A few days in China... (contd.)

The highlights of the China trip were probably the visits to the Yantian International Container Terminal (YICT) and the Wal-Mart in Shenzhen.

The YICT is a perfect example of the giant strides being taken by China to propel itself onto the world stage. Within a few years, YICT has become the fourth busiest port in the world. (interesting tidbit – Hong Kong and Shanghai are number 2&3 on that list. So, three of the largest four ports in the world are in China.)

Extremely hi-tech and efficient, I’d be surprised if any first time visitor to YICT could leave without a feeling of awe.

As one of our professors at Tippie say - if you want to understand the way of life in a foreign country, visit their retail outlets.
So how would a Wal-Mart in China compare to a Wal-Mart in the US? Well, lots of similarities, but a lot of obvious differences too. The most obvious difference is in the food section. Apparently, Chinese consumers prefer fresh food and hence shop more often. So, the frozen food section is much smaller.

And when the Chinese say fresh, they mean fresh - especially with respect to fish and meat. No, not fresh as in fresh fish on ice. Fresh as in 'live'.
Yup, you read that right. So, Wal Marts in China have tanks for fishes, shrimps etc. The customer uses a net to pick out the fish, which is then cleaned and packaged right away. They also have live crabs, turtles etc.

Don’t trust me? Check out these pics below.