The Chinese take couterfeiting to a new level...



Electronics market in Shenzhen

 Counterfeit products are everywhere in China.  Last year several bogus "Apple Stores" were discovered.  I wrote a few weeks ago about counterfeit taxis.  The list of fake products you can buy for a substantial discount seems endless, and occasionally the Chinese government makes an attempt to do something about this.  Here is my favorite news story from my most recent visit to Shenzhen:

It seems that bogus Apple products, iPads, iPhones and the like have been making their way from mainland China to Hong Kong, and catching shipments of these products at the border has become a priority for governments on both sides.  Recently, one such shipment was discovered near a border crossing between Shenzhen and Hong Kong, the goods seized and arrests made...but this did not go down the way you might think.   As it turns out, the smugglers, who were in reality undercover police arrested the police, who were not policemen at all but theives disguised as cops trying to steal the counterfeit merchandise to sell for themselves.  Fake smugglers of fake goods arresting fake cops!  You gotta love this place...

Get your moon cakes while they last...

The Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching in China and everyone is selling Moon Cakes...even Dunkin Donuts!



From the Dunkin Donuts in Shekou


Saw them at Starbucks too.  If you are not familiar with these, they are small cakes with a "surprise" inside.  The "surprise" is a filling of some sort.  Maybe some fruit, perhaps an egg, maybe some fish, or who knows what else.  Kind of like Cracker Jack, only stranger.

Gangnam Style!




View from the Novotel in Gangnam



After spending a week in Chinese cities, I really appreciate Seoul.  This city is huge.  At 20.5 million people, it is the second largest city by population in the world behind Tokyo.  But despite its size, it bears little resemblence to places like Shanghai.  For one thing, and I noticed this immediately,  Seoul is much cleaner.  Shanghai seems to be perpetually covered in dust, there are little piles of rubble everywhere you look, and the grime makes even new buildings look shabby and poorly maintained.  Also unlike Shanghai, Seoul traffic actually flows, drivers seem to actually obey things like stop lights and lane markers.  Driving here does not resemble a blood sport.

I am staying in the Gangnam neighborhood, probably best known to Americans (at least those under the age of twenty) from this video - a humorous dance and song making fun of the rich people in this part of Seoul.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0

I was only in Korea for two days, but had a very enjoyable time.  My Korean colleagues took me out for a traditional Korean dinner; shoes off,  sitting on the floor,  and maybe a dozen different dishes - all of which were quite good and nothing too strange.  The best was something that required assembly - a sesame leaf onto which you place a piece of roast pork and some kimchee, You are supposed to roll it up and eat in one bite - using only your chop sticks, including the rolling part.  I apparently have a lot to learn about mastering the use of these - the Koreans made it look easy - mine looked like it had been run over by team of horses.

After dinner they took me to a Karaoke bar.  Yes, I sang....sort of.   Two pieces of advice here.  If you can't sing worth a damn - like me - you can still sound good on a Bob Dylan song because after all, Bob can't really sing either.  I think I rocked on "Like a Rolling Stone".  The second piece of advice; Freddy Mercury had a great voice so I appologize now to the surviving members of Queen for what I did to "We Are the Champions".  I never really liked that song anyway...

By the way, every toilet I have seen in Korea has a control panel.  Just study the buttons on the photo below.  All I will say is....  well, lets just say this is interesting and leave it at that.



Mission Control!



Riding China's High Speed Rail



Our train pulling into Wuxi East Station

 Larry, my Chinese colleage and I flew Wednesday from Shenzhen to Wuxi, and had to be in Shanghai that same night.  Larry had no car to use for the 2-hour drive to Shanghai - this is a blessing as two hours of Larry's driving is agony for me.  Instead, we rode one of China's new high-speed rail lines.  China has built the worlds largest high-speed rail system over the last decade, linking all of its major cities. 

Unlike American passenger rail service, the Chinese system uses dedicated tracks, not sharing the road with freight traffic and apart from one well publicized and tragic accident last year, the system appears to work well.

