzhou and were eager to experience it. We grabbed umbrellas from our hotel room closets and loaded into taxicabs for a short drive to West Lake, the landscape spot.

West Lake is to Hangzhou what Central Park is to New York City - except there is more water in the largest public park in Hangzhou. We toured the park on a rainy day, as you can see from the pictures. In spite of the rain, there were many people strolling the walks, taking pictures of their companions, dancing in pavilions, and enjoying boat rides. In fact, because of the dragon holiday, there were many families with children in the park the day we were there. Some of the people we saw were dressed in special outfits, probably for an event related the holiday. Lucille took this picture of a little girl dressed in a red traditional dress at one of the many pavilions.

Mr. Huang, the business owner whose factory we visited the day before, joined us in our West Lake excursion. When the rain grew to more than a drizzle, he hailed a small bus for a tour around the lake. This suited our need to stay dry and to see as much as possible in the limited time available. The picture on the left shows Jinshui, umbrella in hand, sitting next to the driver/tour guide.

The guide, speaking in Chinese, probably told us many interesting things about the history of the park. Our hosts shared some of the facts, but not everything, because after a while it became apparent that they would not be able to keep up with his recitation. We were happy to see the sights and hear about the highlights - descriptions of statues, temples, and other sights.

There are numerous pavilions around the lake and many, many lotus blossoms, as you can see in the picture on the right. We saw several different kinds of watercraft, from small to large, simple to ornate. The simple boats in the picture below carried just one or two passengers besides the pilot. Other larger boats seemed to have the capacity to carry dozens of passengers. One of them, elaborately carved and painted to resemble a gold dragon, was probably used for dinner cruises and other special excursions on the lake.

After making our way around the lake, we returned to the hotel and piled into taxicabs to drive to the airport. It was raining even harder as we drove past high rise residential and business buildings. In the limited visibility I thought "This could be any modern city in any country."

Hangzhou - a big city

2008-07-02T09:00:00.000-07:00

Though Hangzhou is not one of the largest cities in China, at 3 million plus it is considerably larger than the other places we've visited in Zhejiang Province. We drove from Anji to Hangzhou, past tea terraces, rice paddies, and other farmed fields, as well as houses in a variety of sizes and styles. As we reached the outskirts and drove through the city to reach our hotel, we saw much that reminded us of NYC. In fact, the section in which our hotel, the Zhejiang Grand Narada, was located reminded me of some of the neighborhoods in Queens. There was lots of greenery and wrought iron fences.

We had dinner in the hotel with Mr. Huang, Mr. Ye, and our drivers. Dinner that night was in one of the hotel restaurants, rather than in a private room. Mr. Huang and Mr. Ye, our hosts, selected entrees for the table, something we had come to expect. As usual, there were chicken, fish, tofu and vegetable options, along with the noodles, soup, and fruit that graced every dinner table on the trip.

June 8th was a transitional day, one of the few we would have during our trip. We thoroughly enjoyed the breakfast buffet in the hotel, which included many western options, and then prepared for our morning outing.

Mr. Huang's Factory

2008-07-01T08:53:00.000-07:00

One of our business visits in Anji was to Mr. Huang's leather factory. Unfortunately, because it was during the dragon holiday, we could not see any manufacturing in progress. We met in Mr. Huang's office, which was spacious, and enjoyed the wide open windows, which provided a spectactular view of mountains in the distance and the factory grounds just below and across the property. Mr. Huang is a serial entrepreneur, with several businesses, and he was interested in talking to John and Mark about their timber business. In the picture on the right, Weidong Ye, one of our escorts from Huzhou, and Mr. Huang listen to John as he describes the pictures they are seeing in the Evergreen Timber photo album. John assembled pictures from his yard, the forest, and of a special operation in which logs were lifted out of virtually inaccessible places by helicopter. The pictures feature the types of wood Evergreen Timber sells - maple, cherry, birch, oak, and so on. The photo album was an important feature during our meetings with business owners.

After the meeting and picture viewing session, Mr. Huang led us on a walking tour of his factory. The buildings were all pink, as you can see in the picture on the left. The factory complex was different from other places we visited in that it included an apartment building for the workers, a swimming pool and basketball court for their use, and an extensive garden with rock formations. Mr. Huang told us that he collects interesting rocks, as he showed us around his garden. The water you can see in the picture is not the swimming pool, but a large koi pond that is located in front of the main building. Mr. Huang's office overlooks the pond and gardens.

Before we left Mr. Huang's factory, we posed for a group picture in front of one of his rock formations. From l. to r., Jinshui, John, Lucille, Mr. Huang, Mrs. Huang, Mary, Mark. Our next stop is Hangzhou, a city that is considerably larger than Anji and Huzhou.

Learning About Bamboo

2008-06-27T12:02:00.001-07:00

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

2008-06-25T08:45:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-25T06:44:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-23T13:11:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-23T12:47:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-23T11:35:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-23T10:45:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-22T06:37:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-22T06:13:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-22T06:06:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-02T13:28:00.000-07:00

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.