Day 16

We had our last two company visits this morning and afternoon.  Our first meeting this morning was with HuZhou ShengLi Industry Manufacturing Company which makes a variety of chairs, risers and tables from steel.  When we got to the gate, there was a banner welcoming the group from Calvin College, and in the meeting room there was another one!  Chinese companies have been throwing out the welcome mat to us; we've been very grateful to them.  Their products are on the cheaper end compared to companies like Herman Miller and Steelcase.  They make a foldable chair and table system like the kind Unity uses in the south gym for lunch as well as wheelchairs, many of which they give away to charity.  In fact, they recently donated a day's worth of wheelchairs to an organization in Haiti in light of the earthquake, as part of their company's social obligation.  The corporate atmosphere is geared toward generosity and they didn't even have to lay off any workers because of the economic downturn.  It sounds a little fishy to me, like some nice spin, but for now, I'm going to believe them.  We had quite a long meeting in a room that was open to the outside.  It was in the 30's today, so the meeting was conducted with jackets on all around (not uncommon at all in China).  They were very good hosts and provided us with buns, fruits and drinks for lunch.  As a present, and to feature the primary product of the region, they gave each of us a silk handkerchief (mum, that's yours).  The general manager spoke with us using Amanda as an interpreter.  He is very good at what he does, and because of that ascended the ladder, from starting as an entry level engineer when he left school (mechanical engineer).  I think that it's important to have engineers in the upper management levels, to combine both the technical understanding and experience with leadership.  It's worked very well for their company at least.

Next we visited Zhejiang Hengfeng Top Leisure, a maker of outdoor supplies for companies such as Dick's, Cabelas, Bass Pro Shops, Costco, Gander Mountain and many other popular American brands.  We met with some sales people, and the owner's brother-in-law, who now works there after being involved in the government.  The company increased its profits from $150 million to $250 million from 2008 to 2009, quite an achievement.  There's a pretty good likelihood that we've bought something that they produce there, considering the wide range of goods, from patio furniture and tents, to camping chairs and tables.  This company produced 85,000 tents in one month to donate to the Szechuan earthquake victims in 2008; President Hu Jintao visited the company to oversee their progress and they said that even the administrative staff was working to produce the massive amount of tents.  We went on a tour of their showroom and then the manufacturing facility.  It was quite the place; they make many more than the 1100 products per day that HuZhou ShengLi makes.

The bus rides were pretty long again today, but now we have the rest of the trip to see what we want to on our own time.  It will be nice not to have to wear a suit so often now.  They look pretty spiffy, but after days of traveling in a suit it gets tiring.

Tonight we went to a hotpot place again, this time with more people.  It was a nice place, but pretty crowded around the table we were sharing.  The food was tasty as usual.  Afterwards, some of us went to the lake to walk for a bit, and the others went back to the hotel to finish journaling and to play Rook.  Will and I had to go to the men's room, and when we made it back to where the group had been, everyone had left, so we walked around the lake for a bit.  There was the musical fountain again, and we even saw a large dancing group in the park.  They were dancing to some sort of techno music, all in unison.  I was impressed.  We didn't manage to find them, so we just headed back to the hotel.  It was a nice night, but a bit chilly.  Hopefully it will warm up a bit tomorrow.

We played some cards in the hotel tonight after everyone got back.  I'm going to bed now because we have a whole day to do what we want, and I want to make the most of it.