This was my first time on a train like this one, and I am quite impressed.  The train arrived exactly on time at the Wuxi East Railway Station, built specifically for this train line.  We also departed on time and arrived at the Hongqiao rail station (pronounced "hong chow") in Shanghai in only 29 minutes.  Even counting the taxi ride from Hongqiao to the hotel, the entire trip was only 1 hour - half the time it would take to drive given typically horrendous Shanghai traffic and equally horrific driving by Larry.  According to the display in our coach, we reached a top speed of 300 km per hour, that's 186 mph!  From the inside, the ride was smooth and quiet.  If you did not look out the window, you would have no indication you were traveling at such velocity.  Check out the video I took with my phone at the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFuVbLrdzwc

The best part, no security line, no removing my liquids, laptop or shoes, and the fare was 50RMB, a whopping $8.00.  Including the cab ride, I traveled from Wuxi to my hotel for under $17.00 - far less than it would cost to drive.

A word of advice... Don't eat this!

One hopefully learns a few lessons when traveling abroad.  Sometimes we learn simply by being exposed to things that are new to us - kind of an osmosis process.  Other times we go searching for new experiences.  And other times...we learn by doing things that are really stupid!  Sadly, some days I seem to go the latter route.  So, as a public service, the following is something you should avoid doing:

No matter how late it is...

Regardless of how long it has been since dinner...

...or how hungry you feel...

...or how many adult beverages you have consumed at your favorite Shenzhen bar...

...or how much face you think you will lose with the cute bartender who offered it to you...

Do Not.....I repeat, Do Not eat one of the dozen or so spicy duck feet just brought into the bar from a nearby street vendor!!

It's not that it tastes bad.  It doesn't. 

It's not that it's too spicy.  It isn't - not for me anyhow. 

It's just this; if you want to avoid knowing for the next couple of days what it would feel like to chug a bottle of Liquid Plumber, just say no.



Not the actual foot I ate, but you get the picture...

 I mean "Holy sh...." - well, you get the gist of it - no need for detail

Travelers are often warned to avoid street food, which is kind of a shame as in my opinion this is some of the best tasting stuff there is - but should you venture a try, be warned - your food may bite back!

I am feeling better now...three days later...

Went to the Travel Clinic....

Park Nicollet, a local medical group here in Minnesota has a dedicated Travel Clinic where they have very specific knowledge about all of the diseases that will kill you while traveling, and how to avoid getting them, short of staying home.   I paid them a visit yesterday and left with four shots; Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, and a Polio booster,   I was vacillating on whether to get the Yellow Fever vaccination until the nurse informed me the disease was fatal.  I decided rather quickly after that.

I had an interesting conversation with the nurse regarding ways one can get Hepatitus B.  She ran down a series of questions, I presume to see how "at risk" I would be...

"Are you a medical worker?"
     "No."
"Will you be engaging in any sexual activity?"
     "Not likely."
"Are you likely to come into contact with any bodily fluids?"
     "I sincerely hope not."
"Will you be sharing any needles"
     "Do I really look like a guy who shares needles?"

I suppose I eventually passed her test, but when she told me one of the more common ways to contract Hepatitis B is through receiving medical treatment abroad, I capitulated.  You just never know...

Also got three prescriptions: Malaria medication which you take before, during and for a week after traveling to a malarial region; medication for Travelers Diarrhea (doesn't sound like much fun...); and series of four pills for Typhoid to be taken every other day.

I was also coached on how to avoid getting rabies.  Rule number one; never pet a monkey!

I depart for China Friday.

" I need how many vaccinations for India?"

I have begun planning for my next two trips to Asia, so I thought I should do the prudent thing; check the State Department web site for travel advisories and find out what special vaccinations might be needed...'cuz you just never know...

As I will be going to not only China, but also India, the potential dangers both physical and pathological make for some pretty interesting reading.  Here are the recommended vaccinations for India:

• DPT Booster
• Hepatitis A (incase you decide to, perhaps...eat something...)
• Hepatitis B (recommended if you may come in contact with someone's bodily fluids - I presume they mean other than your own...  or, and I love the way the CDC words this "...have sexual contact with the native population." - does that mean the entire native population or just a part of it?  Anyhow, not on my itinerary to be sure...)
• Typhoid (yikes)
• Japanese Encephalitis (not sure what that is, but it sounds bad)
• Rabies - they warn you about this if you plan on, among other things, bicycling - not sure I see the connection but this is the CDC so I will take their word for it.

