The easiest way to do this is to use My DVD Settings, a program created by Gelano over at TheGreenButton forums. Unfortunately, Gelano and his program have both disappeared. Fortunately, this software is still available from an alternative location: my_dvd_settings.rar.

You'll need to download, install, run My DVD Settings, put the DVD in your optical drive, and have My DVD Settings create the XML data. Finally, save the resulting xml file to the folder containing the movie backup. When you are finished creating/coping all of the files, your folder structure will look like this:

\Minority Report\ (parent folder for movie)
\Minority Report\folder.jpg (not necessary, but I like to manually save a cover art picture to the directory)
\Minority Report\MINORITY_REPORT.dvdid.xml (metadata file)
\Minority Report\VIDEO_TS\ (*.ifo, *.bup, *.vob files are in this sub-directory, created using DVD Fab, Slysoft, etc.)

Using this xml file, Windows Media Center will connect to the AMG library and download all of the available details on the movie.

Note 1: If you use DVD Profiler to catalog your movie collection, My DVD Settings can the DVD Profiler data to create the dvdid.xml file. Alternatively, you can go to dvdxml.com and search for and download the XML file.

Note 2: You'll need to enable DVD Library in Vista to access this feature. Once active, go to DVD Library and add the folder containing your backed-up movies. You can also install the MyMovies Media Center plug-in.

How is the DVDID.XML File Created?

I really wish the software I used to backup my movies would also create the DVDID.xml file. Unfortunately, there is very little documentation on how this file is generated. I did quite a bit of reading and some investigation using Process Monitor and have some preliminary details. The dvdid is a CRC64 number generated by scanning the *.IFO and *.BUP files in the VIDEO_TS folder, combining that with the VOLUME_ID from the DVD disk itself. The inclusion of the VOLUME_ID is what prevents Windows Media Center from being able to automatically generate this information for DVD that are backed-up to a media server; there is no VOLUME_ID for the individual folders.

Once this process is fully understood, it should be possible for programs like DVD Fab and Slysoft CloneDVD to create these files when the DVD is being backed-up. This would eliminate the need to use the additional program (My DVD Settings) all together. Here's hoping for inclusion in an upcoming release!

Update: I now recommend using the MyMovies Collection Management client to generate all images and metadata. Just be sure to store each movie in it's own folder. http://www.MyMovies.dk/

Update: The version 5 of DVDFab Decrypter supports the automatic creation of dvdid.xml files, although I still think MyMovies is a better option.

The flights have been uneventful so far with a quick changeover in Tokyo and some painful entertainment during the flight back to Minneapolis. I was shown the same episodes of Trading Spaces Family, some other shows, and a thinly disguised infomercial about teeth. Are you kidding me? The next movie was Mooseport. How horrible must a movie be for Northwest to play it on a flight?

I’m looking forward to getting back home because I miss my wife Nicole and it’s been much too long since I’ve seen her beautiful face. However, I am missing China as well. Not nearly as much, but the growth, excitement, and opportunity in the large cities in China is unlike anything in the US. Will I be back? I’m sure I will. Will I be working there? I’m not sure. It would be a major commitment and would require me to leave a lot behind. Not seeing friends and family would be very difficult. Leaving our pets behind would be sad. I’m sure Nicole and I will discuss it more over the next year. There is much to much to consider to discuss and consider in this forum.

In the Minneapolis airport, I met-up with six Cummins employees on their way back from a meeting. I’d been up for about 27 hours at that point, needed both a shave and a shower, and was starting to have trouble forming sentences. Not really an ideal situation for talking with director and executive director level co-workers, but I made the best of the situation and talked about interesting portions of my trip as much as possible.

We had meetings with the Indiana Department of Commerce, Bakers and Daniels, Pacific World Trade, Visa, and Alison Transmission. Baker and Daniels impressed me the most and Alison impressed me the least. Edward Williams of Daker and Daniels had a quote that impressed me the most. "I didn't want to be a lawyer in the 1800s that saw all of the opportunities and growth in the West and still decided to stay in Philadelphia." Jun went with us and drove half the team; they had some difficulties finding all of the destinations.

