McGill Li Ka-Shing Summer Exchange May 31, 2015 CHINA BLOG · McGill Li Ka-Shing Summer Exchange May 31, 2015 Day 1: Tuesday, May 2nd - Hello China! It was an early morning when a

McGill Li Ka-Shing Summer Exchange May 31, 2015

CHINA BLOG Li Ka-Shing Summer Exchange Program

Dear Readers!

Thank you for picking up this blog.

For the next 20 days, we will share not only our experience in China but also all the new and interesting things aspects of Chinese culture!

This blog will focus upon Business in China and contains company visits to various Industries. You can also expect socioeconomic reflections that address problems in China’s every-day life!

Written by Qi Zhang Page �1


Day 1: Tuesday, May 2nd - Hello China!

It was an early morning when a group of Mcgillians met at Pierre Elliot Trudeau airport

to embark on an exciting journey to China. The sun was out, the mood was great, and we sat

at our gate waiting for boarding. Some of us have visited China through travels or through

exchange but for many, it would be their first time. Needless to say, we were excited for the

20 days ahead but before reaching paradise, we must first endure the next 30 gruelling hours

that would be spent in the airport and in the air.

In order to arrive to Hong Kong, we transferred at Vancouver International Airport. We

flew Air Canada and the flight was pleasant. We arrived at the airport food court with empty

stomachs and most of us had A&W, Subway and a restaurant selling Chinese food. Knowing

we would taste authentic Chinese food for the next 3 weeks, many of us opted for a last fix of

a juicy hamburger.

A few hours into our second flight took us outside

of Canada. We have officially left Canada! Vancouver to

Hong Kong will take 14 hours and it felt like being

trapped within an air jail. Nothing too exciting… but we

did catch up on a lot of new movies releases. It was

pleasant to do nothing but slouch for 14 hours because of

how stressed and fast-paced finals period was. There

were some crying babies and a few overly chatty

neighbours but we arrived to Hong Kong in one piece!



That night, Professor Myung-Soo Jo treated us to dinner at a Korean restaurant. The

food was delicious but the alcohol was even better. We had Korean imported beer called

“Hite” and a vodka-like drink called “Soju”. We finished dinner at 9 pm and all of us headed

to “Central metro station”. Central, a.k.a bar town, a.k.a round two, a.k.a happy hour was the

epitome of Hong Kong night life. Neon signs, loud music but the most important is a

multiculturalism. When walking past its narrow streets, we overheard French, English,

Korean, Mandarin, and Russian conversations. Every look happy and we even found a bar

selling Molson Canada. Picture: Korean Dinner - Central - Korean Dinner - Central



Our first night in Hong Kong reminded us of Montreal. We were not outside our

comfort zone because we ate, saw, and experienced things similar to back home. This was

expected because metropolitan cities are similar worldwide. Some of us headed back to the

hotel earlier to recharge for the next day. Hopefully, we can have a taste of China tomorrow!

Some more pictures! Central - Metro System!



Day 2: Wednesday, May 3rd - Meeting Alumni and seeing Hong Kong from the top!

Our second day was a busy one. We rendez-vous’d at 11am to have brunch with

McGill Alumnus in a near-by hotel owned by a McGill alumni (Alumni-ception). The hotel was

spectacular and much fancier than where we lived (although ours was already very nice). We

took pride knowing that McGill graduates have made such a huge impact on Hong Kong. As

we walk the high streets of Hong Kong, we

wondered what we would accomplish in 30

years. Be it running our own hotel or being the

head of a multinational, a McGill education will

certainly prepare us for what’s up ahead.

The alumni meeting was a blast and we have to thank our Alumni Director, Mr. Alvin

Chung and his wife for organizing this wonderful event. The alumni provided insightful

answers for many of our career questions. One common key-take away was to never give up

because all roads lead to Rome. You might not have gotten a 4.0 this semester or landed a

dream internship position but if you continue to work hard, you will find success!

After the alumni meeting, we commuted by bus to “the peak”. It was literally the peak

of Hong Kong because it is a mountain at 1800m above sea level. For 20 minutes, our bus

drove up a steep mountain road with little-to-no railing. The ride got a lot scarier when we

eventually were higher than the skyscrapers below us! Skyscrapers are tall in HongKong!

According to our tour-guide, the real estate on the Peak is extremely expensive. 1 square

meter on the peak would cost more than 4 years of residence fee… Assuming a 80 square

meter condo, there’s enough money to pay 32 years of residence fee. Ouch!



Once at the top, the

peak gave us an impeccable

view of Hong Kong island. It

was surreal, from the left all

the way to the right, it was

endless skyscrapers. At that

m om e n t , H o n g K o n g

seemed like the perfect

fusion of man and nature.

We were looking down at

hundreds of skyscrapers

b u i l t b y m a n t h a t

challenged the rough terrain

created by mother nature.

We looked at awe at how

Hong Kong looked like a sea

of buildings. Mr. Li Ka-Shing

built his empire through

real-estate and this shows

his expertise in navigating

the highly competitive Hong

Kong market.



Moreover, Mr. Li Ka-Shing is constantly

pursuing new ventures that are bigger and

bolder than ever before. As the leaders of

tomorrow, we hope to walk in his footsteps.

The journey down the mountain was scarier

than the journey up. I was afraid that a wrong turn

would send us tumbling down the mountain. Our

driver navigated the roads expertly and lead us to

the next sight; the fishing village. The Hong Kong

today is incredibly different from how it was 3

decades ago. The literal translation of Hong Kong

is “Sweat Bay”. This name was given because the

area had a lot fishermen. It was believed that Hong

Kong bay was a prosperous place crawling with

fish. Fishermen flocked here with big boats in order

to reap in big harvests. To not be homesick,

fishermen eventually built a special type of fish that

resembles an RV. It was a huge boat that allowed



whole families to live at sea for weeks. Sounds like a permanent fishing trip! How cool! Today,

the fishing village serves only as a tourist attraction. There’s no more fishing going on here!



Day 3: Thursday, May 4th - Hong Kong to ShanTou University

At around 6 am, we woke up and made our

way to Hong Kong airport. We were excited

because we would finally see ShanTou

University! We landed in ShanTou after a short

flight and were greeted by local students whom

we would call “buddies”. Our buddies took us

to a hotel on campus called “STU ACC”:

Shantou University Academic Conference

Centre.

It is possible to describe our third day in China

as a world of contrasts; developed and rural,

modern and old.

