Accounting conference in Xiamen

I had the opportunity to travel to China last week for work-related business. I attended an accounting conference that was co-sponsored by a U.S.-based accounting organization and Xiamen University, a university that is located on the eastern coast of China. During the conference I attended several research sessions and I also made a presentation to the conference participants, where I discussed an academic paper that examined the effect of dominant shareholder ownership in European firms on corporate performance. Enthralling stuff, this accounting research that we do.

I am describing all of this to make a legitimate case for the business purpose of the trip (because there really was one), and because I suspect that some of my family members think that the abundance of international work-related travel this year lacks merit in a certain sense.

See below - proof of the work-related purpose for this trip! This was the main stage for the primary conference sessions and where I made my presentation.

The campus of Xiamen University was very pretty. Below is a photo of the main conference hall where the opening and closing ceremonies of the conference were held (and where the picture above was taken). This building was much larger and fancier than the classroom buildings where some of the other sessions were held. There were trees like this with the bright orange flowers all over Xiamen, and I later learned that this is the city's official flower.This is the opposite view of campus, looking across from the building pctured above. You can see some of the classroom buildings in the background, as well as a lake that was situated in the heart of the campus. There was a lot of greenery between buildings and the campus was clean and well-maintained.
The conference hotel was located in town about 2 miles from the university. Private bus transportation was for us each morning and afternoon by the local conference organizers, though one day I walked back to the hotel from the conference to get a feel for the environment between the two locations. This is a photo of the hotel that I took from the hotel's website.

This is a view from my hotel room window looking one direction towards the sea. You can see several small islands in the distance that are situated on the Taiwan Strait that runs between mainland China and Taiwan. This is the view from the opposite direction, looking into town.

Xiamen is a medium-sized city with about 2.5 million residents (according to Wikipedia). The city seemed sprawling to me, as the high-rise apartment buildings were visible to the horizon on the taxi ride between the airport and the hotel, though I am sure this is common in China. Xiamen is located between Hong Kong and Shanghai, with the plane flight from Hong Kong lasting about an hour. I was told my a friend of mine who is from China that Xiamen is known for being one of China's most beautiful cities. The city has several tourist attractions that are popular vacation destinations for Chinese people, so the city is kept clean and is welcoming to visitors and foreigners. With its coastal location, the air pollution is very low, also contributing to this being one of China's cleanest cities.

So there's the introduction to my trip to China. Now with the business stuff fully described, I can focus on the tourist exploring I did on my days off from the conference. Stay tuned!