It was our first full day in China and we had a lot to fit in. We visited the China Agricultural University (CAU), the Forbidden City, Tian'anmen Square and Monsanto and her biotech center. We had an early breakfast at the top floor of the Jin Ma Hotel, overlooking the city of Beijing. We had an authentic Chinese spread for breakfast, which included: Soy milk, fried dough fritters, congee with the different preserved foods, et cetera.

By 8 o clock, we headed next door to CAU and we were greeted punctually by Tang who brought us to meet Professor Wu Laping. He gave us a detailed overview of the Chinese Agriculture Sector: Agriculture on the national level, Introduction of Chinese Agricultural sector, Policy Concerns and Income Issues. We learnt about the current ag constraint issues regarding the 7 no. 1 documents which were issued from 2004 to 2010 that have been implemented to help improve the concerns in the Chinese Agricultural industry. One interesting fact that he pointed out to us was that in 2009 they spent 716.1 Billion yuan in subsidies by the Chinese govt which was a 21% increase from 2008 which is important because there are 40 million below the 2008 poverty line established by China.

After that, we became tourists as we got to visit the Forbidden city and Tiananmen square. Jane, our tour guide, led us around starting from the Northern side. She filled us in with interesting facts about the monuments which definitely taught us a lot about the Chinese culture. After taking in the breathtaking sights, we headed straight for the luxurious Wahaha Hotel.
   
After a fulfilling lunch at Wahaha Hotel, we headed out to Monsanto and had the honor of having Kevin Eblen give us a presentation of the US-based company. It was a short overview of what the Beijing headquarters did and then the rest of the presentation proceeded on with the question and answer segment. It was an eye-opener to hear that for most of the farms in China, it was the women who tend to the land, while the males in the family head out to the city for city jobs. This contrasts the way American and Chinese farms are run. Typically the Chinese farms are much smaller than the American farms which leads to the fragmented supply of their supply chains. This is one of the biggest challenges that US companies faCe when they come to China. Moving on, we went to their Biotech branch in another part of Beijing where we were treated to an office tour and a presentation by John McLean. The Biotech center was just recently built and looks very futuristic, which is reflective of how progressive and forward-looking their economy is. We were split into two groups based on our project groups and were led around the office by Susan and Michelle who gladly answered any questions fielded by us. John then gave us the chance to clarify any of our doubts before he started his presentation. He decided to center his presentation around the key issue that most foreign companies are facing while trying to gain a foothold in the Chinese market: Intellectual Property rights.

One of their strongest rival Pioneer had faced the situation of losing 50% of their business to their products being sold illegally in the market place. Even though the framework for the intellectual property rights are present, enforcement is still an tough issue that companies face. Therefore foreign companies trying to penetrate the Chinese market should definitely look into intellectual property rights in China, if not, their business would not hold up against domestic companies and the rigors of the Chinese market.

 Thanks to Chen and his parents,we had the opportunity to experience luxury Chinese Hunan cuisine in downtown Beijing, which is one of his family's favorite places to eat. But before we could get to the restaurant, our group took six cabs in order to get to the subway system, and we only got once our journey before reaching our destination!  We still can't believe how many dishes the Chinese feed their customers - a traditional meal contains at least 10 dishes!  Our favorite was being served an entire turtle, which still had head, shell, and toes intact. Some of us were brave enough to put on a clear plastic glove, flip the turtle over, and dig in.  Following the other spicy cuisine of the typical Southern Chinese cuisine, the turtle was very spicy, and Chen told us not to drink water after eating this sea creature, as it would only make us even thirstier.  We were actually very lucky to have the chance to try turtle, as it is considered a delicate dish to the Chinese culture.  Since it was still Kristin's birthday, she got to have another special treat, but it wasn't a birthday cake this time.  Instead, Chen ordered her a bowl of "one noodle," which literally follows the name of being one enormous spaghetti noodle, and is eaten to ensure a long life.  Now that we have eaten with chopsticks for an entire day now, we are almost becoming professionals - dropping our food less often and even eaten small foods such as peanuts and slippery potato noodles, while eating at a much faster pace, too!