Developed and Rural:

Shantou Airport is located 30 minutes away

by bus from Shantou University Campus. On

our 30 minute ride, we crossed wheat fields,

rock quarries, construction sites, and streets

filled with small businesses. It was interesting

to witness such diversity in livelihood. Unlike

HongKong where it was skyscrapers at every

corner, we immediately felt that Shantou would be the place to push us outside of our

comfort zone. Something told us that our 10 days here would be feel different. Picture: Us on the bus and our drive to STU



From the modern airport to piles of large

rocks on the side of the road, the city of

Shantou is clearly transitioning from a rural past

towards a more developed city. We witnessed

the construction of a new bridge but like many

developing cities, Shantou is sacrificing its

environment. Our drive towards the university

campus showed a much dirtier landscape

compared to Hong Kong. There was a lot of dirt

and garbage piled along the highway. This was

a bit shocking. However, change takes time and

it would be unfair to judge Shantou by its

current shape. Just like a butterfly, Shantou

certainly needs more time to catch up and with

its current ambitious projects, it will certainly

become a better city. Picture: STU Library

Modern and old:

On the theme of progress, our buddies told us that Shantou University is building a

new stadium and is continuously renovating its older buildings. In many ways, Shantou

resembles McGill. Both Universities have historical buildings with beautiful architecture but

also newer buildings that contain state-of-the-art machinery. Shantou university has less

students than McGill but both universities have strong backgrounds in medicine and

management. These two faculties foster innovation by teaching students to become

accustomed to change and to find ways to improve and challenge the status-quo. In a way,

Shantou and McGill are training the leaders of tomorrow but both does it while preserving its

heritage.



In the evening we were treated

to a great dinner by Shantou

University and were introduced to

more students that would be helping

us during our stay. Overall, our first

day in Shantou was eye-opening. We

w e r e o v e r w h e l m e d b y o u r

surrounding, we had great food and

met even greater people. We will have

8 more days here and classes start

tomorrow. Can’t wait!

Picture: the view from our hotel and STU Campus



Day 4: Friday May 5th — CLASS! Time to get school’d on GuanXi

Our first day of classes at Shantou University

explored the subtleties of doing business in China. This

course was taught by Professor Zeng and his lecture

covered the importance of 关系（Guanxi ). Guan Xi

means having connections and the more Guan Xi one

has, the easier it is to do business in China. Guan Xi

literally translates into Guan (closing) and Xi

(connections), so closing connections, or to seal the

b o n d

b e t w e e n

t w o

people.

Professor Zeng explained that Guan Xi

resembles Western networking. We meet

people, become friends and trade favours. At

first glance, Guan Xi appears to follow the

principle of quid pro quo; you scratch my back

and i’ll scratch yours. It’s a system of reciprocal

favours such as wine and dinning one’s

customer and exchange of gifts. Foreigners

often associate Guan Xi as corruption but

Professor Zeng explains that Guan Xi is not

easily achieved by expensive gifts and lavish dinners. On the contrary, spending vast sums of

money trying to build Guan Xi will only destroy relationships because the other party will

interpret your actions as calculative. So you should not give gifts? Not totally… let’s see why! Picture: Our classroom and STU Library



First, it is important to think of Guan Xi as a very long-term investment. It is a process

that should last one’s life time once established. For this reason, it takes a long-time to

cultivate such a deep bond and requires mutual commitment. The foundation of Guan Xi is

mutual trust and as we know, relationships last only when there is trust.

Okay… so it sounds like having a business

partner that is your best friend. Someone with

whom you can share everything and would help

you almost unconditionally. That sounds great.

It’s okay to treat your best friend to dinner but

you should not build a friendship upon lavish

dinners. Sounds great, how do I get one?

To build Guan Xi, one must first show how

you can bring value to the other person. It’s

about being sincere and showing genuine interest

in helping the other person. Offering an act of

kindness shows good character! Picture: Our welcoming dinner

This can be done by solving a problem for the other person. In the earlier stage, one

must be eager to help. As time goes by, through multiple projects and cooperations, you and

the other person would ultimately spend more time together. In doing so, both parties can

better judge the personality and character of the other. If they find you pleasant, they will

spend more time with you. By spending more and more time together, there’s naturally a

gradual commitment towards the relationship and the bond become stronger.

In a way, Guan Xi is like knowing a friend since elementary school. You’ve known that

person for most of your life and you two are inseparable. However, when you meet a new



person, you can’t expect to establish the same

level of intimacy. Guan Xi is like finding a new

childhood friend. Spending money on your

best friend is not a bad thing and that’s why

the Chinese do not think dining their

customers is not a bribe. However, you can’t

buy friendship so rushing to the wine and dine

portion is tacky and bad.

Overall, Guan Xi is about building a strong

relationship. Trust, patient, willingness to

help, and personality congruence are the

most important factors.



Day 6: Saturday, May 6th - Culture class!

Today, we had a Chinese culture course where we learned about some basic

information about the region surrounding ShanTou University.

The region in which we were staying is

called Chao Shan: literal Humid

Mountain. It has over over one

thousand years of history. We say that

China has around 5000 years of

history so 1000 years does not make it

one of the oldest places.

Picture: Red for where we are!

Geographic location & Significance:

Shantou University is located in the 广东 (Guang Dong) province. Guan Dong is located

in the southern part of China with roughly 14 million people. China is said to resemble a

rooster and Guang Dong is the Rooster’s feet. Our University is located in Chao Shan, in the

eastern region of Guang Dong. ShanTou has historic significance because it was amongst the

first ports opened after World war 2 through the Tianjin treaty. At that time, it was a

prosperous city with massive influx of Westerners. Today, Guang Dong is a multi-cultural

province with significant Thai, Singaporean, Malaysian diaspora communities.

Interesting fact: Shantou did not always have a spotlight in China’s history. In the Song

Dynasty, a poet was exiled to Shantou for speaking against the government. Happy to receive

a ‘famous’ person, many things in this region named after him. One of many is the Han River.



Climate: Extremely humid

As a general rule of thumb, cities become warmer as we move south. Shantou is

categorized as having a subtropical climate. The average temperature year round is 13.8 C to

28.3 C. A LOT better than Montreal! Before wanting to move here, it’s important to note that

ShanTou is like a living sauna. Although the temperature looks comfortable as it hovers

around 20 degrees, the humidity level makes it difficult to breath and mildly unpleasant.

Under the hot sun, sweating profusely is common.

