It’s Wednesday evening, work is becoming more and more complicated. No one here knows what the hell is going on. The plant doesn’t have there storeroom built yet, which complicates things even more….there are barely any machines running…the Dragon project people and the plant people keep pushing responsibility on each other.
It’s going to be a tough road for the guy I’m training. I’m hoping he can think on his feet and stay ahead of the game…..time will tell….Oh well…enough about work.
Today was decent day for adventures. (Meaning the wind was only blowing 15 MPH) We decided to venture out into Pulandian for lunch. I can’t stress how bad it sucks to be working in Pulandian instead of Dalian. There is no food at the plant (Which wouldn’t matter anyways…prison food would be better). So there are two choices for lunch. You can either order food at the front gate…you have to have your order in by 10:00, or you can go into Pulandian’s downtown for lunch. The front gate is the key. We now have it pegged to be over a kilometer walk….so if you are walking that far anyways, you might as well take a taxi to get something better to eat downtown. It’s really cold in Pulandian. I think I described it before, but the walk into and out of the plant is horrible. The wind howls because it’s right on the ocean; it kicks up dirt, dust, and little rocks. Then the road turns to a dirt path full of rocks and dips. It’s not a lot of fun. So we made the walk down to the gate; we then caught a cab into town.
The town looks really small for one that is supposing to house 877,000 people. There are a few factories…I think one is a sugar refinery. The downtown is very plain. There isn’t much happening…I didn’t see a big market or anything. It just seemed like a quiet sleepy town.
We had lunch at a restaurant that was in a hotel. It was a pretty good spot. The food was really good, very clean…wasn’t what I was expecting. (Not that I ever know what to expect) We had some dumplings, pork, mushrooms, and some kind of sea weed that was actually spicy and delicious!
Tid-Bits
There is a Goodyear guy here that is the receiving clerk. He has an AWESOME name. Are you ready for his name? Are you? It’s……Tan Dan…..that’s right! And he has an insatiable desire to know all things Americano! Here are a couple of his questions:
Why Michael Jackson like little kids?
Gay get married?
What wrong with Brittany Spears?
I saw to lesbians in UK, why lesbian?
How rich is Justin Timberlake?
Where is hotel California?
Why is California? (Didn’t understand that one)
You vote for Mr. Obama?
Do you remember 9-11?
You like Tom and Jerry? (That made me laugh hard considering I watched Tom and Jerry waiting for dinner in Shanghai!)
Dan Tan is a riot! Everything that comes in the plant has to pass through Dan Tan. So there are constantly Americans trying to get the things they need to complete projects….and Dan Tan isn’t the fastest, plus he is constantly talking on a blue tooth. So someone is trying to be patient with him and get there part…when he just stops the conversation and starts talking on his cell phone. There’s a high level of frustration that is funny…it’s like people can’t believe it goes on this way…so they are mad, but laughing. Good stuff! I’m a big Dan Tan fan! I’m thinking of making the T-Shirt. I’m going to take his picture….DAN TAN FAN.
I had forgotten how annoying Chinese people are with cell phones. They are constantly on them. They all have crazy ring tones that blare loud as hell. The worst part is if they are on a land line they just let the thing ring and ring and ring! I’ve become use to it again, but for a few days it took some getting used to.
Here’s another funny thing. I recently bought a Livescribe pen. It is a pen that has a built in infra-red camera that records as you write, so you can upload your notes into your computer. It also records conversation as you are writing. It’s really saves time when you are trying to review your notes and backfill them.
I showed this pen to Steve Wu, who is the storeroom manager. He was amazed by the pen! He absolutely loved it. So he started telling other people in the plant about it. So everyday I’ve had at least one Chinese person come looking to see “The Magic Pen”. ….That’s what they call it. Someone will walk up, “Excuse me, you have magic pen?”
“Yes. I have a magic pen.” Then I show it to them…usually a crowd of three or four will gather around to look at it a second time. Everyone is amazed. Then one of them was looking at the docking station and noticed that it was made in China (Surprise). That sent everyone into a tizzy! Steven Wu wrote down every piece of information he could find on the pen. I’m sure one of them will show up with the same pen soon…..only they paid 10RMB for it (1.60). It’s been pretty funny. It’s actually been a good way to meet more people in the plant.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Forgotten Xian Story
It’s Tuesday in Dalian. The last blog I made mention of Bill Clinton and I crossing paths more than once. Once I was done visiting the Terracotta Warriors, you leave past the souvenir shop….not to be confused with the souvenir stands….which are my favorite, you can negotiate at those.
Woody tells me that one of the four villagers who discovered the Terracotta Warriors is in the gift shop signing copies of his book about the Terracotta Warriors….I look at Woody (Remember this is in the country side, most people can’t read or write…much) with a “Come on” look….”Write the book?”
Woody starts to laugh, “Of course not…but he sign the book about the Warriors”.
So we go in the store, and there is this little old guy sitting behind a giant stack of books…..just sitting there.
I am instantly attacked by a lady trying to get me to buy a book and have him sign it. (Which I want to do) I tell her to calm down…that’s what I’m here for. She then goes into a blathering chatter about how he’s very old and doesn’t come here much to sign books anymore….basically hyping that I’m the luckiest Westerner in the world….I happen to be here on the ONE day that he is here! Imagine my luck! I laugh and tell Woody we are fortunate, because he would only be here 6 more times in any given week. Woody laughs, “I think you are correct sir.”
So I’m trying to find a coffee table type book about the warriors to have this guy autograph, but they don’t have any….just a soft cover…it’s still nice. I then see that there is a picture on the wall of Bill Clinton on the wall, he’s shaking hands with the guy that I’m about to shake hands with. I thought that was kind of funny. It brought my six degrees of separation with Bubba down to 1. I explained that to Woody and he thought it was funny.
Monday night was a lot of fun. There was a big meeting for Goodyear on Tuesday that brought Woody and Simon to Dalian. Simon is a local Rockwell guy that you might remember from my last blog. He’s a great guy! He’s a lot of fun and I enjoy being able to spend time with him.
He arrived Monday evening; we met in the hotel lobby. Woody was still an hour out of arriving, so Simon and I walked around the corner to a German themed bar. The food is so-so, but the beer is good! We had giant beers and caught up. Then we called Jerry to see if he wanted to come out….he did, so finally it was Woody, Simon, Jerry and I. We had a great time. We went to another restaurant for dinner, and then had a few more beers. It was a great evening with good friends.
Today saw the departure of John Xie. He is one of the guys I have been working with from the local Rockwell team. We went and had dinner at a hot pot restaurant. We had a nice time. He was a really big help and he was a very nice guy. After dinner, I met Woody at the hotel bar to say good-bye to him. He is heading out tomorrow morning. Woody is one of my favorite people in China. He is a good friend. That’s the update for now….