And then they go on to advise bringing malaria treatment medication, and warn you about a host of other diseases you are likely to encounter like denge fever, and many more that are unpronounceable.

Anyhow, next week I have my appointment at the travel clinic.  Good times...

I depart for China, Korea and Japan on August 31st.  India will happen in November

I changed the look of this blog a bit...

Based on some complaints that the posts were not scrolling properly on iPads and iPhones, I changed to a different format style which seems to work better.  Please let me know if this is better or worse.

Also, it looks like I will be headed to Asia again very soon - two trips between now and October.  Stay tuned...

More coming soon...

My job is changing. I learned yesterday that my area of sales responsibility is being expanded to include all of the known universe. OK, it's really just global, but should we start selling filters on Mars, it would still run through me so I am just going to claim it now. Anyhow, I will be traveling more in the coming years and to more locations. I can't wait...

Counterfeit what?

Most western-friendly Chinese hotels have complimentary copies of a local english language newspaper, The China Daily.  Even though this paper, like all in China has limited editorial freedom, it is still enjoyable to read and offers a look into Chinese life that would be easy to miss.  I mostly enjoy reading the crime stories.  Chinese cities are mostly free from violent crime, but fraud and corruption are everywhere and exist at all levels, and the China Daily seems to really enjoy bringing these cases to light

My favorite story from the China Daily on my most recent trip involved, I am not kidding, counterfeit taxi cabs!  The Shanghai goverment estimates that among the aproximately 45,000 licensed cabs in the city, there are close to 5000 fake ones.  These bogus cabs are painted like the real thing, and apparently even have working meters (also counterfeit).  In most cases, the driver operates like a normal taxi, hauling passengers from one place to another and charging the normal rates.  He is just not paying his taxes to the local government or licensing his cab.  It appears, however, that a couple of drivers of fake cabs have taken a more aggressive approach by simply driving to a secluded spot and robbing their unsuspecting customers at knife point. 

China is definately a "buyer beware" society!

Is it real??

Bicycle delivery in Shenzhen

In Shenzhen, it seems most small commerce is handled via bicycle.  5 gallon bottles for water coolers, 40 lb propane cylinders, and all manner of materials and supplies are delivered by bike or scooter. 

Food is also delivered in this manner.  The popular fast food places all deliver.  Yes you can call the Colonel and in a few minutes have a bucket o' finger linckin' good!  McDonalds delivers also...

One night during my last trip to China, I was at the bar and had a taste for a caipirinha.  The bar had no limes, no call for them I guess.  However, one phone call from the bartender and 5 minutes later, a young Chinese girl on a bicycle arrived with a small bag of limes and a case of other bottled goods. 

Recycling is handled in the same manner...

June 2012 - Belgium -"How would you like your horse cooked?"

Tastes in food and what is considered acceptable to eat varies widely. The appearance of unusual items on a menu don't often surprise me anymore, but occasionally I am still caught off guard. At dinner last night in a very nice restaurant in Leuven on a cobblestoned side street near the town center two items made me laugh. The first item was horse. I seriously considered ordering this, but only so I could have some fun with the waitress. "Excuse me miss, but was this a 'free range' horse or did he just lose at the track?". "What wine goes best with palomino. Perhaps a mare-lot?". The possibilities are endless.

Leuven, Belgium

The second item was, I am not joking, kangaroo. If I were in Australia this would not be surprising I suppose, but in Belgium? Anyway, I figured unless there was a kangaroo ranch somewhere in Europe that this unfortunate Joey was probably not very fresh. I opted for shrimp. Not very funny but quite tasty.

June 2012 - Leuven, Belgium

I am on what I have been describing as a "short trip" - to Belgium.  Since nearly all of my trips are outside of North America, when I say short I mean duration, not distance.  I think I will spend more time in the air than on the ground...   I have been to Belgium once before, but it was also brief, just an in and out day trip from Germany.  However, this trip I will spend one night in Leuven, near Brussels. 

Leuven is famous for two things; it houses the oldest Catholic university in the world, and it is home to InBev, the worlds largest brewing company.  In fact, my hotel is directly across the street from the Stella Artois brewery.  Fortunately - no detectable brewery smell so far



Such a view!



