Not being daunted by our inability to speak the language, we were determined to enjoy ourselves. We had two full days of sightseeing. We visited Tian An Men Square, The Forbidden City,
Summer
Palace, Ming Tombs and the Great Walls of China, where Camile and I climbed the east wall. As an added bonus, our tour guide, Reeves took us to the
Pearl and Jade Markets operated by government where there were beautiful jewelry available for tourists to purchase.
On March 13 we arrived in
Shanghai, all set for the more formal portion of our trip organized by our European member association EWMD (European Women's Management Development). We were stunned! Shanghai was just like any other metropolitan city in the world and we quickly realized that it didn’t represent the real China,
Beijing did. Beijing is “government central” and
Shanghai is an urban center and an architect’s dream come true.
In the evening, I finally got to meet Diane Morris, 1st Vice President of TIAW and President Elect, with whom I had exchanged emails several times. I was also able to put faces to names I had seen in email correspondence. The Welcome Reception Cruise on the
Huangpu
River allowed us to build community within the TIAW family in a warm and friendly atmosphere while enjoying the
Shanghai skyline.
Our journey to China
wasn’t just about fun, but also about learning. On March 14 and 15th, we participated in many presentations where we got a glimpse of the mass affluent and “new Chinese”, and learned about doing business in China
and where intellectual property rights stand. We also learned about the Chinese culture to assist us when doing business with China.
Angela Bai, Vice President, Strategic Business Development for MasterCard Worldwide talked to us about the Emerging Middle Class in China
. In that presentation, we learned that the mass affluent who are young, educated, media savvy, insurance buyers, frequent travelers, digitalized, style pursuers and property owners earn USD $7,500 to $50,000 each year. These mass affluent acquired their wealth through three different pathways – inheritance, professionally by acquiring knowledge and skills and by becoming entrepreneurs by capitalizing on the changing environment.
After the conference, we better understood the Chinese culture and we became more aware of the benefits and pitfalls of doing business in China
. The International Trips and Global Forums are perfect ways to get exposed to international trade.
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