We met at the VIP lounge upon arriving to the hotel and exchanged pictures. We have about 750 MB worth! Dinner wasn't necessary because of all of the snacks. Brian, Garrett, and I finally visited the Sauna for some heated relaxation therapy — highly recommended the day after the wall. We'd talked about "Sauna" so many times at 21stCentury; it was nice to finally indulge. Afterwards, we headed to the hotel bar and met up with new friend from Bakers and Daniels again; he bought us drinks and provided us with some very interesting conversations. We headed back to our rooms, looking forward to a day that would allow us to sleep late.

We napped during the ride back to Beijing and then saw Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden City. The history and stories about past emperors were interesting. I was surprised by all of the homeless families in the tunnels under the road ways. <>

We headed back to the hotel afterwards and everyone took another nap before heading to Da Dong's Peking Duck restaurant. It was great food; I wished we'd had that type of food in Dalian. Afterwards, in the hotel bar, we met a partner from Bakers and Daniels, the law firm in Indianapolis. We weren't that far from home after all.

Brian was exhausted and it was nap time for him; the rest of us went shopping at a couple of the markets and I spent the whole day looking for gifts I thought my wife would like. I bargained everything to about 25% the original asking price. I'm not sure if I got the best deals possible, but I definitely paid much, much less than was possible in the US.

Everyone met with Daniel's better half for dinner. It was quite an experience, with dancing women, martial arts demonstrations, a woman with a snake, and whole-restaurant dance party at the end of the meal. We were dancing on the tables on which we had just eaten but only pictures can do the experience justice. (The music was so loud that my right ear is intensely ringing.) Brian and Doug were both stars of the show, performing dance moves and push-ups on stage during the meal.

After dinner, everyone went to the Hard Rock Cafe. All of the students were ready to go back to the hotel but Professor Lyles suggested we go out after dinner and we weren't going to let our professor show us up. The four marrieds danced in a circle while Doug scoped the women. We arrived back at the hotel at about 12:30, later than expected but we'll still be able to get at least 7 hours before heading to the Great Wall and the Forbidden City tomorrow.

I took a nap during lunch because I didn’t get enough sleep the night before. The presentation went well; Li and I were well-prepared and it showed. The management met to vote on the best group and we were not surprised to be the first group called. A part of that is due to us being so well prepared and the rest is due to us traveling half way across the world. I felt embarrassed when all of the Hong Kong students were congratulating us because I had a clear advantage: I was speaking in my native tongue. True, Li translated perfectly into Mandarin, but I was receiving some of the praise as well and I had no language barrier to overcome.

Afterwards, we everyone met for dinner at the Korean Barbeque restaurant at the to of the Dalian International Hotel but we were quickly finished and the meal wasn’t exceptional. Still, I had a great time talking to Wilson, Sharat, and Samuel. Afterwards, a smaller group went out to the same Augustus bar that we visited earlier in the week. I learned the Chinese dice game, played it for a while, and then decided to talk with John for a while. We’d spoken several times but never really gotten to know one another. The music in the bar was much too loud and I was ready for an early departure. I could tell that Li, Profess Lyles, and Professor Yan were ready to depart as well and were receptive to the idea when I approached them.

On the way to dinner, Garrett spotted something we all hoped we’d never see. The crazy driving was scary to those in cars and we were always fearful that a pedestrians would be severally injured. We were pulling up to a stoplight and noticed that a van was pulled over to the right hand side of the road. As we stopped, we noticed a woman in front of the van on the ground. Her ~8 year old son was lifting her upper torso from the ground but she was not moving. Garrett started to get out the taxi driver started yelling at him so he got back in. The driver of the van was on his cell phone. We were all hoping that he was calling an ambulance and that the woman was merely unconscious. I closed my eyes and prayed that this was the case.

The presentation is basically complete at this point but we all basically wasted the morning creating slides that were suggested even though I knew we would not be within our time limit if they were included. We practice our presentation again but didn’t make any notable changes. It was basically Li and I practicing our coordinated swap between English and Mandarin with Brain advancing the slides as necessary.

The food at the hotel and the restaurants has been of very high quality. Unfortunately, we had experienced about every creature and flavor Chinese seafood had to offer several times over by this point. We wanted something different and Pizza Hut sounded like a perfect solution. Daniel and his son Harry were back in town and we met them for dinner there. Pizza Huts are nice in China! The restaurant was large and nicely appointed; the pizza was as expected (we skipped the trout pizza). The salad bar was one-serving-only and we were surprised how much food the Chinese customers piled onto their plates. One girl created a 8-inch round circle of cucumber slices and stacked them lego-style about 5-inches high, taking about 10 minutes to do so!

