Proof That I Ate a Scorpion

I stole these photos from someone! Funny though, right?

Dongguan, Day 2

Our trip to Dongguan was primarily to visit with Bernhardt Furniture, a company with strong ties to ASU and with operations in China. The Bernhardt office is located in the Sofitel resort, ultimately making it feasible for us to stay there, as well as very convenient to meet with them.  After a wonderful, relaxing night with the MBAs poolside, we woke up and enjoyed the most extensive breakfast spread ever. Calling it a buffet would not do this breakfast justice because there was fresh juice, homemade yogurt, and an array of my favorite cheeses accompanied by fresh bread. Great start!

We met up with our host, Steve, and boarded the bus to go visit the factory where Bernhardt furniture is manufactured. Lacquer Works is a Taiwanese company that operates in Dongguan and is rented by Bernhardt to do its manufacturing. They also produce other notable North Carolina brands. I never previously considered manufacturing interesting, however visiting the plant was a very cool experience. I definitely have a new interest in and appreciation for the manufacturing process. Maybe that’s in my future?

After the tour, we had a spicy lunch provided by Bernhardt, which was delicious and interesting as usual. As someone considering working abroad, it was nice having the opportunity to talk with professionals about their experiences landing a job and working internationally.

We also had our first free night, which was awesome as there had hardly been a moment to spare up until this point. Chinese food is delicious and unique, however after a week of solid Chinese food everyone agreed that a change was in order. While it was hardly the BEST choice, we ended up at some sort of Tex-Mex restaurant with overpriced, mediocre food (but it was totally perfect). It turns out that the place is owned by a guy from High Point, NC, small world huh? We had hoped that this connection would have landed us some free drinks, but alas Mr. High Point was not overly nostalgic about his old stomping grounds. To try and experience a little bit of Dongguan we went out to a club where there was a super cool chick DJ and we were the only non- Chinese. It seemed like a totally great place but Alex and I were pooped so we called it an early night and I enjoyed a wonderful night sleep back at the hotel. 

Despite these safety precautions, we used no safety equipment nor did any of the workers

I know we are all used to seeing this in the States, however I did see a lot of 'made in the USA' in China

Alex and I at a pretty site in Dongguan

The Art of Business In China and I Ate A Scorpion

Monday, March 12th

Sunday was basically given over to touring and shopping and since we are MBAs we had to do something businessy...just kidding the trip actually was very business oriented but in a fun way (yes, business can be interesting and/or fun). The morning began with a visit to Lenovo (which bought IBM's computer segment), a very prominent computer company and especially successful in China. We toured the manufacturing facility (which unfortunately does not operate on Mondays) and saw how the production takes place as well as their extremely sophisticated warehousing system. Though I would never call myself a tech savvy person or really interested in the least, it was very interesting and exciting to be invited into such a large, successful company.

After a lunch interlude, we once again boarded the bus and headed to the US Embassy in Beijing. I was skeptical about this visit, why it was really applicable, and how boring it would be, HOWEVER I was definitely wrong because the presentation we received was not only interesting but informative. I had no idea that it was the job of the embassy to provide support for businesses looking to expand into China and to help build business relationships. Hearing about business in China was definitely eye opening and made a lot of misconceptions apparent to me. It also reignited my interest in government work, specifically the Department of State.

To celebrate our last night in Beijing, Dr. Cazier and Dr. Vannoy planned a dinner at the most famous Beijing Duck restaurant in the city.  Pardon me for not recalling the name as it is in Chinese and I could never pronounce or spell it anyway. Our Chinese friends from the first day were also invited, heightening the experience. I consider myself somewhat of a foodie and am always interested in trying new things but there are items that I am just unfamiliar with, duck being one of them. I have never been opposed to the water fowl, the opportunities to eat it have just been few and far between. Needless to say, I was eager to sink my teeth into the juicy, crispy, orange duck. A flock of perfectly cooked ducks were wheeled out on carts and chopped into perfectly consistent pieces. The duck is meant to be eaten in pancakes with a sauce and some slivered onion (almost identical to the way moo shoo is served). It was fab, I ate with abandon and was stuffed by the time I realized there were several more courses to come. The rest were all duck dishes equally as good as the Beijing duck and I wholeheartedly wished to be like a cow with multiple stomachs. Then the unexpected arrived, a plate of fried scorpions complete with stingers. I was not convinced of the necessity to eat one of the spindly creatures but Alex implored and played the "you're in China card". I gave in because she was right, I would have totally regretted that! While it was horrifying to put into my mouth, I can honestly say it didn't taste bad. After initially being poked by the stinger, I crunched up his little body legs and all.

And that, ladies and gentleman, is how I ate a scorpion and maybe enjoyed it (just a little).

Exhaustion, The Forbidden City, and Impulse Buying

Sunday, March 11^th

I stayed up entirely too late on Saturday night and woke up exhausted on Sunday morning. After rushing through breakfast, I jumped on the bus and we headed to the Forbidden City. Beijing this time of year is cold and most of the time I was chilled, even wearing my down jacket. The morning at the Forbidden City was particularly frigid, making the stroll through the gates a little tough to enjoy.  We started by passing through Tianamen Square, one of the busiest places in Beijing and the notorious site of peaceful rebellion. From there we entered the city with its traditional Chinese architecture and courtyard after courtyard surrounded by high red walls.

