|
More About Barbara
Barbara's Family Life
Family Update | Photos | Barbara's
Home | Charlie's Memorial
CHINA TRIP, June 11 – 23, 2004
The trip to China was absolutely amazing – I still have to pinch
myself to remember it really happened! The opportunity to speak to Shangri-La
Hotels occurred just before Gretchen and I left for South Africa, and
three weeks after our return from Cape Town, I was on an airplane headed
for Hong Kong. A wonderful young man named Tisheng Young was in my English
as a Second Language class at Argonne National Laboratories in 1980, and
when his friend, Serena Wei, was looking for a speaker for Shangri-La’s
management team, he suggested me. We had stayed in touch at Christmastime
for many years as he moved around the world in various international jobs,
so he knew about my work. It always amazes me how these wonderful miracles
happen in our lives!
A second miracle that occurred in association with this trip happened
just the week before we left. Serena had emailed McGraw-Hill China to
see which of my books had been translated into Chinese so they could have
some of them available to the Shangri-La participants. When Emily Wang
of McGraw-Hill China heard that I was going to be in Beijing, she emailed
immediately to tell me that my book, “Handle with CARE – Motivating
and Retaining Employees” had just come out in Chinese one month
before and had already sold 30,000 copies. As a result, the largest business
magazine in China wanted to sponsor my giving a presentation to the 100
top HR managers in Beijing. (Part of the miracle was that McGraw-Hill
New York had NEVER EVEN TOLD ME that the book was being translated!) Of
course I was thrilled and did a 75 minute talk one of the nights I was
there. The companies present were a “Who’s Who” of international
organizations, so I hope it will open up more business in China.
I asked my friend, Karna Burkeen, who is in development for Lancaster
Theological Seminary and has been a family friend since our children were
little, to join me, and we were quite a sight in China. I am blonde and
she is African American, so needless to say, we stood out! ;-) We loved
the people, the food, the amazing culture, but NOT the traffic! We both
decided that if we lived in Beijing, we would never cross the street……
One of the wonderful perks of the trip was that we got to stay at five-star
Shangri-La hotels in every city we visited. Serena had arranged for a
car to meet us at each airport, and in each city we were provided with
an English speaking guide and a driver, so we never had to wait in line
for tourist attractions. We became friends with all our guides and learned
a great deal about how they live. One of the most fun things about them
was that at lunchtime we asked them to take us to their favorite local
restaurants, so we experienced “real” Chinese life and food
such as noodles and hotpot. (Ask me sometime what was in the hotpot!)
We spent the first three days in Hong Kong and were royally entertained
by Frank, Monita and Heidi Adick, fellow speakers whom I emailed when
we knew we were coming, and by Harry, Albertina, Douglas, and Sophia Lam
Cham Hing, friends we met when Charlie attended Ken Blanchard’s
golf school in California in 1997. We saw a walled village, “no
man’s land” between Hong Kong and the mainland, a brass factory,
and Harry’s lovely jewelry store, Wai Kee Jewelers. They all treated
us to some wonderful Chinese food. I especially loved the huge lazy susans
in the middle of the table and hope to find one in the US.
The next three days we spent in the amazing city of Beijing. We were both
struck by how OLD the Chinese culture is (Beijing is 3000 years old!).
They had writing, beautiful porcelain and brass art work, and many conveniences
over 2000 years BEFORE CHRIST! One other interesting thing was that when
we entered the mainland, we expected to find lots of control. All they
did was to stamp our passports—we did not even have to go through
customs. We sensed a new hope and an entrepreneurial spirit in the country
now that they are a part of the Free Trade organization, so it will be
interesting to watch as they become more and more of a service-oriented
culture, so very different from Mao’s regime.
We spent the first day at the Great Wall and the Ming Tombs. There is
a saying in China that, “If you haven’t bee to the Great Wall,
you are not real heros!” Our guide took us to the local’s
favorite part of the Wall (there are five places you can visit the Wall),
and it was grander than you can even imagine! We could only marvel at
how they could have built it in 221 BC in such high and rugged mountains.
We were told that MANY people died building the wall and are buried beneath
it. The original wall was 5000 kilometers long, and the material used
for the Great Wall was enough to build a wall 3 meters high 3 times around
the globe! We took a cable car up, and I was intrigued that they had a
huge tube slide you could take down. I wanted to do it, but my friend
was a coward!
The next day we went to the Summer Palace where I dropped my new digital
camera. A story of amazing service was that the concierge at our hotel
was able to get it fixed for me in one day! The Dowager Empress (the Dragon
Lady) loved this palace and had a canal built so she could go by boat
from the Forbidden City. Loving power, she required 128 different dishes
for breakfast but would only eat small portions and the rest was thrown
away! We saw the marble boat, the longest covered walkway in the world,
the seven arched bridge, and the concubine’s quarters. The Emperor
had over 2000 concubines, and each day they would put on their makeup
and wait for him to “call” them. The extravagance of the Emperors
was overwhelming.
In the afternoon we toured the Hutong area in a rickshaw to see how the
old Chinese really lived. We visited a home in a quadrangle that used
to house one family but now 17 families live in the same space. It was
indicative of how crowded the Chinese cities are now.
That night I gave my presentation to the HR managers in a coffee house.