Garrett, Brian, and I were up late printing our presentation and I didn’t get to sleep until after 12:30. I felt nice to be almost finished.

The translation of slides into Traditional Chinese characters began at 8:30 that night. For the first time in 3 days, I was free of any responsibility. I invited Garrett to share a beer with me. Doug and Stephanie walked by and were asked to join us. The four of us stayed up until 3:30 in the morning talking about life, dreams, and goals. It had been a long time since I had last done that with anyone. I was great to get the perspective of 2 guys I was just getting to know well and a girl from Hong Kong with a new and diverse perspective. We talked about future career and life goals, (I was unanimously counseled to look into starting my own business now rather than later), the longest time we'd spent alone, and our childhoods. Garrett and I both talked about how great our wives were and how lucky we were to have them. It was interesting to hear that Stephanie, a young and independent Hong Kong native, valued and was looking for many of the same things. The more we talked, the more we realized the less-different we were. The cultural backgrounds are different, but the individuals are surprisingly and amazingly similar.

We were very thankful to have our own dedicated room. First of all, it was much cooler that the war room and the 8th floor — the heat was unbearable in there with 25+ people and the inadequate air conditioning system. An assistant manager of the hotel was confronted about the heat situation during one of the question and answer session. The explanation was rather humorous: the low pressure of the air outside the hotel pulls out all of the cool, conditioned air. A more accurate explanation would have been that the electricity supply infrastructure is over-taxed and that the hotel has to limit energy usage (this is what we learned from the paper). It interesting that such and advanced city still has such basic problem as energy supply and potable water. Regardless, the team room allowed us to work together, briefly joke around when we needed to do so, and strengthen the bond between team members that was first apparent after the "change of direction" meeting the day before.

Today was when we first started our presentation construction. Garrett came up with an outline and I included some of the data (in table format) from the detailed financial spreadsheet that was built the previous day. We were asked to present what we had so far to Professor Lyles. It was somewhat lacking versus what I desired to present but this was not inappropriate for the situation. We did not fully explain the detailed data that we had in the spreadsheet, including a comprehensive income statement and monthly occupancy levels over a two-year period. Thinking that we did not have enough to fill our presentation, Professor Lyles suggested that we conduct more interviews and construct a decision matrix for price determination. This came across as a major change in direction for many of the team members. Li, who had conducted most of the interviews, was very concerned about conducting even more interviews asking different questions to different people after spending the past three days doing so. Brian and Doug were visibly upset because they were worried that all of our previous work had been invalidated. Garrett, who is used to working in a large corporate environment, reacted the same way as did I: no big deal. Drastic changes in direction are a frequent occurrence within our daily work lives. I immediately had a one-on-one meeting with professor Lyles and explained the detailed data that was available to us and what recommendations we were expecting to be able to make. It turned out to be a misunderstanding of how much work had been accomplished and the decision matrix, while still important, did not need to be the primary focus of our report. The team split-up and focused on different areas. Li lead the interview process with the Sales and Marketing management and staff while I lead the data reduction and analysis process.

Because I was out late the previous night and because of my early awaking, I was very tired that night. I skipped dinner and spent time working on the spreadsheet.

Although this was the most productive of the days, it wasn't all business. There was a fair amount of joking that helped to bring everyone together but not so much that it stopped productivity. We later learned that during our separate team meeting, the other five Hong Kong groups gathered together and shared status reports. Because of the individual meeting we had with management the day before, we feel that we are well ahead of the other groups. Because we missed the impromptu meeting, our professor assumed that we were behind. Once we learned of this doubting of our productivity, the team became a slight bit defensive and grew somewhat more tight. We felt like we were very prepared for our meeting with all three of the professors later that afternoon and, afterwards, felt confirmed by the results. We have a solid plan to develop a productive strategy for our host.

After our meeting, the team summoned a taxi and traveled to one of the main convention hotel competitors downtown. Li explained that we were students wanting to investigate the convention facilities and were given a brochure and told that we could tour the facilities. One of the Hong Kong groups presented a business card from their office and said they were looking to book a convention for 2 dozen people — they were given a guided tour of the facility. We said "hello" when we saw them but quickly realized what they were doing and pretended not to know them. The most apparent aspect of the two hotels was the true 4-star rating. The lobbies were much more elegant and the conference facilities were much larger and more elegantly appointed. The service, however, was not nearly at the level of our host. Our host claimed that they differentiated themselves by their high attention to detail and helpful staff and our research confirmed that.

