My final trip to China for the year, took me back to Beijing to complete my Entrepreneurship and Innovation class at Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) and allowed for another couple of trips. The Entrepreneurship and Innovation course had run smoothly so going back for the two weeks to complete the final four sessions was relatively stress free. Within the sessions I had the opportunity to run a couple of new experiential activities, which is always fun to see and gauge the reactions.
Also whilst in China I visited Lanzhou Jiaotong University to work with them on developing their entrepreneurship curriculum. They are currently designated as a National Centre for Entrepreneurship, so their entrepreneurship ecosystem is strong. They impressively link entrepreneurship with mechanical and electrical engineering and I had the chance to see the numerous projects being conducted by students in the robotic laboratory and hear of their commercialisation goals. Whilst at Lanzhou Jiaotong University I received an Entrepreneurship Education Advisory fellowship, to run for two years.
During my final week in China I visited Chengdu Polytechnic for my 4th time, and what I believe final time, to complete an ongoing entrepreneurship curriculum embedment project I have been working on for the last 18 months. The institution now has entrepreneurship embedded in 3 different disciplines, so the trip offered the opportunity to speak to colleagues and provide some suggestions for future development.
Each semester as part of the study program at the International Business School at BFSU there is an immersion week, which is essentially a field trip where students work on live case studies and develop a reflective log. This semester there was three different locations, and I had the option to choose which one I wanted to attend (a choice I received but students did not). The choice was between staying in Beijing, going to Foshan in Guangdong or Pinyao in Shanxi province. During a couple of previous immersion weeks I had stayed in Beijing and visited some fascinating local businesses. But with no major reason to stay in Beijing and the desire for some different scenery I decided on visiting Pingyao. It is a historic UNESCO heritage city that I have wanted to visit but have never had time. It is often referred to as the Chinese Wall Street from the previous century, due to being a trading location and the location of the first private financial institutions in China for deposits, loans and exchange. So it has lots of history and historic buildings to explore. The student task for the trip was to develop a new innovative tourism business concept. So included in the trip are numerous tourist activities including visiting the ancient city and temples, Rishengchang (China Museum of Exchange Shop), Zhangbi Ancient Fortress and the Qiao family residence.
The start of immersion week involved me delivering a session on innovation and value propositions to the 200 students involved in all the immersion week activities. The Beijing, Forshan and Pingyao activities were all focused on innovation and enterprise, so this laid the foundation for the tasks the students would complete during the week. After completing the 4 and a quarter hour high-speed train journey from Beijing, we had the first opportunity to see the ancient city of Pingyao from the electric buggies which drive around the city. Due to the nature of the city and its narrow old streets, cars are not allowed in the city. Which means the city is frequented by electric buggies, which zoom around, following a kind of informal set of driving laws. This does give the feeling that you are involved in a type of Mario Cart game, complete with last minute breaking and overtaking. The hotel was a quaint hotel, set around a nice courtyard, although, it did get very cold in the night. It was also cold in the day and I found myself wearing two jumpers and a coat each day, which was my entire clothes supply for the week.
The highlight of the trip for me was visiting the Rishengchang and two old banks and hearing how they created an ecosystem, which helped the city thrive in its heyday. The banks allowed not only deposits, but supported the exchange of the various different currencies used in China at that time. This meant that the city was a great place to do national business, across all the different regions of China. We also visited several of the support services which existed and developed to support the ecosystem, including security escort services to support trade and the court system. The visit highlighted that even hundreds of years ago, a strong and supportive ecosystem was required to support urban and business development. From a tourist perspective the city is a great place to visit, particularly during this time of year, if you are prepared for the cold, as the number of tourists is limited. There is not that much infrastructure for foreign tourists as the vast majority of visitors are domestic tourists. This made findings a cup of coffee in the morning quite tricky, plus one lunch time a visit to McDonald’s was necessary to take a break from the same pattern of food. But the city and some of the surrounding sites are definitely worth a visit.
This week I started the delivery of an Entrepreneurship and Innovation course at Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU). It is a course I have delivered a couple of times previously, however the other times I have delivered the course I was living in Beijing. This made the experience significantly different, getting used to living on campus (in Haidian) and surviving without home comforts. All of the activities and restaurants I know are on the other side of the city, which is a reasonable distance to travel in Beijing. This made finding new locations an essential first task. New supermarkets, restaurants and good coffee locations.