The Forbidden City is beautiful, intricate, and huge; though after visiting Wat Prakeaw in Bangkok it doesn’t seem quite as magnificent (more to come about that). It was awesome seeing such a famous ancient place, in fact, just being in China was a kind of surreal and exciting experience.  I would like to say that I took full advantage of my visit to the city but I was freezing, tired, and desperate for a bathroom most of the time. In a moment of panic I had to dash off from the group to find a “happy room” (the name our guide Wendy used to refer to the bathroom) and upon my failure to find one honestly considered finding a corner in which to relieve myself. Luckily, I found the happy room before I had to weigh the options between wetting myself and being arrested for public indecency in the People’s Republic of China. A friend later told me he saw the look of panic in my eyes, let’s just say it was the sweetest relief I can ever recall.

After the Forbidden City we all boarded the bus for the 1.5 hour drive to the Great Wall. We stopped at a restaurant a couple of miles from the wall and had an incredible lunch. I feel like every meal that we ate was a banquet with 10-12 different dishes placed on our lazy Susan each time. I enjoy the Chinese style of eating which involves placing dishes on the turntable and passing them at will so that everyone can pluck out what they want. And chopsticks, I love them. I want to use them EVERYDAY!  The Chinese food was also very good, with the exception of one spice that seems to be a staple and never fails to make my stomach turn. None of the Chinese could give us a name for the spice and generally said it was cumin, I assure you that this vial smell was not cumin. Other than that the food is honestly not all that dissimilar from the typically Cantonese style of Chinese food found in the U.S. There were no crab rangoons but plenty of lo mein and sweet and sour so and so.

On a terribly full stomach I headed off to the Great Wall, excited as I had always found the wall exciting and never seriously entertained the possibility of visiting it. The site did not disappoint and was particularly thrilling to view as I rode the chairlift to the top. The landscape is rugged, dusty, and barren. I know it is winter however I have a hard time imagining this place ever being green. It is so impressive that thousands of years ago people built this mammoth structure on the ridge line of a pretty tall mountain. It was spectacular and beautiful! The photos are more explanatory but I think being there is more impressive than just seeing it. Since we took a chairlift up, the means for descent was a toboggan ride. I was initially skeptical of situating my body on a tiny sled, fitted with a hand brake, and being shoved down a mountain on a tubular track which was a huge mistake on my part. My only regret was that I wish I had ignored more of the slow-down signs and gone faster. The toboggan was a totally unexpected way to experience the Great Wall and totally made me feel like a kid again, especially with my professors participating as well.

                At this point of the day I was completely exhausted but allowed myself to willingly be hustled into the Silk Market (basically the same thing as the Pearl Market, cheap and knock off goods that must be haggled for). Alex and I were determined to come out on top at the Silk Market after failing so miserably at the Pearl Market. I was beat but gave it my best go and left with a pair of fake converse (yes, I know it’s ridiculous) and some superfluous knock off luxury items. Being too tired to bother with eating, Alex and I headed up to the room and crashed!

Day 1- Chinese Food and Friends

After a surprisingly restful night of sleep, on a rock hard Chinese bed, I woke up and got ready for my first day in Beijing. We stayed in a really nice 4 star hotel that provided a huge breakfast buffet. The breakfast was definitely unique as I do not think that I have ever eaten lo mein and salad as a morning meal. There were more traditional options as well (eggs, potatoes, and cereal), however the more traditional things like noodles, steamed buns, and veggies were available. As a person who does not like sweet breakfast or cereal this was right up my alley.

We started the day by gong to the Beijing International University to meet with Chinese international business students and hear a presentation. It was awesome talking with the students and discovering similarities and differences. The presentation itself took forever and was pretty boring but informative in some ways. The university provided a banquet for us complete with an unending stream of new dishes and beer. Lunch was delicious and for the most part very normal. Fish boiled in oil and served kind of like a soup is very common here and despite my pickiness with fish, I gave it a whirl. The Chinese are so friendly and complimentary that I may or may not have grown a large head. My Chinese friends Susan did not hold back her compliments which included, "you are so beautiful, like a movie star" and "oooo your hair, so pretty". Susan was a very sweet girl but a little over the top with her affections, it soon became a running joke among the group members.


Brad, my travel buddy, and I




Susan, Me, Alex, and Claire

Susan and I

After leaving the university we went to the 2008 Olympic Village to see the Bird's Nest stadium and the Water Cube aquatic center. It was cool to see the buildings, however I didn't watch the 2008 Olympics and it was FREEZING. After 20 minutes in the driving wind we were all ready to head back to the comfort of the bus. The evening activity was to go to the Pearl Market, a famous place for cheap pearls and all knock offs, to do some shopping and a lot of haggling. As a non-Mandarin speaker (really, I butcher the 3 phrases I do know), I was nervous to consider haggling with people who did not speak English. It was a little awkward at first but after a couple of times Alex and I really got the hang of it. After about an hour and half we met up with the rest of the group only to discover that we had missed out on an entirely different side of the market that had all of the bags, shoes, and clothing we were interested in. Alex and I left the market dissatisfied with our purchases (particularly 3 overpriced, oversized Zara scarves over which we had immediate buyer's remorse), exhausted, and regretful!

This is our adorable tour guide, Wendy

We ate dinner as a group and somehow managed to find a restaurant and successfully order. The food was great and included a lot of dumplings (which are my favorite)! On the way to the restaurant several of the guys braved the street food and proceeded to eat snake, silk worms, and chicken hearts all neatly skewered on sticks. All of it was disgusting but the general consensus was the the silk worms were the most horrific. Consider this, the remaining silk worms were offered to a homeless person and he quickly rejected them! Exhausted we headed back to the hotel and eventually out in the neighborhood to explore. Exploring was mostly fruitless but it did provide an interesting and sleep deprived night!