Back in November I was fortunate to travel to China as a delegate to the 2013 World Emerging Industries Summit. The event was held in Wuhan City, population 12 million. Located in central China, Wuhan is larger than any U.S. city — and I’m embarrassed to say that I’d never heard of it before I was invited to this summit.

I flew 13 hours to Beijing and changed planes to get to Wuhan, a two-hour flight on the very clean and efficient China Southern Airlines. What I observed on this flight was quite remarkable.

It was near the end of the workday, 5 p.m. or so, when we took off. The 737 was full of businessmen in suits. I appeared to be the only non-Chinese person on board. While we were taxiing on the runway prior to takeoff, the video monitors automatically lowered from the overhead storage bin areas and the video flight instructions were broadcast.

The video screens remained down and dark as we took off. But after a few minutes the screens lit up again, this time with some opening credits that looked like those of a movie. Chinese names rolled across the screen, with the opening music blaring throughout the aircraft. Hey, a movie. That’s nice.

Then a distinguished looking Chinese man, leaning on an office desk, began speaking to the camera. He was speaking in Chinese and there were no subtitles. Not knowing the language, I didn’t have a clue as to what was being said. But amazingly to me, all of the passengers around me were silent, with heads tilted up, giving full attention to the video screens.

Old photos and videos that looked strangely familiar began appearing on the screen. Something in America, perhaps? Scratchy old black and while film of Model Ts putt-putting along and men in topcoats walking into a large stone office building, all the while with Chinese narration.

Then the camera showed a close up shot of the stone engraving on the front of the building: Chicago Board of Trade. Historically significant to folks in the world of finance, the CBOT was founded in 1848 and was the world’s first market maker for grain futures.

What followed appeared to be a serious, straightforward one-hour documentary of the history of the CBOT and the global economic system it started. Economists and historians (Chinese) were interviewed, full screen graphs of performance, types of crops traded, how forward contracts work, etc. …

Egad! It went on for one hour! And on this ordinary, weekday flight everyone on the plane (except me — I was watching the passengers) was watching this history documentary with rapt attention — in silence!

I had to hand it to them, but I reached instead for my copy of Esquire and an exclusive interview with George Clooney for a brief mental escape. It’s interesting to me that they are all so interested in the Chicago Board of Trade, but because of the language barrier there is no way for me to communicate my interest with my seat neighbors without a good deal of effort, and I was bushed after a full day of travel.

Aren’t they tired, too? All of these folks around me are presumably heading home after a long day of business in Beijing. Where’s the laughter? Where’s the casual unwinding between seatmates? Where’s the flight’s beverage cart attendant, for crying out loud?

What’s the name of that Jimmy Buffet happy hour song — “It’s Always Five O’Clock Somewhere?” Well, I’d confidently wager that Jimmy never saw the sun pass the yardarm in Wuhan.

—Eric Olson is the President and CEO of KSMQ-TV in Austin.