Day 8: School is Out

Our good colleagues in Beijing, Patrick Ma and Stephen De Pretre, have agreed to meet with us on Saturday morning. 謝謝 (thank you)!

Patrick helps us make sense of the rapidly evolving legal environment and intellectual property issues in China. Huge!

 

 

 

 

 

Stephen brings diverse and much experience across China, as well as the reflective eye of an ex-pat to discussions of labor markets and HR management in Greater China.

 

 

 

 

 

Bell rings.  School is out!

We’ll lunch at the hotel, get on our walking shoes, and see some of the sights in Beijing.

Of course, the Forbidden City, 

 

 

 

 

Tiananmen Square and the area around Mao’s tomb,

 

 

 

 

 

and all the people in China who have travelled to see the same historic sights.

Internal travel is now possible and huge with the rising prosperity and standard of living afforded everyone in China because of its current capitalist-socialist economy.

In 1978, then Premier Deng Xiaoping launched a market economy in China while maintaining the Communist Party with the famous statement: “Let some get rich first, so that others can get rich later.”  It’s happening. 

China boasts a rapidly increasing number of multi-millionaires, and one out of every 1,700 people in the country has a wealth of 10 million yuan (divide by 7 for U.S. Dollars). Compare that to one in 100 in the U. S.owning $10 million (stats from the China Daily). It’s a new day in China!

Now that we are savvy about ethnic diversity in China, people watching also takes on new meaning.

For many Chinese from the far out provinces, we may well be the first group of Westerners they have ever seen. In past years, people have curiously wanted to touch blonde hair, stand next to our tallest men, and study and touch our clothes. Hey, we’re the ones who look really different!

 

 

 

The evening is one of my favorite parts of the trip. We attend a Chinese music concert at the stunning, acoustically wonderful, new Beijing National Concert Hall.

The Hall is surrounded by a reflection pool and has an interesting, below-the-water, underground entrance. Lighting at night in breathtaking, complementing the night lighting at the near-by Forbidden City.  China is beautiful in so many ways!

 

 

 

 

 

 

So far, we’ve been learning about China by reading, seeing, doing, tasting and eating, smelling, touching, watching, and asking our experts lots of questions. Now we have opportunity to learn something powerful about China’s soul through its music and musical heritage.

Sounds will be different and so will many instruments. We’re ready for the experience. Bring it on!