I have dinner plans with coworkers in the evening, but today I was free to wander.  Leuven seems like a very nice town;  clean, everything looks well maintained, few cars - lots of pedestrians and bicycles - although I have yet to see anyone wearing a bike helmet. 

I also seems people here are rather polite...




Please and thank you...

More later.

Over 1000 page views in the first 3 weeks...

I am a bit surprised. Thanks for reading. Please feel free to comment on how I can improve this blog. I am pretty new at this...

May 2012 - Last days - I give them a taste of their own medicine...

Even though I expressely told him not to, Larry gave me not one but two bottles of baijo.  I know it is just Chinese hospitality and I appreciate that, but A: I don't like baijo and would rarely if ever drink it outside the context of a dinner with Chinese customers, and B: I already have 3 bottles of this at home, also gifts from Larry.  The contents of one of these is so nasty, I am sure it will eventually eat through the bottle, the floor, the foundation, and will eventually find its way back to China.  So what to do with two more bottles? 

I could have, I suppose conveniently forgotten them in the hotel room, but Larry occasionally comes to my house when in the US and he might notice its absence.

I could just bring them home, but 2 more bottles?  No.  I came up with a different plan

I am taking one bottle home, but the second I took to my favorite Shenzhen bar and gave a shot to every Chinese person there, even the girls who do not normally drink this.  Everyone enjoyed this, although the girls made some pretty strange faces.  Good times...

The waitresses take one for the team

May 2012 - Day 6 - Larry tries to feed me bugs

You really have to watch Larry.  At lunch today in a seafood restaurant in Shanghai, we were walking past the "live menu", the tanks filled with fish, prawns, eels, etc, plus plates of other food on display, picking what we wanted to eat.  Larry pointed to one plate and asked "Do you like to try this?  Do you want to try?"   The plate he pointed to was covered with what looked like striped brown gnocci.  Smelling a rat, I asked what it was.  Larry thought for a moment, tugged at the fabric of his shirt and struggled to find the word.  "Silk", he said.  I gave him a sideways look and asked "Silkworms?"  "Yes", he said.  To be precise, they were silkworm pupae.  I have hapily managed to avoid eating bugs this far in my life, although after rolling a fish eye around in my mouth, nothing is really off limits I suppose.  "Do you like these?", I asked.  "Oh no, I never try these", he replied. 

I'm glad I asked. The rat was trying to set me up!  Perhaps he is pissed I ditched him for dinner the other night.  Oh well.

May 2012 - Day 4-5 - A bar girl whips my a$$ in pool

Larry, my Chinese counterpart scares me sometimes.  Not only is he a marginal driver at best, it turns out he is, how shall we say, directionally and chronologically challenged. 

Wednesday he drove us from Shenzhen to see a new customer opportunity near Guangzhou.  We had a 10:30 appointment and he assured me the trip would take two hours.  Had he either A: consulted a map ahead of time, or B: known how to listen to the GPS ap on his phone, this two hour estimate would undoubtedly  have been true.  As it turns out, he did neither.  Ninety minutes into the trip, his GPS told him to get off the highway, and as he tells it, told him to get back on the highway.  At the next exit the same thing happened.  Larry concluded the GPS was defective and continued heading north.  An hour later we passed to the north of Guangzhou and hit a major traffic jam, moving only one mile in an hours time.  Around this time I took out my phone, found the customers address on the web, punched it into Google Maps and found we had driven more than 90 miles past where we should have turned off this highway.  I am quite sure when his GPS told him to get off the highway and get back on, it meant to go in the opposite direction because he missed his exit.  Larry blamed the GPS

In backtracking, we hit another traffic backup which it turns out was caused by a dump truck sized load of dirt in the middle of the freeway.  Not sure how that got there.  We finally arrived 3 hours late.  On the way back to Shenzhen, he got lost again.  What should have been a 7 or 8 hour trip had become 12.  I was visibly angry.  I hate being late.



Shenzhen neighborhood near the Nan Hai


I ditched Larry and had dinner alone.  Afterwards I went to a favorite bar where I know the owners (they invited me to their son's birthday party last trip).  I taught the girl behind the bar how to make caipirinhas and had a nice evening playing pool against one of the bar girls.  I beat her the first few games.  She asked me to buy her a drink, to which I told her she had to beat me at pool first.  She kicked my a$$!  I guess I got hustled.





