PRMIA Visit to Beijing...

It's a few weeks since I got back from Beijing... it was a great trip and as the team there just sent us the pictures they snapped while we were over in Beijing, I decided it was best to get a post up on this...

The Thing that Amazed me Most...

I always think it is something normal that can amaze you when visiting a new country, for this trip it was how much English was everywhere I looked from the first moment I arrived in Beijing... the road signs are in Mandarin and English, the metro system has maps in both languages and when I was leaving, the taxi automatically told me in a computerized English announcement how to pay for the taxi and to take a receipt... it is a surprisingly easy place to arrive as a lost foreigner and do some business...

Lots of Help

I joined Kraig Conrad who had already been in China for a few days before I arrived and Matthew Chen who heads up PRMIA's Beijing chapter had arranged an excellent set of meetings for us... Matthew is sitting 2nd from the right in the picture above... I am a few hours off my Dublin - Heathrow - Beijing flight with no sleep, thus we went for a coffee before one of our many meetings... you'll note my tired and slightly bewildered look on my face...

Meetings, meeting, meetings...

We had meetings at various banks, regulators and trainers over a busy couple of days, I just wish on the first day I had changed out of my red and white "Sydney" socks I got from my sister Laura and which I had worn on the flight... they look a little silly under my navy coloured Boss suit!

However we met a lot of interesting people and Matthew and his colleagues did such an amazing job in setting all of this up... the photo above is taken at Agricultural Bank of China - with my own family background in farming, to visit most of the "big four" banks in China and for one to have such a history and name was really great... you can see in the above as well, that I have finally ditched my red tie and slumped into my seat after a busy couple of days...

But we're not done!

Kraig and I also spent a great deal of time with Matthew and his colleagues, agreeing on the follow up for PRMIA in China... I am sure there is lots to come on this and I will update as things progress - most likely I will be back in Beijing sooner rather than later to help with some of the work Matthew et all will be doing there! 

Kraig's Adventures

Before I traveled over, Kraig had a whole other set of meetings, including a trip with Matthew over to the South Western University of Finance & Economics... I will let it to Kraig to give his own update on this!

Onto the Weekend!

Kraig flew home and I stayed on one extra night to attend the American Ball in Beijing. Before that, Grace from the local PRMIA chapter gave me a great tour of the Forbidden City and once again made me feel so welcome. I then got out my tux (one of two bought for Keith McCarthy's wedding... that is a whole other story) to head to the American Ball being hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in China (AmCham China) at the Grand Hyatt Hotel.  I have worked for US firms for most of my career, so it was a great end to a great trip... I expect to be back in Beijing again very soon!

In the meantime, any questions you have on China, do let me know!