The week following the start of the course, I went to visit North Minzu University (NMU) University in Yinchuan, Ningxia. Six months previously, I developed the partnership which saw NMU send 11 funded students to Worcester. It was the first time I had visited Ningxia and Yinchuan since 2011, so it was interesting to see how the city had developed. I remember the city having a new airport and a large highway connecting it to the city, which was considerably under capacity. The new part of the city is very peaceful and calm, with well-designed open space. The air was also clear and crisp, which allowed for seeing the Helan Mountains, which form the border between Ningxia and Inner Mongolia. Plus there was not a cloud in the sky and it felt like the blue sky was so big and went on until the end of the horizon. Whilst at NMU I delivered a short session on the difference between entrepreneurship and management, constructed from the first week of teaching at BFSU. The session required some organizing and coaxing to get 120 students up, into groups and moving around the lecture theatre and hallway. Although, the outcome of running an activity designed for circa 40 students with 120 students seemed to work ok in the end.
I have spent most of the start to autumn zipping across Europe and making short visits to China. The short journeys across Europe included an unscheduled stop in Munich for 8 hours after missing a connection on the way to Kyiv, after a delayed flight from Heathrow. I spent the 8 hours undertaking my first ever trip into Munich. Munich is one of the cities I regularly transfer through but have never actually visited the city. So it was nice to have a quick walk around and kill some of the delay.
I also made a couple of visits to China, including my shortest trip yet. I undertook a two evening and one day trip to Chengdu to visit Chengdu Polytechnic. Flying from Kiev to Chengdu involves two connections, which meant the flights there and back were longer than the time on the ground. The visit supported the continued development and embedding of their entrepreneurship and enterprise curriculum. When visiting Chengdu Polytechnic I stay in the same ‘boutique’ hotel, which has numerous individual room themes. Each time I have stayed in the same corner room, which is one of the biggest in the hotel and has lovely full glass windows on two sides of the room, but it has the feel of not being fully finished, as it has chipboard walls. Whilst maybe not as trendy as the other rooms in the hotel, other rooms look more polished.
Two weeks later I was back in Beijing to visit Changying Vocational School for a couple of days. Working with vocational schools is always fun, as their students work well with practical hands on activities. It was also interesting to spend some time in West Chaoyang. Having previously lived in Chaoyang next to the third ring road, I was largely blinded to the further West districts.
Finally, there was visit to Bielefeld for the final session of DBA teaching for the second cohort of students. It is always nice to complete the teaching and sent the cohort on their way to develop their research and complete their thesis.
After leaving Moscow in such a hurry in early April, the last few months with DC as a base offered some stability, although it never felt like home. This was partly because we were in a one bedroom studio apartment, but also we didn’t know what the future held in store. Was it time to finally settle down, or would we go on another adventure. It took about 6 weeks until we had some clarity on this, and the answer was a few years in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. So after four months in DC, here we were again, ready to hop on a plane with angry cats in tow. The move went well, although this was probably the angriest the cats had been when travelling. Maybe it was the two transatlantic journeys in only 4 months. The fact that we never received our shipment, helped as there was not too much to re-pack.
I had never previously visited Ukraine so it was a completely new experience for me. So it would be an adventure and allow for lots of exploration. Once in Kiev I had a few days to explore the city before having to head back to the UK for work. It did not take long to realise the vibe of the city was very different to Moscow. The culture was happy, positive and free-spirited in comparison. Instantly it was easier for me to explore the city and relax, as every bar, restaurant and supermarket had not only employees who could speak English, but did so with a smile and were excited to be able to do so. In the few days I had to explore, in between unpacking suitcases, I was able to take the funicular railway and see some of the wonderful views and buildings Kiev has to offer. I look forward to the coming years and being able to explore and enjoy the city.
At the start of the week I had the opportunity to deliver an entrepreneurship education workshop at Nanjing Institute of Industry and Technology. The workshop was delivered to members of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education Alliance of Higher Vocational Colleges in China. It was attended by 60 educators representing 15 colleges, from 8 provinces. I always enjoy visiting Nanjing, particularly when going to the University Town district. It has modern campuses and is green and relaxed with good metro access to the city. The metro is rarely crowded compared to other major Chinese cities, so it is often possible to get a seat.
