Ni Hao (hello) again Beijing!

Once again, I made it across the ocean! Actually, our flight route took us from San Francisco, up the west coast, over Alaska, across the Russian peninsula, then down to Beijing (not much ocean beneath the plane!). The 7500 miles equated to 3 flights (Colorado Springs to Denver to San Francisco to Beijing). The journey took 20 hours of flight and layover times. Once we arrived, we had an introductory dinner and a presentation. I felt so bad for the folks who presented to us that first night. As a frequent presenter, I know how painful it is to present to a group of people who are not in the best frame of mind for receiving information!

I apologize for not having more pictures to post, but we were inside all day for a Chinese Cultural Immersion course. In a nut shell, I learned that my whole personality conflicts with Chinese and Asian culture! Modesty is preferred over self-confidence, individualism is frowned upon, direct eye contact and a firm handshake implies aggressiveness and is therefore unacceptable, punctuality is not emphasized, and relationships are much more important than outcomes (process- instead of goal-oriented)! Since Chinese prefer to do business with people they know, part of conducting business here is engaging in lots of small talk to get to know each other. What Americans consider as unprofessional and excessive “small talk”, the Chinese consider an essential part of doing business. We also learned that if we are comfortable during an encounter, we aren’t doing it right. We should be displaying so much respect and modesty that it is uncomfortable for us as Americans! Now, I’m from the South and was raised saying “yes mam” and “no sir” and learned respect and courtesy in the military as well as at home, but it’s so overboard here it really is uncomfortable! I have to say though, China’s history is longer than just about anyone’s, so obviously, this culture works to some degree! I have to admit that I do like the emphasis on teamwork though, and the attention to detail given to the process to achieve a goal.

Having learned all this yesterday, I’m a little nervous of how I will conduct myself in business meetings today! I am catching a cab to the airport at 6:00 a.m. with a colleague to fly to Qingdao (about an hour’s flight south of Beijing), having meetings, then flying back to arrive in Beijing by 7:30 p.m.

For those of you who follow my blog regularly, you may recognize the first pollution picture. We are staying in the Hilton again and these were taken out of my hotel window yesterday. The first daylight shot is of the sun coming up over Beijing at about 7:00 a.m. I know the next one is dark, but look at the specks in the picture. No, the pic was not taken through the window; I actually opened the small window and stuck the camera outside. The specks are particulate matter/ pollution reflecting the flash from my camera. There is a ton of construction going on in this city and the air is filled with construction dust as well as pollution.

OK, sorry not much pictures or fun stuff to report today! Hopefully I won’t offend anyone or cause an international incident today and will be able to post more tonight or tomorrow!!