20 Jul One Experience That Trumped All Of The Others
Throughout my time spent in Shanghai I have participated in many professional and cultural activities, which have enhanced my overall experience in China. These activities have included trips to Wuzhen, Hangzhou, and Beijing, as well as guest speakers focusing on topics such as marketing in China, their personal business experience in China, and the companies H&M, and Ikea.
One experience has definitely trumped all of the others, and that would be my trip to Beijing, and the Great Wall of China. The Great Wall is unlike anything I have ever witnessed before. Taking a chair lift thousands of feet up the mountain made me feel like I was about to go skiing in the Alps. Once reaching the top, an expansive view wowed me as I followed the wall up and down the mountain for as far as the eye could see. Hearing that the wall stretched for more than five thousand miles amazed me, as that is almost twice the distance as traveling from New York City to Los Angeles, California. Another interesting experience was a guest speaker we had from Sweden. He spoke about the company he had founded, which helps foreign businesses to market themselves in China. I knew very little about the vast differences between the Chinese and American consumer markets before his talk, but now I am well educated in the topic. I found it fascinating to hear his thoughts, opinions and techniques regarding how to portray your company to the 1.4 billion inhabitants of China. I learned about different marketing outlets such as WeChat and Baidu, and also different online stores such as Taobao, and Ali Express. Though I will not be using these tools back home in the United States, it is interesting to learn about the differences and similarities between our online spending habits and also the information we desire before purchase. The cultural differences between China and the Untied States are far greater than I ever imagined, but the city of Shanghai is very Westernized and for the most part, has the same feeling of cities, which I have traveled to before.
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