The workshop was rescheduled by a few days from its original dates and unfortunately on the new dates there was no direct flights from Frankfurt to Nanjing. This meant flying to Shanghai and then a subway journey on line 2 to get across the city from Shanghai Pudong to Hongqiao Railway Station and then a high speed train to get to Nanjing. The subway journey took just over 2 hours, whilst the train only took just over an hour and a half.
In my haste when packing, I picked up the wrong shoe bag from my wardrobe. So when opening my suitcase in Nanjing I was greeted by a pair of waterproof walking boots, rather than my brogues. The workshop was delivered in trainers, which was marginally more appropriate than waterproof walking boots, given the 30 degree plus temperature.
Going to Nanjing provided the opportunity to meet up with colleagues I am currently collaborating on research with at 1912. Although, with a busy schedule the next day there was no opportunity to enjoy the well-known 1912 night life.
After a couple of hectic weeks I have arrived back in DC. I managed to get back before the end of cherry blossoms. The weather has a warm spring breeze, so it is nice to be back from the long cold Russian winter.
The time has come, sooner than expected, to leave Moscow, after nearly 14 months. At the end of March we were given a week to leave Moscow (whilst I was away working in China). This led to an almighty rush to get everything packed and sorted. Plus cats ready and arranged to fly, however begrudgingly. Times have been decidedly challenging in Moscow, but I am glad to have been able to have lived there and explored the city throughout the four seasons. Possibly, unfortunately I will not be there during the hosting of the World Cup, although this could have been a very busy and stressful time. The next stage of the journey is a little unclear for now, so we will try and enjoy the moment.
After interrupted travel plans which involved spending a night in Wiesbaden, as all the hotels in Frankfurt were full, I arrived in Jinan a day late. Jinan is a beautiful small city (by Chinese standards) which retains lots of charm. Jinan is known for its numerous springs, and is often referred to as the city of springs (a literal translation). Baotu Spring Park is in the centre of the city and rivers run through the city linking the springs with Daming Lake. Daming Lake offers a nice scenic walk and is easily walkable from the main square. Indeed, one of the great features of Jinan is its compact nature which makes it easy to walk and explore.
Quancheng Square is the centre of activities with many social groups meeting up to undertake activities. Dance, drama, skating and kite flying groups can regularly be found in the square undertaking their activities and socialising. As I was staying in a hotel overlooking the square I was able to enjoy many walks exploring the activities which took place there each night.
The top attraction in Jinan, which again is easily walkable from the main square is Qianfoshan Mountain (Thousand-Buddha Mountain). It is a lovely landscaped park on the side of a small mountain, which has small temples and Buddha sculptures throughout. Xingguo Temple is the largest temple within the park and has some great views. A short 30 minute walk gets you to the top of the mountain, where on a clear day it is possible to see Jinan stretched out in front of you and the springs and lake. The top of the mountain has a range of pagodas to take a rest at and view the city from. Within the park there is a giant sitting Buddha at the base of the mountain and a cave with a thousand Buddha sculptures. The tranquil nature of the park offers a fantastic place to take a walk after a long day’s work, the March temperatures were very favourable and pleasant for this.
I am going to be teaching at Shandong University of Science & Technology (SDUST) for two weeks. The University of Worcester has a 2+2 degree with SDUST and one semester of the 2nd year in China is delivered by Worcester staff. I will be teaching Marketing Management with a colleague. But what I am looking forward to the most is returning to Jinan, as it was the first place I ever visited in China. In 2010 after landing in Shanghai I went to Jinan to visit colleagues. Despite living in China for 3 years and visiting Qingdao a couple of times (also in Shandong province), I have never been back to Jinan. So I am interested and excited to see how the city has changed over the last 8 years, and whether I can still remember it. Whilst the trip has not started well, with my flight from Hannover to Frankfurt cancelled and my colleague’s flight from Birmingham to Frankfurt cancelled and us now having to take separate routes, arriving in Beijing 7 hours apart, I am looking forward to the visit. I am sure both Jinan and I have changed over the last 8 years, so let’s see who has changed the most.
Robin Bell 