Doing Business in Hong Kong

By Ariel West

Flashing lights, haggling, traditions and a large, immersive city on the coast of Asia.

Students from OSU’s Spears School of Business enrolled in a two-week study abroad trip to Hong Kong to explore culture and business this summer. Greg Day, assistant professor of economics and legal studies in business, headed the trip through Spears’ Center for Advanced Global Leadership and Engagement (CAGLE).

“One of the most amazing parts about Hong Kong is the culture of the place; it’s not really China, it’s its own culture and sort of the gateway between Europe and Asia,” Day says. “People from every continent live in Hong Kong. It’s a melting pot in the middle of Asia.”

The mixture of old traditions and new technologies was abundant in the vibrant city that seemed to be a world of its own. It gave students a mixture of new excitement and familiar comfort as the city replicated American cities with cultural twists.

“It felt like home, but it definitely gave a distinct, different feeling,” says Jack Kurzu, marketing and entrepreneurship major. “I really recommend visiting Hong Kong. How many times can you get the opportunity to travel halfway across the world and experience a culture that has so much to offer?”

Students took walking food tours through Kowloon, visited notable restaurants, listened to lectures from lawyers and businesses, toured a rural fishing village and even got to explore Hong Kong’s Disneyland. Street art and rich, cultural history was abundant on every corner as students visited the Temple Night Street Markets, Second Art Studio and the Nanyue King Museum in Guangzhou.

“The confidence the students build studying abroad is incredible, because a lot of studying abroad is going off on their own and investigating parts of cities and countries they’ve never been to before,” Day says. “I think they got this really fun picture of what it’s like to live in Hong Kong and enjoy what Hong Kong has to offer.”