Have you ever wanted to go to an international conference overseas?
Last month, after we went to China, we flew to Hong Kong to attend the doTERRA Impact 2016 Convention at the AsiaWorld-Expo on Lantau Island. doTERRA has been open in Hong Kong since 2013 and with the China market open, this convention serves most of the Asia market. In previous conventions in Hong Kong, majority of the attendees were from Hong Kong, in this convention a vast majority were from mainland China. They also had attendees from Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore and the United States. As doTERRA continues to expand their market in Asia to countries like Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines, the Hong Kong convention will serve as the Convention to those markets. Travel expenses are less and visitors from 145 different countries can travel there visa-free. Hong Kong is a very strategic business location.
Although it’s usually more convenient to stay in the city on Hong Kong Island, we stayed at the Hong Kong SkyCity Marriott Hotel, a 5-star hotel with an amazing view of the sea.
A day before the Convention, we assisted Dr. David Hill in teaching the AromaTouch Technique, a clinical application of essential oils. This was the largest AromaTouch Technique certification with around 1,300 participants. That’s over 400 massage tables! We were given shirts that says, “家家户户用精油” which means an oil in every home.
At convention our badges had diffent terminology for ranks. In our company, our rank is Diamond, the equivalent rank there is National Sales Director. They covered many amazing topics. Local Chinese doctors shared how they are using essential oils in their practice. There was one Traditional Chinese Medicine practioner that shared how utilizing essential oils with her practice without conflicting with TCM.
It was exciting. There were 3,000 attendees. That was the size of my very first convention in 2011. To put it into perspective, last year, we have over 20,000 attendees the doTERRA Global Convention in the United States. A smaller group was more intimate. Many of the attendees like our guests were brand new to essential oils and you can see this was just a beginning of a huge start of huge growth in China. I was amazed, in just two years, Chian became one of the top international markets. They’ve done an excellent job with customer service with 200RMB Flat Rate Shipping (That’s less than the price of shipping in the US). They opened another shipping center in Guangzhou to service Southern China better and they are opening another store in Chengdu.
If you haven’t been to an international conference. I highly recommend it, it will open you up to a world of possibilities. Opportunity is everywhere, with the essential oil business you are not limited to your local area. Somewhere out there, there is someone waiting to be taught about essential oils.
Visiting the City
After the convention was over, we connected with family friends that we haven’t seen for a long time. We had lots of amazing food. Hong Kong is not only know for it’s Cantonese food, but is known to have variety of top quality restaurants. Cake is sold in a lot of places in the subway. The European treats were delicious. Hong Kong has great food and shopping! Hong Kong offers a good value for clothing, not only are they well priced, but they are high quality. I bought my first custom tailored suit in Hong Kong back in 2007, for less than what I can get a jacket in the United States. It fits better and utilizes great Italian fabric.
If you haven’t been to Hong Kong. Know that Hong Kong is very safe. The mass transit MTR is very effecient and clean. Hong Kong is so condensed, a walk from one station to another can be very short. Conversion of USD to HKD is imple. HKD is pegged 1 US to 7.8 HKD. The exhange rate is the same from when I visited nine years ago. We explored the city and so a few things and had several meetings. Many people in Hong Kong speak English, this is very different than Shanghai, where most people only understood Mandarin.
We visited the doTERRA Hong Kong Office. Like Shanghai and Tokyo, the Hong Kong location was great. It was near an MTR station on Canton Road in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon. Getting there was wasy and it was busy. The business hours in Hong Kong are longer than the business hours in the United States. This is common practice in Hong Kong. This helps accommodate people who cannot come during work business hours.
Guangzhou
We took one day to cross the border to Gunagzhou in Mainland China. You can get there by train, plane, bus, or car. We went there by car because we can get through immigration faster (It is very similar to crossing the Canada border except you have two checkpoints, one for Hong Kong and another for China). We had a meeting at the doTERRA Guangzhou office in the Zhongtai International Center . Seeing the actual office in person and meeting the staff gave me more confidence in the company. This was the fourth doTERRA location I visited in China. Many other companies tout that they are doing a lot of business in China without the evidence to back it up. If you are going to invest in a market, you have to make sure that the infrastructure is ready and set up.
If you are ever in Guangzhou, be sure to try some Cantonese food there, where they have their distinct style.
Disneyland Miracle
My wife Cassy and I are major Disney fans and we couldn’t leave Hong Kong without going to Disney. We prioritized business so we left a personal day at the end. When we were in Guangzhou, we heard that a typhoon maybe coming. Fortunately we were able to make it back to Hong Kong. When we arrived back to the hotel room, we received a notice informing us that the Typhone Signal was at Number 8. That means that high winds were at 118 to 149 kilometers an hour. That also meant that Disneyland was going to close. We were bummed out. We’ve already been to 4 of the 6 locations, and Hong Kong was going to be Number 5. Our last day would be stuck in a hotel room be stuck in a hotel room.
The next day, we found out that Disneyland was closed. With not much left to do, we went to a nearby restaurant, which was still open with masking tape on the windows. After our lunch, we decided to check our phone one more time. God answered our prayers. Disneyland was open! We took the MTR to Disneyland, we purchased our one day ticket. The cast member informed us that the outdoor attractions and entertainment would be closed. We purchased the tickets any ways. We entered the park and we’ve never been to a Disneyland so empty before!
In fact, we were the only ones in the ride at the Mystic Manor, and we rode some rides multiple times when they would normally have a long hour wait. It was one of the most memorable Disneyland experiences. The best part is they reopened most of the attractions and the Night Show was on! That was a fitting conclusion to our China and Hong Kong trip.
SkyTeam Lounge, Hong Kong
We went home on China Airlines. The Hong Kong SkyTeam Lounge is one of the best airport lounges we’ve been to. Because Cassy and I travel a lot, we have free access to international airport lounges. International lounges tend to be better than lounges in the United States. For example, the Sky Team lounge had made to order Japanese ramen or Vietnamese pho.
Traveling is fun and is even better when you travel in style. God blesses us in our essential oil business. I remember the days I would stay at the cheapest motels in the not so safest areas while traveling, now we can travel in style.
Have you ever want to attend an international business conference overseas?
If this is something that interests you, connect with us!
We hope to see you soon!
-Holan
