Posted January 12th, 2010 by President Whitlock
Our last full day in China was packed with sightseeing during the daylight hours. We began by arriving at Tian’anmen Square at about 8:30 am. It is a vast expanse with Chairman Mao’s tomb at one end and the entrance to The Forbidden City and the Imperial Palace at the other. In the tomb you can view Mao’s embalmed body. We did not go in. In the photo below you can get some feel for the scope of the square. The building in the distance is the entrance to The Forbidden City. The person to the right hand side of the photo is “Frank,” our English-speaking guide, who was both knowledgeable and charming. He and his wife are expected a child in May, their first. Under China’s one-child policy, should they decide to have a second it would cost them 200,000 yuan (about $30,000) to get a national ID card for the second one. The second photo is of one the light poles on the square. It bristles with video cameras, as do them all.
The Imperial Palace covers many acres and has what Frank told us tongue-in-cheekly 9,999.5 rooms. The .5 is apparently a small room that they hesitate to count as a full room. Even in the snow, the splendor of the place was impressive. Frank reminded us that before the Vatican City was built The Imperial Palace had already seen many years. One of many buildings was the Hall of Central Harmony.
En route to Prince Gong’s Mansion we passed some Beijing residents of all ages enjoying a form of seated “ice skating” on a sizable lake, frozen over by the city’s coldest weather in 50 years. We also saw what could only be described as “pedicab central.” At the Prince’s Mansion we saw some low-tech but effective snow removal in action.
That evening we were the guests of EKU graduate Allen Yang at Beijing’s famous Roast Duck Restaurant where Peking Duck was the featured (and delicious) dish. I will write more on this delightful evening in my closing comments. But, in the photo below, are (from left): Dean Bob Rogow, Jackie Chen, Vice President of Taishan Invest; Doug Whitlock; Jason Wu, Vice President of Bangkok Bank; Dr. Chang-Yang Lin; Allen Yang, President of VipStore.Com; and Nina Liu, Quality Control Specialist with Zheziang Medicine Company. The other photo is of two representatives of our partner institution, Liaoning University of Technology at Zinzhou, with Joanne and me. They are Darren Wang, Director of International Relations, and MA, Xin, Dean. The duck is not really standing on Joanne’s head.
The next day (our last) we went to the Summer Palace and stopped briefly at the Bird’s Next Olympic stadium. En route we witnessed the Monday morning Beijing Traffic, pictured below. At the entrance to the Summer Palace were a pair of lion sculptures, of which I picture one. Lions similar to these were at the entrance to every Imperial Chinese facility we visited, most public buildings and some hotels, office buildings, etc. None were more impressive than those at the Summer Palace. Likewise, we saw many Buddhist Pagoda’s in our travels, but none any more beautiful than the one on the grounds of the Summer Palace. One of the more interesting features at the Summer Palace is the marble yacht. It wouldn’t be able to cruise the lake even if it were not frozen in. The Bird’s Nest was the signature facility of the Beijing 2008 Olympics.
Retrospect
The twelve hour flight from Beijing to Chicago gave me plenty of time to reflect on our nine days in China — even with a couple of extended naps. I decided I was glad — for reasons on several levels — that we made the trip. One of those reasons, I must admit, is that Joanne and I (our entire delegation, for that matter) truly enjoyed the trip and each others’ company. More importantly, though, was my conviction that the trip was truly beneficial to Eastern Kentucky University.
We renewed our agreement with Zheziang Medicine Company, an arrangement that has been valuable to both parties. We visited with Zheziang University of Technolgy and confirmed their interest in developing a relationship with EKU. We had contact with our valued long-time friends from Liaoning University of Technology and heard from them once again how proud they are that we are their only partner in the USA. And, we engaged with successful friends and graduates of the University in their home country. The appreciation for the latter was obvious.
We got to know better one of the leaders of the first generation of Chinese entrepreneurs, LI Chun Bo, an impressive man who, as already noted, truly values developing human capital. We saw EKU graduate Jason Wu, a senior executive in a major Asian financial institution. And, we saw the face and enthusiasm of the second generation Chinese entrepreneurs in our alums JIN, Xiao Yong, Allen Yang, and Jackie Chen. We listened as they told us there were other EKU graduates in China in whom we could take equal pride. They volunteered to help bring more together if we visit in the future.
