The Unofficial Ambassador
originally published: March 26, 2018
One of the major parts of my study abroad where the organizations we visited. We visited two think tanks, Disney China’s marketing department, sixth tone (an online publication), the Communist Party’s headquarters, an international relations university, the US embassy in China, and Alibaba. Yes, I know what you are thinking we did a lot. We were very blessed to have been able to do so many things. We packed in about three organizations a day.
Here’s a quick little post about the organizations.
Think Tanks: I love think tanks. One day I would be honored to work at think tank. The ones we went to worked specifically on US- China relations. Many of the people dedicated their lives to doing research and learning about the United States. One of the think tanks works directly with the government. Their research has been used by the government to make key policy decisions. It was really cool to visit them. I felt like an actual US representative.
Disney China’s marketing department: This was awesome. Disney is such an intrical part of our culture, but it wasn’t until recently China that allowed Disney into the country. Because of this the marketing team markets things a little differently than they would in the US. The Disney princesses, Marvel super heroes, and star wars are the most popular Disney attractions. China also has a very popular resort in Shanghai. The most interesting thing we learned about this branch of China is that their goal is remain authentically Disney, but distinctly China. Their marketing team works very hard to spread the Disney message.
Sixth Tone: Sixth Tone is an online publication about China for people who are not Chinese so they can learn more about china. They have feature news stories, commentaries, photos and videos plus a few other segments. It was a sister publication to a very popular paper in China. Its run by a group of millennials. The articles are really awesome and I have been keeping up with them since then and they are very interesting. Their goal is to show China to non-Chinese people so their website is in English. You should definitely check it out follow them on Instagram @sixtone.
International Relations University: This had to be by far one of my favorite things we did. We met our Chinese counterparts. They were students are studying international relations in China just how we are students studying international relations in the US. We had discussions, played ping pong, sung Taylor Swift, and ate a very filling dinner. My favorite thing about traveling is meeting people so this was right up my alley.
US embassy in China: There are embassies all over the world. When you visit another country they are the ones you stay in contact with and they tell you if you need to evacuate. This was our first official meeting with the organizations and it was a great way to start off the trip. A Foreign Service officer gave us a presentation about the US China relations. She gave us a few facts about Chinese culture and the US. For example, US basketball is super important popular in China. A lot of people who apply for visas get visas to see US basketball live. I mean who would have guessed that.
Alibaba: Now Alibaba is China’s pride and joy. It was started in 1996 as a way to get farmer’s crops to the rest of China. It’s located in the Chinese Silicon Valley called Hangzhou. You’ve probably heard of or even used one of Alibaba’s projects: Alliexpress. I was excited to go to this one because I have used Alliexpress to order jewelry supplies (I have a jewelry store. shopthepinkrose.com check it out). This company is super high tech. I can’t even fully explain all that happened in that presentation. When you get time you should look up Alibaba.
Being able to visit all of these organization as “unofficial” ambassadors from the United States made me feel really accomplished. Once again I am so grateful for the experience. I feel extremely blessed. Keep following my instagrams for more pictures: @wanderlustingandcarpediem and @mal_pal131 follow them just in case. Also don’t forget to show support by ordering your own Wanderlust Continent Map Necklace. https://www.shopthepinkrose.com/product-page/golden-world-map
Carpe Diem,
Mallory
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