2008 - Day 7

Sent: Thursday, May 29, 2008 2:09 AM

Subject: Day 7 5/27/08

Very tired this morning.  I don’t stay out until 1:00 much these days.  I ate breakfast at the hotel – breakfast always seems to be included with your room – at least it has been every place I have stayed in Asia so far.  There is always a buffet, and like buffets everywhere they are nothing to write home about (not sure why I am writing about it).  I did avoid the pickled whatever this morning and stayed closer to western fare. 

We met with the president of my customer’s Asia business today – first time I had met him.  We spent about an hour together and I think it went well.  My customer brings lunch in for all of their employees, office and plant personnel included, every day.  Lunch consists usually of either a chicken wing or chicken leg, two other stir fried dishes which I think are vegetables, and more rice than two people could eat, all served in a small Styrofoam container.  The company provides this because there is really no convenient place to eat nearby and they only get a 30 minute break.  More meetings with others until around 2:30.  My customer presented me with a very nice ceramic tea pot as a thank you for presenting to their people.  Afterwards, Larry and I returned to the hotel, got our bags, and took another taxi / thrill ride, this time to Shenzhen Airport, about 30 km away.

The expressway from Shenzhen to the airport has manicured hedges and grass in the median for its entire length.   I can’t imagine how many people they employ to do this but it must be a lot.  You see them every few kilometers with the scissor-type hedge trimmers, large brooms that look like a bunch of twigs bundled together, and those funky straw hats, some pointed, some domed.  The taxi ride took about 45 minutes and cost 80 RMB, about $11.  Taxis are definitely the way to get around in China, just a bit scary.

The Shenzhen airport is fairly small, appears to serve only domestic flights, and is not very well laid out.  It is not hard to navigate, however, and I had no trouble finding my gate.  Most signs were in Mandarin and English, as were the announcements over the PA.  Every airline that I saw was a domestic Chinese one, no foreign airlines at all.  I would guess that foreign airlines are not allowed to operate domestic flights inside China.  The English announcements were a bit amusing.  The point they were making was clear enough, but even the pre-recorded announcements were obviously written by someone other than a native English speaker.  My favorite was “Attention; China Southern flight 3209 will be delayed due to the delay.  I guess it is just late because it is late.

I don’t like flying the domestic Chinese airlines.  Every plane I have been on has been old and worn looking, this one, an Airbus A319 was no exception.  They did provide a meal, some pork balls and rice, or something (who knows).  I had the dreaded middle seat, sandwiched between Larry and a young woman who knew a few words of English and was happy to share them with me.  The flight was about 2 hours.  I read an English language newspaper from Shenzhen, listened to my IPod, and tried not to think about anything.  These trips get a bit weary after a few days. The landing in Wuxi was rough, when the pilot reversed the thrust the whole interior of the plane started shuttering, the overhead compartments were moving more than I have ever seen before; the woman to my right and I looked at each other and we both spontaneously made the same expression – amusement with a strong dose of concern.

It was raining is Wuxi.  I really hope this cleans up the air for tomorrow but I am not overly optimistic.

Larry has talked me into getting a foot massage.  I told him I heard they are really painful, he said “oh yes” and smiled.  He wanted to get one done this evening, but by the time we got to the hotel, the Wuxi Courtyard, it was already nearly 10:30 and I was too tired, especially after he told me you usually have this done for 1 or 2 hours.  We had a drink at the hotel lounge – there never seems to be an actual bar, just a counter where you order drinks and then small tables around it.  I tried a local red wine – pretty bad – I suspect the bottle had been open for a few days and it was getting that sour taste.

The room is nice, the bed is softer than the one in Shenzhen, but still pretty firm.  Still no alarm clock!  I don’t get this – I have stayed at no less than 9 different hotels in Asia and none have had a friggin’ alarm clock. In Shenzhen, around the corner from the hotel, there is a big  blue billboard at ground level, twenty feet across that reads in Mandarin and English “Time is Money, Efficiency is Life”  I would think an alarm clock or two might help in that regard.  Maybe if your bed is only slightly softer than concrete an alarm clock becomes unnecessary – you will want to get up early regardless.  I have seen a few versions of these blue billboards around town, no doubt put there by the Chinese ministry of whatever.  One I saw yesterday read “Idle talk endangers the nation, Political work is constant”.  No doubting the meaning of that one.  I guess that’s why every time I have a conversation with a Chinese person and the talk turns to politics, their voices automatically drop to a near whisper.

Tomorrow we check out of this hotel, spend the day at the our Wuxi plants, and then travel by car to Shanghai, about 2 hours away.

I have attached a picture of the view from my Wuxi hotel room.  That stuff that looks like fog isn’t.