Frequent natural disasters brings on average 5 typhoons to the area. Even worse,

according to the Chinese Government, ShanTou is in the prime earthquake zone. ShanTou

Earthquakes are deadly, often reaching a magnitude of 8. AHH! Montreal doesn’t look that

bad…

Language:

ChaoSan dialect has 8 tones while mandarin

has 4. ChaoShan is quite similar to Quebec.

Under the pressure of the Chinese Government,

the younger generation of Chao Shan does not

learn their native tongue. They grew up learning

only mandarin and the older population are

afraid of losing their dialect.

This was a lot of take in because many of us

were still tired from our flight. Tomorrow we will

go visit a Chinese firm. It will be an extremely

exciting opportunity to understand Chinese

corporate culture.

Picture: Cafeteria food: costed $2



Day 6: Sunday, May 6th - Company presentation and Discovering Shantou University

Our day started with a company visit to Cubic Fun, a company that sells a hybrid

between legos and puzzles where one would assemble miniature cardboard-foam models of

history landmarks. The head of marketing told us that the Cubic Fun was seeking to expand

into the North American market. We asked them why and they explained that the United

States has the biggest toy market. During our

conversation, we realized some flaws in their

foreign expansion.

First, they did not define a specific target

market. They believed that their product suited

everyone and that it could be marketed to all

age groups. This problem is seen through their

wide product line. To accomodate all age

groups, they have various sizes for the same

landmark. I.e, they sell puzzles with different

levels of difficulty. In doing so, there is

guaranteed cannibalization. Moreover, when

we assembled their product, it became clear

that children would not have the patience

and that teenagers would not have the time to



assemble the complete set. Their product

recommended on average 1 hour per

assembly with maximum 3 hours. The

reason that Cubic Fun is mistaken about

selling to all age groups is that parents

might buy the product for their children.

However, the parents will inevitably

assemble the entire product. Therefore,

targeting an age group of 30-45 is more

strategic.

Second, Cubic Fun does not seem to

understand the North American consumer

preference. Upon seeing their product,

our first impression was a toy. However,

Cubic Fun believes it belongs within the

model industry. Cubic Fun should realize

that North American consumers will compare its products against other construction toys

such as Legos. Cubic Fun’s competitive advantage is its low cost because unlike Legos or

Megabucks, its product are single-use and fragile. Their product retails for an average of $25

CAD. At this price, it does not provide enough value over Lego’s ecosystem of

interchangeable parts.



Picture: we climbed the mountain next to STU



Day 7: Monday, May 7th - Beach day

We were given a day off to enjoy the

bright weather of Shantou. It was a

really fun day because we visited Nan

Ao island and spent half the day on the

beach. Nan Ao island is located 2 hours

away from our campus and is known by

locals for its seafood. Before our

departure, we were given a short

briefing of the island and were told

there were many small restaurants

famous for various seafood dishes.

Hungry for adventure and for good

food, we departed for Nan Ao at around 7 am.

On our ride there, we passed the

downtown of Nan’ Ao. The streets were filled

with small businesses such as family-owned

restaurants and convenience stores. However, it

was interesting to see as many stores selling

cement and glass as restaurants. Food holds an

important place in Chinese culture but cement

does not. Having equal number of shops selling

cement hinted that Nan’Ao could be a supplier of



cement. Our buddies couldn’t confirm this.

The entrepreneurial spirit is visible but one wonders wether these businesses are

profitable. Although the streets were filled with storefronts, we also saw many vacant and run-

down apartment buildings. We were reminded of the infamous Chinese “Ghost City” and

wondered if there’s enough people to buy

from these businesses. Moreover, there

were at least 7 cement shops on one

street. This high level of competition

would drive prices down, thus needing

more sales to break-even and making

profits more difficult to achieve.

We arrived to the beach at 11 am and

were treated to an amazing lunch by our

buddies. It was a great balance of meat,

fish, and vegetables. We tasted some

regional specialities! After lunch, we

went to the beach and worked on our

tan. This is without doubt the best 6

credits at McGill! Many of us love

t rave l ing because of the joy of

experiencing a new culture. Trying new food is arguably one of the most exciting things. For

this reason, we must have a section dedicated to Chinese food. For the next few blogs, we

will talk about the various regional cuisines of China!



For this first entry, let’s talk about some general things:

Food is inherently a social event in China. There are 23 regions in China and approximately 8

types of cuisines.

There are 8 regional cuisines:

1) Shan Dong cuisines

2) Jian Su cuisine

3) An Hui cuisine

4) Zhe Jiang cuisine

5) Fu Jian cuisine

6) Si Chuan cuisine

7) Hunan cuisine

8) Guan Dong cuisine (where we area) ̶ Cantonese

Amongst these 8, the most popular ones are Si Chuan,

Guan Dong, Hu Nan, Zhe Jian, and Shan Dong. They are

distinctive because of the availability of natural

ingredients. For example, Shan Dong is next to the sea,

so there’s a wide variety of seafood dishes. Si Chuan is

located in a big basin and the weather tends to be very

humid. For that reason, locals eat a lot of spicy food

believing it will push the “humid” air out of your body

and make one healthier! China spans across multiple

weather conditions and the regional cuisine reflects

historic, geographic location, cultural, weather factors.



Let’s talk about Guan Dong Cuisine.

1. Guandong Cuisine: a.k.a Yue Cai

Guangdong cuisine is commonly known as Cantonese cuisine. The cooking method is

fried and steaming, baking and stewing. The majority of restaurants in Montreal’s china town

are of Guan Dong cuisine. The most popular example is Dim Sum. Guangdong people pride

themselves for eating everything. Vegans beware! Well… EVERYONE beware! We saw duck

feet, chicken feet, frog legs, duck head, insects, and a variety of things we would never

thought of eating.

Dim sum is the most popular dish of Cantonese cuisine. The popularity of dim sum is

the social element behind ordering

many types and sharing it with friends.

It is often eaten around a big table so

everyone can split the bill and eat a

bigger variety. Dim sum is best paired

with tea. it is so relaxing that on

weekends, families can spend over 3

hours dr inking tea and eat ing

dumpling.

Another day passed! Tomorrow will be

even better.

Picture: A temple near the beach



Day 8: Tuesday, May 8th - Company visits!

Our second company visit was

Dynavolt Energy, a battery company

specializing in motorcycles. Dynavolt energy

surprised us when they announced that 70%

of their sales were from foreign countries.

When thinking about batteries, we thought

about the little bunny with drums and none

of us has ever heard of Dynavolt. This was

because their sales are within Europe. As it

turns out, they are extremely prominent

within Germany. They were even the main

s pon s o r o f a Ge rman mo t o r c y c l e

competition. No wonder we never heard of

them!

