More than 300 women sang “Happy Birthday” to me in Mandarin this past november when I was in Beijing, China. What a wonderful surprise present! But the song was just the icing on the cake. The bigger gift was the one I asked them to give.

I spent my birthday hosting our first Advancement of Women conference in China, and at the opening of the day I asked the women to be forthright about their professional and personal experiences as career women and working mothers. They honored my request by sharing their stories, problems and ideas. For the most part, mothers in China still live under the one-child policy. Nearly all moms work, and while women do well, there is definitely a glass ceiling over their heads. As working moms, they express the same kind of guilt I hear about around the United States. Like us, they wish their husbands would do more, but they don’t want to give up the primary responsibility for their child.

At times I felt like I had been transported to Intel headquarters in California, but no—we were in Beijing. Warm, welcoming, enthusiastic, excited: these words describe the women who came to our event. We’re going back to China next November—to Shanghai—and I hope the trip again lands on my birthday.

The women of china are my cup of tea!

Pictured: Carol with Roz Hudnell from Intel at the Great Wall.