The "Minnesota Fats" of Shenzhen

 
The next day we had a 10:30 flight to catch and Larry assured me we should leave for the airport at 9:00.  I suggested 8:30 and I thought he understood and agreed.  Wrong!  We arrived at the airport 30 minuted before the flight was to depart, 10 minutes after they closed check in.  We were able to get on the next plane to Shanghai, but again I was pissed and gave Larry a stern lecture about punctuality and planning ahead.  Larry blamed traffic.

I dont want to seem too negative about Larry - he is outstanding at his job - he just drives me insane at times.

May 2012 - Day 3 - The world's most powerful toilet!

The Starbucks ap works in Hong Kong!  At least the store locator button works.  This makes me happy.  I shouldn't be this excited I suppose, but a big ass cup of coffee in the morning puts me right.  The registers dont have optical scanners to read the 2D barcode display to charge my account, but cash works just fine.  Finding one is the hardest part anyhow.  It turns out there are three within two blocks of my hotel. 



View from the Novotel Century in Wanchai

The Novotel Century is my new favorite hotel in Hong Kong. The rooms are small, like all reasonably priced rooms in this city (if you consider $300 USD a night reasonable) but the location and the staff are terrific. Its 2 blocks to the MTR (subway) and my favorite pubs, and 3 blocks from the waterfront.

I caught the 1:00 PM ferry to Shekou after locating and purchasing a case of baby formula for Larry.  Larry has a new baby and does not trust the products he can buy in China, and after all of the news stories about poisoinous toothpaste and milk in recent years, who can blame him. 

I am staying at the Nan Hai Hotel in Shekou again, manily because there arent yet any good alternatives.  The Nan Hai was listed as a five-star hotel when it was opened back in the 80's, but it needs a serious modernization, especially the bathrooms.  My first room would not cool down after a full day, despite the thermostat being set to the lowest point, a big problem in southern China where it is very humid and hot this time of year.  I had the staff check into this while I was working one day.  When I returned, I was politely told there is nothing wrong with the AC, but they would be happy to move me to a room where it worked better.  I didn't bother to point out the lapse in logic here.  I just changed rooms and the AC did work better.  A new Hilton is going up next door and should be open within a year.  I cant wait!


You gotta love the blue bath tub

 On the other hand, the toilets (also blue) are so powerful they shake the floor.  It sounds like the space shuttle blasting off.  I swear you could flush a cat down this thing.

Larry arrived from Shanghai around 6:00 PM.  We had dinner at an American restaurant in Sea World which served really good burgers and proper Caipirinhas!  Beef, cane rum, hot humid - I could close my eyes and be in Brazil.  A nice meal.  I do like Shenzhen for this reason - if you get tired of Chinese food and atmosphere, you have options.

May 2012 - Day 1-2 - A free day in Hong Kong

Its easy to hate airlines for doing some of the things they do, but I personally love it when they overbook a flight - that is the only way I get upgraded on international trips, as I did this time on the Minneapolis to Tokyo leg.  I fly a lot, about 80,000 miles last year, and Delta upgrades me often on flights within the US.  But on long international flights - no way - even if there are empty seats in front - they will usually stay empty.  Delta does this for one simple reason - a business class seat is worth something.   If I thought I was likely to get upgraded from coach to business on a trip to Tokyo, I would never buy a business class seat.  Delta knows this.  But when they oversell a flight - they will move me upfront to get one more paying customer in a coach seat.  Sadly, they dont overbook these flights often enough...

I had a free day in Hong Kong before crossing to Shenzhen.  This city has many things to see, but two of the more famous sights, namely the view from Victoria Peak and the house boats in Aberdeen had eluded me thus far.  Fortunately, and in spite of the forecast to the contrary, it was a beautiful day Saturday and I decided to hit both.


Hong Kong from Victoria Peak

There are two ways to get to the top of Victoria Peak, by tram and by taxi.  I highly recommend the later which costs about $5 US, that is unless you would rather wait in line for an hour to take the tram and pay around the same price.  Anyway, the view was amazing.  Looking north you can see the city and Victoria Harbor, looking south is Aberdeen and the South China Sea



Aberdeen from Victoria Peak


There is an observation center at the top of the peak which charges no admission so this is a pretty cheap trip. 

