Monday, March 17. 5:45 AM.  Kunming. I just woke up to the sounds of a crowing Rooster who makes himself heard every FEW seconds. It's been a while Since I lived in the vicinity of Roosters, and it's nice to be in a neighborhood with a natural alarm clock. In a few hours we'll be making our way to Yunnan Pinsen Technologies for my first face-to-face meeting with the CEO, where we'll outline our initial investigations and discuss the scope of what lies ahead.

I arrived yesterday, a little before noon, after a 38-hour journey from my doorstep in Cambridge to the hotel in Kunming. Boston-Philly-Los Angeles-Guangzhou-Kunming. Yeah, don't ask. On the bright side though, the movie selection on China Southern Airlines was fabulous and I ended up watching five quality movies at 35,000 feet.

Kunming is a pretty city I'm puzzled by the debate in class about whether this was a tier 2 or a tier 3 city, because the infrastructure here is very good:. Excellent roads and buildings, a bustling downtown, marketplaces, and streets lined with all kinds of shops. On our drive in from the airport I commented on the number of construction projects that were underway, and my host Shen replied, "Yes, we're a developing country. That means we build a lot!" It's true, China has InvestEd Heavily in Infrastructure Development and Urbanization over the Past Decade, and Those Efforts are very visible.  ACCORDING to Wikipedia , "Over the next Two Decades China will Build Skyscrapers and 20,000 to 50,000 new More than 170 cities will require mass transit systems by 2025. "I was impressed by the Number of houses that had Their Solar panels on rooftops." Kunming has a Round Lot of sunshine all year, so people Take Advantage of it, "Explained Shen.  In the picture below you can see rooftop solar installations on every building. This can be found all over Kunming.

Yunnan University is a beautiful campus on a small hill in the middle of Kunming. A 90-year-old university, it has an old-school majestic look with wide stone steps leading up to the main university building. It's very green, with gardens , lawns, trees, ivy and all kinds of flowering plants.

We're put up at the university hotel on campus, with more-than-adequate facilities. We each have a room to ourselves, which is also equipped with an ethernet connection. That means I'll have to pick up an ethernet-to -thunderbolt Adaptor for my Mac Since Apple has DECIDED that Their computers are TOO cool for Ethernet ports. I still love  Apple  my Mac.

Two Sloanies who I shall refer to as Twiddledum and Twiddledee some Comic Relief Provided upon Arrival. It so happened that the Chinese C-Function was Held the Day before we all Left for China, and Twiddledum and Twiddledee DECIDED to get into the  spirit  of Things that evening. Literally. The next thing Twiddledum remembers is waking up at 8AM and realizing his flight to China takes off at 9:15 AM. He grabs only his passport, papers and wallet, bolts out the door in his flip-flops, accosts the first taxi he sees, and heads to Logan airport. Miraculously he makes it in time and arrives in China intact. He spent yesterday evening shopping for clothes.

Twiddledee also had a tight morning-pun intended. For reasons unknown, Twiddledum had left his laptop and two pairs of sweatpants at Twiddledee's place. In his haste, Twiddledee packs Twiddledum's stuff into his luggage but leaves his own laptop behind. That's how strong the Collaborative spirit is at Sloan. # sloanvalues

Our Chinese iMBA counterparts have been wonderfully hospitable and helpful hosts. Each of us was received at the airport and taken to the hotel. They even welcomed us with a fresh bouquet of roses, since Kunming is known for its flowers. In fact, one of this year's projects is with HolyFlora, a local florist company looking to expand into international markets.

I had arrived on Sunday morning, but those who had arrived the previous night had already been taken out for a fun night. For lunch on Sunday, and we were taken out to a nearby restaurant for the most elaborate 15-course meal I've ever seen. We ATE till we were full, and some of the group DECIDED Around the Town to wander and do some shopping. Three hours later we Gathered  again  for a group dinner at a Different Restaurant. This One was set in a 200-year Building-old with a beautiful courtyard and large solid-wood DOORS. Incredibly, we made ​​Our ​​Way through  another  Elaborate meal-this time ACCOMPANIED by Chopsticks lessons, Several toasts, and a demonstration of How to Open a Beer Bottles using Single sheet of Folded newspaper (pic below).

Our hosts went out of their way to accommodate our dietary preferences. Three of us are vegetarian, and they made sure we were well taken care of. "I actually prefer to eat vegetables," one of them remarked. "It helps me stay fit and trim ... "her voice trailed off as she noticed our decidedly un-athletic builds. We chuckled sheepishly and took another sip of our beers.

The conversation was lively, and the cross-cultural interaction was very warm and easy. There is apparently an event scheduled for next Sunday for the China lab students to hang out with the larger MBA student body and faculty and discuss our experiences, which I think is a great idea. We're also invited to put up a simple performance on stage, and that's something we'll have to think about.

As the evening wound down we walked back to the hotel along the banks of the Green Lake. The lake was lined with street performers, karaoke singers (modern as well as classical), children playing, people dancing and everbody just having a good ol ' time. "Is this festivity just on Sunday evenings?" I asked. "No, this is every day. And in the early mornings you'll find lots of people here practicing Tai-chi." I make a mental note to visit the lake in the wee hours one of these days.

Before we retired for the evening, our China Lab team spent some time going over our presentation and discussing our plan for tomorrow's meeting with the CEO. We will also be accompanied by a professor from Yunnan University, who graciously offered to attend the meeting and provide guidance and inputs. Apparently the dress code at Pinsen Technologies is very casual, but we decided to go with a slightly formal look for our first interaction.

Time for breakfast. Over and out. 

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* 'Kunmingling', coined by Akanksha, is the name of the Whatsapp and Google groups for Kunminglers to exchange amusing internal commentary on the China lab experience - and on Twiddledum's wardrobe.