36 The Courier sun • DECEMBER 3, 2015 for breaking news visit www.qns.com victoria’s secrets VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS vschneps@gmail.com tweet me @vschneps Shenzhen The last lap of my trip Dynamic $1000 off Lumineers $500 off Invisalign DENTAL WORK Free Whitening included the inViSiBle WAy to Some excluSionS Apply StrAighten teeth third generation dentist 175-15 Jamaica avenue, Jamaica 718-297-4100 • 718-297-4106 Although I have returned from my fifth trip to China, I’m delighted to share many of my experiences there. The country has always been a fascination to me, because of its ancient culture and ability to reinvent itself, and remarkably, a population of over a billion people. On my two-week visit to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, I was impressed all over again. Each city is bustling with commerce and there seems to be a crane on every corner with construction exploding on every road I took. I had been invited to China this time by the U.S. Chinese Chamber of Commerce and the America-China Hotel Association in conjunction with the sponsor China Southern Airlines that safely and luxuriously “carried” me throughout my trip. The main mission of my trip was to meet with Chinese business leaders to encourage them to invest in America. Their graciousness overwhelmed me and I got to see cities I had never visited before. Shenzhen — which is contiguous to Hong Kong — is emulating its neighbor in growth and wealth but is unique in that it was literally created in the 1990s on farmland as an experiment to let capitalism flourish similar to what made Hong Kong such a powerful place. Shenzhen is a city of young people because it’s filled with tech companies and everyone is a new arrival. I was impressed that the city has created a Central Park. In fact, they build gardens on top of many buildings and the roads are landscaped with palm trees, flowering plants and well-trimmed shrubs. The week I was there, there was an art display in the park and massive sculptures dot the cityscape. I attended a meeting with business leaders in an office in the tallest building in Shenzhen where we saw a video of 13 five-star resorts being built along the beach, and another man who owns 15 hotels and is developing a 50,000 acre vacation resort. Another man owns 160 hotels in China. The owner of the 96-story building where we were bluntly said, "We have money, talent and the will to keep building." Today, the tallest buildings in China are in competition with each other and I stood on the 96th floor of one and watched in awe the construction of its competitor for the title down the block. My hotel, the Sheraton Shenzhen Futian, is a massive complex of two 28-story towers. It's a little on the periphery of the center of the city but as my bus approached it at night, it had that Darth Vader feeling of black and gold and overpowering the skyline. When I went to my room on the 16th floor, I had spectacular views of multiple skyscrapers that lit up the sky with fluorescent lighting surrounding them. A new experience was the chance to ride the sparkling clean three-year-old Metro. I was very jealous of its beauty and efficiency. As I took the escalator down to the platform (after having my purse checked and X-rayed), there before me was a wall of glass doors and a sign telling me how many minutes until my train arrived. Then, as the train pulled into the station, there were arrows to show me where to stand when the doors opened. Every station has multiple signs and the granite floors sparkle. People stood single file and, as the announcement said, let those leaving get out first. The train was very crowded but the air-conditioning made it bearable as we went six stops. My companion, whom I had met at the afternoon luncheon, kindly guided me to find a silk store to bring back silk pillowcases. Holding her kind hand and thanks to her skills of knowing the language and the stores, she helped me find what I was looking for. It was a small silk store in a massive mall with a Target-like supermarket. Another mall we went to had all the brands we are familiar with in the U.S. from the Gap to Adidas to Hugo Boss. The day before, my new friends Richard and Marilyn Chuk helped me navigate the packed five-story Louela mall/market that is contiguous to Hong Kong and more like the markets I like exploring, with small stalls loaded with merchandise, all negotiable. We made our way to a tailor so I could order suits for Josh. After looking through what seemed like hundreds of fabric samples, I chose two and then looked at books of shirt fabrics. Richard was so kind to act as my interpreter and negotiator. After we had come to an agreed price, I gave her my credit card to pay for what we had bought but we had to go to another stall where the people wanted to charge me a fee and Richard fought fearlessly and fiercely to keep the price, the price! And they did. In all the markets I visited, half the fun was the negotiation. They expect it and respect it. But I must admit no one spoke English so having my guardian angels with me made it all possible. At all the business meetings, it was rare if the leaders spoke English. I usually had an interpreter but it surprised me that sophisticated, apparently hugely successful people knew almost no English. I experienced a city that expects to be as successful as Hong Kong. They certainly are on their way to achieving that goal. I felt privileged to be there. Shenzhen My hotel, a 5 star “Darth Vader” gold & black massive double tower Marilyn Chuk & I at market Charles Wang (left) & Wayne Moy overlooking Shenzhen
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