Joanne and I have traveled internationally to a number of countries. Our trip to China confirmed what we have found in our other trips. People are more alike than they are different everywhere we go. Once you get past the trappings of culture and the barrier of language, you find that people everywhere enjoy a funny story, value companionship, want peace, and love their children and grandchildren.
For me, speaking with our Chinese EKU alumni I learned again that the Essential Eastern transcends borders. These folks from halfway around the world speak of the place with the same appreciation and affection as those of us right here in Richmond, or as EKU grads anywhere in the states. The conversation about favorite professors sound the same, despite the accent. The descriptions of the life transforming power of an EKU education — The Power of Maroon — are, I have decided, a universal theme for Easten women and men. We sat around that table in Beijing, 8,000 miles from home — Chinese citizens, Americans both native born and naturalized– as family.
Posted January 9th, 2010 by President Whitlock
Friday in Xi’an included a visit to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda (remember, we saw the little one Thursday afternoon) and a trip to the archeological activity where the Chinese government continues to excavate the site where some local farmers discovered some pottery fragments and ancient bronze weapons while digging a well.
The Big Wild Goose Pagoda was begun by a Buddhist monk named Xuanzang who travelled to India about 1500 years ago and was one of the leading figures in solidifying the place of Buddhism in the Chinese culture. He named the temple to commemorate a myth he learned in India. He was a scholar who translated many Buddhist writings from their original Sanskrit into Chinese. The Pagoda, which has a pronounced lean which can be seen in the first photo below, was built in 652. The second photograph is of a statue of the monk Xuanzang with the pagoda in the background. By the way, both of these shots are vertical and are truncated in the square thumbnails in the blog. Double click on any thumnail to the full frame of the photo. The same is true for horizontal; they are also cropped square in the thumbnails.
The first emperor to unify China under a central government was Qin (pronounced Ching) Shihuang. He became King of Qin in 247 B.C. at age 13. By 221 B.C. and age 39, Qin had unified China (in a not so very peaceful process) under his rule. He almost immediately ordered two things: the connection of a series of provincial walls into the 7,000 mile long Great Wall of China and the creation of a terracotta army of more than 7,000 ceramic soldiers, a host of horses, chariots, etc. The army’s purpose was to guard his eventual tomb and give him a fighting force in the afterlife. This army is what the local farmers discovered. In the gift shop, I bought a book about the terracotta army and had it signed by Zang Xingman, one of the farmers who make the discovery.
The photos below are part of the figures in pit one and of one of the carriages intended to transport the Emperor’s spirit. This chariot was on loan to the Kentucky Horse Park a few years ago as part of an exhibit about the significant role of the horse in China.
Then we were off on a late afternoon flight to Beijing, China’s 18-million population capitol city. It was dark and very cold when we arrived, went straight to our hotel and to bed.
We left at 8 a.m. this (Saturday) morning to see the Great Wall of China, specifically the Mutianyu segment, which is one of three to which the public had access. It was in extremely mountainous terrain and it was impossible not to think of the Herculanean effort and feat of engineering this wonder of the world required. Below are a section of the wall we traversed and a photo of our EKU band of wall-walkers taken by another visitor from Australia.
After leaving the wall, we rode back into Beijing to visit the Yonghegong Lamasery, the city’s largest Buddhist Temple. The sprawling complex began its existence as the home of the crown prince Yinzhen who later became Emperor Yongzheng and moved into the Forbidden City. He subsequently converted his former home into a Buddhist Temple, specifically a Lamasery to serve the Dalai Sect. The Dalai Lama has a reserved seat in one of the buildings in the facility. Here’s an interesting feature of two of the buildings.
From there, we went to the Temple of Heaven, one of four major temples in Beijing. If the building below looks familiar, you have most likely been to Beijing or Epcot.
Our evening closed with dinner and a show at the Beijing Night Show in an ornate theater about 20 minutes from our hotel.
