“One country, two systems” became real when we arrived in Hong Kong. Practically everything from our surroundings to the spoken languages to the standard of living had drastically changed.
DAY FIVE – Sunday, May 23
We left our hotel in Beijing and headed to the airport at 4:30am. We met our new guide, David, at the airport and loaded the bus to head straight for our hotel. We immediately noticed that we were boarding the bus on the “wrong” side. Since Hong Kong was under British control until 1997, European influences can be seen, namely driving on the left side of the road. In addition, the landscape wasn’t what many of us expected. We were surrounded by water and lush, green mountains.
Our first stop after dropping our things at the hotel was Victoria’s Peak. Since we were staying on Kowloon Island, we took our first of many 5-minute ferry rides to officially reach Hong Kong. The ride up the mountain was steep and curvy, and the view from the top showed us the skyline in which we’d be spending the next four days (including The Dark Knight building).
That night we gathered at the shore to watch the Symphony of Lights across the water. The show occurs every night across the Hong Kong Island skyline and includes synchronized music, lights, and lasers. It’s definitely a spectacle in itself, and all the colors reflecting off the water only make it more spectacular.
DAY SIX – Monday, May 24
We began our string of company visits with Prudential Asia. “Pru” is a 160 year-old international retail financial services group headquartered in London. The company currently serves more than 22 million customers and manages $424 billion in assets. One of the reasons the China trip was established four years ago is because Barry Stowe, an executive director, is a Lipscomb alum.
Our meeting room had a complete wall of floor-to-ceiling windows and offered a phenomenal view of the water and city. We heard presentations from top executives, including the CFO, director of marketing and advertising strategy, investment director, chief executive of the insurance division, and the COO of the insurance division.
At the time of our visit, Prudential was preparing for the acquisition of AIA for $35.5 billion, the largest proposed insurance industry acquisition in history. With such a big project in the works, we were all surprised when each executive sat through the others’ presentations. Their time is obviously very expensive, and we all took notice of how generous they were in talking with us.
Later that evening Prudential hosted us for dinner at the China Club, an exclusive members only establishment known for its library and art collections. We were served a traditional 10-course Chinese meal while we ate with the executives who had spoken to us that morning. We ended the night talking and taking pictures on the balcony couches that overlook the city.
DAY SEVEN – Tuesday, May 25
HKEx, or the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, started our day. Our visit was timed perfectly because Prudential issued an IPO while we were there. We listened to a presentation and had a Q&A session followed by a tour of the grounds. It was oddly quiet and deserted compared to what we were expecting, but our guide explained to us that all of the trading is done electronically and doesn’t require the traders to leave their homes to work. Quiet or not, we enjoyed taking pictures in the face cut-outs and learned quite a bit.
We immediately headed to a presentation given by the head of economic research at Credit Lyonnais Securities Asia, the leading independent brokerage and investment group. The PowerPoint was definitely heaviest we had seen on charts and graphs, but the information presented to us was well thought-out and very interesting. Our speaker was also quite spunky, so even if we got momentarily lost in the sea of data, he kept us entertained.
The night was free for us to explore the area, so the majority of us took a one hour boat ride to Macau, a nearby island and big tourist attraction. It’s the most densely populated region in the world with approximately 48,000 people per square mile. Before we even got off the boat, we could see the island was the kind that never slept. The bright lights were inviting, and it was difficult to even decide where to go and what to do. At the end of the night we were all exhausted but definitely full of great experiences.
DAY EIGHT – Wednesday, May 26
We had company visits to Cisco and a manufacturing company they contract out to, Foxconn. We visited the Cisco office first and listened to a presentation that gave us a basic overview of the company’s growth, structure, and outlook.
From there we drove back into Mainland China to a town called Shenzhen to visit one of Foxconn’s facilities. Foxconn is the largest electronics manufacturer in the world. They produce many popular products such as Apple iPods, iPads, and iPhones, Sony’s Playstation 3, Nintendo’s Wii, Dell and HP computers, Motorola cell phones, and the Amazon Kindle. The plant we visited is the company’s largest with 350,000 employees living and working inside the 2 square kilometer compound. We took a tour of one of the buildings in which they were assembling conference phones and had a Q&A session with our guide.
We had been informed via the news and Cisco employees that the company had recently come under scrutiny for nine worker suicides and eleven suicide attempts this year, so naturally our senses were heightened while on the “campus.” All of the workers were completely silent, and we were escorted and watched as a group very closely. Some of our basic questions went unanswered while others had contradictory or inconsistent answers.
We found out in the newspaper the next morning that another person had jumped to their death after we left and 200 reporters had been at the compound while we were, so I suppose we were being made to avoid their paths. Some are blaming social problems, such as those that are caused when workers come in from various areas in China and are unable to communicate with their roommates and fellow workers. A few days after we visited, Foxconn began asking employees to sign a promise that they will not harm themselves. An investigation is currently underway to determine if social or workplace issues are to blame. The visit was eye-opening and a very rare opportunity, and I’m so thankful we got to experience it.
We returned to Hong Kong, and some of our students met with Abilene Christian University students at a nearby Starbucks to discuss where we both had been, what we had seen, and what we had learned. The ACU students are studying in China for 6 weeks.
DAY NINE – Thursday, May 27
Our last day we were set free to roam until lunch. Some of us went to the Jade Market. After navigating the subway system, we arrived to find an amazing market of jade jewelry, pearls, fresh fruits and vegetables, freshly cut meat, and all sorts of knickknacks. It was the first time we had gone shopping in a market that didn’t feel as though it was made for tourists. The booths we visited were there everyday to help these people make a living. The smells were indescribable. The roads were impassable. We loved it. It felt like we found the real China…as much as we could in a city.
After a buffet lunch at the Panda Cafe, we went to our last corporate visit at HIT, Hong Kong International Terminals. Hong Kong is the third largest port in the world, and much of that trade happens through HIT. We watched a short video, took a bus ride through the location, and heard a presentation. Containers were stacked eight high, and “Cranes” that looked more like something from Transformers loading and unloading the containers off of ships. The privately-owned company even offers a service to unload and load ships without requiring them to dock.
We took a short ride back to the hotel and freshened up for our farewell dinner at Peking Garden. We enjoyed another 10-course dinner and lots of laughing, gift-giving, and picture-taking. We also had a wonderful view of the light show from our window-side tables.
DAY TEN – Friday, May 28
Most of us woke up around 8:30 to be ready to load the bus at 9:30 that morning. Two of our classmates remained in Hong Kong to intern with Prudential through mid-July. The rest of us arrived at the airport and boarded the dreaded fourteen and a half hour flight back home.
Anyone who visits China will quickly see how easy it is to fall in love with the culture. The history goes back thousands of years before the formation of the United States, and unlike Europe even the oldest buildings are bright reds and greens. China is truly a feast for the eyes and a destination many of us plan to visit again.