Speaking with Dynavolt executives was enlightening. They

explained that their competitive advantage is a proprietary

nano-gel technology. Traditional batteries are lithium-ion

or lead-acid. For these two types, only 40% of the battery

is recyclable. Their patented nano-gel is 100% recyclable.

All domestically consumed batteries are recycled by

Dynavolt. Batteries sold abroad are recycled through an

outsourced firm. It was great knowing that a firm would go

beyond its way to help protect the environment. China is

rift with opportunities but is also extremely competitive.

Recycling increases costs and it felt good to see a firm



value corporate social responsibility above profits. During the Q&A period, one of our

members believed that motorcycle sales are declining in Europe because of tighter

regulations. Dynavolt is not concerned but expressed a desire to diversify into household

batteries. Incidentally, Tesla announced recently their household battery, Dynavolt did not

comment.

After our visit, we returned back to campus to attend a lecture on Chinese geography.

Our professor told us that the Chinese consider East to a symbol of prosperity and good luck.

For instance, throughout history, all major cities are located on the eastern coast. The capital

has always been on the East coast! From a historical perspective, there were many occasions

to move West but this never happened. It is possible to argue that China’s East coast is

surrounded by water and therefore facilitates trade.

Speaking of trade, the current

Chinese currency featuring

Chai rman Mao i s the 5 th

generation of currency artwork. However, the quantity

has always been the same and is denoted: 10 cent, 50

cent, 1 rmb, 5 rmb, 10 rmb, 20 rmb, 50 rmb, and 100

rmb.

50 cent and 10 cent bills are infrequent and unlike



Canada, coins are not popular. For many years, there were rumours for a 500 bills. However,

that will lead to rapid currency devaluation and therefore will remain a rumour for the

foreseeable future.

Food Section:

2. Si Chuan cuisine: Chuan cai 四川 Si Chuan cuisine is one word: Spicy. Popular Si Chuan dishes eaten in Montreal are

Mapo Tofu and Kong Pao Chicken.

Si Chuan cuisine uses Hua Jiao (flower pepper). It makes your mouth numb and adds

an aromatic taste. Lovers of spicy say that numbness and spiciness make a perfect match.

The first step to making many Si Chuan dishes is to fry a variety of green and red peppers in

sizzling hot oil to accentuate the spicy flavour. Later to add flower pepper to add that

numbness effect.

Picture: BBQ after our company visit and STU market



Day 9: Wednesday, May 9th - Chinese politics and Business

In International Business class, we explored the impact of political risk upon

multinationals. Political risk can be defined as the increase in business risk when exposed to

laws and governmental actions of another country.

On the topic of corruption, China is the words second largest economy. It is big in size but

also big in population. Per capita GDP is $7000 (roughly 15% of the US per capita GDP). It

contains 1/6 of the worlds population and for that reason, it’s like sharing an extra-large pizza

with 100 people. Sure it’s big, but everyone gets a small slice. In the past 3 decades, GDP

growth was in the double digits but GDP growth was ‘only’ 7% last year. The Economist

Magazine reported that China’s real-estate & construction industry, the fuel of its growth, is

forming a bubble and is nearing the ‘popping stage’. In other words, China’s GDP growth was

fuelled by intensive construction that improved its infrastructures and improved the economy.

However, the benefit of construction is declining and arguably counter-productive to China’s

economic growth. For instance, construction projects are subsided by local governments that

have accumulated soaring levels of debt. These construction projects lead to ‘ghost towns’

with no inhabitants. In a way, it’s to build a building for the sake of building it, not because

someone needs it. At this rate, as supply of new apartments overflows, everything will crash

but a lot harder.

Another factor feeling China’s economic development was the ‘migrant dream’. In the

past, huge amounts of farmers from rural areas flocked to cities searching for a better life. For

instance, roughly 4 million people or 1/5 of people in Shanghai are of temporary citizens- i.e

migrant workers. Many worked long hours in manufacturing plants and sent their hard-earned

money back home. This trend is no longer sustainable. The amount of available migrant

workers has diminished and the children of past migrants are unwilling to endure the

hardships their parents went through.



To continue growth, China is transitioning from manufacturing towards a service/

consumption economy. In 2014, services accounted for 48% of GDP but to sustain a

consumption economy, people must have money to spend. Socioeconomically, migrants

illustrate the widening of the wealth disparity within large cities. In Hong Kong, one can see

small, dark，and grimy alleys tucked between European Luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton

and Chanel where vendors sold homemade goods and water bottles. As locals buy handbags

over $10 000, migrant workers are paid next to nothing. The problems of poor wages become

even greater when there lacks an adequate pension system. Pensions are explained by locals

as a term coined “inside system”. The government provides pensions based upon one’s

contribution to the state. Those who are of the “inside” are ones who have worked for the

state. Only those in public section jobs or state-owned enterprises have a source of income

after retirement. This excludes migrant workers and leaves the poor with very little financial

stability and safety.

As China witnesses a growing proportion of elderly population, health care will also

play a great role. Unfortunately, health care in China is built upon Guan Xi: doctors are paid

by patients through “red pockets”, similar to the red envelops of money for gift-giving during

lunar new year. Patients pay their doctors a sum of money in addition to the fee to the

hospital hoping the doctor will be more ‘careful’ and would deliver better results. This

payment system expresses a large distrust between Patients and Hospitals. Hospitals are for-

profit institutions and often bill excessively high bills. Patients bypass the hospitals and

approach the doctors directly. They hope to find the best surgeons who are otherwise

impossible to book from the official waiting list.

In all, overcoming declines in growth resides upon China’s ability to address key

socioeconomic factors. By providing migrant workers more economic protection, China can

help the poor with a safety net and allow them to improve their life. In regards to corruption,

China has already made progress by arresting government officials and cracking down on

lavish dinners and fraudulent use of state funds. With time, this crackdown will reach



hospitals and various institutions vital to the state. Hopefully, this will make China more

transparent.

Food Section:

3. HuNan Cuisine: Xian Cai Xian Cai - Ma la (spicy and numb). It tends to be oilier than Si Chuan cuisine. Locals eat a lot

more cured and smoked meat whereas Si Chuan eats fresh meat. Hunan has a variety of

pickled vegetables. Famous plates is stinky tofu - most commonly served as a street food.



