Chinese Business Association trip in China !

Jessica Chan, who chairs the student-run Chinese Business Association (CBA) gives us a day-by-day account of the trip to China that the association organised for 16 pre-Masters and Masters students from 16 May to 25 May 2016.
They had the pleasure of meeting a few members of the Shanghai Alumni Club at a social event where the students were able to ask questions about doing business and the lifestyle in China.

Read their fascinating log:

DAY 1: 

Departure from Charles de Gaulle airport at 8 PM to touch down on Chinese soil at 12:30.

At 11 PM Beijing time, we completed our first day in China with a smile. 

The CBA members accompanied 10 EDHEC students on a tour of the capital, beginning with a visit to the Summer Palace just after landing.

This masterpiece from the Qing dynasty is known primarily as the residence of Empress Cixi. The group enjoyed a stroll in the fresh air around this artificial lake, far from the pollution of the city centre.

The afternoon under the hot sun ended with dinner in a traditional restaurant. We took some time to relax for a while at the hotel before heading out on a night visit to the Hutong district, where we finished off our culinary experience with some delicious street food.

Time to rest: tomorrow we’re taking on the Great Wall of China at 8 AM!

On that note, 晚安！

DAY 2:

6:45 AM, rise and shine to face the majestic Great Wall of China at Badaling!

A two-hour walk to reach the top of the structure, but of course everyone went at their own pace, which is why there is no group photo (pity).

With our calves and quads cursing us, we admired the incredible view, having finally ticked off one of the things to do before you die.

When we had climbed back down and had a long nap on the bus on the way back to the city centre, the group decided to use the free time to explore the Champs Elysées of Beijing: Wang Fu Jing Road. The most famous pedestrian street in the capital is home to the best-known luxury brands as well as tiny market stalls.

And as if our morning adventure wasn’t enough, we set ourselves another type of challenge: taste all of Beijing’s specialities, even the most daring (scorpions, snakes and crickets). Yum yum!

After dinner and a well-earned rest – and an hour-long massage for some outside the hotel – we headed back out to explore the capital’s nightlife! 

So that’s it for today, time to prepare for another day of sightseeing, 晚安！

DAY 3:

Today was a relaxing day compared to yesterday. 9 AM: departure for Jingshan, the coal mound. From the top you can admire the whole of the capital and in particular the renowned Forbidden City (on the agenda for tomorrow).

Having climbed to the top of the hill, we took a small break to taste some of the most delightful teas. We were introduced to 5 different types (Oolong-Ginseng, green jasmine tea, red rose-scented leechee tea, mature black tea, and a fruit infusion) with an impressive demonstration.

This was followed by a small bus tour around Beijing’s business district, surrounded by skyscrapers reaching a height of 360 m. We craned our necks dreaming of a future career in one of these futuristic offices.

To round off the day, the group enjoyed some free time in the pedestrian streets of Qianmen, before digesting their dinner with a little dance session with the locals.

We made the most of our last night in Beijing; tomorrow evening we will be on the train for Shanghai!

So good night to everyone in France, 晚安！

DAYS 4/5:

Having spent the night on the train from Beijing to Shanghai, we weren’t able to send you yesterday’s newsletter. So now you get a summary of two days straight!

We couldn’t leave Beijing without visiting the famous Tiananmen Square, the largest square in the world covering 44 hectares and welcoming tens of thousands of visitors every day under the watchful eye of Mao Zedong. 

We spent the early part of the day in the great Forbidden City, which we had admired the previous day from the top of Jingshan. This was the Imperial Palace where the emperor resided with his many many concubines.

We then enjoyed a delightful lunch in a traditional home owned by a family of craft workers in the old city. And what better way to finish off our visit to Beijing with a tour of the Hutongs in a rickshaw!

3 days of sightseeing was enough for us to realise that Beijing is a city of a thousand faces, at once modern and traditional.

15 hours on a sleeper train with hard beds, but we slept surprisingly well and quickly arrived in Shanghai. Radical change in the weather: the rain was waiting for us upon our arrival. Some free time shopping on Nanjing Road. Unfortunately the fog ruined our view of the Bund along the famous Huang Pu river. 

