Fifteen

Over spring break a group of MIT Sloan Students ventured off the beaten path to visit Yunnan Province in Southwest China. The goal of this official school trip, led by Professor Yasheng Huang, was to see a less well-known and less developed part of China. Specifically, we were to study the opportunities and challenges associated with doing business in this province, and explore current programs in social entrepreneurship and sustainable development. We mixed visits to local entrepreneurial companies, sightseeing, interacting with Yunnan University MBA Students, and visiting a microfinance organization and a Ford Foundation site.

 Our trip started in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province, a city of about 4 million people known as the “Spring city” due to its pleasant year-round temperatures. Our hosts at Yunnan University welcomed us with an introductory lunch. During this meal and others, we sampled some of the exotic food groups of Yunnan, including fried maggots, bees, and dishes that remained unidentified.

 We visited several companies in Kunming that could be candidates for G-Lab projects. Some of the companies were very candid about their business prospects and solicited our help and feedback, while others presented an impenetrable veneer of rhetoric. A highlight of our time in Kunming was visiting with participants in a microfinance project that provides $1000 loans to entrepreneurs migrating from the countryside to the city. We visited a yarn store that was expanding its storefront on a busy street, a screen printing business serving corporate clients for products such as t-shirts, mugs, and canvas bags, a convenience store that purchased a PC to expand into making travel reservations for neighborhood residents, and a real estate agent who offered both rental and ownership listings for the immediate vicinity.

 From Kunming, we traveled to Lijiang, an 800 year old city with a multiethnic culture. Located on a plateau 7,874 feet above sea level, the climate was very dry. Reputed as the “Oriental Venice”, there was rushing water in the canals on many of the store-lined streets. After listening to musicians perform Ancient Naxi Music in the local concert hall, we walked along the streets and practiced our bargaining skills with shopkeepers on wares such as tea, jewelry, handbags, and clothing. On one particularly loud and boisterous street, we found patrons from several bars facing each other from both sides of the canal and challenge each other to singing/drinking songs. Naxi women in traditional clothing motioned for us to come into the bars for drinks, while others grabbed our hands and invited us to dance with them in circles while singing in their native tongues. Some of us ended the night with a midnight snack at KFC just outside of the old city, while others stayed behind for foot massages.

Now that we are over our jet lag, we can reflect on how interesting it was to interact with fellow MBA students and entrepreneurs half way around the world. The trip provided us with a different perspective of China than we would have received had we visited Beijing or Shanghai. We were able to see firsthand how difficult it can be to conduct business in a developing country as well as some of the social challenges the Chinese people face. Overall the trip was an eye opening experience for many of us. We encourage you to check out the many photos we took.

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