China - part I

China Blog Part 1

Terra Cotta Soldiers

China, the land of mystery, beauty, good food, good people and an unending sea of faces.

Wow, I remember as a kid growing up in Minnesota and hearing many stories about China. Most of the stories were of human rights violations or the imminent threat of communism.  Back in the late 80's I was flying to Manila with my family to participate in Nancy and Romel's wedding.  I looked out the plane window into the dark sky knowing that China was somewhere out my window.  What was happening in this mysterious land.  What if our plane crashed, would we be made to work as slaves?  These thoughts and many more raced through my unknowing mind.

Early in 2000, I got my first opportunity to visit this unknown land.  I met a work colleague (he's also a good friend) in Shanghai late one night. The flight was long from Minneapolis to Tokyo, then a short four hour flight to Shanghai Pudong Airport.  Finally arriving in Pudong, dead tired, I jumped in a taxi and hoped to make it to the hotel.  I sure was glad to see Leo at the hotel. I slept a few hours then wide awake thanks to jet lag.  Leo also couldn't sleep so we met for an early breakfast then out for a walk.  It was about 5:30 and the air was thick with humidity.  I couldn't believe it. How were we going to survive here for a few weeks.  

Soon we were on a plane to Qingdao where the weather was a little bit nicer.  The company van picked us up and we drove through the countryside along a very nice highway. The air conditioned Kia van hummed along and we both caught a little shut eye.  Soon it was time to get off the nice highway and onto the back roads. I was shocked and the huge difference between the main road with the nice BWMs, Mercedes, Buicks, Toyotas etc and the back roads with the donkeys and broken down trucks and masses of people.  We saw many buildings that were partially completed and then abandoned.  I was like a little kid staring out the window with my face pressed against the glass.

Near the Ming Tombs in Beijing

Eventually we arrived at the chemical plant where we were greeted by friendly Chinese and their foreign business partners.  We worked hard. One day we worked from 8 am until 5 am the next day. Then back to the hotel for an hour of sleep then back to work.  Eventually this pace wore us down and 10 days later we left the plant site with most of the machinery operational. We were too pooped to work anymore.  Leo made me laugh when we saw two men digging a hole. Leo said, "hey, those guys are digging to America!"  We both had a good laugh. 

When we arrived at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Qingdao, the cook took us aside and told us he'd make us anything we wanted as he could tell we were beat. He was on loan to the Crown Plaza from Chicago! We live in a strange world. After and good dinner and a walk along the ocean, I went back to my hotel room and watched Midway on the teley. Soon sleep. 

I've been to China 6 times since that first trip. Every time I go I am more relaxed and more in awe of this mysterious country.  In part two, I will forget the work part and tell you more about places such as Beijing, Shanghai, Harbin, Wenzhou, Urumqi, Xian, Hangzhou, Wushi, Shenzen and Hong Kong.  Also, plenty of photos.