February 24, 2010
February 20, 2010
NomNom
I grossed my son out this week with these pics, so thought I'd share. And yes, the scorpions were still moving when I snapped this...
February 12, 2010
"Visit is (almost) over. Have to buy tickets again."
Flying home tomorrow.
A nice mélange of constructive meetings with a clear path forward, coupled with wondrous experiences in a 'far off place'.
Still, looking forward to home.
Trinkets and Trash, Beijing-style.
The city has a very festive feel. Most Chinese take a week off around New Year to travel home and visit with family. There was a lot of 'Christmas Eve' type shopping going on today.
February 11, 2010
February 10, 2010
Not sure whether I'm keeping this or giving to my son
Made another trip to the Silk Market this afternoon after an early wrap to our meetings.
Picked up some cool trinkets, including this tin Arnold.
February 09, 2010
The 'TRON' building and its burnt out cousin
We're staying a couple of blocks from China's main TV headquarters, which, in the current haze, looks like something out of a Philip K. Dick novel, only re-imagined to be included in the gloom of a TRON world.
Next to it however is the burnt out shell that never opened. When I asked about it at dinner tonight, local urban legends abound. One irrefutable fact remains. It went up like a firecracker last Chinese New Year.
Posted via email from John Hutchings
UPDATE:
Here's a pic of me and said architectural wonder:
Business in China
A remarkable day of meetings with our client. I was amazed and humbled by my own 'small world' view, all at the same time.
The marketing, technology and advertising teams for our client consists of Taiwanese, Japanese, Korean, Hongkongese, oh, and Chinese. And guess what? We conducted all of the meeting sessions in English. And, they were two steps ahead of us (with regards to technology in particular) at almost every turn.
That whole "Selling in a Global Marketplace" thing. Well, it appears to be more than a theory. Witnessing it in action.
And, the same dinner conversations are universal. Complaints about commuting, a vibrant discussion about maternity leave rights, whether to use .php or Java for APIs (ok, maybe this last one was for us propeller heads over in the corner...)
Another curious fact. Of the native Beijingers at the table, 2 reluctantly confessed they had never been to the Great Wall...
Finally, a North American cliche come to life. Sent some clothes out to be laundered...look what happened to a pair of socks!
February 08, 2010
Hmmm...what shall we do today? Lots of steps, that's what.
It was a bit frosty and definitely snowy, but the sun managed to burn through. It was wondrous to see the scale of it and then to walk, or rather, scramble the thing. In some places, with the icy conditions, it was quite daunting.
One thing interesting that you have to see up close - Chinese over the years have left their personal mark on the Wall. Messages etched into the stone. Suppose you could call it graffiti, but I saw it more as generations leaving their near present mark as part of this monument's rich historical past.
February 07, 2010
Huh, I guess I'm in Beijing
Have been in transit/awake for 30h. now, so you'll have to bear with me.
We arrived here at about 5pm on Sunday (after leaving Calgary at 8am on Saturday). This whole International date line thing is a bit of a boggler.
We're staying in the Business district, but we still managed to stretch our legs tonight and visit a local 'goods' market. With Matt's haggling assistance, I procured a nice 'Rolex' as well as some other nifty doodads.
We're off to the Great Wall and other significant monuments tomorrow before doing what we came to do - business.
As an aside, and as you might well imagine, Twitter and Posterous are blocked here (at least on the network we have access to). After some Matrix-like lateral thinking, we figured out how to make this work.
I'll post up more photos as they come.
February 05, 2010
#United breaks guitars. Oh, and web forms #ux
Holy Crap. I'm not all that thrilled about flying United in the first place, but their 'express' web check-in is horrendous.
Not only is it about 5 pages long, it won't let me upgrade unless I register with them. I don't want to register, which means I'm about to pick up the phone.
Oh, and their flight status notification form is a doozy. "Enter your Pager's e-mail address". Really?
This does not bode well for an already weary traveler.
February 04, 2010
More predictions: Deloitte's take for 2010 in Canada
Deloitte's 2010 technology predictions were recently presented here in Calgary. I missed the live event, but here's a good analysis. You can also download the report here.