Post China Trip Reflection, by JP Salazar

                Before preparing for this trip to China, I thought I had a good idea about what China was all about. Growing up in California, the constant bombardment by American media about the dangers that China posed to our way of life framed my perception of that country on the other side of the world. I thought, like many Americans do, that China is a threat, a competitor, and was so different from the United States in its people, government, and culture that there could not be much for me there in terms of learning opportunities and personal growth. While I had always wanted to visit Asia, I always assumed that all a trip like this would be is a great sightseeing opportunity, where I would take some good pictures and have some good times, but nothing more. Instead, I was surprised to find how much I learned not just about business and culture in China, but about myself as well.

                To say that I was uninformed about China coming into this experience is an understatement. Ignorant would be a better description. While I had heard of the Cultural Revolution, the Great Firewall, and Tiananmen Square, I was blissfully unaware of the change that had been going on in China. At the time, I had no reason to focus any energy on understanding what was going on there. In my view, it was a developing nation a half a world away, so how could China have an effect on me, right? The little exposure I had to China all came through the recent hysteria in American media characterizing China and the debt issue as our next big threat. This reactionary and knee jerk response, typical in the last decade for American media, helped to frame my perception of China as the big, bad threat to my American way of life.

                Upon entering this program, it became clear that understanding China and international business was going to be a cornerstone of our MBA program. I was quickly bombarded with more information about China in my first three months in the program than I had ever hoped to know before. What struck me with the more exposure I received was how most of my preconceptions about China were unfounded. They were not necessarily wrong, but what I began to realize is that China is so big and contains so many people that trying to classify or contain what China is in a neat little set framework is a futile exercise. Add to this the constant change and recent economic growth in China and what may be true one day could be totally wrong the next. This realization really peaked my interest and caused me to dive into trying to catch a glimpse of how China has gotten to where it is today, what the future can hold for China, and how this growth and development will affect my personal life and career here in the United States. What really got me hooked on China, you might say, is the idea that no one can ever really know what all of China is about. Due to its constant change and huge variety of people from block to block, city to city, and province to province, you could study China for a lifetime, travel throughout the country, and immerse yourself in all thing Chinese and still not be able to peg down what China is all about. I took this sense of uncertainty about what China really is and where it is heading as a sort of challenge. I became inspired to try and drop all of my preconceptions about China and try and approach this entire experience, from the predeparture assignments and meetings to the trip itself, with as open a mind as I could possibly have. I knew I could never become an expert on China, especially after visiting for only two weeks, but I knew I could try and learn as much as I could and hopefully act as an ambassador of sorts to China for young Americans trying to expand their horizons and relay the lessons I learned there to people here at home.

                If someone had asked me a year ago to describe China, its government, and its people in a few words, I would have been quick to answer, a controlling and oppressive threat to my way of life. I was raised to believe that communism is the evil to capitalism / democracy’s good. I thought that the people of China were more reserved and in control of their feelings and did not enjoy the same personal freedoms that we do as Americans. I thought that the Chinese government policy of buying up American debt was a direct attempt to weaken the US economy. Most of all, I thought that Chinese policy was steady and tightly held in place.

                Today, if I were to be asked to describe China in a few words, I would be much more hesitant to try. While my two weeks on the ground in China has given me more exposure to this country than 99% of all other Americans, if there is one thing I learned it is that the size of China and scope of change taking place in the country right now makes this exercise seem constricting and small minded. If I had to, though (as almost everyone here back at home has tried to make me do now that I have returned), I would say that China is a country full of contradictions and opportunity.  

