Beijing: For a number of us, the trip began a day before the official program kickoff and we decided to use the opportunity to see some of the local sites that were not going to be part of our curriculum, The Summer Palace being the highlight. In addition to getting better acquainted with some of our colleagues, a full day of touring proved to be quite useful in getting used to the change in time zones, although it took nearly a week to fully adjust.

The official trip began Wednesday where we saw some of China’s famous landmarks including Tiananmen Square and The Forbidden City which were both spectacular – it was an interesting experience to feel that you were “being watched” the entire time at Tiananmen Square with all of the surveillance cameras around.

That afternoon we started our educational curriculum by hearing from a representative from the US Embassy regarding how to get involved with business in China, as well as a talk from The International Monetary Fund regarding expectations of China’s growth and the associated impact on the global economy – both very informative.

Thursday was the day that most of us had waited for, The Great Wall of China. Unfortunately for us, we had the only bad day of weather for the entire trip: inclusive of rain, cold, and fog restricting vision to no more than a hundred feet or so…not exactly great for looking out on the vast horizon of history. However, we made the best of it and still enjoyed ourselves.

Following The Great Wall, the class continued on to Tsinghua University where we listened to two talks and also had the opportunity to meet and interact with some of the local MBA students.

Friday involved several global company visits: Shell, Boeing, and Lenovo. Having set up the Shell visit, I was very excited to meet some of my cross-border colleagues face-to-face and to see some of the challenges that they face vs. what we encounter in the US. In all three visits, we were able to get a true feel for how the massive amount of rapid growth has shaped the business environment, for better or for worse. Additionally, there seemed to be a theme of needing to understand the roles and impacts of working with the government and the associated State Owned Enterprises.

That evening, several of us went out on the town in the Houtong/Houhai area, which was referred to as the “sixth street” of Beijing by our tour guide. It was a good time relaxing a bit after a lot of travel and a good start to the trip.

Having taken off our suits from Friday, Saturday felt a bit more relaxed. We traveled to Peking University where we heard two lectures, with the latter being my favorite of the trip. The talk focused on some of the intricacies of the Chinese consumer and what business strategies someone looking to do business in China might consider. After the University visit, we went to the Olympic Green area and saw the Bird’s Nest and Water Cube. We were surprised to find the Bird’s Nest starting to rust in areas having only been built a few years ago. We were told that the area might become a shopping complex in the near future. That evening we saw an acrobat show with stunts that rival Cirque de Soleil that easily kept us all entertained. Finally, to cap off the day, we headed to the Silk Market where we were able to get a crash course on negotiations…from “Rolex’s” to Samurai Swords, this place had pretty much everything and it was extremely entertaining to watch the class get involved with their purchases.

Sunday, the final day of our program, included a trip to The Bell Tower and Drum Tower where we were able to climb The Bell Tower and look out over some of the city. The tour was pre-empted by a ride on a rickshaw through town where we were able to see some of the local culture as well as visit a “traditional” home. We also were educated on some of the different types of tea that China has the offer and the proper way to drink it. The remainder of the day took most of us back to the Silk Market to pick up any remaining souvenirs and get back to the art of negotiation. That evening we had one final speaker and a wrap up reception to close out the trip.

After the official trip ended, a dozen or so of us decided to extend the trip and head to southern China. The overnight train ride from Beijing to Shanghai was truly an experience interacting with some of the locals and getting to fight our way through a crowded train station with 2-weeks worth of baggage. Shanghai had many other wonderful things to offer with the New York style buildings and neon signs, and the mixture of cultures in the city including the French Concession area, the historic British area, and many newer contemporary areas. From Shanghai an additional group of students continued on to Hong Kong, but that is where my trip ended.

Overall – an amazing trip!

Wade Clerkin
Class of 2010

Our trip to Thailand began almost immediately following the last in-class final exam of the semester. Of course we still had to deal with a take-home final for Financial Management, but most of us tried to forget about that and concentrate on the trip to Bangkok.

We departed on our 24-flight-hour journey to Singapore via Moscow just a few hours after class that day and arrived in Singapore bright tailed and bushy eyed for a 30 hour layover. Or party took full advantage of the time in Singapore, experiencing the Thai Botanical Gardens, a bus tour of the city, a Chinese food court (not to be missed), a boat tour of the Singapore River, and of course, shopping on Orchard Road, complete with foot massages. Dinner that night was hosted by Roland Wong, General Manager of the Pine Tree Club, Singapore’s most exclusive private club. An incredible eight-course meal was served while Roland shared with us his experiences doing business as an American in Singapore. Private room karaoke was followed by drinks at the bar and finally we closed down a dance club at Orchard Towers (a cultural icon in Singapore) and retired for the remainder of our layover – only three hours for some of us.

The next morning came very early for all, but we all made our way to the airport for the two-hour flight to Bangkok. On first sight, Bangkok is a dirty, crowded, smelly city. However, it took only a few hours for us to discover the multitude of shopping opportunities, from street vendors to Cartier and everything in between. And it was not long into the 30 minute $5 foot massages that we realized we had definitely made the right country choice. Distracted as we all were by the amazing shopping adventures, dinner that night was pretty much an after thought and mostly consisted of the most incredible fruit smoothies served in the lobby bar.

