It was another jam packed, educational (in so many ways) and fascinating day in Beijing. Finally the weather is getting warmer and we are not shivering every time we go outside. It is a very dry cold here in Beijing so it feels colder than it actually is.
As I looked out of my window this morning – and overlooked the Imperial Palace – I noticed that it was quite foggy out. I assumed that it would burn off as the sun came up. To my surprise, it never burned off and it was not fog, but rather SMOG. It stayed with us all day and I was able to feel it when I breathed.
Frank has taught us a number of Chinese words, but my favorite so far is ma ma hu hu. This makes me smile whenever I hear it or say it. Literally it means horse horse tiger tiger. Figuratively it means “so so” as in how good is our soccer team this year – ma ma hu hu.
It was a pleasure to be able to sleep in today. Our first business meeting was at 11:00 with Ogilvy & Mather – Asia. Our speaker told us that marketing, advertising, and PR is very new in China. O&M (one of the largest ad agencies in the world) has only been in China since 1998. He talked a lot about the role that O&M played in the 2008 Olympics and what they did for their clients at that time. He patiently answered our questions about the use of social media and differences between Chinese and American consumers.
Lunch was a surprise today. We had pizza (and French fries) in Beijing at The Black Kro. The pizza was surprisingly good even for us who are all used to great Chicago pizza. It was also the first time we had all sat at one table and that was a pleasure.
To be continued….
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