My First China Business Trip

Wed to Sat was my first official business trip in China! Oddly enough, I traveled to Beijing (Matt was still there) & nearby city, Tianjin. My business trip was to do a “market visit of the north.” Meaning we were primarily checking out our products and competitor products in these two cities at different retail channels: mass retailers, convenience stores, grocery stores, etc.  Basically, as much Sanitary Protection products as a girl can possibly see in 2 days. We met up with the local sales team in each city, and again, they only speak Chinese, so that was a bit difficult. I did a great deal of exploring the aisles on my own, but the down time also gave me a chance to bond a little bit more with my marketing team. (My boss, Anna, and I shared a hotel room. which was a little odd....?) Anyways, I learned a great deal more about the lives of my teammates and their opinions on life and living in China.

Anna, my manager, the owner of the Sanitary Protection business, doesn’t quite believe in the benefits of tampons. She's still not convinced, just like the remaining 98.1% of the population. She kept asking me whether or not I thought tampons or pads were healthier. I kept saying I think they are both healthy, but many people in the US use tampons because you can do more things while on your period and it’s not so uncomfortable like wearing a pad. Her response, “so you think wearing a pad is bad for your health?” Me: “ uh, no… that's not what I think. They are both healthy options.”; Anna: “so you know tampon is bad for your health.” Me, “no it’s not unhealthy.” Anna: “so you think pads are unhealthy because of bacteria?"....Quite a circular conversation. [I think I’m going to have a difficult time convincing the general public of this fact if even my boss doesn’t believe it] Don’t even get me started on her beliefs on Chinese medicine. That’s for another post.  But she is tons of fun even if we don't agree on a couple topics. :)

Allen, my co-worker on the Listerine business (also known as the big teddy bear), is incredibly interesting to talk with. He’s from Inner Mongolia and was described to me as “traditional Northern Chinese”. Not totally sure what that means, but from my per view, he was chivalrous in always opening doors for us, helping us with our bags, getting everything situated at the hotel, etc. He was also very honest about his opinion on roles of each family member, the government, etc. All around good guy. He was telling me that he has been to North Korea (which I thought was fascinating based on my recent book read.) He went with a group from school and during that trip he actually had a friend who said something bad in jest about the government and that friend was taken away and they didn’t see him again until at the airport on their way out of the country. No harm done to him, but Allen said he was very careful about every word he said in NK. The funniest part was when he said, “that’s actually the only stamp I have in my passport… they’re never going to let me into the US.” Me: “uhh… you might want to visit some other countries first,” Him: “shoot!” haha. He also had an interesting point of view on religion in China. Again, will save for another post. :)

We flew to Beijing from Shanghai on Wed night, spent the night there and toured around retail shops all day on Thurs before catching the train to Tianjin that evening. Then we spent all Friday day touring the shops in Tianjin before returning back to Beijing. In Tianjin, I finally felt what it was like to be the only white, blonde girl, to ever be seen. Ever. When we would visit stores, people would stop in their tracks and stare and the staff would bring over other staff just to watch me. It was sort of funny, but by the end, I wanted to say, “Hi, I can see you too you know…”

Friday night we returned to Beijing and the we reunited with Zoe (who is the one I replaced as she is on training in Beijing) and Matt came out with us to famous Beijing Beef Hot Pot. It was delicious! The dinner was so much fun and we just kept joking around with each other. Lots of laughs all around. It was also wonderful that Matt was able to meet my colleagues who I now talk about all the time.

I learned my manager has a nickname for me: She calls me “Bai Fu Mei” – “White, Rich, Beautiful” Haha! Later, she told me that I’m not that special and this is a common nickname for foreigners. Darn it!

Then we headed to the hutong area in Beijing for some late night drinks and touristy pics. We really embraced the local culture as seen in the pics below. :)

Example of a typical mass market retailer. They were much more advanced than I expected. Quite clean although a bit chaotic at times with product stacked to the brim, everywhere. Typically 2 - 3 floors with food items on 1 floor, home/beauty goods on another floor and if available, clothes / toys / etc on the 3rd floor.

This is just 1 brand of at least a dozen brands in the sanitary protection aisle. so many pads...

an example pad display in the aisles. the display itself isn't odd to me, however, when I mentioned to Anna that the raised elastic side panels seemed a bit extreme, she looked at me quizzically and said "but you sleep on your side..." not to mention the size of this thing must at least wrap around from chin to shoulder blades on her, it's huge!... there's no way that someone can convince me this is more comfortable...

A little lunch in Beijing. Started off with simple appetizers and turned into a feast of at least 3 of everything on the menu... most of it was packed up for take-away

the aftermath

on the train on the way to Tianjin from Beijing (Allen, Anna & Me!)

 At Hot Pot dinner in Beijing (Me, Zoe & Anna)

Anna wanted to take a picture with Matt :)

 The full team! Allen, Zoe, Me, Anna & Kevin (our Tianjin sales host! who actually lives in Beijing and was our great host for the night!)

We are off to the hutongs. just checking out the merchandise... these are clip on animal ears.

which we obviously purchased! 

so proud of our animal ears

 Matt just playing a little tune on the guitar at the bar once the official performer took his break

these were a little too big to fit on the plane...

i just thought i was going to take a picture and laugh about this later...

 then I remembered who I married... Scorpions & Cockroaches! (I will add that no, our Chinese hosts did not eat any of this)

 Also, I learned why Matt has been just fine living in Beijing during the week. His hotel is awesome. Great views, telescopes to check out the city, TVs in every room, plus a massage chair with music!