I just got back from a short trip down to central China, Hubei Province. Took a 20 hour train ride down to Shiyan, home of Dongfeng Motor Corporation, the second largest auto manufacturer and unique in the fact that it is located in such a remote location. All of the other car manufacturers are located on the coast, where it logistically makes sense. Mao Zi Deng made sure that Dongfeng was secure in the mountains and all of the separate parts factories were isolated from each other for a reason - to prevent a catastrophe if the Russians decided to fly planes down and bomb their assembly line. Now, most manufacturing has been moved up to Wuhan, which is still fortunate for Hubei as I didn’t see much else that showed much potential for revenue generation.
My partner, Ernie, and I gave a presentation and availed ourselves of the opportunity to investigate the potential for a nice juicy contract. Our presentation was very well received and they’d at least like us to keep coming back and giving them presentations. Not exactly the system we’d like to get in place but a positive step forward. So, the stage set, we experienced “business trip, Chinese style.”
Dongfeng is a large, state-owned enterprise and the first thing we noticed was that the hotel we stayed in was owned by Dongfeng. The only restaurant in which our host allowed us to dine was also owned by Dongfeng. The reason for this became apparent once we realized that all he had to do was sign the dotted line and all would be taken care by some dutiful account clerk at Dongfeng. This seems like a great arrangement until faced with frustrating responses to what appear to be simple requests. For example, we were told to expect 80 participants for our presentation and prepared 20 extra copies of all handouts, just to be on the safe side. Once we arrived, we were told that there could be as many as 120 attendees. Fine, as long as we can get extra copies. Unsure how to interpret the pained grimmace on our host’s face, we pressed until he revealed that copies would be very expensive as they would have to go through the official Dongfeng printer, who charged about 20 times per copy what we paid in Beijing. Maybe not as bad as the $10,000 hammers purchased from US Defense contractors but a similar racket, it appears.
No Chinese business trip is complete without the obligatory dinner with expensive fresh seafood flown in from the coast and endless rounds of “ganbei” where you must drain the contents of your glass. The meal was great but if I’d had my choice I could have thought of other ways I’d have liked to have spent the money.
After dinner it was on KTV! There are many forms of karaoke in China, from innocent KTV booths to outright brothels. It was with relief that we found ourselves at the former. Our ears were put to the test as the top manager belted out rousing renditions of communist favorites, played to an emotion-laden backdrop of proud soldiers, citizens and tanks. He tackled a few more modern selections with equal fervor until at last we escaped, eardrums still relatively intact. Fortunately, Ernie had an Ace up his sleeve with a Chinese pop song he could belt out and we were enthusiastically accepted into the Dongfeng family of partners.
