We set off early this morning to explore the Olympic grounds of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. The grounds are kept in very nice condition, are under high security, and are still filled with very many tourists. Our visit took us to the Bird’s Nest, the stadium famous for its architecture which housed the opening and closing ceremonies as well as some games. The structure is amazing, filled with steel pillars which twist into the shape of an actual bird’s nest. There was a tight rope walker who crossed the opening of the nest, hundreds of feet up, with no harness what so ever. That made me a little nervous. For lunch, Dr. Gao took my group out for Korean Barbeque. That is, you cook your own meat at a makeshift grill which is set right in the center of the table. We had beef and lamb and, with the dipping sauce, it made for a pleasantly surprising delicious meal.
This afternoon was our third company visit, Lenovo. This company primarily makes computers and laptops. They have a whole center built for tour groups which makes you believe you’ve stepped right into Willy Wonka and the Computer Factory. It was a very impressive set up and I was able to interact with many of the products. Although it was entertaining, I did not learn much about the engineering or business principles of the company. I did find it interesting, however, that Lenovo has a main center located in the United States which promotes multi-disciplinary teams. Different Lenovo centers around the world must be able to work together effectively even from different backgrounds in order for the company to function. And with the success of these multi-disciplinary teams the company will reach out to more people and sell more products. This is definitely a pro for the company.