Woody tells me that one of the four villagers who discovered the Terracotta Warriors is in the gift shop signing copies of his book about the Terracotta Warriors….I look at Woody (Remember this is in the country side, most people can’t read or write…much) with a “Come on” look….”Write the book?”
Woody starts to laugh, “Of course not…but he sign the book about the Warriors”.
So we go in the store, and there is this little old guy sitting behind a giant stack of books…..just sitting there.
I am instantly attacked by a lady trying to get me to buy a book and have him sign it. (Which I want to do) I tell her to calm down…that’s what I’m here for. She then goes into a blathering chatter about how he’s very old and doesn’t come here much to sign books anymore….basically hyping that I’m the luckiest Westerner in the world….I happen to be here on the ONE day that he is here! Imagine my luck! I laugh and tell Woody we are fortunate, because he would only be here 6 more times in any given week. Woody laughs, “I think you are correct sir.”
So I’m trying to find a coffee table type book about the warriors to have this guy autograph, but they don’t have any….just a soft cover…it’s still nice. I then see that there is a picture on the wall of Bill Clinton on the wall, he’s shaking hands with the guy that I’m about to shake hands with. I thought that was kind of funny. It brought my six degrees of separation with Bubba down to 1. I explained that to Woody and he thought it was funny.
Monday night was a lot of fun. There was a big meeting for Goodyear on Tuesday that brought Woody and Simon to Dalian. Simon is a local Rockwell guy that you might remember from my last blog. He’s a great guy! He’s a lot of fun and I enjoy being able to spend time with him.
He arrived Monday evening; we met in the hotel lobby. Woody was still an hour out of arriving, so Simon and I walked around the corner to a German themed bar. The food is so-so, but the beer is good! We had giant beers and caught up. Then we called Jerry to see if he wanted to come out….he did, so finally it was Woody, Simon, Jerry and I. We had a great time. We went to another restaurant for dinner, and then had a few more beers. It was a great evening with good friends.
Today saw the departure of John Xie. He is one of the guys I have been working with from the local Rockwell team. We went and had dinner at a hot pot restaurant. We had a nice time. He was a really big help and he was a very nice guy. After dinner, I met Woody at the hotel bar to say good-bye to him. He is heading out tomorrow morning. Woody is one of my favorite people in China. He is a good friend. That’s the update for now….
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Xian!
It’s Sunday night in Dalian. I just got back from Xian (She-on). I flew there early Friday morning. The flight is almost two hours from Dalian. When we landed, I couldn’t see the ground until we almost had the wheels down…which I thought was odd (More later). It was a great weekend, lots to share.
So a Rockwell distributor picked me up, and drove me to their office. I met Woody there….you may remember Woody as my host last time I was in Beijing. Woody is a great guy! I was really happy to see him again. Xian is so remote from the rest of the country, that our distributor has a much greater role there, than anywhere else in China….a little more along the lines of the American model. So I gave a presentation that I had put together the night before. It was a little hard because most of the distributor people did not speak English, but Woody did the translating. The meeting lasted for about two hours. Once it was over, Woody was able to borrow a car from the distributor for us to use Friday and Saturday. So we drove to the hotel, so that I could check in and drop my stuff off. We stayed at a Sheraton…which was nice, because I could collect some frequent stay points there!
Once I dropped my stuff off, we were out the door.
Xian is the ancient capital of China. It is located in the far west of China. To the northwest are mountains and to the southwest is a desert. Xian is the gateway to the West. It’s the first major Chinese city you come to if you come from the East. This is the start of “Silk Road”. Marco Polo came here in the 1400’s. The city is well over 3,100 years old.
The first thing you notice about Xian is the SMOG! It is horrible! You can’t see very far at all. It’s terrible! It’s the worst I’ve ever seen in China….and that’s saying something! Smoking would be the least of your problems here long term. I still can’t believe it. It amazed me every day. Once I can post my pictures you’ll see what I mean. It’s impossible to take a good long range picture.
HOWEVER! Don’t let that deter you from a visit to Xian. It is a wonderful place! The city is not developed compared to modern cities like Shanghai and Beijing…even Dalian. Which is cool; it’s like stepping back in time 25-30 years. There are very few skyscrapers by China standards. There are maybe 20 or 30 buildings over 15 floors….in a city of over 7 million people. It has more of a LA feel. It has a small downtown compared to the sprawl of homes and businesses. It’s really cool. Everything is very old, tons of scooters, bikes, and three wheel trucks!
I saw three accidents on the road in my three days there. Woody says it’s because cars have just started to become popular there. So they are learning to drive on the fly. It looks like the China you would see in the movies during the 80’s. Everyone is scurrying around on bikes with trailers attached that have boxes stacked to the sky. There are lots of street markets. The restaurants only serve food during specific hours. Then they are closed till the next meal. Most of the stores don’t stay open past 9 on the market streets. It’s like time forgot about this place until now. The only foreign hotel is the Sheraton.
That all being said….they are doing their best to catch up for lost time. There is construction everywhere!
The first place Woody took me was the Wild Goose Pagoda. It is an ancient Buddhist temple. It was built in 652. It is 7 stories high and has an accompanying complex full of halls. It was really cool. Woody got an English speaking tour guide who directed us around the complex. There is a hall where the walls are covered in story of the beginning of Buddhism. How the one they worship came to be and his accomplishments during his life. The entire picture is made of Jade and painted ceramics. It is really something to see.
After the tour they took us into a building where they sell paintings to support the temple. They are all done by local artists. They have a lot of copies of the same pictures but they are all a little different…they are all originals. Woody said it was the real deal, so I felt OK buying one. I bought a sweet cartoon looking picture of a Chinese guy with a giant sword. He is the Chinese version of Robin Hood.
After I picked my painting, they showed me how they wrote their language over 1000 years ago. They used rice paper and ink that is actually in the form of a rectangle, and then they rub it into water in a special bowl (Almost looks like an ash tray). There is a special property to the bowl, where the water won’t freeze once the temperature drops below 32.
The guy wrote my name, and then I wrote my name…pretty cool. I got to use a brush that was made the ancient way. I then got him to write both my nieces names in Chinese. Amazingly this was all free! (Rare for anywhere in China)
The next place we visited was the “City Wall”. The first wall was built in 194BCE. The wall was then rebuilt in 1370. It surrounds the original city. Once again, Woody got a translator to give me the tour. The wall was great! You can walk all the way around it if you want to. We walked one of the long sides. At 7 o’clock the lights come on…which is really cool. It was cool to think that Marco Polo once came upon this place. Oh! Also the South entrance is where Bill Clinton came through on his visit (I came through this entrance.) This is not the last time Bill Clinton and I will cross paths.
After that we had dinner with some Rockwell people. It was at one of the hotels…the food was good…except they ordered seafood (Not good in China). After that we had drinks in the hotel bar…listened to a Philippine band. We called it a night around midnight.
