I went to China last week. For a day.
That’s right: two days (or rather: two sleepless nights) on a ‘plane for a meeting of slightly less than five hours. It was utterly pointless, not least because when I got there (after a night of precisely 28 minutes’ sleep), I was UTTERLY unable to keep my eyes open. The view from our agency is spectacular, though – and well worth seeing – and the hotel was fine.
The strangest thing about the trip was a “modern trade visit” – which means “going to look at a Chinese supermarket”. in point of fact, this was looking at a Carrefour (so a British/French supermarket) and that was about as alien as it felt. The most starling thing wasn’t the differences between this supermarket and one in a totally different culture and country, but the similarities: by and large, the products were the same, the brands were the same, the layout was the same, and the consumer behaviour was the same. It was all rather underwhelming.
Of course, this was an example of the Westernisation of the world: the INTENTION is that everything is standardised, but it was still striking how little variation there is globally, even in something as culturally specific as eating and shopping for the family. Oh well…