After the competitive research, the entire delegation met at the top of the Dalian World Trade Center for dinner at a very upscale and modern buffet. The buffet was so vast that it curved around and occupied three sides of the building. One of my favorite foods were being served in unlimited supply: beer. I joked with the team that I was going to have only beer and dessert. This only turned out to be a joke due the fact that I didn't have dessert. With no main course, the beer was very effective and I more that made up for the previous night of diminished consumption. I started walking between tables of the 5 other teams, made some toasts, took some pictures with Brian's camera, and had a long conversation with the "service innovation" group. This started our as a business related discussion but I was invited out to "beer street" (or Beal street, or something similar). I returned to my table, we had a serious discussion about the day, and then we talked about joining the Hong Kong group. Li and Brian both said "sure" but I doubted their sincerity seeing as how neither of them drink alcohol. Garrett and Doug were obviously wanting to go out with the others. Sure enough, when we reached the ground floor, Li and Brian jumped in the cab heading back to the hotel. Last night, Brian, Li, and I were all early resigners from the banquet while Doug and Garrett stayed out late. Tonight, I showed my duality and joined Doug and Garrett and the Hong Kong group.

Our evening was every eventful. We decided on a Jazz bar and went in to mostly empty bar with recorded music. Eventually, live music started. I talked to a number of students and finally decided to start talking to the Hong Kong professor whom was brave enough to join us. As we were talking, I head a champing cork pop. I got up, turned around, and saw the guitar player on stage and a audience member starting to fight. I looked at these two guys (who weren't even punching each other) and walked over to breakup the fight. I (and perhaps my mild alcohol consumption) decided I could probably take both of these guys, so I wasn't too concerned about intervening. Staff at the bar separated the two before I got too close. I suddenly realized that everyone else from IU and Hong Know was along the bar wall, away from the scuffle. I decided it was wise to join them. Apparently, an audience member wanted to share his beer with the band. The sax player backed away but the guitar player took offense at the intrusion onto stage. The campaign bottle opening was the audience member starting to shake and spray his beer just before the music immediately stopped and the "slapping" began. The Hong Kong group decided to leave the bar so we walked outside. A waitress followed is quickly and I saw her showing a check and knew that she was asking for money. I instinctively reached for my wallet but I very quickly realized that a negotiation process had begun. I very quickly walked away, realizing that an American face would hamper their negotiation capabilities. Garrett realized this situation at least as quickly as I did. He and I stood ten feet away and laughed as we watched Doug trying to follow the situation while his right hand was on his back hip pocket, ready to pay. About a minute later, he realized what Garrett and I had quickly figured out: our presence was not needed. The negotiation paid off because we didn't have to pay for our drinks.

We then went to a second bar across the street. We were all ushered up to the third floor where a live performance was about to begin. There was a general invitation by the singer and Doug was quickly on the stage performing Hotel California. Since it was all American songs in English being performed, it was much more accommodating to my tastes than the banquet the previous night. The very loud singing somewhat hampered conversation but many discussions still took place (however, my ears are still ringing). All three of the Americans were invited on stage by the lead singer to perform YMCA. I at least knew 4 words of this song: Y M C A. I also knew the motions. What more do you need with a great accompanist? (I guess I did know two other words to the song: young man, which I used appropriately). Upon returning to the table, this sparked a discussion about homosexuals in China. Yes, in exception of some theories, they do exist. The American treo was asked back for another song: Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. Finally, a song I knew the word to! My friends Kevin, Nathan, and I used to sing this song in the car after the movie Wayne's World was released. The lead singer wanted an operatic presentation as I feel somewhat confident that I acceptably provided the bass. This was the most significant reaction from the crowd of the night; the Russian quadrant of females had cigarette lighter burning in our honor! We were asked to stay on stage for yet another song by Queen: We are the Champions. I faked knowledge of the song somewhat well.

My performance must have been very strong. The lead singer stated that the quadrant of Russian women was returning home tomorrow. A slow song started and a 40+ year old Russian woman approached me for a dance. Due to cheering of the group, I accepted the dance. Although no one else saw, she was more aggressive than was appropriate. A while later she brushed by me as she went outside but I begged the Hong Kong ladies to save me. They were not accommodating and instead said they would auction me off the Russians. No one should doubt the entrepreneurial goals of the Chinese. Luckily, it was all in jest and we soon thereafter departed the bar and headed back to the hotel (without being followed).