It was at this time that students started to discover what would become a major feature of this whole trip, custom-made clothing. Bangkok is saturated with tailors; you can’t walk one block without running into one. Some found the ordering of custom clothes a mild addiction and ended up lugging home up to five suites. But with the rock bottom prices they charge, who can resist?

The next morning, all of us fully decked out in our business suits, finally began the official part of the trip. We started with presentations by a representative from the US Embassy, the head of Citibank Thailand, and a representative from the American Chamber of Commerce who briefed us on Intellectual property rights. She tried to convince us all not to buy knock-off goods while in Thailand. She was not successful. Overall this was a good morning and many of us found additional information for our group reports.

That afternoon we visited Siam Paragon, the most expensive and expansive shopping mall in all of Thailand, a place where you can buy a happy meal, a Lamborghini, and a wooden Buddha all under one roof. Shopping, diner, and drinks were the order of the night.

Thursday morning we visited CP Foods, the world’s largest exporter of shrimp and the world’s second largest exporter of chicken. A shining example of a successful company; they own the entire value chain from feed to ready-to-eat meals. In just two years they’ve cornered the market in the US for frozen Won Ton soup. Their shrimp burger on the other hand … not so successful. We advised that they should call it a shrimp patty instead of a shrimp burger. We’ll see what happens. A two-hour presentation / Q&A session on Buddhism finished up our afternoon and it was back to shopping, eating and drinking.

Friday morning found us at Bumrungrad Hospital which caters to medical tourists and offers world-class medical services both in-patient and out for about 1/12th the cost of similar services in the US. The CEO of the hospital gave us a one-hour overview of operations and then we were taken on an extensive tour of the facility. This tour left us all trying to find some necessary yet uninsured medical procedure that we could use as an excuse to come back to Thailand. The last minute addition of a winery tour that would have taken us an hour or so outside of town was voted down by the masses in favor of some much needed free time. Those that chose to attend the tour gave it high marks. There was much shopping, eating and drinking to be done before we met up again for a group dinner at a river side seafood restaurant.

Saturday was a day for Jim Thompson. Jim was a successful American businessman in Thailand who revitalized the Thai silk industry after WWII. One day while visiting Malaysia he disappeared, never to be seen again. His home, actually a combination of six existing homes that he combined into one big house, housed a large collection of art and antiques. It is now the second most popular tourist destination in Bangkok and he has his own clothing line. The afternoon was free and found most of us at the Mandarin Oriental having lunch on the river and wondering why we weren’t staying there. Ice cold towels for out necks and ice cold cocktails for our mouth assured that a good time was had by all.

That night we went to a cultural dinner show. Diner was buffet style with enough variety of food to satisfy almost everyone. Prior to the show we had the opportunity to wander through a traditional Thai village and many of the students chose to take advantage of the elephant rides on offer outside the theater. It was universally agreed that being lifted by an elephant trunk is great fun, but that “elephant burn” is not. The show, which consisted of 125 actors, 500 costume changes, 2 goats and 4 chickens, was presented on the, officially recognized by Guinness, highest stage in the world. It was an amazing show whose true meaning and appreciation was lost on most of us.
Sunday was the best day for us to do most of our outdoor activities. It was overcast, so it was only about 95F and 99% humidity. It even rained later in the day cooling things off much more. For this day we traded in our enormous tour bus in favor of a fleet of 23 tuk-tuks and a police escort. We were quite a spectacle driving through the crowded streets of Bangkok; so much so that we were photographed by people on the street. This was definitely the highlight of the trip for many of the students. We first visited the Grand Palace, home of the great Kings Rama I though VIII. Rama IX chose a more modern pad down the road, but this place is still used for visiting heads of state. We saw some incredible architecture and lots of gold plated statues. An emerald Buddha of unknown origin is the centerpiece of the offerings at the Grand Palace. Unfortunately not all of us got to see the emerald Buddha as the wearing of socks with your open-toed shoes was just too high of a hurdle.

From there we went to Wat Po and saw a huge reclining Buddha, 46m long his feet sideways are taller than most humans. Lunch was next at the Fisherman’s Restaurant along the river followed by a long-boat tour of the river and a canal. Here we saw the dichotomy of rich and poor Thai, each living next to the other, rickety old huts on stilts ready to collapse next to modern palaces complete with private dry dock. Now the rains came and the closer the lightening came the more fear could be felt inside the boat. We headed for shore, but not before we got to see the Bank building on the bank of the river. It was a mad rush off the boat and back on to the bus to return to our hotel to get ready for the final closing dinner.

Dinner that night was at a The Blue Elephant, known to be the best restaurant in Bangkok. Our meal was a six-course extravaganza.. Other than the bus puling down a power line and breaking off its top spoiler, it was a great meal and a great end to a great week. That night ended on the 55th floor of Sentara Tower, a rooftop bar overlooking all of Bangkok where finally we saw a hint of inter-mingling between the Dallas and Houston groups. It was a quite evening that ended early for most in preparation for the next days return home.

More shopping, eating and massaging was the order of the day Monday prior to departure for the airport and the long multi-day trip back to Houston.