Everyone stayed late, asking questions, taking pictures with me, and having
me sign books. They made me feel quite famous! One of the most thrilling
things was a woman from Motorola who stood up and told how three years
ago they had ordered my book, “CARE Packages for the Workplace,”
and made it the cornerstone for a very successful “CARE” program
in their company. She said it was still going on and had greatly impacted
turnover. She was very enthusiastic, and it touched me deeply to see that
my book had made a difference on the other side of the world!
The following day we first stopped at Tianamin Square which was one of
the most impressive sights of the trip. Over one million people can fit
into it! The only thing that troubled us was all the people pressing you
to buy things from them. Sometimes you could hardly walk! Mao’s
body rests in a clear glass case in the mausoleum. He can be viewed from
9 to 4, but at night they lower him into the ground so he can “rest
in peace.” (Our guide told us that only his head is real; the rest
of his body is wax.)
Then we went to the Forbidden City, so named because no common people
were ever allowed to enter. The Emperor was the only male in the city
so that the only children born were all fathered by him; all the other
“residents” were either eunuchs or concubines. Again, the
extravagance was overwhelming. One of the things that astonished us was
that in the middle of the Forbidden City, there was a STARBUCKS! We also
noticed that there were no trees anywhere except in the private gardens.
We were told that was because the Emperor was afraid a marital arts expert
could jump from them and kill him.
That evening Emily Wang, our new friend from McGraw-Hill, took us to the
“poor market,” a supermarket of “knockoffs!” We
had a WONDERFUL time shopping! (I had brought an extra empty suitcase
just in case! ;-) Slowly we learned to bargain. That night the McGraw-Hill
gang took us to the restaurant that originated Peking duck. Each duck
came with a number and a signed certificate, and each dish came with a
chef’s personal number in case you wanted to complain about it!
The following day we left for Xian, the oldest city in C hina and the
capitol for 11 dynasties. As we left early each morning, we saw two large
groups of people under a viaduct, one doing tai chi and the other BALLROOM
DANCING! The first day there we went to the Shaanxi Province History Museum,
the Wild Goose Pagoda, and that night to 100 year old De Fa Chang Dumpling
restaurant. We tried 25 different kinds of dumplings, some shaped like
chickens, fish, walnuts, shells, and even flowers. Later we went to a
spectacular Tang Dynasty show with music, dancing, and ceremonies.
The next day we drove to the Terracotta Museum. The terra cotta warriors
were discovered in 1974 when a farmer and three friends were digging a
well, and they were opened to the public in1979. (The farmer happened
to be there the day we visited, and he signed the book I bought about
the warriors, although he would not let us take his picture.) Words cannot
express the awe we felt at seeing these figures from over 2200 years ago!
The workmanship was amazing. The lifesize bodies were made from molds,
but the head and hands were individually made and the entire figures handpainted.
Pit One had 6000 figures, all infantry and foot soldiers. There were rows
of three deep in each section and one line facing outwards on the perimieter/flank,
all to protect the Emperor’s tomb. Pit Two was headquarters and
only 68 figures and 6 horses were found. Pit three is the cavalry, and
they are just beginning excavation there. These figures are about one
mile from the mound which is the Emperor’s tomb. It has not been
opened yet, so we can only imagine what must be inside! We ended the day
with a visit to a jade factory.
That Sunday Karna returned to the US while I went on to Shenzhen for my
presentation. I had learned some Chinese phrases to begin, so they loved
that. I was extremely impressed with the Shangri-La managers and also
at how many of them were women. Afterwards we had a gorgeous dim sum lunch,
and then I flew on to Hangzhou, my favorite city on the trip where I spent
two days. It is known as the “city of lakes and gardens.”
The city is 6000 years old and seven dynasties made it their capitol.
What a contrast it is to the traffic and congestion of Hong Kong, Beijing
and Xian!
My darling guide, Michelle, and I began with a boat trip around the lake
which is surrounded by pagodas and mountains. We then went to an old,
old villa that had belonged to a silk merchant. We saw the receiving room,
the beautiful gardens with lotus flowers, the “pretty chair”
so the ladies who could never leave the house would always look beautiful
as they sat, and the tea rooms. Next we visited Yu Fei’s Temple
filled with many caves and carved Buddhas. I especially loved the “Happy
Buddha!”
We finished the afternoon at the Dragon Well tea village. I did not know
that tea grew in bushes terraced like vineyards. All the leaves are picked
by hand, and they are heated three times to dry at 120, 80, and 60 degrees.
We tried the 5 different grades of tea and found out that they export
only the LOWEST grade to America to make tea bags! Later we visited a
silk factory. They boil the cocoon to kill the worm and then unwind them
by one thread. The single thread from one cocoon is about 5 miles long!
That night we went to a Song Dynasty show. I was blown away by the gymnastic
talent, the costumes, and the dancing (reminded me of Cirque de Soleil).
What an AMAZING experience this trip was, thanks especially to all the
planning and care given to us by Serena Wei! We made so many new friends,
tried many new things (the toilets were an interesting example and Karna
even learned to use chopsticks!), and learned about an ancient culture
that has impacted our world more than I had ever imagined. Even though
I had to pay overweight at every airport, I LOVED the shopping and brought
back many fun things for everyone. I am ready to return to China tomorrow,
even if it is a 16 hour flight!
Check back soon for photographs from Barbara's trip and more.
 
|
|
|