Day 10: Thursday, May 10th - Chao Zhou visit

Today we visited Chao Zhou. Our first stop was at a temple called Dan fu yuan. Dan fu

yuan reminded us of the quintessential Chinese temple, the likes of which one would see in a

Kong Fu movie. What makes Chinese temples spectacular is often not the temple itself. It is

the what surrounds the temple

which adds the additional ‘wow

factor’. For this temple, its three

sides were surrounded by a chain

of mountains densely filled with

trees. When you look up towards

the sky, the trees seemingly

merge with the sky, forming a line

of contrast with vibrant greens

that clashes with an opaque and

watery grey-blue. The temple is

also nested within the middle of a large

garden. Within the garden, there is a small

lake and many ornaments such as rock

sculptures and tall willow trees. As we sat

under the willow tree, a warm summer

breeze swept past us and made the entire



view ever more serene.

After visiting this temple, we went for the most amazing vegetarian lunch. The dishes

were entirely vegetarian but some dishes containing tofu were purposely made to taste like

meat. It felt like cheating! Sorry vegetarian readers! After lunch, we walked on a famous

bridge that connected the two shores of the Han river. This bridge was built by the donations

of many local wealthy people. Mr Li Ka-Shing was unsurprisingly the top donor; with a

donation of 7.5 million RMB.

Food Section:

4. Shan Dong cuisine: Lu Cai Shan Dong was the birthplace of Confucius and he was very picky with his food. Shandong

cuisine has the longest history and has the biggest influence over other cuisine types. Locals

love soup and they made soup out of very aromatic broths. They slow boil bones such as

beef, fish, and duck to create nutritional and tasty soups.



Pictures: The temple we visited and various vegetarian dishes



Day 11: Friday, May 11th Company visit and culture class

We visited a medicine distribution company called Chaun Mei. The company was

founded in 2000 and according to their CEO, they are currently the market leader in

medicine distribution. Their CEO is called Mr. Yang and he is the youngest son of a big

family. His inspiration to start a company came from the fear that his mother would not have

money after retirement. Mr. Yang’s mother worked long hours to provide for his siblings and

him. His upbringing taught him that working for other people always limits one’s future.

Therefore, he decided to start his own business in order to get rich.

Today, Chuan Mei is a leader in medicine distribution. In China, there are over 12 000

medicine distribution firms and there’s 1200 firms in Shantou province. Mr. Yang believes

that the industry changes every 3 years and the only the best firms can survive. He says that

about half of firms die out every 3 years. He is proud that his company has survived 15 years

and this success comes from his values. The mission of Chuan Mei is seen through its name.

Chuan (create) mei (beauty) represents Mr. Yang’s desire to help society. He says that he does

not chase after profits. His primary goal is to serve society with safe and affordable medicine.

Once his primary goal is accomplished, money naturally flows into the firm.

His philosophy is seen through the “family-business”-like environment. His managers

told us that Mr. Yang knows all his 620 employees by name. Mr. Yang often eats lunch with

his employees at the company canteen. He knows a lot about his employees and can start a

conversation with them and chat about the well-being of his employees family. This builds

employee morale and organizational citizenship and is clearly one of his many core

competencies.

Going forward, Mr Yang is in the process of listing his company on the Hong Kong

stock Exchange. Going public is a big milestone for his company and Mr. Yang seemed very



confident. In addition, he believes the future of medicine distribution is through B2B E-

commerce. He has a team that is building an e-commerce platform.

After the company visit, we attended another Chinese culture class. This lecture was

on the teachings of Confucius. Chinese people are very family-oriented because Confucius

said that if one’s family is coherent, all good things will follow. In essence, if one’s family is

functional, there’s always help to be provided. Therefore, one could overcome all difficulties.

The following section contains some topics covered in class.

Benevolence:

Don’t do to others what you don’t want to be done to you. The golden rule that many

of us abide by.

Harmony: Collectivism

Chinese people believe that everything has a place and that everything is a piece

within a larger puzzle. Chinese people seek balance and coordination. It is important to give

back to society and not harm it. For instance, the idea of Mian Zi (having face). To give

someone Mian Zi is to let someone have face and not putting them on the spot. Deliberately

trying to make someone look bad or to lose face will destroy this balance. For this reason,

one often does not say ‘no’ but rather some form of vague reply such as ‘let’s talk about it

later’.

Position of women in Chinese society:

In traditional Chinese culture, women were in a subordinate position. Men were

expected to be strong and the sole breadwinner and women were expected to stay at home

and to raise children. Today, China has changed. Women joined the workforce during the

cultural revolution and gained more financial power. The modern family is a dual-income

household where the wife often earns more than her husband. However, stay-at-home dads



are rare. Men’s reluctance to stay at home is the result of social pressure. He fears that he

would be judged by his friends and be called “unmanly”.

Marriage:

Young people often get married because of parental pressure. Parents pressure their

children for grandchildren and many will ask their friends to ‘recommend’ someone they

know for their child. Not marrying is considered a problem and having a divorce is an even a

bigger problem. The power of social norms are again revealed because women dread not

finding a husband. If a

woman is not married

when she turns 40 ,

people assume she has

p r o b l e m s b e c a u s e

something bad must have

p reven ted he r f rom

finding love.

Picture: bridge funded by Mr.

Li Ka-Shing



Day 12: Saturday, May 12th: Chinese Scenery & language

Mountains are important in China because emperors prayed to the mountain for good

luck and longevity of their dynasty. Two big mountains are Hua Mountain and Thai

Mountain. Hua Mountain is in the West and Thai Mountain is in the East. Hua Mountain is

famous for its planked walks. Climbers can navigate the small planks to reach the top of the

mountain. Thai Mountain is known for it’s valley of peaks and water flows. In essence, Hua

Mountain is more adventurous while Thai mountain is more scenic.

Chinese Language:

Han yu (language of the Han) is known as Mandarin. When the government first

adopted the term Han Yu, minorities groups were not happy. There are many minority

populations within China and Han is the predominant population. It’s like as if Canada

renamed English: Language of Anglophones. This wouldn’t make Quebecers happy!

The Chinese government changed the official term of Han Yu into Pu tong Hua: literal

translation as “commonly used language”.

Pu Tong Hua is spoken by 720 million people in the world. The number of people speaking

English is roughly 500 million. However, the number of countries using English is significantly

more than Chinese. Chinese people wonder if Mandarin will become the business language of

tomorrow. This remains to be seen because Mandarin is heavily concentrated within 1

country: China.

Some fun facts:

1) Chinese is one of the working languages of the U.N.

2) Mandarin belongs to the sion-tibetan language family

3) There are 8 dialects spoken in China: most popular are Mandarin and Cantonese

4) Although words are pronounced differently, there is only one calligraphy system.



