TRAVEL TALES

Young Chang

Susan and Jim Hart got to do more than just climb the Great Wall of

China during a trip to Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong early last month.

Traveling with the Young President’s Organization, which Jim Hart is a

member of, the Corona del Mar couple spent almost three weeks learning

about everything from traditional tea preparations to Muslim extremism,

as understood by business leaders from the United Arab Emirates, Syria

and Saudi Arabia.

The couple took part in sessions during the Young President’s

Organization’s overseas event, which included talks by business, cultural

and government leaders from all over the world. To join the Young

President’s Organization you have to be younger than 40 and a president

of a company with at least 100 employees that makes $10 million in sales.

Sandy Berger, national security advisor for former President Bill

Clinton, spoke to the crowd during breakfast.

Tan Dun, Oscar-winning composer for the “Crouching Tiger, Hidden

Dragon” soundtrack, led a symphony performance at the Shanghai Opera

House for the group.

Everyone got invited to a traditional Chinese wedding where the mayor

of Shanghai spoke.

“I visited China in 1985. The change was dramatic,” said Susan Hart, a

property manager. “It’s unbelievable how open it is now and how much

growth there is.”

When Hart was there in the ‘80s, most everyone still wore Mao Zedong

jackets, many rode bicycles instead of cars and few talked to foreigners,

fearing punishment.

This time, Hart noticed the people were strikingly friendly and

talkative, cars cluttered the streets and everyday attire resembled

Western garb in bright, cheerful colors.

“I think understanding the growth and the exciting future that

Shanghai represents was very exciting,” said Jim Hart, president of an

international leadership consulting firm. “They are very entrepreneurial.

Almost anywhere you go there are Chinese people on the street, in their

businesses trying to develop themselves and develop their businesses in a

very entrepreneurial way.”

The travelers’ experience at the Great Wall confirmed that Beijing is

an oft-frequented city.

“We were body to body on the Great Wall,” Susan Hart, 48, said. “We

were moved along by the swell of people.”

At tea houses outside of Hangzhou, the couple learned how tea leaves

are grown, picked and cooked in copper pots heated to 250 degrees.

Their hands “must be calloused or something to withstand the heat, but

that’s how they cure it,” Susan Hart said. “I think it was called Dragon

Tea. The emperor back in the 1800s or something had declared it the best

green tea that anyone could grow.”

The Harts also learned something about Chinese housing. A Shanghai

architect told them that to build a Western-style home in China with

marble, granite and full American plumbing fixtures, the cost equals

about $20 a foot.

“It was just amazing,” Susan Hart said.

The visitors even tried acupuncture treatments. The process hurt a

little, but Susan Hart enjoyed her foot reflexology session.

“It was absolutely to die for,” she said. “I was ready to bring the

young man back.”

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