Last night was the most culturally informative evening so far as we dined with members of the Asian media- including the China Daily, China's foremost English publication. I learnt that Asian people give business cards with both hands, that it is considered rude to talk business on a first meeting with a company, and that in fact Asian businessman believe the exact converse of our maxim of "not mixing business and friendship", and in fact see the two as inextricably linked.
I also learned how to say "I love dogs" in Mandarin. Then promptly decided never to use the phrase, lest one of the more local "delicacies" find its way onto my plate in a cruel semantical twist. (According to Eric, who works for InterContinental in Singapore, dog is more than a mythical delicacy here in Shenzhen, and when he lived in China he would lock his dog up as a precautionary measure, "How would I have explained it to my wife??") All in all, a fascinating evening full of cultural diversity, which culminated in a rather hilarious conga onboard the previously mentioned Galleon. I tell you, you haven't lived until you've seen 20 Asian business people in a line thrusting their pelvises into one anothers' backs.
Today was an early start as we made our way over to IHG's Asia Pacific 2008 conference. Just in case we got lost on the 200m walk to the centre, around 50 members of staff had been employed to stand on either side of the route wearing white gloves and motioning us in the right direction. Nothing is too much trouble here. The conference kicked off with IHG's chief executive of Asia Pacific, Peter Gowers, who spoke of the current climate and IHG's plans for China amongst other things. All in all, he spoke positively but did admit the group would be considering job cuts as a cost saving measure.
He was followed by Gary Rosen, head of marketing and sales who said The Beatles had in fact been wrong when they said money can't buy you love. And in fact, IHG would prove it in the coming years. Marketing love that is. So remaining Beatles, just so you know, you were wrong, if you'd worked for IHG you could have bought some love years ago and saved yourself troublesome court battles with embittered Geordies. We then attended a media lunch with IHG's chief executive Andy Cosslett who spoke mainly of the 100m Chinese people who will be outbound travellers from China in the coming years.
And so to this evening which brings a meal aboard the ship in the backyard. I'll keep you informed, but promise not to go overboard...