This morning at 7:30 am we met in the hotel lobby to take a bus to the Piano Factory. We arrived at the Piano Factory around 9:00 am. We were greeted with a warm welcome from Mr. Nieverget, the Swiss Consul General, and his wife Mrs. Nieverget. We were all very delighted to share this experience with them.
Visit at the Piano Factory
The Piano Factory was very fascinating for all of us. It was very interesting to gain insight on how the pianos are manufactured. We were able to see how the quality of the products are controlled as well as the working environment within the company. It was also strange to hear the pianos take quite a long-time to make, but at the same time see how efficient the factory runs. After the factory visit we had a short meeting including a session of question and answers.
After the Piano Factory, we went to an authentic Cantonese lunch! It was most of our first experience with Cantonese food and it was delicious. We had a large variety of food to try. The lunch included fresh chicken, shrimps, vegetables, tofu, noodles, fried rice, and green tea. Needless to say, the lunch was very fulfilling for all of us.
Lunch was followed by a visit to Sun Yat-Sen University. Professor Dr. Christian Stahlin and Dr. Zhiping Stahlin welcomed us with a few local Chinese students. We had a brief introduction to the University. Then we had the privilege to get a firsthand look at what took place in the Biolabs. We were even able to view the magnificent green room on the top of the university.
End of visit at Biolabs
After the enlightening visit at the university we boarding the bus and headed to the School of Business at the old campus of Sun Yat-Sen University. It was a very exciting visit for us all! When we arrived we were privileged enough to be able to take part and seeing the signing ceremony of the learning agreements between our two universities. The signing ceremony was very exciting for both sides because all of the opportunity it can bring to the students of the two universities.
When the ceremony came to a close we were able to hear an overview on the university. We learned about all of the different programs offered at the university and abroad. We heard about the many different partner schools the university has around the world, now including our very own Zurich University of Applied Sciences.
We then had a very informative lecture from Dr. WANG Haizhang on the marketing opportunities and the traps in China. Dr. Wang is a professor at the University and the department chairman. As students we now have a better understanding and basic overview of the Chinese market as a whole.
After the lecture we went to Mrs. Nievergelt’s exhibition for her beautiful handmade jewelry. Mrs. Nievgerget’s jewelry has a feeling too it that is indescribable. It is very unique but also designed to fit the cultural needs of people as well as being fashionable. It was very interesting to see how Mrs. Nieverget has adapted her jewelry to better attract and suit the needs for Chinese people. She has done this in such was like using jade in her jewelry or even making jewelry in the form of 8’s because it is the Chinese lucky number. When the exhibition was over we all went back to the hotel and had individual group dinners. It was a busy but exciting day!
