Business Monday : China

China - Business Monday 

As published in the Culpeper Star Exponent March 21, 2011

I am writing this on Friday March 18th, my sixth day in China, and by now I have arrived back in the US.  I have been touring with the American Chamber of Commerce Executives on a trip that packed what seems like 12 days of itinerary into a 9 day trip.  We toured 4 major cites, taking in some of the main tourist sites while meeting business and government officials along the way. 
We landed in Beijing Sunday night, then to dinner for our first authentic Chinese food experience, and then to the hotel. The tour included some of the finest hotels in China.
 Our first morning in China was greeted by a US Embassy official to brief us on the Chinese economy. This was great way to prepare us for what we would see in the following days. His presentation was titled "Where we are and where we are going" and included statistical discussions of "the good,, the bad, and the ugly". 
While in Beijing, we visited The Forbidden City, Tianaman Square, and the Great Wall. In addition we visited a few business locations for products that were unique to China. My favorite was the Great Wall. I was able to climb a rather tall section of the wall. We were given 2 hours at the site. I was able to climb approximately 2000 stairs in the first 45 minutes. The sight was remarkable from the top. The great wall lining up and down the adjacent mountains told a story of China that is worth the trip. There were easier sections to climb. This one happened to be an hour west the center of Beijing. 

After two days in Beijing we went onto the Art and Cultural center of Southern China, Souzhou which means Silk Place and known for its historic silk industry. We arrived in Souzhou by way of a flight to Shanghai. Beginning in June, there will be a high speed rail option connecting Beijing to Shanghai in 4 hours, the same amount of time it takes to check into the airport and fly two hours. The silk factory tour was especially interesting in Souzhou. 

We made our way from Souzhou to Hangzhou the following day. Our evening in Hangzhou included an elaborate dinner with the Vice Mayor of Hangzhou and a large team of Economic Development Professionals. Our group included over 50 Chamber of Commerce Executives from around the US. They treated us with what felt like a state dinner and presentation. I was especially pleased when one of the ranking government economic development officials said that "Virginia is highly regarded in Hangzhou". This was the business highlight of this trip, Hangzhou is city of approximately 7 million people. Their economic development team is the best that I have ever seen in action. 

I will be reporting more in subsequent articles. Seeing China in a rapidly developing stage is remarkable.