In Northern China, people speak rarely anything other than Mandarin. In the South,

there are 5 to 6 spoken dialects. In many provinces, there are 3-4 different dialects. It

becomes evident why mandarin was imposed. Pu Tong Hua facilities business because all of

China will speak this one dialect. It merges cultures together and creates a unified China.

Speaking: 4 tones

aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh (a flat and short tone)

ahhhhhh! (a rising and short tone) - Resembles French accent aigu

Aahhhhh?????? (sounds like asking a question and short tone)

AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!! (a deep and short tone) - Resembles French accent grave

After learning about language, we played a famous game; Mahjong.

You might have seen this game within Hong Kong movies. For those who have never played

it, think of it as a game of finding combos.

Mahjong is most commonly played with 4 people. To win, one needs skill, strategy,

calculation, and LUCK!! There are 144 tiles but based on different rules in different provinces,

some tiles are not used. if you are gambling, all tiles are used. After shuffling the tiles, each

player receives 13 tiles and in turn draw and discard tiles. To win the game, you need 4

groups and a pair.

Groups consist of 3 same or consecutive numbers. i.e A A A or 1 2 3,

pair is a double. i.e AA, BB, 1 1, 2 2

The origin of mahjong:

Mahjong was named after a bird; ma que. According the the professor, the wikipedia

article on mahjong is wrong. Mahjong does not originate from confucious. In the past, in

Jiangsu Province, when the harvesting season approached, ma que bird ate all the crops. The



government rewarded farmers for killing maque. To reward farmers, they used mahjong tiles.

From this background, we can understand the 7 different tiles.

The circular: the gunpowder - Used to kill the bird

letter: money - Reward

strings: the strings to attach guns

directional: N E S W - refer to the wind

Red Zhong: red because there’s blood. Zhong = hit

Blank mirror: You missed so there’s no blood

Green Cai: Wealth

Mahjong was initially banned at 1949 but was unbanned in 1959. Mahjong parlours

are popular for those who can’t afford to buy a set. However, gambling is illegal in China.

Formal gambling such as casinos do not exist but informal methods such as friendly

gatherings are popular. In the past, Chinese people did not trust banks. They hid their money

under their mattress, in holes in the ground or left them with friends and family. This excess

money fuelled the rise of Mahjong because people would always have money on hand to play.

In the area where we are staying, it is popular for locals to use their spare money to play



Mahjong in the beginning of the year. If you win, it means prosperity for the next year.

However, if you lost a lot, you needed to go pray because there’s misfortune ahead.



Day 13: Sunday, May 13th - Presentations and goodbye Today was the last day of lectures and we each presented our business ideas and what we

learned about Chinese culture.

The first presentation was on doing business in China. We could bring a Western

product into China or bring a Chinese product into Canada. Most of us wanted to bring

Western products into China. Some interesting product ideas were water filters, small ovens,

and toy furniture. In Q&A, we were surprised to find that there’s a product that could attach

to your water bottle cap and it can kill all the germs in the water. This will allow us to drink

tab water in China. This will be extremely helpful because only boiled water is safe to drink!

In the afternoon, we delivered a second presentation on what we learned from Chinese

culture.

At night, we had our going-away party. How fast times flies! It’s already been 10 days

and tomorrow we will be leaving for Shanghai. This trip would not have been the same

without our wonderful buddies. They showed up at our hotel and lead us to class everyday.

We can not forget the professors that shared their knowledge and helped organize company

visits. Our time in Shantou was short but memorable. We did so many things and without

realizing it, half of our trip is done.

We have an early flight tomorrow to shanghai and an alumni meeting. It is clear that

our trip would not have existed without the help of so many people. On this evening where

me must say goodbye to our friends at Shantou, we know our paths will cross again because

we look forward to meeting them again at McGill next summer!



Day 14: Monday, May 14th: Hello Shanghai!

We said our final goodbyes to our friends at Shantou University. Special thanks to Professor

Zeng, Jason, Shan, and Christine for taking us to the airport.

Our flight to Shanghai was very quick. Most of us were exhausted from waking up at 6

am and spent most the flight sleeping. Before we know it, we landed in Shanghai HongQiao

airport. We met our tour guide, a nice and spontaneous person called Candy. Candy

explained that Shanghai has 2 airports; Hong Qiao is the old and Pu Dong is the new.

Hong Qiao airport services dwesmtic

flights. It looks similar to Montreal’s

Trudeau airport. It is clean but not

very big when compared to the likes

of Vancouver Airport. Pu Dong

airport is a monster because it

services all international flights.

Candy explains that Pu Dong is much

bigger because China wishes to leave

international travellers with a good

impression of China. I guess we are not foreigners anymore because we have all been

Chinese for 15 days.

Candy lead us to the downtown area with small alleyways and shops. These shops sold

everything from souvenirs, miniature dolls, counterfeit earphones to a store that closely

resembles David’s tea. A store that attracted many of us was a candy store called Candy

factory. The artisans were making candy by hand and they gave us samples. It was really

tasty, their store smelled like gummy bears.



Our next destination was our alumni meeting. It was on the

5th floor of a building with a small storefront. The restaurant

served Canadian food and Mr Banh, one of the organizers of

this alumni meeting told us that the restaurant was owned by

a Canadian expat. Everything on the menu looked delicious.

It’s probably because we were all craving burgers. Although

it’s only been 15 days, the sight of poutine on the menu

made many of us excited.

The alumni meeting

was a great success. Most of

u s h a d t h e C a n a d i a n

Hamburger. The service was

great and the food tasted

amazing. We had the chance

to talk with 6 alumnae from

Private Equity, Venture

Capital, and architecture. A

special shoutout to Mr Banh

for buying us a round of

drinks!

We finally arrived to our

hotel at 10pm. The night was

still young so many of us



headed to a nearby bar. Our first day of Shanghai reminded us of the developed China.

Shantou was a tranquil city but for many of us, it’s the dynamic and hectic pace of Shanghai

that spices up life. We have seen a calm China, now it’s time to explore the fast-changing

Shanghai! Can’t wait for tomorrow!



Day 15: Tuesday, May 15th - Second day in Shanghai

Today we visited

the Jade Garden and

the “china town” of

China.

