One working day to go. And I’m ready for home.
Well, it’s Sunday, and I’m approaching the end of another China trip.
It’s been quite a week. Factories, meetings, new opportunities, old friendships and more time spent communicating across languages and cultures than I care to remember.
And some really good results.
One of the reasons I still travel to China is that there’s simply no substitute for being in the room.
I’ve achieved more in a few hours around a factory table than I could have achieved in weeks of emails and video calls.
When you’ve got the engineers, management and suppliers together, concentrating on the same problem, things happen. Decisions get made. Problems get solved. Sometimes you find yourself wondering why you didn’t think of the solution months ago.
And this trip has been particularly productive.
I’ve visited our new offices in China, which are scheduled to be ready in May. It’s an exciting development, providing a dedicated base for our sourcing team and strengthening our ability to support customers directly from China.
I’ve also met with the quality assurance team, and we’ve agreed the QA policy that will underpin our sourcing and manufacturing support.
For me, that’s particularly important.
Good quality assurance doesn’t begin when a product comes off the production line. It begins much earlier, with understanding the product, agreeing the standards, identifying risks and making sure everybody knows what is expected.
Having the sourcing and QA teams working together locally gives us a stronger foundation for supporting our customers.
It’s one thing talking about expanding your capabilities. It’s quite another standing in the space where it’s going to happen and meeting the people who will make it work.
But business travel comes at a price.
And I’m not talking about the airfare.
A few days ago, I delivered a sales development session to a group of Chinese colleagues. I’m not a professional trainer, but I’ve spent enough years in international business to have a few experiences worth sharing.
We explored product knowledge, customer relationships, confidence, communication and the importance of understanding what makes a business different from its competitors.
It was an engaging session, with plenty of discussion, and we finished with a development plan and a three-month review.
I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity.
But I’ll admit, I was exhausted afterwards.
Working across languages and cultures takes concentration. Even when everyone is enthusiastic and engaged, you have to think carefully about how you communicate, how your words are interpreted and whether the message has really landed.
By the time I returned to the hotel, my batteries were flat.
I lay down for what I thought would be a short rest and promptly fell asleep.
When I woke up, I realised I’d reached that familiar point in a long business trip when even the simplest things start to feel like hard work.
I’d enjoyed some wonderful Chinese hospitality and food, but suddenly I found myself craving something familiar.
A proper coffee. Something simple to eat. And a conversation in English where neither person needed to think about every word.
I spent a good hour on the phone with my business partner David, catching up on everything from business to family and current affairs.
It was just what I needed.
Meanwhile, my friend and host, who has been incredibly generous with his time and hospitality throughout this visit, arranged something rather special.
Chicken and chips.
KFC, to be precise.
And it arrived at my hotel room courtesy of a robot.
Yes, a robot.
After a day discussing communication, technology and business development, I found myself standing at my hotel room door collecting fried chicken from a machine.
You couldn’t make it up.
I found some sugar for my coffee, ate my dinner and went to bed a considerably happier man.
Sometimes the smallest things make the biggest difference.
I’ve since enjoyed a proper rest, although leaving the hotel window open because the air-conditioning wasn’t operating has resulted in the local mosquitoes enjoying an unexpected banquet.
Apparently I was the main course.
There’s one important working day left before I head home. Another factory visit, another opportunity to make progress, and no doubt a few more surprises.
My bags are packed, my travel plans are organised, and I’m looking forward to finishing the trip on a positive note.
China has been fascinating, rewarding, funny and occasionally exhausting.
Just as I remember it.
After all these years, it still has the ability to surprise me.
And although I’m looking forward to getting home, I’m also leaving with renewed enthusiasm for what we’re building.
One more working day. Then home.
China Unwrapped — more to follow.