Tomorrow is our last full day in China. We will spend it sightseeing and it will likely be after our return on Monday before I can return to finish the blog on this trip. Tomorrow evening we will have dinner with some more of our graduates in China and MA Xin from Laioning University of Technology, a long time institutional partner. I think I probably need a few days to let the almost overwhelming pace and experiences of this trip to sink in before I reflect on it with you. One thing I know in both my heart and my head is that this visit to China is going to pay a number of dividends for Eastern Kentucky University.
Posted January 7th, 2010 by President Whitlock
It has been a few days since I have posted; so there is some catching up to do. While I have had internet access at each stop, my ability to access our WordPress blog publishing software has been spotty. Tonight we are in Xi ‘an and before dinner I was able to upload some pictures, but as I type this in Word for later paste into the editor, I am not able to log in to WordPress.
Yesterday was our last full day in Hangzhou. Bob Rogow, Chang-Yang Lin and I spent it visiting Zhejiang University of Technology and Aida Pharma, a pharmaceutical company run by an MBA grad of EKU, Xiaoyong Jin. His late father was a ZUT alum and he also visited the institution with us.
ZUT is sincerely interested in building an exchange partnership with EKU. If it comes to pass, and I must admit it is attractive, that would give us a partnership with two Chinese technical universities, the other being Liaoning University of Technology. LUT is a 30,000 student institution and feels good about its top tier ranking of 75 out of the PRC’s more than 2,000 four year universities. They seem genuinely student centered and sponsor annually a widely recognized international conference on small business. They have indicated an interest in EKU becoming involved in the conference in a significant way. Below you see Dean Rogow, the blog author, ZUT President Libin Zhang, and Chang-Yang Lin.
Our afternoon at Aida Pharma with Xiaoyong Jin was fascinating. We not only learned a lot about his enterprises (they are manifold) but got a solid introduction to the intricacies of Chinese real estate matters. The government owns the land, but individuals and businesses can own the right to use it. Bob Rogow and I had time for a walk before dinner and passed one of at least five KFCs within a few block radius of our hotel.
That evening, the Jins hosted our group at an excellent dinner at a restaurant on the banks of West Lake. The highlight of the evening for Joanne was the recognition of her birthday and the sharing of a beautiful and delicious cake. The graciousness of our hosts and the conviviality of the evening will make her Chinese birthday a fond memory.
Thursday we took a morning flight to Xi’ an, a historic city of 8 million persons in central China. The country’s capitol before Nanking and Beijing, it is the home of the famous terra cotta soldiers and horses. We will see them tomorrow along with the Large Goose Pagoda, a jade factory and other points of interest before taking an evening flight to Beijing, our last stop before flying home on Monday. Naturally, if there is a Large Goose Pagoda there must be a Small Goose Pagoda. Here it is.
More than 600 years ago, when Xi’ an was the capitol city, a large wall was built around the city center as a protection against attack. It’s four-sided perimeter measures eight miles and it is very wide on top, as the photo below shows. The haze in the photograph is air pollution, which was quite bad this afternoon. The other photo is of one of a large number of performers who were preparing to perform at a ceremony welcoming some VIP tourists (certainly not us) just outside the wall.
Our evening ended with dinner and a show. Xi’ an is in the heart of the winter wheat growing region of China and is consequently famous for its dumplings and noodles. Dinner was a dumpling banquet (it was wonderful) and the show (see below) was a tribute to the Tang Dynasty which ruled the country from Xi’ an for 300 years.
Posted January 5th, 2010 by President Whitlock
Three days into our trip to China, I finally have an opportunity to catch my blog up-to-date. During our first two days in Xinchang, internet connection would not allow me to connect to the blog editor. Now, in the larger city of Hangzhou, that problem no longer exists.
After what seemed like an interminable 14 ½ hour flight from Chicago to Shanghai, we were tired, but in China. We had all been up at least 24 hours by then, though each of us did manage several naps on the long flight. Here Sue Lin, Carol Rogow, and Joanne Whitlock get ready to go through the Chinese customs gate at the airport.
Four hours later, escorted by EKU graduate ZHOU, Menglai, we arrived at the very nice Bai Yuan Hotel. Joanne and I were quartered in the Presidential Suite (living room below) and shortly after checking in we were fed a traditional Chinese meal, one dish of which is pictured. The food, by the way, has been superb.