The Jade Garden

was spectacular but

unlike its name, it

did not contain any

statues made out of

jade. Neither were

there walls of jade

but a very intricate

s e r i e s o f s m a l l

gardens that were

l i n k e d t o g e t h e r

t h r o u g h s m a l l

br idges . Chinese

gardens all have 3

elements based upon

Feng Shui. The first

is water because

water symbolizes the

flow of life. Chinese

people often have fishs within the ponds for two reasons. Since only water that flows is good,

there must be things that move the water, therefore fish. Moreover, fish has the same

pronunciation as plentiful. Having fish means having more than is enough to survive,

therefore a sign of prosperity.



Second is beauty. According to our tour guide, this criteria involves many things such

as symmetry and attention. It generally means beauty as a sense of craftsmanship because

only the rich could afford to hire a master artisan. In addition, gardens commonly have 3

elements: towers, buildings and pavilions. Towers must be tall because it symbolizes the

ability to reach the sky god. Buildings must look good inside and out. For example, on the

roof, we saw wood carvings of bats. Interestingly, inside the room, we saw the exact same

carvings. We realize

that gardens indicate

one’s status and only

t h e r i c h e s t c a n

afford to make their

house look bo th

inside and out.

T h e d y n a s t y

during which this

garden was built was

known for intricate

f u r n i t u r e . F o r

e x a m p l e , t h e

armchairs had words

c a r v e d i n t o t h e

backrest. Everything

had its place and

there was always a

meaning for where

e a c h p i e c e o f

furniture should be



placed. For instance,

we were surprised to

find 2 mirrors inside

the room. The mirrors

were almost as tall as

the roof. Our tour

guide explained that

the rooms were built

small and without air

conditioning. Since it

is in the south of

China, it was very hot

in the summer. The

big mirrors are facing

the garden so when

the owner looks at

either side, he will see

the garden within his

room. It makes the

room look bigger and

cooler.

T h i r d , i t i s

important to have plants. The tour guide did not explain why but it could have something to

do with Feng Shui and general aesthetics. In Shantou, we were told that plants such as cactus

can be placed in places within one’s house where we do not frequently visit. It is the same

idea as having flowing water. For believers of Feng Shui, plants can bring ‘life’ through

photosynthesis and this brings good chi into the room. As such, having plants and water

creates a double flow effect to make the emperors even more prosperous.



After visiting the

jade garden, we walked

to the “China Town” of

Shanghai. The reason

we call this place the

chinatown is because

most of Shanghai is

modernized. Today,

Shanghai is like any

other international city.

The ‘China Town’ is the

only place that reminds

l o c a l s o f t h e o l d

Shanghai. We walked

around china town and

there were many shops

selling local specialties.

The food and souvenirs

were expensive so most

o f u s j u s t w a l k e d

around. Around noon,

we had lunch at a restaurant in the middle of China town. The food was interesting because

they served us banana for desert.

After China town, we visited the Shanghai art museum and out day ended with free-time.



Day 16: Wednesday, May 16th: More Shanghai

We met up at 9 am

and found our way to the

bus to meet Candy. Our first

destination was Zhu Jia Jiao,

a.k.a the venice of China.

The ride there took 2 hours.

That provided the much

appreciated sleep because

many of us came back home

quite late.

Zhu jia jiao has 2

s i d e s w i t h a r i v e r i n

between. Both sides are

crowded with shops and

buzzing with tourists. We

took a boat ride to the end of

Zhu jia Jiao in order to reach

the marke t p lace . The

market had many small

roads that zig zagged. Traditional Chinese saying that bad spirits move in straight lines, so zig

zag roads prevented ghosts from reaching you. Interestingly, most shops sold same things.

The most popular product was pork. We counted around 15 shops selling pigs feet,

liver, and pork chops. The pork cuts were marinated in a sugary broth that resembled soy

sauce and there was a sweet yet oily aroma in the air. The pork were tied with bamboo

strings and sold as bite-size portions.



The second popular product were pearls. There were shops with large aquariums filled

with oysters. Small oysters costed 50 RMB ($10), medium sized were 70 RMB ($12) and large

were 100 RMB ($20). Although we didn’t see anyone buy a live oyster, there were many pearl

necklaces hanged on the entrances of stalls. We thought that they could be fake because

necklaces looked identical from one shop to the next.

On a side note, competition must be intense in this area. Although it is busting with

tourists and its narrow streets look like Walmart on boxing-day, the supply of products is too

high. Shops sold identical products and there were little to no differentiation. Moreover, we

did not see any price competition because some of us walked around hoping for a good deal



but no luck. It is possible that one owner owns many storefronts. In that case, cannibalization

and the insane cost of rent must eat into profits.

After our visit, we had lunch and ended the day with a free-time. We had a lot of fun in

Shanghai and it felt like home. Tomorrow, we will visit Beijing.



Day 17th: Thursday, May 17th! Hello Beijing

We arrived at Beijing T2 Terminal at 10am. Upon landing in Beijing, the first thing that

caught our attention was the air quality. In shanghai, we asked the alumni of how bad Beijing

air was. Some told us it

was unbearable, others

said it was decent at

t ime s . Today was

certainly unbearable.

The smog does indeed

exist and be it within

cars, buildings, hotels

or outside, there is a

l inger ing smel l o f

cigarette and smoke.

The air was not clean

and one has to realize

that this is after efforts

by the Government to

improve air quality.

Just imagine how bad

the air could have

been! We all took our

our 3M masks and

walked towards

W e w e r e

greeted by our tour

guide called Wendy and she took us to the first sight: the forbidden city. The forbidden city



has a mystique to it. It

i s e x c e p t i o n a l l y

spac ious , a house

worthy of the son of

the sky god but there’s

an intimidating aura

from the false sense of

simplicity of Chinese

architecture.

At first glance, the

buildings we saw were

1 story, they were built

entirely out of wood

and without the use of

a s ing le nai l . The

b u i l d i n g s d i d n o t

beauty or aw because

they were only one

story tall and yet very

wide . It occupied a lot

of space and it felt that

the sheer size of the

court delivered a stronger message than the building itself. However, once we look closely at

the buildings, our impression totally changed. There was a sense of extreme attention to

detail because every ceiling had a carved dragon. On the edges of balconies, doorways, and

even marble handrails, there were carved animals such as dragons and bats. When we

zoomed in with a camera showed that each dragon had carved scales. The amount of detail

reminded many of us of the 16th chapel.



Our tour of the

forbidden city lasted

around 3 hours because

there are 9 gates to pass

before reaching the

central garden (home of

the emperor). Wendy

told us that 9 means

longevity and in the

past, one would have to

go through 9 “security

checks” before reaching

the king. This showed

h ow p ow e r f u l t h e

emperor was. Just as a

mental image, every

gate i s the s ize of

roughly 2 football fields.