                Identifying China as a land of contradictions was an interesting revelation for me to come to. Going into this trip, I had heard so much about the economic rise of China and the threat that this growth posed to the American economic system. It amazed me to visit a city like Shenzhen which has been literally built from the ground up within my lifetime. Twenty years ago, this city was a small village built on marshlands, and today it is a sprawling city , full of skyscrapers and industry, and at six to eight million people, Shenzhen is larger than any US city. The amount of growth still happening there was mind boggling as well. It seemed as if every other storefront, roadway, or building was under construction. Everything I saw in China was new and clean, from the roadways, the buildings, and the foliage. But in these same, brand new cities, I saw people going to the bathroom on the street. I saw people taking their trashcans from inside their stores and dumping them on the sidewalk. I rode in taxis that spent more time driving on the shoulder, running red lights, and driving on the wrong side of the road than they did following the traffic laws. Another example of the extreme contradictions that take place in China was discussed in our visit to Baidu. Here we had a very candid discussion about censorship in China and how it affects business practices and how the Chinese people view this. There were three major viewpoints that encompassed how most Chinese felt about their government’s policies. There are the ardent nationalists who are very proud of their national heritage and their government, the rebellious types who would like to see more personal freedoms and change in their government’s policies, and the pragmatists who just lived their life and don’t really care to much about government policy as long as it doesn’t affect their day to day life. What I found to be really interesting was the idea that most Chinese have a combination of the three inside of them. This concept really helped me to better understand how China has gotten to where it is today and how change develops in this country. While the average Chinese person does not care too much about government policy in their day to day lives, if they feel like their freedoms are being infringed upon, or if an outsider dares to criticize their government’s policies, they will speak out with equal determination. This leads me to my last real eye opener regarding the contradictions that I see in China. The common perception amongst Americans is that the Chinese government is oppressive and the absolute rule of the land. While this is true in some instances, I think it is more of a posture than anything else. On the one hand, the Chinese government has had policies in the past that are aimed to control and directly deter any type of unrest amongst its people. However, like any one party system, the real goal of the party is to stay in power. To do this, the Chinese government understands that without the support of its people it cannot remain in power. Therefore, while it might maintain an overreaching and powerful façade to outsiders, the Chinese government is much more receptive and conforming to the will of the people than I ever could have imagined. If the people want it, it will happen, faster than you could believe.

                The opportunities available in China, to foreigners, the locals, and the government alike, seem to have no bounds. During the past decade, China has undergone such dramatic change that it is impossible to know where it will end up. The country is poised to become a dominant world power financially as long as its social structure can hold up. For the people of China, this economic rise and westernization of their country has led to them receiving more personal freedoms and more connectivity than they have ever experienced before. With this growth come new opportunities for business as well as an increase in their standard of living. One thing I was very surprised to notice, something that was pointed out to me by a local Chinese man in a conversation I had at a bar, was how important public status has become with this increase in wealth. It was not enough to have money and buy the things you want; rather it was more important to be seen with the newest iPhone, BMW, Gucci purse, or the like. For foreigners, this tremendous growth and the “newness” of it all presents some unique opportunities. For one, just by simple supply and demand economics, if you want to make a living in China bad enough, it is definitely doable. There are so many new businesses opportunities constantly arising that all it takes is effort (sometimes a lot) to become successful. However, it is important to realize that things are done differently in China, especially relating to business. This itself leads to many opportunities for foreigners in China not only to expand their own personal horizons, but to bring to China some of the western practices that might be better suited to this new paradigm developing in China now. A great example of this was in our group trip to Sealed Air. During this visit, the Sealed Air team asked our opinion on what business practices should be followed for some major company decisions. In our exchange, we were able to describe how our small group of westerners would approach some of the issues that were facing the company. While we did our best acting as consultants for the day, I believe there is real value in sharing these different viewpoints when making big, costly decisions. The ability to come to the table with a different take on how to do things can be a very profitable opportunity to capitalize on for foreigners looking to make it in China.

                The major lesson I will take away from this China trip experience does not relate just solely to business. If there is one thing that I learned it is that the people, policies, and happenings around the world are much more tightly woven than I ever thought before. It is foolish and impractical to assume that your way of life, your bubble if you like, will remain unchanged forever. Things are happening around the world that will have a great impact on how every person, American and Chinese alike, continue to live their lives. For me, it really opened my eyes to the fact that I will not be working and raising a family in the same environment that my parents did. The world is changing all around us, and our bubble is much larger then we would hope to look. This is just more of a reason to become more of a student of life, remaining open to experience new things. If we close ourselves off and continue to only focus on what is right around us, we run the risk of the world passing us by. Sticking your head in the sand and complaining about the change happening in the rest of the world in not a reasonable response to that change. Instead, we can be better served by understanding the change and figuring out where we can make it in this new world of ours.

                Overall, this China trip was an experience that I will never forget. The amount of change going on in that country is addicting. Due to this trip, I am determined to make my way back as soon as I can. It definitely instilled in me a goal of finding a career where I could travel back to China at least once a year for business. However, the pace of life in China is something that I do not think I could handle full time. As much as I enjoyed stepping out of my comfort zone and experiencing new things, it is not something that I could personally take on indefinitely. Being there for a short amount of time gave me a decent understanding of what it takes to make it in China, and I am sorry to say that I might not have it. While I know I am capable of working and performing anywhere, it takes a certain drive and desire to make it in a foreign country, especially in a place like China. I am just a little too fond of my American comforts. However, I am so thankful that I was given the opportunity to experience this trip, and I plan to get as much leverage as I possibly can from it. If I could do this again, I would take the opportunity in a heartbeat.