Saturday we went to another Buddhist Pagoda. This one was 1-1/2 hours out of Xian. Woody said he wanted to take me there because no foreigners ever go there. It’s big among the Chinese. Once we arrive…you can make out this giant diamond looking thing through the smog…which means it must be huge, because we are WAY away from it. We also now have a guide to direct us to the sites. Her name is Shine….I asked her if she went to jail for Puff Daddy to help him beat a wrap with J-Lo….she looked confused. (Some will get that reference…some will need help)
This place is way out in the country. There are no towns or villages around….just little clusters of homes. These are poor people…probably don’t know how to read or write.
Once we pull into the parking lot about 50 old Chinese women start chasing the car. I mean they are going as fast as they can…I’m a little nervous….I look at Woody…he could care less. They surround the car. I ask Woody what they want; he says “Probably sell something”.
I get out of the car….and they ATTACK! The best way I can describe it, is they look and sound like Jawas from Star Wars! They are all over me…none taller than 4-1/2 feet…..in fact….they sound JUST like Jawas. All of them are poking me with what I think are fireworks….bottle rockets. I ask Woody if they are leftovers from the Lantern Festival. Woody laughs, “They sell incense.”
Oh…..
They still look and sound like Jawas….and they are getting annoying. I can’t get away from them. I started putting some fake moves on to get away from them. I’ll never be confused for Barry Sanders, but I did get a couple to spin all the way around. Woody and Shine were cracking up. Finally another car pulled in…that got rid of all but a few.
So as we got to the front of the temple, there was one persistent Jawa. She started putting them in my pockets, yelling, “No Pressure! No Pressure!”
Hmmmmm….seems like pressure?
She followed us all the way to the gate, then she told Woody they were free, because she thought I was good luck….I broke down and gave her 20 RMB. I’m sure I gave her 20 times the value…but she was persistent…have to reward it with the equivalent of 2.80 U.S. money.
Once we got in this temple it was pretty impressive. It’s actually a site that the Chinese government spent a lot of money to restore and improve. They built a giant structure and new temple to compliment/dwarf the original pagoda. That’s the giant diamond looking thing. It’s HUGE! It’s actually a pair of hands as if they were put together overhead. It dominates the skyline…I wish it was clear to take a good picture….It had to be 30 to 40 stories high. It stood at the very end of a VERY long walkway. Along the walkway were GIANT Buddha statues. There are 8 of them set in opposing pairs along the walk way, each one is a different god. They are really something to see!
The walkway has to be close to a mile long. We end up taking a golf cart shuttle that takes us half way up the path to where the original pagoda is. I can’t remember the name of this one, but it was destroyed in an earthquake….then rebuilt using as much original stone as could be salvaged. The real attraction here is the discovery that happened after the earthquake.
The earthquake revealed a secret structure under the pagoda. This contained all kinds of artifacts. They had a museum that housed most of the artifacts. They were all over 1000 years old and truly impressive. There were b owls, boxes and small chests…all made from metal and rare stones. The craftsmanship is insane! It’s amazing to think that this level of skill existed 1000 years ago. It’s so detailed; it’s hard to think it could be done with hands and basic tools. The major discovery was a finger! I believe one of the fingers of the guy that began Buddhism…the equal to Jesus. It was really cool to walk around. I didn’t go to the new Buddhist temple. We still had another site to see.
We left the pagoda and went to lunch. It was a nice place…We had steamed broccoli that had a great taste to it. No one could tell me what created that taste…but it was the best broccoli I ever ate.
Next, we went to the tomb of the only Empress of China. Now those of you that might say…Ah! Wait, there was an empress in the Qing dynasty in Beijing! She was not legit, she stole it from her son. So the Chinese don’t recognize her as a true Empress….so now you know.
The tomb was about an hour from the pagoda….it was worth the trip! This place was awesome. It doesn’t look like much when you arrive….you can see giant wide ancient gate towers and a big mountain at the far end…but not much else…then you walk through the ticket gate….and your draw drops. You are standing halfway between the first pair of gates and the second pair of gates. The mountain is at one end 200 yards behind the gates. You are standing on an original giant stone path. When I say giant stone, I mean it is giant pieces of stone flattened and pushed together…almost like granite blocks. Along the sides are very large statues of warriors and different animals that protect the tomb. The total length of the path is probably 1/4 to just short of ½ a mile long. It is really impressive….
When you get to the top of the gates in front of the mountain, there are two large lions guarding the entrance. On each side are a bunch of headless figures…all life size. They are all dignitaries from other countries that came to pay respect for the Empress. The mountain is actually her tomb. It was dug out from the side of the mountain. It has never been disturbed. The government was going to excavate it, but there are large detections of Mercury. It is believed that a replica river full of mercury is buried in the tomb. The ancient Chinese were obsessed with Mercury. They used it for lots of things….never realizing it was killing them.
Woody had told me he was going to take me to some special places. He knows that I like to experience real China, things that the Chinese, see, do, or like. I always want to see the big stuff, but I like to get off the beaten path too. At both these sites I was the only foreigner that any of us saw. Woody said that foreigners rarely go to these places…they don’t know they are here. I appreciated that he took the time to take me to these places. It was really cool.
After that we went back to Xian. We dropped Shine off at her home, and then Woody took me to dinner. I asked him what we were having…he said he was taking me to “The Dumpling Feast”…..I am down with dumplings!
We get to this place…and it doesn’t look like a restaurant…I ask Woody what it is…turns out it is a Xian Opera House. We are going to see a Chinese Opera. We go in and it’s a good sized theatre. We are seated and they start bringing the dumplings….honestly the dumplings aren’t that good. I ask Woody if he likes them…he says, “Do you like them?”
“Not really, I’ve had better.”
Woody starts laughing, “I agree, I was putting on a good face for you!”
The show started at 8:00. The set up had three levels. We were seated on the back wall of the second level…pretty close to the stage. Once it got close to show time I noticed a lot of Chinese people were filling in the third level…which had been empty until now. They had brought some snacks and were talking as they ate them. I asked Woody what was going on. He told me that they just came for the show…not the dinner….smart Chinese!
The show was a traditional Tang Dynasty Opera. It had ten different acts…to display different types of music, stories, and action!
My favorite one was the warrior dance. This giant demon head came down from the ceiling and it’s eyes flashed red, while all these dancers wore dragon masks and danced and clapped their hands in unison. It was cool…kind of had a Klingon war party feel to it….maybe the night before they attack the Federation. It lasted about an hour and a half. It was a good time…I took lots of pictures. The music and dancing were great. It was a really nice experience.
Sunday! Today we went and saw the Warriors! All weekend I’ve been quoting the movie Warriors…which is great. “Warriors!....Come out and play!!” Woody has no idea what it means….might even be slightly annoyed by it….but I like it!
We checked out of the hotel at 8. My flight to Dalian was at 3:15; Woody had a flight to Beijing at 3:45. Shine met us at the hotel and we took off.
