Flathead group embarks on mission to China

A Flathead Valley delegation departs Friday for a destination almost 6,000 miles away - a mission to China.

A group of 100 Flathead Valley residents and their family and friends will take off for China's storied capital, Beijing, to begin a firsthand investigation of this growing global partner.

The Flathead contingent will travel for the following nine days through Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou and Hangzhou on a trade and cultural mission organized by the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce.

In Beijing they will visit the Great Wall; Tiananmen Square; Temple of Heaven; Ming Tombs; Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City; Summer Palace; the Pearl Market and a jade factory.

In the Shanghai area it will be visits to Tiger Hill; a silk factory, silk rug factory and National Embroidery Institute; Lingering Garden; a lake boat ride with a stopover at pagodas; a tea plantation; the Bund waterfront park; Yu Garden; and Lingyin Temple with its 64.3-foot high camphor-wood carved Buddha.

In both areas, they will visit government-backed economic development zones.

Group members will split off for optional tours - a rickshaw ride and dumpling-making session with Chinese families, the Peking Opera, a boat ride on Suzhou's Grand Canal, an evening cruise on the Huangpu River, a Cirque du Soleil show, a ride on the Maglev bullet train, or a production of the Legend of Kung Fu.

The April 3-11 Mission to China 2009 was set in motion last year when the Chamber decided it is time to check into potential trade relationships with China and gain a better understanding of this country of 1.3 billion people, a fifth of the world's population on 2 percent of the world's land mass. Cultural traditions reach back six millennia and more among the diverse people groups of China.

The Chamber's mission will focus on the eastern commerce corridor - in the capital Beijing, in the financial and industrial center Shanghai, and in Suzhou and Hangzhou, short distances from Shanghai to the northwest and the southwest, respectively.

"We're the first Chamber to do this in Montana," Kalispell Chamber President Joe Unterreiner said.

One evening in Beijing will be dedicated to meetings with government officials and another in Shanghai to connecting Chinese businessmen and Kalispell mission members who signed up for one-on-one sessions. Another evening will feature a gathering of expatriates in Shanghai and trade mission members.

"We want to establish business [foundations' for trade, see how they do their manufacturing and get ideas' that can translate to state-side business practices, Unterreiner said. "This will expose our members to opportunities in trade and it will be a great relationship-builder for this team."

When the trip's original 70 openings sold out within 30 days, the Chamber bumped up the mission's size to 100 people.

"We want to give Flathead Valley people a chance to visit internationally and experience another culture. It focuses on the overall goal of the Chamber, which is to expand trade and focus on new markets."

That's exactly what Shannon Nalty has in mind. He's at the Kalispell helm of Nalty Real Estate and Property Management, a family-run commercial development operation for the past 50 years here and in Washington and California.

"Obviously China is going to be a formidable juggernaut even more than they are now," Nalty said.

"What I'm curious about looking at there might be an opportunity in the future to invest. You can put a dollar in now" and see potentially significant growth in years to come.

"Second, I'm looking forward to seeing what is happening outside our Western world get a good understanding of the country," he said.

China's insatiable appetite for copper and other metals a few years back had a significant impact on prices in the Flathead, he recalled, 'so this will put a face on that contact. [I want to see] what China is doing and where they are doing it and what they plan to do in the future."

He's intrigued with the emerging market China presents and hopes to get a fix on opportunities it may present or lessons it can offer.

"I'm just really fascinated to go out and see what is truly one of the most profound epicenters of change, which is China," Nalty said. "They are going to have a huge gravitational pull on us - no ifs, ands or buts."

Leaders in a broad spectrum of the Flathead's economy, including financial services professionals, will take part in the China trip.

Some are looking at it as a chance to get a better understanding of China's business practices and culture, and bring that back to staffers in their 20s and 30s who will lead financial institutions as the global economy becomes a part of their everyday lives.

They're also looking at it as a chance to change the broader media image of a nation in financial crisis, and dial in on an area of the country that presents a more stable option in future trade relationships.

Members of the mission will give a report at the Chamber's monthly luncheon on April 21.

Kalispell Chamber leaders also will have information that day about next year's Mission to China, a pair of 10-day trips including flights, four- and five-star hotels, meals and tours for $2,000 a person during spring break in March 2010.

Over the coming week, monitor the Inter Lake's Web site, www.dailyinterlake.com, for regular postings of travels and activities of the Kalispell Chamber group in China.