Day one in the books
China Blog - day 1
Thus far china has been quite an experience. Yesterday, we had the privilege to meet with a high ranking government official - Dr. Xia, the director of the Beijing science park. The degree of guang xi was evident in the photos he showed us while giving us an explanation of what the science park is and how it plays a global role in entrepreneurship incubation.
Transitioning from the meeting with dr. Xia to eating lunch in a hutong gave us a great relative comparison of the social structure of china. Once lunch had finished, a few classmates and I went off the beaten path and wondered down a hutong. This gave us an even more dramatic image of the social disparity some Chinese people are experiencing - literally kids sitting on piles of trash inside “apartments” that are nothing more than small rooms with multiple families living together. As an after lunch snack, we ate scorpion. Yes, that’s right, scorpion! Funny thing, it was listed as 7 yuan for 3 scorpions, but as soon as they saw that we were American, the price was jacked up to 20 yuan, and they told our mandarin speaking classmate that there was no negotiation. It wasn’t bad (except for the stinger poking my tongue)’ it tasted like chicken.
The Hutong school was great, but I felt I got a greater feel for the real chinese experience by taking a tour around the local neighborhood with one of the professors the neighborhood was literally like a small town - grocery, policy, laundry, restaurants, and various other services, Crammed into a small city block. It seems very communal with a high degree of cooperation between the school and locals.
I’ve never been more inclined to buy things than while we were at the Silk Market. The rule that you offer 10 percent of their asking price and you negotiation up to around 20 percent is no joke. Ilya and I negotiated for a pair of some pretty sweet Beats Headphones, but by far the longest negotiation was with James and the watch lady. I took a good 30 minutes to get her from 480 yuan to 60 yuan for a Tag Heuer watch and a Rolex (knockoffs of course). I’m a little worried about how long these goods will last but hey, the experience was cool. I really blows my mind that there’s a legal market for fluted it goods - only in china. The ego stroking that goes on in that place isn’t bad either, and James was almost kidnapped by three small Chinese girls.
While in the silk market we met a fellow American that plays basketball for the university of Kentucky. We talked about how everyone asks him if he plays basketball. It’s no joke, Chinese people are amazed by tall people that look like they play basketball. While walking through the market, Ilya spots someone that keeps looking at us who seemed really excited. He identified them as Russian and acknowledged them (he speaks Russian). Apparently, she and her friend were from Siberia and had never actually seen an American. I’ve never seen someone so excited - literally all giggly with the hands covering the mouth. All it took was one wave to make her squeal! Apparently, most people from eastern russia learn about America and Americans but never actually meet one so it was a great treat for them.
Outside of the actuall class structure, a few other classmates and I tried out the sauna at the hotel. When we asked if we could cool down in the cold pool, they told us we had to strip down. No thanks. Dinner was at the KFC across the street. I know, “sooooo American”. But, it was late and we were starving. Uhhhh, not much else to report at this point.
All in all, today was a great way to experience the two extremes of the Chinese social structure - from the high ranking government official and high rise offices to the very poor but culturally rich hutong ally ways. I can’t wait to see what else china has to offer. A couple of other thoughts; this iPad is coming in extremely handy. Hopefully I can post some photos soon.