The Terracotta Warriors are a 2000 year old statue army of over 8,000 warriors, 130 chariots with 520 horses, and 150 Calvary horses that guard the tomb of the Emperor Shi Huangdi, the first Emperor of China. They were discovered by a four village farmers that were digging for a well.
The first time I came to China, this is one of three things I immediately thought of…and the Forbidden City and Great Wall of China…..So I was extremely excited to finish the hat trick!
The pits are numbered 1-3 in the order of discovery.
Pit 1 is the largest, and it is the pit discovered by the villagers.
It is AMAZING!
I don’t like to use that word a lot. It seems everyone uses it to describe just about anything…especially on Facebook.
“I went to dinner with my BFF…it was AMAZING”.
“Had dinner with the wife at a new restaurant the food was AMAZING”
“Watched little Johnny’s play….it was AMAZING”
It’s just a played word…it’s used so much out of context, that I don’t know if most people would know amazing if it hit them.
Anyways…back to the warriors…sorry!
It holds an estimated 6,000 soldiers. They are in ranks in a giant room! It’s big enough to put a football field in….maybe two. Each soldier is unique. They are all different…faces, slight height differences, body types…no two are the same. The level of detail is incredible. The bodies and heads were made separately then assembled once placed. It really is something to see. It’s even more amazing when you stop to remember that they are all over 2000 years old! The attention to detail is so great that the archers that are kneeling have details down to the sole of their shoes. There was a roof that protected the warriors, sometime in 2000 years the structure gave way and collapsed. Only one warrior is completely intact (Original). The other ones might be missing a hand or arm…or a chip out of the armor. Archeologists have put a lot of them back together where you can’t tell. It really is something to see. The completion of the army took 38 years!
The site is still active. Archeologists are working there still, uncovering new pieces, and putting together pieces. There are large portions of the site that remain buried. The warriors were also painted, but when exposed to air the paint faded quickly. So they are leaving them buried until a technology can be developed to ensure the paint remains.
Pit 2 is the cavalry and archers. Pit 3 is the Generals. Shine said that when it is tourism season, the entire site is packed, all the rails are covered with people. You have to wait to take pictures because it’s hard to get to the rail. While we were there, there were barely any people in the place. I could take pictures from anywhere I wanted. I am glad I got to go when I did.
Once we got done there, we went back to the city. We dropped Shine off at her house, and then Woody took me to an old part of Xian. (This is funny…being over 2000 years old) We walked around for a little bit. It was cool, lots of little restaurants and shops. Woody said we were going to get dumplings for lunch. He pointed to a place that looked as run down as possible….we walked in….this place couldn’t pass a health code inspection in Somalia! It is rough!....So I know it’s going to be good eats!
Woody tells me to sit down at a table….I look at the table and there is a guy sitting there. I point this out to Woody, he says, “Yes, we must eat at same table, no other table open”.
Of course! How could I have been so stupid! So I sit down. There is a girl across from me sitting on a stool with a cigar box of money. I notice that it’s not big denominations for China. They are the smaller bills…meaning less than a dollar. (If Jack Gray is reading this blog…I gave you one of these bills…it’s the small purple/red bill with three people on it.) I think it’s like 50 cents. I know this means we are not having an expensive meal…or even a cheap meal…we are having a poor meal….GAME ON! Let’s try it!
There is a little old lady working three large kettles in a room no bigger than a bathroom. She is flanked by her husband who is working two kettles, smoking a cigarette, and screaming out order numbers to the wait staff of 2. There is lots of noise and organized confusion going on. We get our food. Each of us gets a giant bowl of dumplings in a spicy red sauce/broth. They are delicious! It’s a huge portion too! Lots of dumplings!
I’m always amazed by people that won’t eat in these places….missing out on so much of life!
Finally we headed back to the airport….Ah!!!! Home! The one consistent thing in the world…the airport! They all work the same! It’s the most American part of travel….we invented it! This is REALLY when travel perks work the best. I fly China Southern in China. They are part of Delta’s Sky Team Alliance. So I can use the priority line…instead of getting behind 200 confused Chinese people…who may or may not be standing in the right line…but won’t know till they get to the front and argue for 30 minutes.
Security is funny in China. The first couple times I took anything metallic off and went through…it would still buzz; then I realized it buzz’s no matter what you do. You’re going to get the wand. So now I just take off my watch and throw the loose change in the holder….I leave my belt on…why go through the hassle…you’re still going to get the wand.
Closing message….if you are ever in China…go to Xian! It’s worth the trip! Even with the smog. Now I am back in Dalian…ready for another week of work.
So a Rockwell distributor picked me up, and drove me to their office. I met Woody there….you may remember Woody as my host last time I was in Beijing. Woody is a great guy! I was really happy to see him again. Xian is so remote from the rest of the country, that our distributor has a much greater role there, than anywhere else in China….a little more along the lines of the American model. So I gave a presentation that I had put together the night before. It was a little hard because most of the distributor people did not speak English, but Woody did the translating. The meeting lasted for about two hours. Once it was over, Woody was able to borrow a car from the distributor for us to use Friday and Saturday. So we drove to the hotel, so that I could check in and drop my stuff off. We stayed at a Sheraton…which was nice, because I could collect some frequent stay points there!
Once I dropped my stuff off, we were out the door.
Xian is the ancient capital of China. It is located in the far west of China. To the northwest are mountains and to the southwest is a desert. Xian is the gateway to the West. It’s the first major Chinese city you come to if you come from the East. This is the start of “Silk Road”. Marco Polo came here in the 1400’s. The city is well over 3,100 years old.
The first thing you notice about Xian is the SMOG! It is horrible! You can’t see very far at all. It’s terrible! It’s the worst I’ve ever seen in China….and that’s saying something! Smoking would be the least of your problems here long term. I still can’t believe it. It amazed me every day. Once I can post my pictures you’ll see what I mean. It’s impossible to take a good long range picture.
HOWEVER! Don’t let that deter you from a visit to Xian. It is a wonderful place! The city is not developed compared to modern cities like Shanghai and Beijing…even Dalian. Which is cool; it’s like stepping back in time 25-30 years. There are very few skyscrapers by China standards. There are maybe 20 or 30 buildings over 15 floors….in a city of over 7 million people. It has more of a LA feel. It has a small downtown compared to the sprawl of homes and businesses. It’s really cool. Everything is very old, tons of scooters, bikes, and three wheel trucks!
I saw three accidents on the road in my three days there. Woody says it’s because cars have just started to become popular there. So they are learning to drive on the fly. It looks like the China you would see in the movies during the 80’s. Everyone is scurrying around on bikes with trailers attached that have boxes stacked to the sky. There are lots of street markets. The restaurants only serve food during specific hours. Then they are closed till the next meal. Most of the stores don’t stay open past 9 on the market streets. It’s like time forgot about this place until now. The only foreign hotel is the Sheraton.
