On 11 January Gilbert gave a presentation to a delegation of 45 EMBA students from the Copenhagen School of Business (Denmark), in the Xinqiao Hotel (Beijing).
The topic: Beijing’s modernization, the 2008 Olympics, business in China and how to deal with the Chinese government and bureaucrats.
Previously, on 4 September 2006 Gilbert gave a presentation on the modernization of Beijing and the 2008 Olympics to another EMBA delegation from Irvine California, in the Tianlun Dynasty Hotel (Beijing).
More and more we see EMBA delegations on fact finding tours here in China, Typically they visit Beijing and Shanghai where they meet executives from Chinese and foreign companies, guest speakers (like myself) as well as embassy representatives. US universities seem to be more active than European ones: most of my talks were for American groups.
Month: January 2007
New Year’s Eve in Beijing
Just back in time in good old Beijing for my birthday and New Year. We decided this year not to have a major party at home but to celebrate it all very quietly in our favorite restaurant – Morel’s (Gongti) (it was so full we had to wait for the second shift). Yeah, stuffed again.
cheers! Sun remained incognito
Sun managed to drink 10% of a Belgian beer, tasted at least 4 fork loads of food but Valerie and me went successfully through the whole course.
princess? was that your cookie?
Christmas and grandsons in Chantilly VA
I had a great time with my daughter Marianne over Christmas, the problem was I got so many cute pics it was really hard to check them all and make a selection. Thus the delay.
The trip was short – about a week – but it was exciting with Danny (19 months) and Mikey (2 months). It was the first time for me to see the latest arrival, oh boy, he was soooooo cute.
OK, he was producing lots of greenhouse gases but that he was excused. Danny was fun, exploring everything he could (and shouldn’t) and showed truck driving skills.
Marianne’s husband Mike is doing a great job in the balancing act of taking care of his two sons plus a laptop. His parents came over and we stuffed ourselves to maximum levels with turkey, all the goodies, Belgian beer, Bourbon and the rest. Still trying to get my weight back to normal.
Now that United has got the direct flight Beijing – Dulles, the next trip will be even better – just 14 hours and no (horrible) stopovers in San Francisco.
There were lots of presents – never seen that many in my life. Marianne really “got” me with surprises… a calendar with pics of the kids and the PowerBall, my new toy and exercise for the arms. Pity the Bourbon was just one bottle, didn’t take long but helped to overcome jetlag.
Recovering from holidays, jetlag & all – 2007 comes on hard
My trip to the USA was great – a post only about it is due for later.
Oh well, so many things are due. New Year resolutions? Maybe I made some in my post “December: a time to look back at 2006”. Not so sure about them actually.
But 13 hours time difference, a 26 hours trip back from Chantilly-VA, too much food & booze, an extra 2.5 Kg body weight and a mountain of newspapers, mail and e-mails (sorry if I did not reply to YOU yet), files spread all over my office, lists of “TO DO” and stuff to put well are not exactly conveying a feeling of inner well-being. I guess you might know what I mean if you are right now getting back to work.
I stare out of my window in the early morning, right into the darkness with some patches of white snow. I start the year simply feeling I don’t know much about China. Call it a mid-life China crisis. I was reading the latest China Economic review and it added to my feelings of ignorance (the magazine is too damned good). People ask me to give seminars, lectures, write articles. I face writer’s block. I reckon I should slow down, continue to improve my Chinese (hey! at least I started doing it!), become as much as possible “unavailable” and deeply inhale China. OK, that’s a stupid expression, now that Beijing is officially the worst polluted city in Asia with an index of 142 – according to a study of the Asian Development Bank. Beijing politicians must not be too happy with that news but neither am I. The WHO recommended limit is 20. Even Bangkok (40.6) fares better (and is such a fun place, oh boy). If you think your city is bad, relax: New York (27), London (24), Paris (22). I tried to buy some new face masks but the store was out of stock. I wonder why.
Today I went to the Powerhouse Gym. I measured temperature and humidity: 25C and under 30%, thanks to the aircon blasting furnace heath on us. Saving energy is not for this decade I guess. So I limited myself to a slow 4K run to avoid ending up with a sore throat. The first run since 2 weeks. Gosh, January feels really hard.