China Travel Updates

Plan to post some photos over the next few days. Flight to Taiwan this afternoon. Be good.


Getting to China

My flight Sunday was uneventful - very long but uneventful.  It takes time to fly 7100 miles even at 540 mph.  Yes, for those who can multiply it was a 14 hour flight.  The Delta staff was professional and courteous while doing their best to make everyone comfortable on such a long journey.  The Delta on-demand movie service helped considerably.  All in all I think I watched five movies..

• Ted - parts were hilarious but can’t recommend
• Pitch Perfect - better than expected
• The Diirty Dozen - a go-to classic
• Gone in 60 Seconds - a tribute to American muscle cars.  You have to love Eleanor
• And finally, Knuckleball - a baseball documentary on Tim Wakefield and R.A. Dickey of the Mets and the fraternity of knuckleball pitchers

The biggest surprise on the flight was seeing a colleague that I had not seen in almost 8 years.  During one of my stretch breaks I was looking through the cabin and recognized a familiar face but of course i doubted myself because what are the chances that you’ll know someone on a flight to China.  Turns out I was right and I was able to reconnect with Jerry Powaser on the way to Shanghai.  Jerry and I started our careers together in the Indianapolis District of Betz Industrial working for John Tedesco.  We had a great time then and have always enjoyed each other’s company.  It was an unexpected pleasure.

I only slept for about an hour which ended up being positive.  When I finally did go to sleep around 8:30 I had been awake for almost 26 hours.  So I had no issue falling asleep.  Jet lag has not been too bad in spite of the 14 hour time change.  A late afternoon Starbuck’s latte - double shot of espresso - has helped me over the hump.  I should be good to go tonight.

One trivia note, China is roughly the size of the continental US and has a single time zone.   

Day #2

First, if you have business on the east side of Shanghai then I highly recommend the Parkyard Hotel.  It’s nice, quiet, furnished in a modern style and the staff is accustomed to westerners.  The breakfast buffet is top notch with breakfast favorites from Asia, Europe and North America.  I put the latte machine to good use this morning.  By US standards it’s also a good value.  For a comparable hotel in the US I would expect to pay 2 to 3X the rate.

After a meeting with the region executive team this morning we traveled about 1 hour south of Shanghai to Xiajing.  The local team met us for lunch in a private dining room in a well-known restaurant.  The conversation was lively as the local account management team patiently detailed their customers expectations and the processes they follow.  We have work to do to simplify and shorten processes for our products.  The team is knowledgelable, professional and courteous.  It’s easy to see why this customer respects our team and their performance.  

After our customer meeting we drove to the Hongqiang airport on the west side of Shanghai for a 5 pm flight to Taijuan.  We’ll meet a steel customer tomorrow before returning to Shanghai in the evening.

The Food and Dining

A few notes on dining in China...  (like to hear other comments from other westerners)

• Family style dining is the norm with a lazy susan in the middle of the round table and the dishes are shared communally
• I do ok with chopsticks; at least well enough not to go hungry.  Most restaurants will provide knife and fork, if requested.
• The fruits and vegetables are generally fresh and tasty
• The hosts will always order more food than can possibly be eaten in one setting.  
• There are a couple of practices that I struggle with
• It’s a common practice to put food in your mouth, bones/shells and all, and then remove the inedible parts after chewing
• They serve shrimp with heads and shells.  It’s awkward for me so I avoid them.
• Of the dishes so far I actually found the bamboo shoots cooked in a brown sauce to be the tastiest.
• I generally eat big breakfasts and less at lunch and dinner while in China

Much more to follow from this trip as I will visit Taijuan, Taiwan, Chongching, ShenZhen and Wuhan with stops in Shanghai between flights.  I’m expecting an interesting journey.