Monday morning we were met at the hotel by LI, Chunbo, chairman of the Zheziang Medicine Company, Xinchang Pharma, our host and sponsor for our trip. The sign in the background was a little over the top as far as I was concerned, but I think it shows the Chinese enthusiasm for our visit.
At the company, we had a very informative and impressive presentation on its areas of activities and products. It makes a wide range of pharmaceuticals, ranging from antibiotics to nutritional supplements. Chairman Li took great and justifiable pride in the certifications and satisfaction of standards of drug agencies all around the world including the US FDA.
EKU’s College of Business & Technology has had an agreement with ZMC for about 12 years. Under this arrangement, ZMC sends promising managers to EKU to pursue a degree, usually the MBA. EKU faculty also have the opportunity to visit the company. Chairman LI and I signed an extension of this agreement to run through 2015. In our discussions, he expressed an interest in broadening the relationship to include safety, environmental health and sanitation, technology, chemistry, and conceivably the EELI program. A member of China’s delegation to the G8 summit, he impresses me as a forward and strategic thinker. He wants to make his company a significant global player. He realizes doing that will require a considerable investment in human capital, primarily professional development of ZMC’s work force (about 5,500 total). He truly wants EKU to be a partner in furthering the education of his middle and upper level team.
Later in the afternoon, we walked through Xinchang’s park, where I photographed two Buddhist monks enthusiastically texting on their cell phones. This struck me as a seeming paradox between tradition and technology. Later I caught the same two monks with the temple behind them. A extremely large Buddha is in the temple, where photography is not allowed.
Later, in downtown Xinchang, some of the ubiquitous pedicabs queued up for passengers.
Back at the hotel, we saw the future of China reflected in the face of this 18-month-old and pride shining in the face of her grandmother.
Wednesday (today) we were off to Hangzhou, a city of about 5 million population. We had some time for sight-seeing before another more official day tomorrow. One of the highlights was a boat cruise on West Lake, declared by an earlier traveler here as the most beautiful lake in China. That was Marco Polo’s opinion. It was overcast, but I was able to get a shot of a shore side pagoda that figures in one of the region’s more colorful legends; sort of a Chinese Romeo and Juliet. During a stroll through a lakeside park, we saw some pigeons that had gotten over whatever fear of humans they ever possessed.
Later we visited the Six Harmonies Pagoda, a 13 story structure more than 500 years old. Bob Rogow, Chang-Yang Lin, and I took a laborious stair step walk to its top. If the day had been clear, the views would have been spectacular.
This evening we attended the Impressions of West Lake show, a treat of music and interpretive dance that is a tribute to the Song Dynasty, for which Hangzhou was the capital. Before the show, one scene of which is in the bottom shot, we happened on the act below. You know, anymore it is really tough to see a monkey doing a handstand on the head of a goat which is atop a 5-foot step ladder.
My impressions so far: The Chinese are a warm hospitable people. They are proud of what they are accomplishing and covet acknowledgement of their growing role on the world stage. There is an incredible amount of construction underway, even during the current economic downturn, and much of that is on infrastructure projects.
Tomorrow we will visit Zhezhiang University of Technology and Aida Pharma, which is run by EKU graduate JIN, Xiao Yong.
Posted December 20th, 2009 by President Whitlock
It seems the only times I work on this blog is when we are traveling outside of the country. Another such opportunity is coming up just after the first of the year, when Joanne and I will visit China along with the Dean of the College of Business & Technology, Dr. Bob Rogow, and his wife Carol, and Business faculty member Dr. Chang-Yang Lin and his wife, Sue. We are going as the guests of Chairman Li Chunbo of the Zhejiang Medicine Corporation, a Chinese enterprise that has had a very fine relationship with the EKU College of Business & Technology for a number of years. Several EKU graduates work with ZMC. We will have the opportunity to visit a number of other highly successful Chinese graduates of EKU on our 10-day trip, that will put us in Shanghai, Xinchang, Hangzhou, Xian, and Beijing. While we are there, we will also have an opportunity meet with representatives of our friends at long established partner institutions and with some potential new partners, as well. I hope one of the things for which my administration at EKU will be remembered is the globalization of the institution.
We leave on January 2, 2010, and will return on January 11. I hope to be able to post to my blog from China and should have excellent broadband internet connections to make it possible.
