Xiamen: I arrived later in the afternoon and went directly to the branch office for some meetings. That night I went to dinner with some people from the office and went to stay at my boss's apartment with an Italian designer who shares office space with the branch office. The next morning I caught a flight to Shenzhen.
Shenzhen: Other than a dinner planned that night there wasn't a whole lot to do (in terms of meetings). So I grabbed lunch with a Chinese coworker and we discussed the views of Chinese people toward foreigners, especially foreign English teachers (Most foreigners I run into in Taiwan are teachers and most young foreigners in China tend to be of that persuasion. They are not always viewed well, and for good reason. A lot of them are jackasses or less than palatable characters). Then I went back and worked from the hotel. That night we had a good seafood dinner and I was reminded just how much Chinese people smoke. The next day we met with the agent we are trying to work with and had a demo that ended up less than stellar. On the plus side we had great Hakka food for lunch and he invited me back to drink next time I'm in Shenzhen. The agent drove us to the airport--it was a good thing I have a recollection of Chinese traffic or else I would have been too scared to open my eyes (driving the wrong way down a one way street from a freeway off ramp, that's fair play).
Beijing: The picture above is on the flight from Shenzhen to Beijing. The sign says jia you!, which is pronounced "g-ah yo" and mean "lets go" or "keep it up" but literally means "add gas." In a few weeks I'll write more about this picture and some others like it. The flight was funny since many Chinese people are not so used to travel on planes. The ones who aren't will always gather every one's tray close to them after a meal then jump up to give it to the flight attendants or leap out of their seats as soon as the plane lands (before the gate) to grab their overhead bags.
I'm not used to cold anymore, which is a problem considering it was below freezing in Beijing. This posed a problem as I have small luggage that I travel with so I don't have to check it. That meant I couldn't bring the one thick jacket I have in Taiwan. I tried to do layers and it was still damn cold. Still I was horrified to get mosquito bites when I was there; too cold for me but not too cold for mosquitoes
The meetings went well, the hotel was fine, transportation in the city is more convenient, I made a new friend, and I went to Sanlitun'r for a beer with that friend. A good day and two nights for sure. Maybe it was the cold. You see Beijing, used to be by far my favorite city in the world (excluding Portland). But after a year and a half of living in Taipei I feel really at home here (if I lived in Beijing I would probably feel the same about that city) and I feel comfortable. On top of that, the people are nicer and the women much prettier. To be sure, Beijing is still pretty damn cool.
Xiamen: Then I woke up early and flew back to Xiamen. I had planned to travel back to Taiwan and make it home in time for dinner. Instead, when I was in Beijing I found I would have to stay around to pick up some samples and that would potentially delay my return to Taipei until the next day (which I would have to work and this would give me only one day to get ready to leave for Cambodia). In the end, I picked up the samples after a great lunch and some 007 style intrigue that I didn't fully understand.
The were two other things that stood out for me in Xiamen. One was an angry taxi driver who waited at the airport for 2 hours only to drive me 4 minutes. He tried to rip me off but (30 Renminbi? What the hell is that?) but I got him to drop it and still gave him a little extra. election sticker. Then I also recieved an Taiwanese election campaign card when I was in China. Go figure.
It was nice to get back to Taipei.
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