As a Part II of my China adventure, the business experience again proved to be so different from my wanderings as a back packer. First, my Chinese hosts never did anything half way. The day of opening ceremonies we were bused into the facility and greeted with fanfare. Little boys and girls dressed in band uniforms surrounded us on both sides, serenading us with their drums and trumpets. And as we walked down the red carpet, women in intricate Chinese dresses pinned corsages on us.
Slowly, I made my way to the opening ceremony area. Slowly because I was gawking at the elaborate details--there were thousands of fresh flowers planted to spell various greetings! I gawked perhaps more than others because all these flowers hadn't been there the day before when I came to interview the CEO. That is some busy bee gardeners!
After the opening addresses, the 1,000+ guests were crammed on stage for a photo. We then took two tours, separated by a lunch buffet. That night, we gathered where the morning speeches had taken place. Where the rows of chairs had been that morning now stood intimate dinner settings and servers lined up waiting to serve us. It reminded me of a scene in Beauty and the Beast..."beeee our guest, be our guest!" Along the edge of the tables guests wandered from food station to station waiting for fresh made dumplings, soup, meats and other platters. My Taiwanese friend told me to try this lamb noodle soup that was AMAZING. I crave it to this day, I didn't want to stop eating it! But, there were so many other things I also fell in love with that I didn't finish anything that night. Glutenous, I know...
Yet that day was only the beginning. Only one example of the elaborate measures the Chinese go to. We went to one museum where they gave us a silk fashion show (I was trying not to laugh, I will admit), went to a tea ceremony, got hour "foot" (i.e. everything) massages... not to mention the closing ceremony consisting of more banquets, a show in which all company employees (men included) participated in the performances, and ended with a huge display of fireworks (where ashes fell on my head, gotta love no-rules-here China!)
Before we left for the aiport, the CEO and his team greeted each grouping and gave us a cd full of photos and a jade vase parting gift. Now, I've done my research on jade bracelets, I've wanted one for a long, long time. A bracelet costs a pretty penny... so I can only imagine how much a vase (x 1,000) costs! Man, they put anything I've been to in the U.S. to shame!
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