On day 3 in China, we did two company visits. The first visit, and the most impressive, was to Huawei. Huawei is a telecommunications and consumer electronics manufacturing company that plays a leading role in China’s technology markets. We were able to visit their research and development center located in Beijing and received a tour of the facility. The facility was very fancy and we were pampered on this visit.

Everything from the countless screens ranging from normal display to 8k display to the bathrooms was astonishing; it was all so advanced. When we arrived, we took a group picture and was immediately showed into a large room with many screens. The first screen that we saw was a large screen with a crystal clear 8K display. The landscape looked so clear and the detail made it look like we were actually there.

After previewing this high resolution screen, we started to walk around the facility. The way the place was laid out, each screen had different statistics about the company and what they do and their technological advancements. Instead of a basic, plain powerpoint, the woman leading us through the facility walked us through this powerpoint. Each screen was like a different slide, and in front of each screen was a device or machine of some sort to show how they achieve whatever it is they are displaying on the screen. For example their biggest focus during the visit was on their development of their 5G network, which is said to be ten times faster than 4G. This statistic astonished me and it made me realize how far into the future Huawei is. In front of the slides that described the logistics of 5G, there were actual physical machines that prove how they are going to put the 5G network out to the nation of China.

After our walkthrough slideshow experience, we were able to partake in an interactive part of the facility. They had facial recognition examples set up as well as many Huawei devices to play with. This interactive experience showed me the quality of Huawei’s products and innovation. They are very technologically ahead and are using their new mechanics to innovate and expand their brand. I was able to get my hands on one of Huawei’s smartphone’s and the first thing I looked at was the camera. With three lenses, the camera has a 0.6x-30x zoom range, which is incomparable to my iPhone. This, along with the sleek design and display, fast loading time for apps, and an affordable price, proved that Huawei is the superior smartphone producer for value.

After playing around with a bunch of their tech, we went to a conference room where we had a question and answer session with the lady who led us around the facility and she was able to explain the privately owned company in detail.

After our visit to Huawei and lunch, we went to our second company visit to a tech education company called VIPKid. Here we received a tour of their offices in a high rise in Beijing and a presentation showing us what their company does, how they do it, and the resources they need to achieve their goal. The trip to this company was enlightening as it was nice to see that there are people in the world promoting English education in places where it’s not strong.