That all being said….they are doing their best to catch up for lost time. There is construction everywhere!
The first place Woody took me was the Wild Goose Pagoda. It is an ancient Buddhist temple. It was built in 652. It is 7 stories high and has an accompanying complex full of halls. It was really cool. Woody got an English speaking tour guide who directed us around the complex. There is a hall where the walls are covered in story of the beginning of Buddhism. How the one they worship came to be and his accomplishments during his life. The entire picture is made of Jade and painted ceramics. It is really something to see.
After the tour they took us into a building where they sell paintings to support the temple. They are all done by local artists. They have a lot of copies of the same pictures but they are all a little different…they are all originals. Woody said it was the real deal, so I felt OK buying one. I bought a sweet cartoon looking picture of a Chinese guy with a giant sword. He is the Chinese version of Robin Hood.
After I picked my painting, they showed me how they wrote their language over 1000 years ago. They used rice paper and ink that is actually in the form of a rectangle, and then they rub it into water in a special bowl (Almost looks like an ash tray). There is a special property to the bowl, where the water won’t freeze once the temperature drops below 32.
The guy wrote my name, and then I wrote my name…pretty cool. I got to use a brush that was made the ancient way. I then got him to write both my nieces names in Chinese. Amazingly this was all free! (Rare for anywhere in China)
The next place we visited was the “City Wall”. The first wall was built in 194BCE. The wall was then rebuilt in 1370. It surrounds the original city. Once again, Woody got a translator to give me the tour. The wall was great! You can walk all the way around it if you want to. We walked one of the long sides. At 7 o’clock the lights come on…which is really cool. It was cool to think that Marco Polo once came upon this place. Oh! Also the South entrance is where Bill Clinton came through on his visit (I came through this entrance.) This is not the last time Bill Clinton and I will cross paths.
After that we had dinner with some Rockwell people. It was at one of the hotels…the food was good…except they ordered seafood (Not good in China). After that we had drinks in the hotel bar…listened to a Philippine band. We called it a night around midnight.
Saturday we went to another Buddhist Pagoda. This one was 1-1/2 hours out of Xian. Woody said he wanted to take me there because no foreigners ever go there. It’s big among the Chinese. Once we arrive…you can make out this giant diamond looking thing through the smog…which means it must be huge, because we are WAY away from it. We also now have a guide to direct us to the sites. Her name is Shine….I asked her if she went to jail for Puff Daddy to help him beat a wrap with J-Lo….she looked confused. (Some will get that reference…some will need help)
This place is way out in the country. There are no towns or villages around….just little clusters of homes. These are poor people…probably don’t know how to read or write.
Once we pull into the parking lot about 50 old Chinese women start chasing the car. I mean they are going as fast as they can…I’m a little nervous….I look at Woody…he could care less. They surround the car. I ask Woody what they want; he says “Probably sell something”.
I get out of the car….and they ATTACK! The best way I can describe it, is they look and sound like Jawas from Star Wars! They are all over me…none taller than 4-1/2 feet…..in fact….they sound JUST like Jawas. All of them are poking me with what I think are fireworks….bottle rockets. I ask Woody if they are leftovers from the Lantern Festival. Woody laughs, “They sell incense.”
Oh…..
They still look and sound like Jawas….and they are getting annoying. I can’t get away from them. I started putting some fake moves on to get away from them. I’ll never be confused for Barry Sanders, but I did get a couple to spin all the way around. Woody and Shine were cracking up. Finally another car pulled in…that got rid of all but a few.
So as we got to the front of the temple, there was one persistent Jawa. She started putting them in my pockets, yelling, “No Pressure! No Pressure!”
Hmmmmm….seems like pressure?
She followed us all the way to the gate, then she told Woody they were free, because she thought I was good luck….I broke down and gave her 20 RMB. I’m sure I gave her 20 times the value…but she was persistent…have to reward it with the equivalent of 2.80 U.S. money.
Once we got in this temple it was pretty impressive. It’s actually a site that the Chinese government spent a lot of money to restore and improve. They built a giant structure and new temple to compliment/dwarf the original pagoda. That’s the giant diamond looking thing. It’s HUGE! It’s actually a pair of hands as if they were put together overhead. It dominates the skyline…I wish it was clear to take a good picture….It had to be 30 to 40 stories high. It stood at the very end of a VERY long walkway. Along the walkway were GIANT Buddha statues. There are 8 of them set in opposing pairs along the walk way, each one is a different god. They are really something to see!
The walkway has to be close to a mile long. We end up taking a golf cart shuttle that takes us half way up the path to where the original pagoda is. I can’t remember the name of this one, but it was destroyed in an earthquake….then rebuilt using as much original stone as could be salvaged. The real attraction here is the discovery that happened after the earthquake.
The earthquake revealed a secret structure under the pagoda. This contained all kinds of artifacts. They had a museum that housed most of the artifacts. They were all over 1000 years old and truly impressive. There were b owls, boxes and small chests…all made from metal and rare stones. The craftsmanship is insane! It’s amazing to think that this level of skill existed 1000 years ago. It’s so detailed; it’s hard to think it could be done with hands and basic tools. The major discovery was a finger! I believe one of the fingers of the guy that began Buddhism…the equal to Jesus. It was really cool to walk around. I didn’t go to the new Buddhist temple. We still had another site to see.
We left the pagoda and went to lunch. It was a nice place…We had steamed broccoli that had a great taste to it. No one could tell me what created that taste…but it was the best broccoli I ever ate.
Next, we went to the tomb of the only Empress of China. Now those of you that might say…Ah! Wait, there was an empress in the Qing dynasty in Beijing! She was not legit, she stole it from her son. So the Chinese don’t recognize her as a true Empress….so now you know.
The tomb was about an hour from the pagoda….it was worth the trip! This place was awesome. It doesn’t look like much when you arrive….you can see giant wide ancient gate towers and a big mountain at the far end…but not much else…then you walk through the ticket gate….and your draw drops. You are standing halfway between the first pair of gates and the second pair of gates. The mountain is at one end 200 yards behind the gates. You are standing on an original giant stone path. When I say giant stone, I mean it is giant pieces of stone flattened and pushed together…almost like granite blocks. Along the sides are very large statues of warriors and different animals that protect the tomb. The total length of the path is probably 1/4 to just short of ½ a mile long. It is really impressive….
When you get to the top of the gates in front of the mountain, there are two large lions guarding the entrance. On each side are a bunch of headless figures…all life size. They are all dignitaries from other countries that came to pay respect for the Empress. The mountain is actually her tomb. It was dug out from the side of the mountain. It has never been disturbed. The government was going to excavate it, but there are large detections of Mercury. It is believed that a replica river full of mercury is buried in the tomb. The ancient Chinese were obsessed with Mercury. They used it for lots of things….never realizing it was killing them.
