Today was a very professional day. We had two company visits. The first was the Sunshine Insurance Group. When we first got to the site, we were led into a huge room that resembled a lecture hall where we were introduced to the company. The first lady that spoke with us had lived in America before when she was in college. She spoke about how she worked with Citi Group for a while in America afterwards. Next, they showed us a 20-minute video about their company and how it started. It was actually very intriguing for a 20-minute video about a 13-year-old insurance company. It was even inspirational and motivational showing how the company persevered and became such a huge success in only a few years. Their extreme success can be seen in their huge campus site with lodging, museums, cafeterias, universities and other things you wouldn’t expect. After the video we took a tour of their campus. They provided golf carts to drive us around and they even gave us free Fiji water as well. The site was beautiful with a lot of greenery and statues. After the tour we had lunch at one of their cafeterias. It was our first time getting a meal buffet style rather than Lazy Susan family style.

After lunch we headed straight to our next company visit, Xiaomi. When we got to the campus site we went in a conference room, but to get there we passed by a bunch of cubicles where people were working. Something I found interesting is that almost everyone was napping. It was like an after-lunch siesta. I thought that was cool because usually in America everyone spends their break at work differently but here it was a set routine to take a nap at work in the afternoon. When we sat in the conference room, we were lectured about the company Xiaomi and how they stay innovative and ahead of other technology companies in China and even around the world. Xiaomi is number 2 in smartphones in all of China. Something I found interesting is what they had to say about Apple and their success in America. I found out that Xiaomi sells way more products than Apple even including backpacks. After the lecture we were taken to the Dreamport mall right next to their office. In the mall we visited the Xiaomi store. It looked like an Apple store except, like we were told, they sold way more than phones and laptops.

Later today when we got back to the hotel, I was in the mood for cuisine more familiar to my palate. I thought it would be interesting to try McDonalds in China. I knew that McDonalds and other chain restaurants always alter their menu to appeal to the people in an area. For example, I knew they served rice at McDonalds in the Philippines. I wanted to see the difference in the McDonalds menu in China. The food here incorporated yam and other fun flavors and spices of the local cuisine. I ended up getting a chicken sandwich, but I was delighted to see that it tasted so much better here compared to the ones in America. After we ate we just walked around the mall and then made our way back to the hotel for the night.