The 102nd China Import and Export Fair, Part 1

China’s economy is unquestionably booming and it is near impossible to spend a week not being the recipient of a product that has not come out of China. I decided to take a road trip from Hong Kong to Guangzhou to visit the 102nd China Import and Export Fair to see just how China does business.

The first thing about travel in to China for business is it pays to have a local contact someone who can speak the languages, I say languages because Chinese generally speak either Cantonese (in the south) or Mandarin (in the north).

There is a group of eight of us and so we start the day around 11am eating a late breakfast. We finally decide to leave Hong Kong so we take a private mini van across the boarder into Shenzhen. It’s about a 30 minute drive and crossing the boarder is simple, we don’t even leave the vehicle, no bag search, I have a visa and so just stamp the passports and we are in talk about great service.

Shenzhen is a dynamic city of an estimated 17 million people. It is anticipated that it will pass Shanghai as Chinas second largest trading zone. Despite the large population the city remains remarkably clean, apart from the air.

We book in to our hotel in the Guomao area which is only one stop from the famous Hong Kong ~ Lo Wu boarder crossing. No surprise it’s time to eat and shop, so we take the new Shenzhen Metro to Lo Wu for a cost of US$0.25 and visit some reliable good friends’ stores in one of the malls there. For those with me that have not been to China before this gives them the first taste of the scale of things here. It is also a fantastic training ground for sales people, definitely no university in the world can teach you what you will experience in this place.

The mall we enter is 5 floors with around 500 shops per floor. This mall predominantly sells clothing, electronics, bags, shoes, watches and jewellery. Of course copy of everything is available. The majority of the stores would have a shop front of between 10 feet and 15 feet. Each shop has one or two people standing outside and their sole task is to use the 2 seconds that it takes for us to walk buy most efficiently to get us in to their store.

What amazes me about this is that as we walk along and say no to 10 different people offering to sell us a fake watch there is still another 10 who observe us declining watches for sale that will still push their sales pitch on why we should buy a watch from them. It’s clear that rejection has no impact on these people and they take no offence to the word no.

When one of our group decides to purchase and so negotiation is the key. If you are a foreigner then the starting price is going to be high. My friend negotiates the purchase of a copy Samsonite suitcase, the original asking price equivalent to US$100.00 final purchase price just US$14.10.

An hours shopping and it is time to eat again, something light for a late lunch so traditional Dim Sum includes an array of food you just don’t want to ask the ingredients of.

Mid lunch and we get a phone call from a successful Hong Kong businessman, Mr Lau, who finds out we are in town and it is a dinner request for us, we effectively go from one restaurant to another. Whilst sitting there I can’t help look around the table of about 12 of us and listen to the different conversations in different languages and realise how important food is to the connection between us. We may not understand whats being discussed but we do understand the pleasure on the faces as we dine on exceptional cuisine.

Forty plus courses later, I just can’t take any more food and need to sleep. Mr Lau settles the whole bill, US$153.00, and we depart the restaurant, the company, food and service were exceptional.

Back to the hotel and the pressure is on not to sleep, there is talk of a massage, must admit my back could do with a rub. Sunil my local trader contact says he has a place he uses and so it’s not long before we are walking just two blocks to a massage venue. Now I have to say at this point, this is not what you are probably thinking, this is the real deal.

It’s already around 10:30pm and we manage to negotiate a good deal US$10.00 for two hours. In the end we decide to extend for another hour because it’s only an additional US$1.53. The massage was ok, my poor masseuse ended up exhausted I think, three hours massaging is no mean feet. Clearly at the end how these people make their money is through tips and so the market expectation is to tip around US$2.50 for each hour you have had. Back to the hotel and sleep like a baby.

Next day it’s up around 9am and time to eat again, I’m thinking will this ever end? Answer is no, this is the way it is done in China. Our party has now grown to 10 and so we rent another mini van to transport up to Guangzhou. Two hours drive in the van at a cost of US$100.00 and we arrive at our Hotel, it’s certainly not the greatest hotel in the world and a complaint finally sees us upgraded to a much better rooms. Accommodation in Guangzhou is expensive when the show is on with about 350,000 people in town and so we are also a reasonable distance from one of the two venues.

