Travels With Glen

China Trade Fairs

When most people think of importing goods from China, they think of large corporations. But more and more mediums and small companies are trading with China. Trade shows in China are big business. People from all over the world attend these show and the largest one is the Canton Trade Fair  or  the China Import and Export Fair. It is a huge event lasting over a period of 3 weeks, with hundreds of thousand attendees.

Here are a few photos from the Canton Fair and a Electronic Trade fair in Hong Kong.

Huang Shan (Yellow Mountains)

Huang Shan was another great trip in China. I went with a couple of co-workers from work (Made-In-China.com); Jinhua and her cousin Yue. I found out they were going over the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, so I tagged along. They were great to travel with in part because they speak Chinese but even more important that are good friends.

In China when you visit a park you can usually expect to do a fair amount of walking. So I knew that I would get some exercise. But I didn't believe it would take 3 hours to walk 3 km. I believe it now. This is a three day trip  One day you travel and sight see at he base of the mountain the, the next day you walk up the mountain, stay overnight, get up at 3am to walk to see the sunrise with another several thousand people and the walk down. Going up didn't bother me, sleeping over was nice, seeing the sunrise was great, but going down thousands of little steps got to me and I was good and tired at the end.

We must have gone up several thousand steps, climbing to a altitude of 1500m (5000 feet).  This is about the same height as the Southern Appalachian Mountains in the US. Going up the mountain did not bother me it felt pretty good. So I got over confident and when we started down the mountain When you are on top of a mountain in Huang Shan and look out the view is much like the Appalachians, but the Appalachians are very old mountains and warn down.  Huang Shan seem to be younger and are in the process of being worn down. Because of this these mountain offer the incredible rock formation, that you seen in many Chinese brush painting.

I have more to say but I am at the Canton Trade Fair this weekend and have to go to work, but that will be another story.  Here are a few photos, there are more to come.

Not So Slow Boat in China

Last night was exciting, sort of. China's 60th Anniversary National Day is today, as you probably can hear from the fireworks echoing off the building in my apartment complex.  Pretty soon you will be able to smell the gun power as it drifts up to the 20th floor. Anyway, as with all long holidays in China, the main streets and highways were in complete chaos.  This somewhat normal during rush hours. But it was 4:30 in the afternoon and it was worst than normal. The Noon shuttle still had not returned from across the Chang Jiang River (Yanzee River).

So the bus drivers had an idea.  Now these are the same people who like to race each other from intersection to intersection and think it is a good idea to drive in the oncoming lane to pass another bus (not just scooters and cars) just to get a better position in traffic. (oops gotta go meet someone - to be continued) (I'm back) So anyway, their idea was for them to drive us to the ferry and we could take the boat across the river and catch a city bus home. I was a little skeptical to say t he least.  But it did seem like an interesting adventure.

So off we went in our usual race car fashion, until got a section of Pukou (That's the name of the city the company I work for is located in.) that had a one lane street meant to carry two way traffic. It was so narrow the bus driver even drove cautiously (by the way even though I question the bus drivers in China judgment; I have full confidence in their skill.

Things were moving along great until we came to some railroad tracks. To be honest we didn't actually make it to the railroad tracks.  Traffic was backed up for about 200 meters before reaching the tracks.  I am not sure what was going on, but it seemed to me there was a train just going back and forth in front of the roads' intersection. I think it was letting another maybe two other trains pass on a section of track that only had one track.

Now all of this time I kept watching cars behind passing us in the on coming lane. Trying move up in their position in traffic.  Now you may be thinking this isn't a good idea since when they reached the tracks and there would be oncoming traffic on the other side of the track who wanted to use their lane (Bus drivers aren't the only drivers lacking in judgment.).

Finally after about 30 to 40 minutes the passengers on the bus asked the driver how far away the ferry dock was. It turned out that the dock was only another 500 meters from the tracks. Since the train was still just going back and forth we all got off and started walking.

Luckily there was a walkway over the tracks so we could get to the ferry. The bridge also provided a great view of the traffic situation and sure enough on either side of the track there were cars buses and scooter all the across the road all going in the same direction; facing each other.  I have no idea how it got sorted out.

Once we found the dock, which was not as easy as I thought it should be, the ferry ride was fast. It was also kind of fun because by this time my co-workers where in a festive mood. Plus I think crossed the river in less time than the bus does on a good day. Mainly because the on and off ramps weren't design for the volume of traffic the bridge receives.

On the other side we found out our troubles weren't over. The bus some of us had to take, bus 34 didn't stop at the designated spot. Finally the attendant at the station had to flag a bus down for us. When the bus finally arrived at my stop the bus was so crowded, I almost couldn't get to the door, to get off. Finally four hours after work was over I made to my apartment. (Photos are posted below.)

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View from my Apartment

The first photo is my apartment building. I live on the 20th floor so I have a nice view of the neighborhood, so to speak. My  neighborhood consists of mainly other high rise apartment buildings. Most of which aren't in as good good of shape as mine.  At least the outside.  The buildings are probably only ten or less years old but the exterior looks older. Usually the inside of most apartments I have seen are nice. It just that the building developers didn't seem to plan maintenance into the design.

