Today Caterpillar, MTD, and the SIP government hosted 42 business students from Peoria's Bradley University for a visit to Suzhou and SIP. It was a great day that I hope gave the students a chance to get a sense of life and business in China and to see first the remarkable Suzhou Industrial Park.
We started with a visit to the MTD factory which is managed by Charlie who is the GM and a friend of mine. MTD makes blades and other components for lawnmowers and outdoor equipment in their factory in SIP. Charlie gave the group a presentation about his experience in starting a business in China. I think the group was impressed with his brand new factory and growing operations. The MTD factory is directly across from the street from the Caterpillar land.
Next, Caterpillar hosted them for a lunch at Li Gong Di where we had a huge Chinese banquet with a dizzying array of delicacies. In one of the pictures above, Josak is sampling a duck's head in response to my offer of 2RMB to the first person that takes a bite. The lunch was a classic Chinese business meal with round tables and lazy susans. The only thing missing was the Baijiu.
Two of my colleagues, Duane and Gary, and I gave presentations on Caterpillar and living in China. The talks were well received and I was very impressed with the group of students, their level of interest, and the number of questions. After lunch, we dropped them off at the SIP government visitors center where they were given a presentation on the city and taken on a tour of the display area.
Later that night, our friend and neighbor from the Bradley Group, Dr. Getz met us at home for a visit and dinner out. I was so impressed with his ability to speak and read Chinese - a brilliant guy ! We took him and the whole family out for Mexican food. Dan seemed to enjoy seeing the kids and we all had a great time.
We started with a visit to the MTD factory which is managed by Charlie who is the GM and a friend of mine. MTD makes blades and other components for lawnmowers and outdoor equipment in their factory in SIP. Charlie gave the group a presentation about his experience in starting a business in China. I think the group was impressed with his brand new factory and growing operations. The MTD factory is directly across from the street from the Caterpillar land.
Next, Caterpillar hosted them for a lunch at Li Gong Di where we had a huge Chinese banquet with a dizzying array of delicacies. In one of the pictures above, Josak is sampling a duck's head in response to my offer of 2RMB to the first person that takes a bite. The lunch was a classic Chinese business meal with round tables and lazy susans. The only thing missing was the Baijiu.
Two of my colleagues, Duane and Gary, and I gave presentations on Caterpillar and living in China. The talks were well received and I was very impressed with the group of students, their level of interest, and the number of questions. After lunch, we dropped them off at the SIP government visitors center where they were given a presentation on the city and taken on a tour of the display area.
Later that night, our friend and neighbor from the Bradley Group, Dr. Getz met us at home for a visit and dinner out. I was so impressed with his ability to speak and read Chinese - a brilliant guy ! We took him and the whole family out for Mexican food. Dan seemed to enjoy seeing the kids and we all had a great time.
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