Our fourth lecture today dealt with economics in China. Economics has never been an area of interest for me, but Claudia managed to make it as bearable as it could possibly be. I was surprised to find that a large percentage of China’s population is severely underpaid. Not only this, but bribes are needed in order to do almost anything in society. In school, parents bribe teachers so that their children can sit towards the front of the classroom. Similarly, when opening a private business, owners must pay bribes to gangs and officials in order to keep them out of trouble. It is even public knowledge that politicians commonly accept bribes on the job. This is something which I feel is very different from America and speaks a lot about ethics in society. Giving and accepting bribes are not ethical actions. Three hundred million people in China live on less than one dollar a day. These low wages also raise ethical concerns in professional life.
After lecture we had our final company visit to Hanweng. This is a computer software and technology company focused on interactive computers for painting and typing Chinese characters. I was very interested in their product, called an E.P. Book, which downloads books like a Kindle, plays music like an MP3, and takes notes like an iPad. The best part is that the notes you write on the screen with a stylist are automatically typed. I thought that this visit was interesting, but again focused largely on the final products of the company but few engineering or business principles which could be an area of improvement.
Our last stop of the night was to KTV. These buildings all over Beijing and are used for none other than Karaoke. Karaoke is apparently a very popular past time in China which was clear from the modern décor and bustling activity. Our room was complete with a comfy couch, flat screen television on the wall, another television for video games, a private bathroom, and four microphones for singing. The Karaoke was a really fun way to experience and become immersed in Chinese culture.