Last visit in Beijing

Took the subway to the Summer Palace this morning. The views were incredible, and the air was relatively clear.

The number of tourists was incredible, as was the number of people in the subway.

Subway

It gets a little crowded in Beijing.

CRSB - SAB Miller

One of the highlights of the trip. . . Jack Knight provided some fantastic insight into SAB Miller's Snow Beer JV with Hong Kong based and state owned CSE.

SAB is a minority partner. Their margins are lower than in their other businesses but the volumes are so massive that the business does very well for them. They've grown from 3 to 80 breweries through greenfield development and M&A, and they're fantastically positioned as a market leAder in rural areas and 2nd tier cities.

Adfaith

Afaith gave us an introduction to their Chinese consulting business today. They're styled somewhat like a Chinese McKinsey, providing a range of consulting services along with quarterly publishings (see Marine Corps book photo).

Cold Stone

In case you needed it, this is the WIFI password at cold stone creamery in the Village Shopping District in Beijing.

Meltwater

I'll have to be careful about what I say in this post since Meltwater mines Internet postings and news with their software (just kidding).

Our visit with Meltwater showed very clearly for me the vast opportunity presented by markets in China, and that good old fashioned hard-work combined with talent drives a business's success here. The local sales team was clearly very capable and proud of the business it was developing for the company.

Forbidden City

We toured the vast expanse of the Forbidden City yesterday. It was an impressive site. My favorite part was simply observing the Chinese tourists. I got a glimpse into what they must feel like coming to the National Mall in the US.

Beilun area by ningbo's port

Shipping port model before the port visit

Food!

Discussion on international business and manufacturing

Manufacturing equipment, CNC machines

Manufacturing in china, material transport

Learning about china business with the china southern railway group at the Norwegian industrial park

Found a cold box for air separation!

Product adjustment for the local market

Shanghai has such a variety of age and height for buildings

Enjoying the transit

Infrastructure for such a populated city

It's difficult to not notice all the power lines around the country

Very Successful brand in china

Shanghai sites

Shanghai flee market, getting some good negotiations practice

Train Ride

Last night was our overnight train ride from shanghai to Beijing. Personally, I had the best night of sleep of the whole trip. Many members of the group spent a few hours at the train restaurant and had difficulty sleeping.

The countryside was impressive to behold at 200 kmph. This picture is our group congregating at the station in Beijing after we arrived.

Shanghai

This city stretches on forever. One of the neatest things I experienced was getting to the bridge pictured here. The city is crisscrossed by massive elevated expressways. To get to this bridge we went 720 degrees up a corkscrew of three-lane traffic both ways hundreds of feet into the sky.

Cab drivers here just wedge their vehicles in to spaces and go. It's a continuous game of Chicken that the cabbies always win. I cringed many times, especially when we came with mm's of Bentleys and other high end cars.

Shopping in Shanghai

We spent some time in a flea market in Beijing today. We started in some small stalls. I got a nice silk shirt for my daughter. We moved onto a large cluster of old style buildings made into a large outdoor mall. Some shops appeared to be sole-proprietorships, others were groups of items owned by individuals who shared a cut with the shop owner.

Overnight train to Beijing

We're waiting for the overnight train to Beijing after an afternoon wandering the shopping areas of Shanghai. It was a warm sunny day and the group's bargain shoppers had a chance to use their negotiating skills.

Beer game with professor Yao

Professor Yao had told his MBA403 students after playing the beer game in his class that if any students ran into him while at a restaurant or bar and reminded him of the game, he would buy them a beer. So here are John and I in Shanghai with our beer from Professor Yao!

Dow Corning

Had a great visit to Dow Corning's Science and Technology Center in Shanghai today. The company's reputation truly is well deserved. The multinational values of the corporation, through great effort by the company's leadership, are not eroded at all. My guess is that we would have difficulty telling a plant in Europe or the US apart from the China operation.

Lehigh at the great wall

A beautiful morning after the rain for the great wall

Nottingham Joint Case Study

Our final day in Ningbo started with a joint case study project with a group of high-flyer mid-management employees of state-owned Chinese Southern Rolling-Stock (CSR). They make all the rail equipment for China, including the high speed trains.

The case study was engaging and focused predominantly on managing multicultural projects. The best part of the day was the interaction with the Chinese mangers. We were interested in learning from them, and they were interested in learning from us.

We ended our Ningbo trip at the Nordic Industrial Park, which was a cluster of western (predominantly Nordic) businesses in a park owned by a group of Norwegian investors.

We're now on our way by bus to Shanghai.

Walmart Supercenter in Ningbo

Quite an experience. . . I sought candy for my son and came to find I has selected some dry beef snacks. It is really quite an amazing marketplace. There are dried goods (like the ducks below), instead of freezer products. There's a number of similar things, such as a restaurant up front, a number of Great Value products, etc., but for the most part the store is unrecognizable.

Great Wall

Just had to post this Great Wall pic. . . Turns put that we had what locals are saying was the most picturesque day of the year on the wall. The thunderstorm battered down all the pollution.

Visit with BEIFA

We had a wonderful visit with BEIFA today. VP Hans Chen spoke at length about the company's strategy to respond to labor price increases and shortages, as well as its supply chain business and retail relationships. He had some fantastic insight for the group on his business. In mind his talk alone made the trip.

We also toured the company's stationary design and supply centers with Nina Jingxia Zhou.

Ningbo Port

The drive to the port today was unbelievable. Mile after mile we passed complexes of half completed skyscrapers and empty high rise apartment complexes, seemingly abandoned elevated expressway projects. The scale of development is unreal. The lack of people to inhabit the development is perplexing.

Ningbo Port was equally impressive in scale. During our visit the port seemed under-utilized, yet there's several additional multi-billion dollar berths under development.

It's becoming clear that the Chinese believe in "If you build it, they will come."

On the move, part 2

On the move

Many modern designs at the business buildings

Many logistics just moving this curious group around

Imagine a company with about 10,000 different products!

Beautiful lunch display at a high end branded hojo

Worldly discussions

Dining and discussion

Sofitel in Ningbo

We arrived in Ningbo yesterday afternoon. I sat next to a guy from Vancouver and his Chinese girlfriend on the flight. He's here teaching English, and we had a great conversation about his experience, punctuated by some great cultural tips from his girlfriend. She's a native of Ningbo.

Upon arrival, We drove immediately by bus to our hotel, Sofitel, which is operated by a French company. Ningbo has grown dramatically over the last four years. A new expressway is under construction to the airport. Blocks of skyscrapers have been raised throughout the city, with most lightly inhabited. We toured the Nottingham campus and then ate dinner at an international restaurant in a business district called "Manhattan" (again largely empty).

A few of us went out to a bar with our host, Professor Hilton, after dinner. We went to a bar in the "foreigners" district called the Office. It's owned by a Texan. If the European football championships hadn't been the main focus of entertainment in the bar, i could have sworn we were in the US.

Now if's time for day 3.

Sent from my iPad

Checking out some local merchants

China landscape as seen through a water distribution spout in the great wall

Technology impacts even at the great wall

Chatting at the school house

Great Wall Picture

Arrival @ Matianyu

We arrived at our first destination last night, the Brickyard at Matianyu.  

Unfortunately a nasty Thunderstorm (it was pitch black at 4 in the afternoon) rolled in and pushed back our Great Wall tour to this morning.

Dinner last night was fantastic.  We sat around a big lazy Susan and got a tom of food.

We have breakfast the Great Wall and a flight to Ningbo this morning.

--
Matt Tripoli
(484) 366-5783
matthew.tripoli@gmail.com

Boarding our flight. . .