We went to a restaurant inside a historic building in park near the Forbidden City. I was another new pallet of foods, the most notable of which was Camel Paw. It wasn’t too bad but had the slight suggestion of smelly horse or camel. I wouldn’t have it on a regular basis. The Chinese hamburgers were a tasty surprise.<>I said my goodbyes to Brian. He is such a nice guy and thanked me for all of my work with the presentation in Dalian. It took me back a bit and I didn’t even have a chance to thank him for everything he did to keep the group together, focused, and upbeat. Not to mention the fact he basically gave up his room for team meetings. Everyone else met for a quick drink in the bar. We talked for about 20 minutes as most of us sipped Sprite. I said goodbye to Doug, good night to everyone else, and got to bed as early as possible. I wanted to be well rested for my 30+ hour travel day tomorrow.

We learned that our practice presentation Wednesday needs to be in both English and Chinese. This is a major issue as changes after that point will be quite difficult and we hoping to finalize content on Wednesday after the review before adding the Chinese characters on Thursday to prepare for the final presentation on Friday. Instead, we now have to finalized our presentation Monday night, get it to the transcriber (Vanessa) on Tuesday, and present it on Wednesday. This leaves us only Sunday and Monday to formulate our entire approach and suggestions and we won’t have the occupancy data we need until late Monday morning. We were hoping for more time to develop the best strategy possible.

We had our first food-related ailment last night. I learned this morning that Brian had an allergic reaction to a lychee fruit that the Hong Kong students shared after dinner. Li and Doug took Brian to the emergency room. Total cost for the cab ride to and from the emergency room, check-in, medical chart, prescription, and Benadryl injection totaled $3 US. Although the health care system may be lacking in China, the price cannot be criticized.

Garrett and I didn’t learn of the incident until the next morning. The three of them are a tight group. They are within the same group and cohort. Garrett and I are in the same cohort as one another, but we are in different groups and had never worked together prior to this class. Garrett and I noticed the division of the group before we left. The gap has closed but I doubt the division will ever become transparent.

We attended the formal banquet tonight, which was a bit odd since this is only the second day of the consulting project. Unfortunately, scheduling did not allow for a more appropriate night when everyone knew each other better and the completion of the final presentations was a cause for celebration. The food was excellent but the wine was not generous. I was expecting more toasts but there weren’t that many and the wine glasses were quite small. Karaoke (or KTV as it is called in China) started before dinner ended. The wine supply was diminished before dinner ended. Doug was an absolute riot behind the mike and everyone enjoyed his entertainment. The group was expected to sing a song together and Crocodile Rock was chosen by Doug, Garrett, and Brian. Li and I had never heard the song before, so it was not a favorable choice for either of us. Luckily, Brian was wise enough to turn off the microphone switch, so our missed lyrics and lulling tune were not such an issue. Brian is very wise in these types of situations. Some of the Hong Kong team helped us out by dancing on stage with us to act as a diversion. About every other song performed was not in English or even recognizable and the music was so loud that talking was difficult. This combination made the perfect recipe for an early evening.

We were originally supposed to have meetings between our team and 2 managers. However, plans changed due to the fact that there is our team of 5 from Indiana University and 5 other teams from Hong Kong City University. Having 6 different groups requesting time with different managers was more of a burden than the management was expecting.

So, our individual meetings were canceled and 3 of the managers sat in from of all of the students and fielded questions. Since each group has a different topic, the questions by the other groups were not necessarily beneficial to our pricing issues. Furthermore, because the managers were in a large conference room in front of a large number of people (instead of in a small office with a few students), the answers to the questions were very vague and generally
unhelpful.

Our team of five started to show signs of frustration and fatigue due to the unproductive session and, for some, jet lag. Four of us have to have every spoken sentence converted to English from Mandarin Chinese and none of us are getting answers that are going to help us with a recommendation. Some of the group members are hoping to do a great deal of data
mining to determine the seasonal elasticity of demand so that pricing changes can be justified. However, I highly doubt that the database used by the hotel will be accessible to us and, even if
it is, will provide the type of information we will need. I sense that Garrett, Brian, and I all want to take a more hands-on approach but the language barrier has prevented us from taking a more proactive approach.

