Beijing – Day 1
I’ve been lapse about updating my blog over the past several months — I don’t have any particular excuse, but I’m going to make an effort to post a bit more regularly again, and will re-start today with a bit of a travel journal from my first day in Beijing, China.
For quick background, I opened up an account with Rodman & Renshaw in October ‘09 based on a recommendation from a friend who’s been working with them for a while. Rodman is a NY-based boutique investment banking firm that seems to specialize in taking Chinese companies public on the NYSE, NASD, AMEX, and OTC-BB, and following the emerging companies with ongoing research. With all of the news these days about China, I thought it made sense to have a piece of my portfolio invested in this market, so I allocated some funds accordingly. Thus far, I’m up a little bit on the investments, but the most exciting thing to come of this relationship was an invitation, which I accepted, to attend their “Annual China Conference” in Beijing. Nearly 100 companies are presenting March 7-9. How could I say no to hearing keynote speaker, Colin Powell, not to mention a special live musical performance by ?
My friend and fellow Manhattan Beach entrepreneur Steve Svajian decided to join me at the event, and we landed early morning March 6 Beijing time.
Beijing airport was immaculate. Beautiful, modern design and incredibly clean. We sailed through customs and jumped in a taxi for the 35-minute drive to our hotel. I was definitely prepared for a “language barrier”, but the blank stare on our cab driver’s face when we said “Park Plaza hotel on Jinbao Street” was a bit surprising. It was as if he didn’t understand a word of what we were saying. However, we made it without a hitch and checked into our hotel which was also very modern and spotless — once again, TripAdvisor comes through with a great recommendation!
Steve and I conquered the buffet and set out to walk around. It’s barely 30 degrees today — sunny for the most part, very smoggy, and crisp. I can’t tell if it’s just a hazy day, or whether Beijing’s air pollution leaves a permanent haze — there appears to be a brownish/yellowish layer coating the sky.
We are virtually the only American faces I see, which is pretty wild, but adds to the allure of the adventure. At one point, as Steve and I were fumbling around with a map, a young Chinese woman, stopped and offered to help point us in the right direction. Ying Ying, 26, ended up being our tour guide for the afternoon and the chance meeting turned up to make our day particularly interesting as we got a true sense of daily life from a local.
I could feel the history as we approached Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City — amazing to watch the throngs of people strolling around on a Saturday afternoon.
As Steve and I chatted with Ying Ying, it really hit me that while only 12 hours of air-travel separated us from the people of China, we are world’s apart in attitudes toward government and politics, personal freedom, as well as opportunity. I’m sure I’ll have more thoughts on this in the coming days.
Additional pictures are posted here.