We didn’t make it to the

last gate but he saw the

chair that the emperor

sat on when giving

royal decrees. Wendy

said it looked uncomfortable, many of us agreed.

After our tour, we arrived at Beijing Capital hotel and attended another alumni

meeting. We had a delicious Chinese buffet meal and met alumni and exchange students. This



t ime, the alumni

w e r e n o t f r o m

management and

this allowed us to

explore other career

paths in China.

It was a great day!



Day 18: Friday, May 18th — Company visit and shopping

We started our day by visiting a

tea market. Tea is an inherent part of

Chinese culture and is believed to have

medicinal effects. The 4 most popular

types of tea are pu er, wu long, green,

a nd j a sm in e . D r i n k i n g t e a i s

considered by locals as one of the

many joys of life because preparing tea

is an art in itself. We watched carefully

as the tea master boiled us 5 types of

tea. It felt like a symphony.

The first step to making tea the

“Chinese way” is to wash the pot and

drinking cups with boiling water.

Depending on the type of tea, the

temperature of the water will be

different. As a general rule of thumb, fermented tea require higher water temperature.

Fermented tea can be stored indefinitely because they are no longer raw. Fermented tea are

also “collector-grade” because they gain flavour and value with age. Raw tea lose value with

age but they are enjoyed for their fresh and aromatic taste. Fermented tea are muddier and

bitter in taste.

Amongst the 5 types of tea we sampled, there was an overwhelming consensus that the

wu long with liquorice and ginseng was the best. The aroma was earthy but the taste was

sweet from the liquorice. The tea master showed us this interesting tool called the “pee pee

boy”. It literally pees when you pour boiled water onto its head. Its used to determine if the



water is hot enough. A

very interesting tool

a n d d e fi n i t e l y a

conversational piece.

A f t e r t h e t e a

shop, we vis i ted a

securities firm called

C h i n a G a l a x y

securities. It is called

CGS for short and can

b e c o n s i d e r e d a

bou t ique fi rm tha t

o ff e r s n e a r l y a l l

financial services. It

d o e s i n v e s tmen t s ,

m e r g e r s a n d

acquisitions, wealth

m a n a g em e n t , a n d

commercial banking.

We saw branches of

their commercial bank

prior to arriving in

Beijing. We met 3 members of their senior staff and discussed the Chinese equity market. Two

heated topics arose: the first was impact of the Chinese economy upon the world and the

second was wether its slowdown this year in GDP growth is bad.

According to CGS, all things must come to an end and China can not grow indefinitely.

There will be changes ahead and perhaps it’s not necessarily a bad thing that it happens now.



China wishes to become a global player but it wishes for cooperation. Finance is inherently

an international activity and in regards to the FED raising interest rates, CGS believes that the

immediate effect will be capital outflow out of China. This could strain the Chinese market

but necessary precautions have been taken. For instance, China created the HongKong and

Shanghai exchange network to assure easier cash flow between mainland investors and Hong

Kong firms. This hopes to incentivize investors to keep funds within China.

After the company visit, we went to a mall filled with knockoffs. It was literally a 5

story shopping mall filled with counterfeit products. There were even security guards

stationed at the entrance. It became evident that regulation and enforcement are two

complete different stories. China has laws forbidding counterfeits but there lacks enforcement

because security guards and officials are turning a blind eye. It wasn’t only knockoffs because

in the washroom of the securities firm, there was a security guard smoking next to a “no

smoking” sign.

Enough about laws! Some of us bought scarves and some of us bought souvenirs. It

was a great day. Can’t wait for tomorrow.



Day 19th: Saturday, May 19th — Farewell China!

Today was our last day of our trip. We started our day by visiting the great wall of

China. A trip to China is not complete without visiting the great wall. There is an old saying

that one is not a “hero” without having climbed the great wall. This felt like another ancient

saying but claiming the great wall turned out to be a bigger challenge than expected.

The difficulty of claiming the great wall lies upon the steep portions of the wall. Most

of the wall contains flat steps but there are certain steps that are very vertical. Climbing up

the wall is difficult because it gets more difficult the higher we get. However, the most scary

part was climbing down. Imagine walking down flights of stairs without railings while seeing a

mountain under you. Many of us had shaking legs and we moved down one step at a time. It



makes one wonder, if we had a hard time claiming the great wall, just imagine how difficult it

must have been to build this monument. According to our tour guide, 1.5 million men died

when building the great wall. To us, it seemed nearly an impossible task to just bring rock

bricks onto the mountain! Just imagine building the wall… This shows why the great wall

deserves a spot amongst the world’s greatest monuments.



After the GreatWall, we were stuck in traffic when going to the summer garden. Beijing

traffic is a big problem because there are simply too many cars on the road. Today, there are

over 1.7 million cars on the road each day and the number of new licenses given is

increasing every year. Within the last 10 years, the number of cars sold in Beijing has

increased 4 fold. This leads to congested roads where “highways” move as fast as regular

roads. To combat this problem, Beijing government restricts road access once per week



depending on the last digit of one’s drivers licence. Like many mega cities, congested roads

are a fact of life. The government has taken further steps by restricting the number of new

licenses and forcing new drivers to buy licences from existing drivers. It remains to see how

effective these measures will be.

Our stay in the summer garden was short because we were all exhausted and sad to be

leaving soon. It was our last night and only Peking duck deserved to be our last meal in

China. After our meal, we arrived at the hotel and said our farewells to each other. Some of

us are leaving tonight to continue an adventure in Asia, some are leaving tomorrow morning

for Canada, and some are still not sure where to do.



Ending note:

In these short 20 days, we learned so much about China and about ourselves. We went

from a group of 20 strangers to having great friends. Unfortunately, some of us are graduating

so this might be the last time seeing each other in Bronfman. However, we will stay in contact

because the bonds built during this trip will last for years to come.

China was truly inspiring and nothing would have been possible without the generous

help of Mr. Li Ka-Shing. We extend our sincerest gratitude towards him and his foundation.

As we continue in our education and eventually embark on our business careers, we hope to

one day become as influential and charitable as Mr. Li Ka-Shing.

Thank you once again LKS foundation and thank you reader for reading this blog!

- McGill


Documents

McGill Li Ka-Shing Summer Exchange May 31, 2015 CHINA BLOG · McGill Li Ka-Shing Summer Exchange May 31, 2015 Day 1: Tuesday, May 2nd - Hello China! It was an early morning when a