Teaming with rural culture

"It was my love affair with Beijing. I grew increasingly familiar with the roads and local habits seemed to come naturally to me."

The experience saw him return to China immediately upon graduating from college. His first job was at the US embassy, before he later took a job in human resources with a European hotel group in Beijing, which gave him "some insights into cross-cultural communication, problem solving in joint ventures and training in the service industry".

Through his experience in hospitality, he realized that there was an opportunity to work with foreign companies in China to improve team performance, particularly across cultures, "helping Chinese staff of all levels to be more effective in Western organizations, but also for foreigners in these companies be more effective managers". Then he started a training business in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, in 1996.

Barclay chose places like Sanya, Lijiang, Suzhou and other travel destinations to do team building events for the foreign companies he served. To improve the experience for them, he brought the teams out of the conference room and closer to nature.

Barclay often traveled with his friends up to rural areas in Yangshuo to go rock climbing, swim in the Yulong River and run the trails.

The traveler was also charmed by local farmers, who live in basic conditions, but are nonetheless very generous to a group of strangers.

"We stopped in many villages and shared experiences with local people," he recalls. "In every situation, we were greeted by smiles and offers of fruit from their trees, a pot of tea or invited into their homes to get out of the rain."