02.14.07

By Brian Beard
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Last month, nine Berkeley graduate students spent two weeks braving sub-zero temperatures,
aggressive street peddlers, and the constant lure of 25¢ beers while visiting the world’s most populous
nation. The trip was part of the annual MOT-CRC China Fellowship awarded to Berkeley grad students each spring.

The 2006 recipients include Haas 2nd-year MBAs: Brian Beard, John Chen, Sabrina Ko, Kate Nardinelli, and Tim Stucka. The other fellows include engineering PhD students Jike Chong, Jing Yang, and Chris Yuan and School of Information Master’s student Bindiya Jadhwani.

For some of the fellows, it was a chance to return to their home country. For others, it was their first time in Asia. Regardless, the trip provided all fellows with the chance to experience China’s rich culture and famous sites while visiting high profile companies all over the country. (Read as two weeks of
indulging in dirt-cheap meals at 5-star restaurants, $5 massages, and plenty of late night "social interaction".) BTW, did I mention that 20oz bottles of beer cost only 25¢?

Heeding advice from last year’s fellows, each ‘06 landed in Beijing fully armed with a stack of business cards in one hand and an unlocked GSM cell phone in the other. “Man, we must have of looked
like drug dealers cruising the streets of Beijing speaking broken Chinese on our flashy
cell phones,” commented one fellow, “but I am sure glad we were prepared with an easy way to store girls’ phone numbers!”

Over the course of two weeks, the fellows visited five cities: Beijing, Tianjin, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. Along the way, they visited various government, education, and corporate organizations. Companies ranged from internet giants Google and Baidu to Suntech, a growing player in the solar power space.

While schmoozing with CEOs and government officials was a large component of the trip, the fellows also had time to meet up with Haas alumni as well as enjoy somefamous tourist attractions including
the Great Wall, Forbidden City, and Victoria Peak. Fellows also experienced first hand the presence of globalization in addition to the widening gap between China’s rich and poor. “You paid how much for
that cup of Starbucks?!?” exclaimed one fellow after paying 1 RMB for the local breakfast drink, a cup of soy milk, while a classmate paid 28 RMB for a cup of Seattle’s finest. The group later was amazed to find Starbucks located at the Great Wall and inside the Forbidden City.

As is typical of study related trips, days were packed with meetings and presentations while nights were filled with plenty of opportunities for fun, always with a happy ending. As the trip wound down, the group became closer, offering plenty of opportunity for the fellows to bond. The final night was spent in Shanghai around a deck of cards and some cold Chinese beers--a last farewell to China.

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A copy of the article found in Haas Week complete with photos (pdf)