The first ever company we visited was Tasly Pharmaceutical Group, based in Tianjin, China. The company primarily engages in the manufacture and distribution of pharmaceutical products. Tasly's most well known product is the Cardiotonic Pill. It prevents and treats coronary arteriosclerosis, angina pectoris and hyperlipemia. In the September 2011 issue of 'China Entrepreneur' magazine, Tasly was voted as one of the 'Top 50 Globalized Chinese Enterprises of 2011'.
The ride to Tasly was a little intense. Many of us were nervous as it was the first company we were seeing and the presentation has to be fully done in Mandarin. A day before the trip, the 8 of us actually gathered to discuss regarding the types of questions we wanted to ask and had them all translated into Mandarin.
The above photo is Tasly's Star Avenue. It is their way of showing appreciation to their staff. What they do is, if you have worked with the company for a number of years outstanding employees* will get their footprints imprinted onto this walk. And Tasly promises that it will never be removed. The heightens recognition and respect for the employees. Furthermore, when you have achieved something in Tasly, they will also give you a different coloured lanyard. I think this is a innovative way to keep employees motivated and interested to be a part of Tasly.
*Special thanks to Kiat Lay for correcting this point.
We were fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to sit in one of those boardrooms with our discussion with their General Manager. It really makes you feel like a boss, sitting in one of those big, smooth leather chairs and having a mic in front of you. By the way, you need to press a button to speak into the mic! We discussed our questions here and the GM was very informative in answering all our questions, and to make sure that Tasly have really taught us something about doing business in China and how to make it there.
Outside of Tasly. Shan Shan is missing!
After Tasly, we went to Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City. It is a project built around the concept of a harmonious and sustainable community that meets the needs of an urbanising China and will be a modern township where 350,000 residents can live, work and play. Many parts of the Eco-City is still under construction and is expected to be completed in 2014.
The idea behind the Eco-City was intriguing and well thought out. Imagine condominiums that have fresh oxygen supply because trees are planned every 3 floors, and the windows are built in a way so that the oxygen is allowed to flow into the homes. Imagine that all the rubbish bins in the city are all connected to a big rubbish bin stored somewhere. This means that whenever something is thrown in the bins, it goes straight to the main bin. Regular clearing of rubbish bins are not needed anymore. Imagine that the condos there have a special system that will collect rain water, and it will be supplied to your home through a different piping system so that it will allow you to recycle your usage of water. Pretty smart, don't you think?
But the real question is, is it realistic? Yes, seeing all these graphs, charts, models and even a show house is impressive. But the Eco-City is 40km from Tianjin's city centre. In a few years time, will the air pollution from the bigger cities evade into the Eco-City and not make the city so 'eco'? Or, what if the rubbish bin system clogs up? Do they need to go underground to rectify the problem, as the 'channels' where the rubbish flow is all built beneath the city. These are important questions to ponder on.
Unfortunately, this part of our visit felt more like a salesman trying to sell us a condo unit. However, I did enjoy the presentation a lot. Anyways, here's a photo of me and my roommate, Charlene!
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