Sugah's Trip to China

I didn't realize hell was in China

Or so it feels like it. It feels like we went from heaven to hell, all in a 3.5 hour flight. But I'm not going to judge it based on the few hours I've been here.

We got up this morning and took a cab across the harbor to East Kawloon to meet with the general manager at CH Robinson. We got there about 45 minutes early so we went to the Starbucks and had a coffee and a McDonalds egg mcmuffin. It was a much needed taste of home on an early Monday morning. Erin and I tried Watermelon juice, it was fabulous!


We met with the Hong Kong office manager and the Asia manager (he oversees all the offices in Asia). The Asia manager was a graduate from the Carlson School of Business at Minnesota. He couldn't be more than 6-7 years out of college. They were both very nice and helpful. They even sent an associate with us on the bus stop to make sure we got there okay and he checked to make sure we had enough cash.



We had a lovely chat and got a great insider's view on business in Asia and Hong Kong. We hopped a bus from their office to the airport and got on our flight to Beijing. Here's some last minute shots from Hong Kong:

The shipping yards with lots of containers stacked high!


A view of the water and mountains outside of the city.


Our flight was pretty good. The plane was empty so we could stretch out, I'm glad I didn't pay extra for business class. When we landed it looked very overcast outside, I soon realized it is the pollution! We got through customs pretty quick, exchanged some money (or hit up the ATM) and got a cab.

The cabs are tiny compared to those in Hong Kong. So Erin and I took one together and Mike took one alone. The ride was insane, it ranks up there with my crazy ride in Houston for the Board meeting. I actually thought I was going to die more on this ride than that one. First the cab driver didn't open the trunk, finally the cab attendant got him too. Then he watched Erin and I struggle as we had to figure out how to make our luggage fit in the back and load it, he just observed. The cab driver is cagged in, so the backseat is pretty cramped (it is a cage around just the front driver's seat). Erin took the back seat and I got in the front. Big mistake! I could see every near miss up close and personal. Everyone drives like a maniac here, the worst I've ever seen it anywhere in the US. When we pulled into the hotel we literally almost hit a girl on a bike, she was about 2 inches from the hood. We both got out and felt like we were going to throw up right here on the curb. I found it interesting that they drive on the same side as the road as the US.

We arrived at our hotel and they told all three of us something different about our room rate. I got charged a 3500RMB deposit, Mike and Erin were charged 4000RMB. Erin was told she got breakfast, I was told it was 69RMB. Then I look at the exchange board and realize the exchange rate was far better at the hotel, which surprised me. I was told it's all government controlled and would be the same :(

We start asking about our classmates and the front desk tells us that no one has arrived and everyone's reservations are cancelled. WTF, when we call from our room we get room numbers from everyone.

It took two smart people and a call to the front desk to get the internet to work, it's 5RMB every 10 minutes with a maximum of 50RMB a day.

Erin and Mike are looking for cold bottled water while I'm feeling a little funky. I feel like I'm rocking back and forth, like how you feel on stable land after being on a rocking boat for a while. We've all felt this way at one time or another...I'm sure it will pass.

We leave tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. for the Great Wall and Forbidden City tour. Then we go to a peking duck dinner. Sounds like a long, hot day!

I'm sure I'll like Beijing, just a huge change from Hong Kong. The Asia manager at CHRobinson told us we'll definitely notice a difference, I guess we just weren't expecting night and day! We were very spoiled by our awesome hotel in Hong Kong, we'll adjust.

Everyone have a great start to their work week!

I'll post pictures of the wall tomorrow :-)

posted by Chrissy @ 5:56 AM