This hotel is focusing on convention hosting due to their location restraints, which seems to be a wise decision. I think some of our recommendations will found by going through the room reservation process, understanding the pricing and margins of all the available services, and doing the same for some key competitors. We know that package bundling and offering direct online reservations (rather than exclusively through 3rd party online services) are going to be recommendations.

We were initially lead to believe that the hotel have very crude pricing structures and very little understand of how to profitably operate a hotel. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Initially, some poor decisions were made. The original management believed that having a hotel between the beach and downtown would be an ideal location. In reality, it is a very poor location because it is a 20 minute walk to the beach for vacationers and a 10 minute drive to downtown for those looking for entertainment and dining. The rule of "location, location, location" was not understood. However, the current management has adapted very well to this shortcoming. They have focused on conventions, which don't rely on external attractions. The level of service offered is exceptional, as it should be with over 1.6 employees per room.

Prices for the restaurant and the rooms are based on weekly market analysis. The management team has an incentive-based employee compensation package and has a strong grasp on the importance of cross-training and achieving high levels of customer satisfaction. The dining is excellent and the range of services is vast. Once the new building next door is completed, they will easily qualify for the 4 start status they are so close to achieving now. The general manager has comprehensive knowledge of the operation and a clear vision for the future. He has addressed many of the operational and HR issues. However, despite the confident presentation, I feel that there are still many opportunities remaining.

The ability of so many people to speak so many different languages amazes me. Most of the Hong Kong students can speak Cantonese, English, and Mandarin. I was very surprised to hear one of the Hong Students speaking English with a British accent! The translators have been invaluable. Faye has been very helpful and has gone beyond the call of duty by sitting through all of the meetings today and continuously translating. Two locals, Vanessa and Stella, helped us out as well. I was very impressed with Vanessa's strong command of both languages and her accent-free English presentation to us. She provided more than just translation and seemed like she should have been a member of our team rather than a translator.

The capabilities and progression of the Chinese people is amazing and much closer to the capabilities of the US than most believe.

I had a couple of observations about China in general today. First of all, the driving style is very different. I never felt completely unsafe but I was constantly amazed at how drivers had complete disregard for cars beside of them and people in front of them. Drivers must always be thinking ""they'll get out of the way." It works over here, because both cars and people do get out of the way, but there is definitely less regard for safety on the roads than in the US. In the US, you never see a 3-wheeled bicycle with a lawn mower engine going 40 miles/hour on a 6 lane interstate!

Secondly, I can't believe how much food we've been served here. I wasn't hungry for either breakfast, lunch, or dinner and was served more than I could eat at all of the meals. I think one meal would have been fine for the day but the food just kept coming!

As a part of the tour, the group visited a Wal-Mart Supercenter. Wal-Mart built the store underground and there was a park on top of it! I was amazed by all of the western brands in the store and I was also amazed by much more expansive number of non-US brands. I bought the necessities: water for drinking, beer for drinking, and some snacks (not that I'll ever need them!)

When we entered the 21st Century Hotel, I was struck by how elegant it was, much more so than I was expecting. The staff was very courteous and helpful and my room turned out to be quite nice. I was surprised that it was not in as rural of a location as I expected; it is well within the city limits. Since all of these were unexpected aspects; I’m doubting our ability to develop a presentable pricing strategy for the hotel!

Dalian is a very interested city. I was once occupied by Russia and then by Japan before going back under control of mainland China during the revolution. The city itself is about 100 years old, which is very young for a Chinese city. After a tour of some of the area, it struck me that Dalian was lacking the urban heartbeat present in most other large cities. The downtown area had many impressive skyscrapers, one of which we were able to tour. However, there doesn’t seem to be a great deal of culture or history and no strong draw to or character to the downtown area. Of course, this is just my first impression and it could very well change.

We visited what would be considered a small grocery store in the US. It was packed full of workers, with 2 or 3 in every aisle to help customers with purchases. I was leaving the store and looked back to see at least 20 workers standing around the store waiting for customers. I couldn’t believe the high level of employment. I then noticed the same was true at the hotel, with 3 people helping bring luggage to my room. This level of service would be unprecedented in the US. It makes the economic background of China very apparent and highlights the importance that our pricing recommendations take into account local cultural issues, such as the employment rate.

The group had dinner with Daniel Yu in the evening. The food was excellent and the conversation was even better. Daniel is a very entertaining and gracious host and I hope that we get to meet again in the future.