Woody had told me he was going to take me to some special places. He knows that I like to experience real China, things that the Chinese, see, do, or like. I always want to see the big stuff, but I like to get off the beaten path too. At both these sites I was the only foreigner that any of us saw. Woody said that foreigners rarely go to these places…they don’t know they are here. I appreciated that he took the time to take me to these places. It was really cool.
After that we went back to Xian. We dropped Shine off at her home, and then Woody took me to dinner. I asked him what we were having…he said he was taking me to “The Dumpling Feast”…..I am down with dumplings!
We get to this place…and it doesn’t look like a restaurant…I ask Woody what it is…turns out it is a Xian Opera House. We are going to see a Chinese Opera. We go in and it’s a good sized theatre. We are seated and they start bringing the dumplings….honestly the dumplings aren’t that good. I ask Woody if he likes them…he says, “Do you like them?”
“Not really, I’ve had better.”
Woody starts laughing, “I agree, I was putting on a good face for you!”
The show started at 8:00. The set up had three levels. We were seated on the back wall of the second level…pretty close to the stage. Once it got close to show time I noticed a lot of Chinese people were filling in the third level…which had been empty until now. They had brought some snacks and were talking as they ate them. I asked Woody what was going on. He told me that they just came for the show…not the dinner….smart Chinese!
The show was a traditional Tang Dynasty Opera. It had ten different acts…to display different types of music, stories, and action!
My favorite one was the warrior dance. This giant demon head came down from the ceiling and it’s eyes flashed red, while all these dancers wore dragon masks and danced and clapped their hands in unison. It was cool…kind of had a Klingon war party feel to it….maybe the night before they attack the Federation. It lasted about an hour and a half. It was a good time…I took lots of pictures. The music and dancing were great. It was a really nice experience.
Sunday! Today we went and saw the Warriors! All weekend I’ve been quoting the movie Warriors…which is great. “Warriors!....Come out and play!!” Woody has no idea what it means….might even be slightly annoyed by it….but I like it!
We checked out of the hotel at 8. My flight to Dalian was at 3:15; Woody had a flight to Beijing at 3:45. Shine met us at the hotel and we took off.
The Terracotta Warriors are a 2000 year old statue army of over 8,000 warriors, 130 chariots with 520 horses, and 150 Calvary horses that guard the tomb of the Emperor Shi Huangdi, the first Emperor of China. They were discovered by a four village farmers that were digging for a well.
The first time I came to China, this is one of three things I immediately thought of…and the Forbidden City and Great Wall of China…..So I was extremely excited to finish the hat trick!
The pits are numbered 1-3 in the order of discovery.
Pit 1 is the largest, and it is the pit discovered by the villagers.
It is AMAZING!
I don’t like to use that word a lot. It seems everyone uses it to describe just about anything…especially on Facebook.
“I went to dinner with my BFF…it was AMAZING”.
“Had dinner with the wife at a new restaurant the food was AMAZING”
“Watched little Johnny’s play….it was AMAZING”
It’s just a played word…it’s used so much out of context, that I don’t know if most people would know amazing if it hit them.
Anyways…back to the warriors…sorry!
It holds an estimated 6,000 soldiers. They are in ranks in a giant room! It’s big enough to put a football field in….maybe two. Each soldier is unique. They are all different…faces, slight height differences, body types…no two are the same. The level of detail is incredible. The bodies and heads were made separately then assembled once placed. It really is something to see. It’s even more amazing when you stop to remember that they are all over 2000 years old! The attention to detail is so great that the archers that are kneeling have details down to the sole of their shoes. There was a roof that protected the warriors, sometime in 2000 years the structure gave way and collapsed. Only one warrior is completely intact (Original). The other ones might be missing a hand or arm…or a chip out of the armor. Archeologists have put a lot of them back together where you can’t tell. It really is something to see. The completion of the army took 38 years!
The site is still active. Archeologists are working there still, uncovering new pieces, and putting together pieces. There are large portions of the site that remain buried. The warriors were also painted, but when exposed to air the paint faded quickly. So they are leaving them buried until a technology can be developed to ensure the paint remains.
Pit 2 is the cavalry and archers. Pit 3 is the Generals. Shine said that when it is tourism season, the entire site is packed, all the rails are covered with people. You have to wait to take pictures because it’s hard to get to the rail. While we were there, there were barely any people in the place. I could take pictures from anywhere I wanted. I am glad I got to go when I did.
Once we got done there, we went back to the city. We dropped Shine off at her house, and then Woody took me to an old part of Xian. (This is funny…being over 2000 years old) We walked around for a little bit. It was cool, lots of little restaurants and shops. Woody said we were going to get dumplings for lunch. He pointed to a place that looked as run down as possible….we walked in….this place couldn’t pass a health code inspection in Somalia! It is rough!....So I know it’s going to be good eats!
Woody tells me to sit down at a table….I look at the table and there is a guy sitting there. I point this out to Woody, he says, “Yes, we must eat at same table, no other table open”.
Of course! How could I have been so stupid! So I sit down. There is a girl across from me sitting on a stool with a cigar box of money. I notice that it’s not big denominations for China. They are the smaller bills…meaning less than a dollar. (If Jack Gray is reading this blog…I gave you one of these bills…it’s the small purple/red bill with three people on it.) I think it’s like 50 cents. I know this means we are not having an expensive meal…or even a cheap meal…we are having a poor meal….GAME ON! Let’s try it!
There is a little old lady working three large kettles in a room no bigger than a bathroom. She is flanked by her husband who is working two kettles, smoking a cigarette, and screaming out order numbers to the wait staff of 2. There is lots of noise and organized confusion going on. We get our food. Each of us gets a giant bowl of dumplings in a spicy red sauce/broth. They are delicious! It’s a huge portion too! Lots of dumplings!
I’m always amazed by people that won’t eat in these places….missing out on so much of life!
Finally we headed back to the airport….Ah!!!! Home! The one consistent thing in the world…the airport! They all work the same! It’s the most American part of travel….we invented it! This is REALLY when travel perks work the best. I fly China Southern in China. They are part of Delta’s Sky Team Alliance. So I can use the priority line…instead of getting behind 200 confused Chinese people…who may or may not be standing in the right line…but won’t know till they get to the front and argue for 30 minutes.
Security is funny in China. The first couple times I took anything metallic off and went through…it would still buzz; then I realized it buzz’s no matter what you do. You’re going to get the wand. So now I just take off my watch and throw the loose change in the holder….I leave my belt on…why go through the hassle…you’re still going to get the wand.
Closing message….if you are ever in China…go to Xian! It’s worth the trip! Even with the smog. Now I am back in Dalian…ready for another week of work.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Lantern Festival
It’s Thursday night in Dalian. Today was the end of the Chinese New Year. It’s been like the Fourth of July since 5:oo PM. There are more fireworks going off than you could imagine….way more than we set off on any holiday. The end of the New Year is celebrated with the Lantern Festival. The whole city has lights strung up across the main roads. People are firing fireworks like they are going out of style…EVERYONE has a firework. It’s crazy! I’m not talking about little fire crackers…I mean the big ones, that shoot way up in the sky. People are setting them off in the middle of the street.
