Jeff in Shanghai

Last week, Jeff returned from six days in Shanghai. He went there to visit a factory that will be producing a product that his office (and he) is working on currently. It was a very quick trip, with fifteen hours of travel each way, plus a sixteen-hour time difference.

Hopefully he will log onto the blog and add in some of his adventures for you all to read, but for now I will just give some of the highlights I heard about:

*First night: meeting at the factory. The factory owner invited Jeff and his business travel partner Mike (from Microsoft) to an amazing dinner at a fancy restaurant. They got there and were served nearly fifteen courses. The Chinese people seem to be extremely hospitable! They kept serving the guys more and more food, more and more wine, and were not satisfied until all was eaten. The picture below of a lobster-like creature (maybe it is a lobster? not sure) was put in front of them for presentation, while the meat was actually served in small egg shells. Sounds like an amazing event.

*One of Jeff's favorite qualities about the Chinese workplace is that all employees remove their shoes and put on slippers upon entering the office or factory! Wonder why Americans haven't adopted this tradition? I could definitely get used to working in my slippers...

*The trip consisted of meetings at the factory for a couple of days at a city two hours outside of Shanghai; then the last two days were spent sightseeing in Shanghai. Unfortunately it was raining (pouring) there, but Jeff still got a soak up some culture in his free time in Shanghai. Not sure of names of all of the pagodas and things they visited (Jeff knows :)...who cares about the sights anyways...what's the most important is the food! haha.

*Funny, but I had recently finished in a project on business culture in Shanghai, so before Jeff left I told him a few things. But mainly, what Jeff found interesting was that the business people there make exchanging business cards a very important practice. Upon meeting the factory owners/employees, everyone presented Jeff with their business card (and because Jeff's smart wife had told him of this practice, he was prepared and then gave them one of his :). It is considered very rude to just shove the business card in your pocket, as most of us Americans would do. Instead, you must examine it very carefully and sincerely, before putting it away.

Wish I could've been a fly on the wall for those factory business meetings! Jeff said they lasted for hours (negotiating - the Chinese are big on negotiating and getting a good deal), and all three languages were being spoken and translated (Chinese, English, Japanese). What a cool experience. Here are some pictures.