Mentor Trips

Mentor Outings:

China Club Fountain

Pick Your Communist???

The China Club-

A few weeks back, a mentor kindly took the group of us interns to the China Club. It's actually in a few floors of the old Bank of China building owned by Sir David Tang, creator of the clothing line Shanghai Tang, and decorated in a 1930s Shanghai art deco style. Before we descended upon the buffet line, Rob, the mentor, gave a very informative speech on Hong Kong. He commented on the work ethic of the people here. It is only in Hong Kong that the secretary/personal assistant willingly stay late, on little overtime pay, merely to help out. There is rarely rushing out when the clock strikes 6PM if the boss is still in. Also, the government is able to keep taxes at a 15% flat rate because of land costs. By owning a large amount of land, the government is able to sell the deeds at a very high rate usually to holding companies that promise to develop the land to benefit the people. Granted, often times the land developers only develop the land into malls to gain as much revenue as possible rather than affordable housing. It is only with government contracts that land developers grudgingly build the large, cloned, cramped apartments with government subsidized rent.

"Gentleman's Lounge"

Main Dining Hall

Only after a few pieces of advice did we hungry college students rush to the buffet. It was a lovely weekend dim sum spread where the food kept changing each time we went to grab another plate. We then toured the three floors of the China Club which had an astounding collection of art, mostly China related and falling under the broad umbrella of political realism.

Model of the Port

Hutchison Port-

Edith, who also spearheaded Columbia at the Ivy ball, invited us to the Hutchison Container Ports. Hong Kong has always been a major port and seeing the enormity of its operations only cemented that fact. The pictures really don't do quite justice to the magnitude at which these machines work. Hopefully from the picture of the airplane head goes to show how large these containers are. Technically, each one is what you would see on the back of a 18-wheeler. Everything is automated with human controllers for backup. Their programs are developed in-house with years of operations people streamlining it to optimize efficiency. They know exactly where to put each container to reduce recovery time. All the truckers have ID cards with their info digitally stored on them. This aids in the process, creating an entirely automated process to determine where to put the container after removing it from the ship, where to move it thereafter, and where the truck should wait to receive the container. It was quite a massive operations.

Just think...each box is an 18 wheeler

Of course, no Asian outing is complete without a meal. Edith took us out to Yuen Long in the New Territories.We had a traditional country banquet with char siu pork, roast duck, roast chicken, shrimp, and pork lard and soy sauce poured on white rice. Despite the large amount of food, we managed to clear the table.

Company Policy: FACE MASKS!

Of course there are many other wonderful things our mentors have done for us. I've only included those with a significant cultural aspect. Not to say I didn't enjoy them, but I'd only be describing the food! The mentors have been an involved and caring bunch, welcoming us to Hong Kong and showing us sights we otherwise would not have seen.