Day 5

This morning we met with Prof. Ten Harmsel and the orchestra, in our hostel.  He lectured and took questions about Chinese history.  It was quite interesting, especially when he talked about the Chinese church.  There are two churches in China, neither one of which trusts the other.  The house churches comprise about 80% of the Christians in China (about 50-130 million based on whose estimate you choose).  The official state church is called the Three Selfs Church (not referring to the Trinity, but self-governance, self-reliance, self-propagation I think), and though it must be registered with the state, is very much free to preach what it will.  Prof. Ten Harmsel debunked some myths for us, the most interesting of which was that the Chinese need Bibles to be smuggled in.  The printing press which produces the most Bibles per year (60 million) is actually in Nanjing.  There is no need of smuggling Bibles, and the Chinese church does not want it.

I didn't expect to know any of the orchestra students going to China, but when I got to the lecture place I saw a couple people I knew.  Katelyn Plaisier was there as well as Peter Plantinga; it was nice to see so many people from Calvin all under the same roof, in a place over 6000 miles from home.

After the morning talk, we got lunch quickly then left for our first business meeting.  It was with GreenTech, a firm started by a Dutchman, Ben Janssen.  The company engineers water treatment solutions for Chinese municipalities.  They deal with huge volumes of water, primarily ultrapure water, which is not used for drinking, but for using in boiler systems and for manufacturing purposes that require highly pure water.  They are always looking for Environmental/Water engineers, and right now, Mr. Janssen, the owner is the only non-Chinese national.  They are looking at a potential IPO in the next few years in order to expand.  Right now what's bottlenecking their growth is a lack of capital.  As it sits right now, they are in the middle section of water solutions market, but are poised for rapid growth if they can get the required capital.

I would count the first meeting as a success.  I got to wear my suit for the first time, which was nice.  My roommate had to tie my tie for me because we were in a hurry and I had forgotten how, but I practiced for a bit when we got back, so I should be ok for the rest of my life (hopefully J).

For dinner, we were invited by some of the staff to learn how to make dumplings.  We made them, they cooked them and then we ate them.  They tasted pretty amazing, plus it was pretty cool to learn how to make the little suckers.  First we made the little round, flat pieces of dough by rolling them.  The man who showed us how could do one in five simple strokes and be done with it, but it took me at least twelve to do mine, and it looked more like a 4-leaf clover; it still tastes the same though.  The dumplings were pretty easy to put together.  We put some meat and spices on the dough, then folded it.  There were a couple of different ways to do it; the ways they taught us were pretty rudimentary, but one of the ladies did it such a way that it looked like a little hedgehog.  The meal was definitely better because we had had a hand in preparing it.  By now my chopstick proficiency has grown quite a bit, so it's a bit easier to eat, and I can actually have my fill most of the time.  Towards the beginning I was leaving somewhat hungry; you sure do learn quickly though when it comes to getting enough food.

  This evening some of us guys went to a small wood oven pizza bar, somewhat near one of the restaurants that we had gone to for a group dinner.  I tried my first beer this evening.  It was pretty cheap, but I just wanted to give it a try.  I didn't really know what to expect; I wouldn't say it was the greatest thing I've ever imbibed, but it wasn't the worst either.  I think in terms of taste you can do a lot better than beer though.  In any case, the teas we've been served have been much more enjoyable.  I might have to buy myself a cheap tea set while I'm here, and some good tea to go with it.

I'm done typing for the night; tomorrow morning we leave early for a company meeting so we have to be completely packed tonight already.  We'll be visiting ASIMCO and Vermeer tomorrow; hopefully they can live up to the presentation we had today.  I think I'm going to wear my green shirt and tie.

Good "last night in Beijing".

P.S. I hope the Chinese men talking loudly in the next room quiet down a bit.  They've been like this the whole time so far J.