But one thing China is good at is unusual looking buildings. For example there is bank and office building that reminds me of something from a science fiction novel or a Jetsons cartoon. I keep expecting to see a flying car to fly out from the roof one day.

Welcome Back to China

After three weeks of packing and stacking my belonging in a storage unit I was glad to board the plane to Shanghai so I could rest for a the 14 hours of the the trip. Most people dread long overseas flight but I find them kind of relaxing. Usually I read, watch the second rate movies, nap or walk a lap around the cabin aisle. Sometimes I talk to the person/s next to me. That didn't happen this time since the person next to me didn't speak English.

Although this time I was able to be helpful to the person next to me. When they brought the food around we had the choice of chicken or beef.  So when she didn't understand the menu, I said the words for chicken and beef in Chinese, so she could make a choice.  Although I have a feeling that the stewardess who was serving the food probably knew the words also.  but she was nice enough to let me be helpful.

It also turned out that this was the same crew that I flew to the US with in early July.  I had recognized them early on, but I was surprised when one of the stewardesses asked if had flow to China recently. I remembered the flight crew because they had been very efficient and friendly each time, but I am not sure why they remembered me.

Once in Shanghai I was welcomed back by two scamming taxi drivers. one wanted to charge me almost one hundred times what the fare should have been.  When I started to walk away another driver said he would go by the meter.

Once we got going he said he would "only" charge me 150RMB if we  didn't go by the meter and that it would be 180RMB if we used the meter. Now this did not seem right since I had purposely taken the Maglev train to get closer to the center of the city and save money. When I refused he stopped the car and said he wouldn't take me any father. Since we weren't close to a place I could easily catch another taxi, I refused to get out of the taxi.

Finally he said he would take me back to the Maglev station so I could get another taxi. This taxi driver turned out to honest and it only cost 25RMB to get to my hotel. The next day during lunch one of my friends Dong Yan, told me that her boss said that the drivers of green and red taxis which are run by  semi-public companies were accountable to there company.  But the other taxis which were private and only accountable to themselves.

Once I got to my hotel, the Yin Yang New Asia Hotel, which wasn't easy since I hadn't stay at this one before and didn't know where it was, I found it to be a nice hotel and was surprised to see so many foreigners at it. The exterior interior was from the Shanghai International Settlement period and was a Art Deco style architecture. The staff seemed a little harried but competent and their English was good.

The only draw back was the solicitors next to the entrance and the location. Although officially it is in the historical Bund area of Shanghai it was a little far from places I wanted to go to (like the subway). But I did get to explore a new part of Shanghai and the bridge over the Suzhou River had some nice views (photos to come later).

My House

As Dorthy said in the Wizard of Oz there is no place like home.  The only problem since I rented out  my house in the USA and I have been working in China, I am not sure where home is now.  They say home is where the heart is; but that is another issue. I guess I will be a global citizen and not worry about home for a while.

Adjusting to being back in the US has not been cheap. Public transit is disdained in the US of A, so unless you have a car your mobility is kind of hampered. It has taken a week to get my car going, after being in storage for a year. In the meantime I had to find other means of transportation. I tried the bus and metro but they are expensive and inefficient. Taxis are even more expensive.

My car and neighborhood;

 

Notice there are no sidewalks.

Lucky for me some friends went out of town, so I house and animal sat for them. They gave me use of their car for a week; a Toyota Prius. Which was cool. I have always wanted to try a hybird. They are fun to drive. I liked seeing how efficient I could drive. Plus when I stopped at a traffic light the engine would turn off, if it wasn't needed and everything would become quiet.  One time I stopped a traffic light and another Prius pulled along side of me. As I sat at the light I noticed there were no engine noises and I could actually hear birds singing (no this blog is not not sponsored by Toyota. But if they would like to be a supporter . . . ).

Since I have been in St Louis I have stayed at my fathers house;

my house;

as well as my friends house.

Traveling to the USA

It seems I found the wrong taxi yesterday when I tried to catch my plane.  There are two highways to Pudong Airport one is under construction the other I don't know the status of.  Unfortunately for me my taxi took the under construction route.  During the first few traffic jams I wasn't concerned since we were close to Shanghai's business district and there is construction everywhere in China. But much of Pudong is still farm, plus the construction didn't really end.

So after a while I go worried. So I call a friend of mine who explained to the taxi driver I needed to catch the plane today.  Well that was a mistake also; the driver started driving like someone out of a James Bond movie. After all of the I was only 3 minutes later. But it might have well be an hour United Airlines wouldn't let me board and I had to change my flight, for an extra $200. Plus book a hotel.

At the hotel my luck changed. The Airport 168 Motel was booked, so Motel 168 put me in the Dazhong Marrylin Airport Hotel next door for the same rate. It was a pretty fancy hotel. (See photos, click to see full size photo.)

 

   

New Blog Location

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