The girls with us want to shop and so we have had the van wait and then delivery us to one of the many shopping areas. It is estimated Guangzhou now has a population of around 19 million people, with an estimated 100 million in the surrounding areas. The city is pretty dirty and not that safe to be honest. We shop and walk for miles, things are a lot cheaper here than Shenzhen. It’s not long before its time to eat again, this time a famous wonton place. Usually I am pretty careful about what I eat here as well, last time in Guangzhou I had one of those bugs where you can’t help thinking death would be a better option. The wontons were amazing and no dysentery.

Getting a van back to the hotel turned out to be a nightmare, we jumped in to two taxis and they refused to go where we wanted to go saying it was too far, in the end 10 of us managed to get in to a 7 seater Suzuki van. We arrived back about 40 minutes later at a cost of US$14.00, not too bad considering the global prices on fuel.

In the traditions of all things to do with business in China we end the day having a massage. The hotel of course has Karaoke and next door a massage venue. Only 5 of us decide to go just for a foot and leg massage.

The set up in this place is huge, I would say 80 rooms and can cater for 300 people at any one time. Being Sunday night it’s busy and so we have to wait for a while. I am a little nervous to be honest because as much as I have a whole list of things about me that are amazing, my feet are not on that list.

In any case its not long before three of the five young ladies arrive ready to massage, we are all in the same room in large recliner type chairs. I have been walking all day and there’s no doubt whose feet those are that stink but these girls don’t raise an eyebrow. The massage starts with a neck, arms and shoulders massage, I’m thinking that’s novel, thought it was feet and legs. After a short time a knock on the door and food is brought in followed by what looks like a half barrel of hot Coke Cola. My feet are submersed in the liquid and as I sit there I get a full back massage.

I have to say this girl is really good, she must be only 19 or 20 years old but strong as anything and it's not long before a whole lot of tension in my back is being released. She then sits behind me and pulls me down on to her lap where she proceeds with a face massage, once totally relaxed it’s head to one side and then the next while she gently cleans both ears, what's next I am thinking.

After about 20 minutes its time to clean the feet up so a wash in clean hot water and a really amazing foot massage that had me squirming in my seat. I’m thinking wow I have had enough, ready to sleep, but there is still time on the clock and so she takes the opportunity for a quick pedicure, trims the nails and massages in a nice oil. Finally ends up with full leg and chest and after 80 minutes we are done. Kelly picks up the bill of US$25.00 for all five of us, the girls refuse any offer of a tip and we head back to the hotel for sleep end of day two.

The way this system works here is really interesting. The people appear to have no vision for a future deal, all they are concerned about is the deal in front of them right now. It seems clear relationship is not in the list of priorities, its nice if it happens. With that strategy in mind also some of these guys will not hesitate to try and con you. The fairly typical con for getting your nails done is to offer a cheap price, say US$1.50 for a manicure. The manicurist will then going about making the first nail look amazing and then ask if you want the rest done, expecting the US$1.50 per nail of course.

Plan is to come back to Shenzhen soon and will write again just about some of the business going on here for everyone.

I have split this article up in to two parts because simply there was so much to take in. In summary though I have to say end of day two and its clear that doing business in China has a few things common and a few things that differ with other parts of the world and here they are.

• Good food is enjoyed by all cultures, it’s a common thing we all appreciate and providing food for people where we can’t even understand their language creates a valuable connection that has a sustainable presence in our spirit.
• Relaxation is important to ensure we have the energy to do what it is we are destined to do.
• The cost of goods and services in one part of the world may appear cheap or expensive compared with another, but its all relative to the time and place where you are.
• China is booming and I can’t help thinking so many parts of the world are not going to be able to compete with a people who for US$5.00 are happy to have a job that involves cleaning my ears and feet. It is very humbling.

China Fair part two to follow, that’s if we ever get there.

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