We went to dinner at a Korean BBQ, which is cool. They basically have a little charcoal grill built into the table, then you roast your meat choices on top of it. It’s a lot of fun. I was at dinner with two RA guys. John Xie (She-ya) and I were having a little bit of a power struggle over the grill until he announced that he was paying the bill, so he runs the grill….cool in my book!
The restaurant’s front was a glass wall, so I could see everything going on outside. So we sat there grilling the food and watching fireworks go off. Now Dalian is about the size of Chicago, so we aren’t looking out at a normal street. This street has high rises reaching for the sky. The smallest one is probably 25 floors.
As you watch out the window, you see people standing in the middle of the street, setting up fireworks. They all launch out of boxes, but are HUGE! The one’s you see on the 4th. They make giant explosions that cascade down, some of them have the little twirly bursts that flutter to the ground sparking.
The traffic is heavy during all of this. There are city buses rushing by, cars, trucks, people on scooters, and on bikes. Then you see these rockets rushing into the night sky…right as a car goes by. Then there is a giant explosion above! Sparks are shooting everywhere! It’s crazy! The Chinese are living on borrowed time with this program. I can’t believe China hasn’t burned down every year with this going on. It’s insane!
Then on every corner….I mean EVERY CORNER! There are kids running around with a HUGE thing of fire crackers. They look like they are carrying M-60 ammunition to the next foxhole. These things are massive. Once they pick out a spot (I couldn’t figure out what a good spot was for this arsenal). They would drop them on the ground and light them. (The kids are maybe 8-10) Then the explosion starts. I witnessed the start of these at the beginning of two red lights….they were still going when we pulled away. I timed one at dinner and it lasted a minute and 5 seconds. It’s crazy….AND sooooo loud. You have to raise your voice in the building as they are going off in the streets…..now I don’t know if it’s because they are so loud…or poor construction…..no…they are loud.
It was something to see, the whole city was intent on burning itself down.
I also have some exciting news! I am going to Xian tomorrow. That is the ancient capital of China. It is also where the Terracata Warriors are. This is a sculpted army that was created to protect the emperor’s tomb. It was discovered in the 1970’s. It is the one thing I didn’t get to see last time in China. I’m VERY excited. This is a big one! There is more history there than in Beijing. I have a meeting on Friday at our Rockwell office, then the weekend to explore! My friend Woody is there so he will be my guide. He is from Beijing, and we really hit it off last time. He had me to his home where I attempted to make dumplings. So it will be a great time! My plane leaves at 7:30AM, so I had to cut my Lantern Festival short….well worth the sacrifice. We’ll that’s it for tonight! Warriors! Come out and play!!!
We went to dinner at a Korean BBQ, which is cool. They basically have a little charcoal grill built into the table, then you roast your meat choices on top of it. It’s a lot of fun. I was at dinner with two RA guys. John Xie (She-ya) and I were having a little bit of a power struggle over the grill until he announced that he was paying the bill, so he runs the grill….cool in my book!
The restaurant’s front was a glass wall, so I could see everything going on outside. So we sat there grilling the food and watching fireworks go off. Now Dalian is about the size of Chicago, so we aren’t looking out at a normal street. This street has high rises reaching for the sky. The smallest one is probably 25 floors.
As you watch out the window, you see people standing in the middle of the street, setting up fireworks. They all launch out of boxes, but are HUGE! The one’s you see on the 4th. They make giant explosions that cascade down, some of them have the little twirly bursts that flutter to the ground sparking.
The traffic is heavy during all of this. There are city buses rushing by, cars, trucks, people on scooters, and on bikes. Then you see these rockets rushing into the night sky…right as a car goes by. Then there is a giant explosion above! Sparks are shooting everywhere! It’s crazy! The Chinese are living on borrowed time with this program. I can’t believe China hasn’t burned down every year with this going on. It’s insane!
Then on every corner….I mean EVERY CORNER! There are kids running around with a HUGE thing of fire crackers. They look like they are carrying M-60 ammunition to the next foxhole. These things are massive. Once they pick out a spot (I couldn’t figure out what a good spot was for this arsenal). They would drop them on the ground and light them. (The kids are maybe 8-10) Then the explosion starts. I witnessed the start of these at the beginning of two red lights….they were still going when we pulled away. I timed one at dinner and it lasted a minute and 5 seconds. It’s crazy….AND sooooo loud. You have to raise your voice in the building as they are going off in the streets…..now I don’t know if it’s because they are so loud…or poor construction…..no…they are loud.
It was something to see, the whole city was intent on burning itself down.
I also have some exciting news! I am going to Xian tomorrow. That is the ancient capital of China. It is also where the Terracata Warriors are. This is a sculpted army that was created to protect the emperor’s tomb. It was discovered in the 1970’s. It is the one thing I didn’t get to see last time in China. I’m VERY excited. This is a big one! There is more history there than in Beijing. I have a meeting on Friday at our Rockwell office, then the weekend to explore! My friend Woody is there so he will be my guide. He is from Beijing, and we really hit it off last time. He had me to his home where I attempted to make dumplings. So it will be a great time! My plane leaves at 7:30AM, so I had to cut my Lantern Festival short….well worth the sacrifice. We’ll that’s it for tonight! Warriors! Come out and play!!!
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Negotiations
So a nice early Wednesday morning…got up....took my time getting ready….it seemed to be going pretty well. Then I went down and got in the car with Mr. Gee. We headed out to pick up Fran (The new AMP). Mr. Gee went through the Dances With Wolves game with me. I said I understood. We get to Fran’s crib and lone and behold the Goodyear Store Manager is standing with Fran. He needs a ride too. That’s fine, so everyone piles into Mr. Gee’s car and we head out.
Once we were on the road for about 15 minutes, Mr. Gee starts talking…non stop…it goes on for like 20 minutes. Fran keeps agreeing, Steven (GY guy) starts agreeing. Everyone knows what is going on but me. Once it was quite, then Fran started talking, then Steven, then a rebuttal from Mr. Gee. Finally I was able to ask Fran, “What’s the deal?”
Fran says, “Ah! You understand!?”
I look at him completely confused now, “No…I don’t understand, what’s the deal?”
“Yes! Problems with deal!”
I slow Fran down, and explain that I have no idea what is going on.
Fran explains that Mr. Gee made a mistake in his calculations on the rate of the ride. He says he isn’t making any money. It’s actually funny that Mr. Gee said this, because I was thinking the same thing yesterday. He drives us an hour each way, and it’s a toll road. So I thought his margins were a little slim.
