Today we visited 2 Companies, Cheetah Mobile and Microsoft.
1. Cheetah Mobile is a 6 year old company. It is a world leading company for utility apps. During the site visit the CEO talked about how they became as big as they are now. We were also engaged in a very informational Q&A session. A couple of their employees showed us around the company. The environment of the company is very comfortable think Google but much more. For example, they have a massage room, slide, nursery, entertainment room, karaoke room, gym, yoga room and a lot more.

After our first site visit, we had lunch at a mall and it was really really good. Then we had some free time and walked around the mall for a bit but not too long because I hate walking around malls.

2. At Microsoft the first thing we did was used a screen that would scan our faces and tell us how old we are. First it told me I was 20, 25, and then 22. Most students in the study abroad group got that they were in their late 20s. It was funny. Microsoft told us about their products, showed us how to use them. The main attraction was the  holo-lens that allows for mixed reality. They also showed us their translation tool/computer, drone, and etc. Then we went to their light house and showed us how it can be used to monitor the traffic in Beijing. Next was a very informational Q&A session.

I noticed that for cheetah Mobile it was more about telling us who they are and their work environment and for Microsoft it was more about what they’ve achieved and how the world makes us of their products and services.

The perfect company for me would be a mix of the too. Somewhere that’s comfortable to work but is really involved with software engineering, using AI and machine Learning.
Also noticed that it was really hot everywhere, but they blast ac at Microsoft. Might be because it’s a western company.

After the company visits the group wanted to go to a market to buy really cheap things (knockoffs) but it wasn’t really a mandatory event. In the beginning of the day I was really excited about this and being able to practice my bartering skills. At the end of the day, I was just really tired and wanted to knock out. I ended up skipping the trip to the market and taking a nice nap. I don’t regret it. It was a really good nap. After, I went to the noodle bar at the hotel and it was any noodles of my choice and milk tea for 55 yuan (a little under $8) which is pretty cheap in my opinion. I got the pork and shrimp wonton noodle with the strawberry milk tea. Everything was so good and I’m really glad I got to try it.

Today, I didn’t go out exploring as much as other days but it was really chill day and I enjoyed it. Thanks for reading:)