Blue Sky Day

Had a wonderful rain on Tuesday.  This provided us with an unusually clear day on Wednesday...

And a great view this evening....

Looking forward to heading home soon!

Snake and Frog

Wulong Weekend

Our Chinese Business Partners picked us up early on Saturday morning for a 2 hour drive East to the 'village' of Wulong (only about 10 30-story high rises).

Upon arrival, we picked up two branch office associates and headed up the hill to an area of vacation homes. There we boarded another bus to travel to the Three Natural Bridges park: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Natural_Bridges

The scenery here was spectacular and the weather was perfect.

One of the other hikers had his very Chinese dog, running off leash as they all seem to do. The dog was well -trained and immediately fell into pose upon prompting by the owner.



At the bottom of the first bridge, there was a replica of a village put in place for the movie "Curse of the Golden Flower" --- www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWuYAvpifnA

The trail was easy and unusually uncrowded and we enjoyed the outing.

Afterwards, we stopped at a roadside restaurant for a simple, hearty meal (maybe only 12 different dishes). Then it was back on the bus to travel to a nearby cave.

As we approached the cave, the driver informed us that there was 'traffic control' situation ahead. He told us we would have to walk the rest of the way (about 1 mile) up the hill or wait for at least an hour.

We hopped out and started walking. It appears that the road got backed up and people started leaving their cars all over the place.

We had to weave in and out of vehicles and dodge the occasional bus barreling down the hill. It was all very exciting.

The cave itself was kind of a let down. It was massive but seemed somewhat artificial. There was also a huge crowd of people inside and it was quite hot and muggy as a result.

We probably climbed over 1,000 steps and were worn out by the end. However, there was no quick escape as our bus had made its way up but we had to wait for about an hour for a clear path to get back down.

Some lesson's learned: one site per day; turn around at the first sign of a 'traffic control situation' and always take the 'mechanical option' when offerend:

[Tram out of Natural Bridge Park]

[Elevator into Natural Bridge Park]

[Zip line out of Cave Parking lot --- didn't take this one but would have if it offered quicker escape]

The porter powered chairs are an embarrassing option and should be avoided (for old guys and rich chinese housewives):

Despite the challenges, we enjoyed the day but were happy to return to the hotel that night.

Sunday, we left Chongqing and returned to our 'home away from home' in Beijing.

Back to work on Monday!

Yangtze Cruise

Friday night, our Chinese Business Partners hosted us on a Yangtze River Cruise. It was made out to be a Dinner cruise, but they only offered Beer and Watermelon, so we made do with what we had.



The cruise gave us another chance to view the incredible lights of Chongqing. This was some goverment project installed within the last 5 years. It really is amazing.

There were probably 20 ships docked at the loading zone. We traipsed down a pretty steep ramp and a long run of steps on the river bank to the ship below. We then had to wait for about an hour for ship traffic to clear before we set sail.

Up the river about 20 minutes; u-turn then back down the other way another 20 minutes past our departure point then back around. Pretty quick trip but gave you a great view of the city.

Highly recommend the night view of Chongqing.

TGIF

We completed a lot of great work this week and our teammate rallied just in time for another frog meal. On the menu today: frog stew, sauteed beef trachea, spiced octopus and baked chicken necks.

The sun re-appeared and the babies were out in full force.

Tonight we are going on a dinner cruise down the Yangtze. Then tomorrow we are scheduled to do some mountain 'climbing' outside of town (generally involves a paved path with steps the whole way).

Should be some fun.

Chinese Fashion Show

Tied up with a lot of work today, so just sharing some of the sights from our regular commute.

Think the Mao Suit is dead.

We had a team member down today. Her tolerance for reptile and organ meat is not where it needs to be. Poor thing spent some time on the tile floor.

So far the rest of us are fine. We've been here more and probably have a higher amoeba count!

Thoughts from the Day

I'm beginning to wonder about this hotel that's hosting our meeting. Outside, the base is decorated with some unique carvings. And, in the elevator, they advertise the 'Midnight Special' --- check in between 1 and 5 AM; depart by Noon; no breakfast coupons!

Guess it's for those instances where your meeting really runs long.


The buildings around us are all dark in the morning - even as late as 8 AM. Cannot figure it out. Either they are conserving energy, starting work late or maybe sitting empty?

This evening was a perfect storm of dining misfortune. Our Chinese hosts had internal meetings so we were left on our own.

Determined to avoid the poor western fare at the hotel; we asked for a recommendation for dining nearby. After some wrong turns and some finger pointing by locals on the street, we found the recommended restaurant.

Nobody spoke English but they had an illustrated menu. We picked out a few items that looked good - something that looked like beef and another one that looked like a fish stew. When they finally arrived, we realized that we had managed to pick all reptile fare --- sauteed snake and frog stew.

I've had a lot of weird things here but it's always the reptile dishes that hang me up.

On the plus side, the sun finally came out...

... and the minibar offers Chinese Budweiser for the same price as Coke.

On to Chongqing

Back for the second trip of the year. Headed out on Friday, flying Hainan Airlines from Seattle. The food options were heavily Asian and the drinks were warm but they had completely flat seats and offered American miles so I was happy!

Saturday and Sunday we spent in Beijing, making plans for our upcoming work and trying to get reacclimated.

On Monday, we met our Chinese business partners early and set out for the Beijing airport. We were heading to Chongqing to visit one of the Branch offices.

While waiting we saw one of the new Airbuse 380's taxing out for take-off (wings stayed on):

The flight down was packed and there was a lot of turbulence. Not sure if it was the bouncing or the Chicken Ball lunch or the other odors in the cabin, but my travelling companion turned white. Fortunately we landed safely and all was well.

Chongqing is another one of those Chinese cities that you probably have never heard of --- bigger than LA with another endless array of high rises. It's unique however in that it is is built into the mountains and sits on the edge of the Yangtze and another river --- quite picturesque and the climate seems nice.

Our translator said that it's considered a desireable place to live particularly amongst those in Beijing and Shanghai. The cost of living is lower, the pace is slower and the weather, scenery and air quality are better.

The secondary river was quite low. We thought they had lowered it to work on this new bridge they are building (you never know in China). However, they said it was just because the rainy season had not yet started.

That evening we went to a famous Hot Pot restaurant overlooking the Yangzte. Lots of interesting things that you could throw into your personal pot of boiling soup: tripe, goose livers, some additional intestine type parts and various other meats.

Afterwards we took a tour of the city. They love their bling:

When the lights come up, however, you go back to looking at a fair amount of dirty laundry.

Here for a few days. Will try to post more.