Down to Business #4: Think-Tank #2

...So our meeting with the foreign office of the Atomic Energy Agency was also unworkable Thursday morning given the 50+ African Heads of State being in town for a full range of cooperation discussions.

So, Thursday morning our team went off to visit a Lama Temple. (Note: Lama is not the animal, but is more like the use in "Dalai Lama"...that is how little I knew about Buddhism, I know, it's embarrassing.) I only took exterior pictures because snapping photos inside of temples is not the best thing to do.

In the Afternoon Thursday we went off to a thinktank, which has government affiliations - similar to our Rand Corporation. The place was not easy to find. The first cab ride took at least an hour given Beijing traffic. We ended up being dropped off at some shopping plaza, and people on the street swore that our destination was only walking distance away. Then we got advice from a cop who insisted that we better get into a taxi, because our destination was not close at hand. After hailing a second cab, we literally were dropped off at the clubhouse of a golf club. The concierge there helped us make it to our final destination - a very imposing grand new building.

When we finally arrived, we shared our impressions so far about the issue of "non-state actors and nuclear proliferation." What we learned there was envaluable to understanding Chinese foreign policy positions on this issue. It was by far our best meeting in Beijing. The back and forth discussion (and sometimes debate) was so key to helping me sort out which ideas in my head were workable, and which were fanciful. After our meeting, we met is a grand room for dinner in their building. The conversations there were rich too.