China Trip: PAST PRESENT FUTURE
TRAVEL STUDY PROGRAM
GBM 440A – International Travel Study: Asia
May 18 - 29, 2008
Experience a bit of our journey on YouTube.
Student Trip Recaps:
Trip Summary:
Our odyssey began in China’s modern capital of Beijing where ancient monuments contrast with giant skyscrapers. We visited the Forbidden City and the Great Wall, finishing our first day with a Peking duck dinner.
A visit to Beijing’s Zhongguancun high tech district gave us an opportunity to see state-of-the-art research and development facilities. Preparations for the Beijing 2008 Olympics were transforming the city, and we saw some of the venues.
China’s most vibrant and cosmopolitan city, Shanghai, was our second stop. The city has been called the Pearl of the Orient or the Paris of the East. A walk along the famous Bund with its 19th Century European hotels and banks offered a striking contrast to the 21st Century Pearl Television Tower and the largest stock exchange in the world was just across the river. After visiting the exchange, we toured the Pudong New Area, which was filled with rice paddies just fifteen years ago! Shanghai has emerged as China’s financial center and has aspirations to be the leading commercial center of Asia.
A short distance from Shanghai is the Suzhou Industrial Park, a collaboration between the country of Singapore and China. It is among the most successful development zones in the world. During our visit to it we received an introduction to the role that China’s 53 development zones have played in its economic development. We also heard about how these zones market themselves to prospective investors.
Guangzhou, the leading city at the heart of the Pearl River Delta, is today a manufacturing powerhouse that is China’s largest export base. Guangzhou is world famous as the site of the twice-yearly Canton Trade Fair, which attracts buyers from around the world. The fair has moved to new facilities, which we toured and received a briefing on the role of the fair as window for Chinese products.
The city has preserved some of its heritage in the splendid parks, busy temples, excellent museums, and, most of all, on Shamian Island where 19th Century Western trading companies conducted business.
While in Guangzhou, we visited state-of-the-art joint venture factories and contract manufacturing facilities. During each of these visits we discussed with local and expatriate managers the business challenges they face. The Guangzhou Economic and Technology Development Zone houses many foreign-invested factories and we had the opportunity to visit some of them. Cantonese food and the opportunities to visit vibrant open markets balanced our visit.
Our journey to Hong Kong was by train; passing through the Pearl River Delta that some have called the manufacturing center of the world. 
Shenzhen, just across from Hong Kong, is a city of over 3 million people today while 20 years ago it was a village of 60,000.
Hong Kong’s harbor and skyline are breathtaking whether viewed from the famous Star Ferry or from the top of Victoria Peak. Hong Kong’s port is the largest container port in the world. We had a chance to tour it and the beautiful new airport built on reclaimed land. The Hong Kong Trade and Development Office briefed us on Hong Kong’s role as a gateway to China.
We toured Hong Kong Island, visited Victoria Peak and some of the colonial buildings of the British era. The Kowloon Peninsula is home to the Hong Kong and the Space Museums. We enjoyed a dinner cruise around the harbor and had a dim sum lunch on a floating restaurant. Of course, we did not miss an opportunity to shop in the famous Stanley Market or the Jade Market.
[ back to top ]
