Getting to Guangzhou… barely

  There is a greater genetic difference between a dolphin and a porpoise than between a human being and a chimpanzee. This might help explain the apelike behavior of the buffoons at the Tianjin airport, seemingly determined to ensure we missed our flight to Guangzhou. My whirlwind business trip through four Chinese cities this week included what was to have been a quick 24-hour stopover in Tianjin, China’s fourth-largest city and a leading business hub. (More than half of the Fortune 500 Global companies have branch offices here.) Though a heavily industrial city, we hoped we could steal a couple of spare hours to roam around as tourists. We ... [Read More]

Careful what you eat in the land of the Nine Dragons

  You might think your biggest culinary concern in China would be your hosts serving you a still-alive animal or foul-smelling fungus. Not so much. Perhaps you think that by avoiding street vendors in favor of established restaurants you’re more likely to find foods that won’t make you sick. Uh-uh. Though China works hard to suppress news damaging to its image, do a little research and you’ll learn that the biggest health threat in Chinese eateries is “gutter oil,” which, believe it or not, is even fouler than it sounds. Cooking oil is like gold in China, where virtually every recipe requires a wok full of it, and goes for a ... [Read More]

Hong Kong: The Haze, the Haggling and the Hutong

    Hong Kong’s air generally has more in common with something you’d expect to be used on prisoners at Guantanamo Bay than anything you’d actually want in your lungs. Seriously – visibility in Hong Kong most of the year is about 5 miles. So I was more than a little startled, and thrilled (once I’d assured myself the pilot hadn’t touched down in the wrong place), when we arrived to crystal clear air, with nary a hint of haze or pollution. In nearly three decades of visiting this great city I don’t think I’ve ever seen it so clear. This is a fact about which I apparently found ... [Read More]

From Auckland to Shanghai

You’ve heard the old adage “going around your ass to reach your elbow?” Apparently I view this as the most direct route. When my colleague Sia heard I was going to be in New Zealand he asked if I’d pop over to Shanghai for a couple of days of meetings. “Sure,” I said, “that sounds perfectly reasonable!” I don’t recall being drunk during this conversation, or having suffered a concussion recently, so I’m left struggling to explain this decision. I like to think I’m fairly well-versed in world geography, and moderately informed when it comes to travel times between countries. For some reason I still can’t quite fathom I ... [Read More]

The Top of the Peak

Riding the historic Peak Tram to the top of Victoria’s Peak is one of my favorite things to do in Hong Kong. First built in the 1880s, this rickety rail-car is pulled by cables up the steep incline from Hong Kong’s Central District to Victoria’s Peak, from which you gaze out over stunning panoramic views of Hong Kong Island, Victoria Harbor and Kowloon. I’ve been more than a dozen times, and never tire of the experience. One of my very favorite restaurants on earth, by happy coincidence, is Café Deco, perched atop Victoria’s Peak. The food has always been scrumptious, and I was eager to show off ... [Read More]

Moron moments in Hong Kong

Sometime after landing in Hong Kong yesterday I devolved into a blithering idiot. (Some who know me might suggest this isn’t much of a change from my normal state of being, but I prefer to believe I can generally be trusted to tie my shoes and cross the street without much supervision.) I’m not sure when this change occurred, but it first reared its clumsy head in the Sky Lounge atop the Sheraton Towers. Soo and I were sitting at a table by the glass marveling at the stunning view of Hong Kong's Victoria Harbor at night, when I noticed a man a short distance away ... [Read More]

Floating cities and fuzzy oatmeal

Jet lag’s a funny thing. It affects different people in different ways; some people walk around for days in a zombie-like stupor; some have seemingly boundless energy before hitting the proverbial wall and passing out for 15 hours; others it makes nauseous. For Soo, jet-lag occasionally severs her ability to form complete sentences. Today was one such day. After the afternoon’s meetings I returned to our hotel to find Soo passed out in bed. I gently woke her, and as she slowly swam to consciousness she asked about how my meeting had gone. At least that’s what she thinks she asked. All I heard was “Hmrf, huhmney. Fuzzy oatmeal?” When I ... [Read More]

Bye bye, Shanghai

For the first time in a very long time I leave Shanghai having no idea when I’ll be back. As anyone who’s read many of these blogs knows, Shanghai enchanted me long ago. I’ve spent so much time here, feel so at home in this city, that her absence will surely be felt. Thinking on this I find myself rather melancholy as I cram 2-week’s worth of clothing, various business materials, and shopping requests for 12 friends into my one solitary suitcase (and not just because it doesn’t all fit!) So tonight, instead of prattling on about the trivial details of my day I’ve decided to simply post ... [Read More]

Shanghai surprises

I’ve been to Shanghai enough that I’m quite sure I’ve boasted that I "know the city like the back of my hand," and would have assured anyone that I could direct them to anything in the city they might want. So you can imagine my surprise and annoyance when, after being here a mere 48 hours, Dirk told me about the “Copy Market," and volunteered to lead me there since I’d never heard of it. The Copy Market is an area off Nanjing road where they have copies of everything you could possibly want. I’ve found replica watches, purses, sunglasses, etc. in other areas, but this place ... [Read More]

Catching the train to Changzhou

At a perfectly ungodly hour I met Sia this morning and headed off to catch a high-speed train to Changzhou for a day of meetings. China’s high-speed rail network is remarkable. Already the world’s largest, in little more than a year China is expected to have more miles of high-speed lines than the rest of the world put together. The miles of track constantly spitting trains out in every direction from Shanghai’s Hongqiao Railway Station are like arteries of the heart tirelessly pumping blood. It’s a sight to see. Being able to travel by train at speeds of up to 200 miles per hour reduces a 3-hour trek ... [Read More]