Today the MGLM group visited the Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace Park, both instrumental in Chinese imperial history. The Temple of Heaven was visited by emperors twice a year: once at the new year to pray for a favorable harvest, and at the winter solstice to give thanks for the year's bounty. Locals practiced tai chi and calligraphy in the outer courtyards, while the inside held the impressive structure crafted entirely without fasteners of any kind, everything was joint fitted.

On the other end of Beijing, we visited the retreat of the emperors that provided relief during the hot summers. Indeed, today was over 100 degrees, so we understood the need. The sprawling park is covered by 300+ year old trees, a Buddhist temple and imperial residences. Both serve to remind us of China's extensive history, and the jarring reality of their recent economic.

On behalf of:
Caleb McNary

Today the team visited Jun He Law firm.  Everyone was impressed to learn how they won "Best Company in China and Bejing" several years including 2013.  The law firm got their start by the founding partners going to school in the US, working in the US, and then replicating what they learned in China.  This certainly gave them an edge up starting business in the US.  In addition we visited the US Embassy.  It was an interesting facility and their data on the future of China remains very optimistic.

This morning the team met with Jennifer Pan from China Sense.  Jennifer's presentation about the China economy was incredible in how she was able to effectively communicate with us and tie all the previous classes together regarding how the Chinese economy functions.  We also visited Pantera where Ken Schultz did an awesome job explaining the importance of branding in China.  He also explained how they ran logos by the Chinese team and an American marketing company to get feedback in hopes of preventing any cultural errors.  It was neat to hear from Ken and his experience as a US citizen living in China for the past ten years.