After a short break at the hotel to shower and change, we headed off to meet the Shanghai EDHEC Alumni Club, accompanied by their ambassador, Ms Ting Li. Our students had the opportunity to network while enjoying a drink at Cotton’s Bar, and also to meet their future classmates (the Chinese students admitted to EDHEC also joined us).

We rounded off the day with a wonderful evening; more sightseeing around Shanghai tomorrow before heading for Suzhou !

Good night! 晚安 !

DAY 6:

Fortunately the weather was on our side today. Although the sun was hiding behind the clouds, it didn’t rain. So we were able to make the most of our sightseeing.

The day began with a visit to a silk factory, where our students were able to learn how this noble fabric is made and even participate in the production of a blanket made from twin cocoon silk.

Having purchased a few gifts, we continued our tour of Shanghai with a stroll in a mandarin garden known as Yuyuan, in the city’s old district. Carpe Koï and Dragons welcomed us to a 2 ha residence formerly inhabited by the Empire’s senior officials.

An unusual lunch that included one of Shanghai’s specialities: Xiao Long Bao, steamed ravioli filled with soup! An unmissable experience without which no visit to Shanghai is complete.

We then headed for the ancient town of Xitang in the suburbs of Hangzhou. We strolled along a riverbank in a town filled with small stores as well as bars and nightclubs that were already open at 3 PM.

We finished our day on the bus for Suzhou, the final destination of this Chinese business trip which we will be exploring tomorrow morning! On that note, 晚安 ! 

DAY 7:

Beginning at 10 AM this morning, we followed our guide around the last city on our schedule, Suzhou, a traditional city with more than 10 million inhabitants – a small town for the Chinese!

Our day began with a gentle stroll in a more humble garden than the one we visited in Shanghai: the garden of the “Master of the nets”. It is a small 0.6 ha residence where men once hosted guests of the utmost importance, while women with small bound feet smoked opium. A magnificent landscape in which our students never tired of taking selfies. 

We had lunch in a restaurant near a long river and then spent the afternoon in a pedestrian street in Guanqian, a busy commercial area very popular among the younger population of Suzhou. We took the opportunity to buy a few sweet treats and drinks such as milk tea with tapioca pearls.

To round it off, we killed time until sunset by strolling along the riverbank mentioned earlier on our way to our restaurant. That was the view we enjoyed as we ended our day in Suzhou. 

Time flies and every good thing must come to an end. Tomorrow will be our last day in China. So for now, good night!

EPILOGUE

All good things must come to an end, which is why we spent our last day in China in Shanghai. After a two-hour journey to reach this great city, we were welcomed by the Chamber of Commerce for French Industry in China, where Mr Anthony Lopez and Mrs Caroline told us about the chamber’s activities and of course presented us with their business cards. We couldn’t very well call it a business trip if we didn’t come back with the prospect of an internship or more!

On our first day in Shanghai, we weren’t able to take a photo at the Bund because of the weather. So we went back after lunch to take one last group photo.

One of the first things you think of when somebody mentions China is counterfeit goods, which is not a recent phenomenon but actually dates back to the mandarin era and the Empire. So we spent our last hours in Shanghai at the market for counterfeit goods, where we put our negotiating talents to good use.

Following our last dinner of rice and fried delights, we headed for the airport in festive spirit, where we spent our last few yuans. 12 hours later, we stepped onto French soil and, not without shedding a few tears, said goodbye to one another at the end of our incredible adventure. 

Thank you to all those who participated and to all our partners and sponsors, but especially to the whole CBA team for making this voyage possible. This first edition of the Chinese business trip was a huge success, and we learned many lessons about how to improve it in future years. We hope you enjoyed this log and that reading it might inspire you to visit or revisit China yourself.

Thanks for reading!

Chinese Business Association
EDHEC Business School
24 avenue Gustave Delory - CS50411
59057 ROUBAIX CEDEX
+33 (0) 6 95 86 93 93