From the peak, I took another taxi to Aberdeen on the south side of Hong Kong Island.  Aberdeen is famous for its floating restaurants and house boats.  The house boats formed what has been called a "Floating Villiage" of people who live their lives in small boats lashed together in the harbor.  Something unique in the world I believe

The Jumbo Floating Restaurant in Aberdeen



I took a sampan ride around the harbor for about $8 and took lots of pictures.



The Floating Village





Aberdeen Fishing boats

I am staying in the Wan Chai neighborhood on Hong Kong Island again.  Wan Chai has many bars and restaurants, many expat pubs, and has a subway station so its easy to get to and from.  On Saturday night I walked to the Queen Victoria Pub - a cool spot with good beer selection, and it's open to the sidewalk - a great place for people watching.  The place is always crowded and lively. 

There are no pool tables or dart boards, but like all bars in Wanchai, there is other entertainment available if you are so inclined... (I am not!)



Yes, that is a pole on the right side of the photo where the girls practice their gymnastic skills - fully clothed.  Hong Kong is an interesting place as I have said many times.  

Tomorrow I travel to Shenzhen.



December 2011 - Buenos Aires - Avoid the park...

Day 3

They do food very well in Buenos Aires.  Not surprising considering the mix of European and native cultures.  Apart from doing beef true justice, the empanadas, tapas, and even pizza are all worth the trip by themselves.  I can't really say enough about empanadas.  With beef, peppers, onions and spices stuffed in pastry dough and baked or fried, how can you do wrong.  I also had some of the best sushi I have had anywhere in a restaurant run by a chef from Peru who mixes Peruvian spices and native things like sweet potatoes with traditional sushi ingredients.  Combine that with some warm sake and I am one happy guy.

In the evening Alberto drove me around the city to see some of the sights.  Buenos Aires has probably more statues and public art than any place I have been.  Broad boulevards named after famous people or dates in Argentine history are everywhere, punctuated by statues and monuments in every block. 

It was dark after some touring, and Alberto took me to see the Rosedal, a rose garden in a park by the river he claimed was "very beautiful".  This seemed odd as it was far too dark to see the flowers.  As we drove on through the park, we encountered what seemed like a traffic jam.  This further seemed odd, considering it was around 11:00 on a winding road through a city park.  As we drove slowly in a line of cars, I saw ahead on the right a woman leaning against a post.  Her manner of dress and posture clearly advertised her intent.  I asked Alberto, "hooker?, to which he replied "Yes, but wait." We drove on.  It was dark and hard to see, but as we moved along more and more women appeared standing by the side of the road with cars filing slowly past, some stopping by one or another girls.   Now this is where it gets kind of weird.  Coming around a bend in the road, there were two girls on the shoulder standing completely naked, waving at the cars driving even more slowly past.  Farther along others were topless, bottomless, and what I guess were the shy ones dressed, well, like hookers.  This went on for probably half a mile, hooker after hooker, car after car.   Now, this is where it gets even weirder.  As we are nearing the end, Alberto turns to me and says "By the way, most of those were guys!"  Wow, didn't see that coming!   OK, I know it was dark out but I think I am pretty knowledgeable about human anatomy and gender differences.  Those could not have been guys, could they?   Well, a web search after returning to the hotel proved Alberto was speaking the truth.  Damn...  Anyway, be warned.  If you are in Argentina and looking for a hooker...its definitely a buyer beware market!

After the park, we went to a coffee shop as Alberto wanted to introduce me to alfajores, hit favorite Argentinian treat.  An alfajore is similar to a moon pie, but unlike a moon pie, it tastes good.   Really good.  Actually, really, really good.  So good I am bringing a large quantity home. 

Alfajores.

As we were sitting outdoors having coffee and alfajores, across the street a short, chubby man got out of a taxi with two tall, scantily dressed women and entered a restaurant.  Alberto commented how that seemed odd.  I suggested "Maybe he just came from the park".  Alberto shrugged and said "Yeah, probably so."

Day 4 preview.  First impressions of Brazil