Fran is absolutely pissed about this predicament. A whole new round of talks starts up. I let it go for about 10 minutes…mostly because there is nothing else to do, and I like trying to see if I can figure out who is winning. It seems to me that Mr. Gee is winning (I expect that from my lady killer driver).
Finally I stop the conversation and ask Fran, “What happens if I say I will only pay the 300RMB? No more.”
“Then, Mr. Gee no drive you anymore.”
“OK, well, how much more does Mr. Gee want?”
“He want 50RMB (7 Dollars), I think that too much!”
“Fran, tell him it’s OK, I’ll pay it.”
Fran was not happy with me the rest of the ride. I tried to keep it light for Fran, but he was PISSED!
We finally got to the plant, calmed Fran down, and made the walk across the bleak waste land. (I took a picture of this stretch…just to prove that I’m not exaggerating.)
The day went pretty well, we got a lot of stuff done. We had to go back to Dalian early for a meeting, but all in all, a good day.
Once work was done, we went to the Peking Duck place in Dalian. It is under the same ownership as the one in Beijing that everyone loves (Including any American that goes there!), but it’s not as good…it’s very good, but Beijing is the best!
I went there with two Rockwell people…one of them was STEEL! He came up to Dalian for some work with Goodyear. I drank a bunch of beer, they drank some….we had the duck! Delicious! We also had Duck hearts…which are awesome! I guarantee if you didn’t know what they were, you’d eat them like they were going out of style! Absolutely delicious! (They are cooked). One nice thing about a return trip is the people you became friends with. Now you don’t have that discovery period. You are already comfortable; it’s just a good meal with good friends. It’s cool to be able to have that half way around the world.
Once we were on the road for about 15 minutes, Mr. Gee starts talking…non stop…it goes on for like 20 minutes. Fran keeps agreeing, Steven (GY guy) starts agreeing. Everyone knows what is going on but me. Once it was quite, then Fran started talking, then Steven, then a rebuttal from Mr. Gee. Finally I was able to ask Fran, “What’s the deal?”
Fran says, “Ah! You understand!?”
I look at him completely confused now, “No…I don’t understand, what’s the deal?”
“Yes! Problems with deal!”
I slow Fran down, and explain that I have no idea what is going on.
Fran explains that Mr. Gee made a mistake in his calculations on the rate of the ride. He says he isn’t making any money. It’s actually funny that Mr. Gee said this, because I was thinking the same thing yesterday. He drives us an hour each way, and it’s a toll road. So I thought his margins were a little slim.
Fran is absolutely pissed about this predicament. A whole new round of talks starts up. I let it go for about 10 minutes…mostly because there is nothing else to do, and I like trying to see if I can figure out who is winning. It seems to me that Mr. Gee is winning (I expect that from my lady killer driver).
Finally I stop the conversation and ask Fran, “What happens if I say I will only pay the 300RMB? No more.”
“Then, Mr. Gee no drive you anymore.”
“OK, well, how much more does Mr. Gee want?”
“He want 50RMB (7 Dollars), I think that too much!”
“Fran, tell him it’s OK, I’ll pay it.”
Fran was not happy with me the rest of the ride. I tried to keep it light for Fran, but he was PISSED!
We finally got to the plant, calmed Fran down, and made the walk across the bleak waste land. (I took a picture of this stretch…just to prove that I’m not exaggerating.)
The day went pretty well, we got a lot of stuff done. We had to go back to Dalian early for a meeting, but all in all, a good day.
Once work was done, we went to the Peking Duck place in Dalian. It is under the same ownership as the one in Beijing that everyone loves (Including any American that goes there!), but it’s not as good…it’s very good, but Beijing is the best!
I went there with two Rockwell people…one of them was STEEL! He came up to Dalian for some work with Goodyear. I drank a bunch of beer, they drank some….we had the duck! Delicious! We also had Duck hearts…which are awesome! I guarantee if you didn’t know what they were, you’d eat them like they were going out of style! Absolutely delicious! (They are cooked). One nice thing about a return trip is the people you became friends with. Now you don’t have that discovery period. You are already comfortable; it’s just a good meal with good friends. It’s cool to be able to have that half way around the world.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Palundian
It’s Tuesday evening here in Dalian. I’m going to try and catch up my blog to be current here. It’s been a couple of busy days. There’s been a lot to do, travel…etc….
I arrived in Dalian on Sunday night. My flight got in at 5:00 local time. I was on an Airbus A320. I’ve flown on those lots of times. In the U.S. the seats are crammed and if someone reclines you’re eating a head rest. Well, in China, you’re still eating a head rest, but the seats are bigger! This is crazy; because the people are generally smaller! Plus, the flight was 1:40 minutes, or ten minutes longer than a flight from Milwaukee to Atlanta. They served a whole meal to the plane (I didn’t eat it of course!). Delta can’t do that in the U.S. Also, I forgot until we landed about the deplaning in China. Every man for himself! Just like the elevators. A guy and girl were racing up the aisle as soon as we started to taxi on landing. An old lady hip checked me back to my seat while I tried to grab my backpack. Standard issue for a Chinese plane ride!
Once I got into Dalian, I had a car pick me up at the airport. The driver had an America n music CD playing for my enjoyment. The second song was Ricky Nelson “Travelling Man”. Great tune! A McConnell classic, both my parents were big Ricky Nelson fans, so all of us kids became fans as well. So I asked the driver to turn up the volume…it took a minute but we got it done. Then I started singing the song and the driver joined in! He knew the words! So it must be popular over here. We sang it all the way to the hotel…played it three times. He liked that we sang together. Good times!
The hotel I’m staying in this time is great! Not that any of them are bad, but this is a brand new hotel. It’s really big. They had started construction on it last time I was here. So much has changed in Dalian since I was here last that it’s hard to believe. There are three new high rises on the hotel’s street. They removed the bootleg Olive Garden and Pizza King (Which is fine). The very end of the street use to have a model ship in the middle of the square. It’s now gone and they are putting in a subway system. That is going to be an entrance. Just tons of change and growth! It’s got to be a very exciting time to live in China.
I met Jerry later in the evening. He is the guy I trained last time I was here. He’s graduated on to bigger things. He is now an instructor for Rockwell, and he is soon to take on a new role as an SA. I won’t bore you with the details, but I’m proud of him. He’s doing well. He also has visited the U.S. since I last saw him. (I was in Mexico during his U.S. visit). Apparently a lot of people took him out drinking while he was there. I think Jerry assumes everyone in America drinks 12 Jager bombs nightly. Suffice it to say, Jerry had a lot of fun in Cleveland. I can’t imagine what he’d do in Chicago. He’s going back to Dallas in early March. I’m going to send him to Billy Bob’s in Ft. Worth. It might make his head explode.
We had dinner and drinks, he remembered the names of all my brothers and asked how they were doing. I thought that was nice. I’m going to go back to his hometown one of the weekends I’m here to visit his family again. I can’t wait! I had a great time on my last visit.
The new Rockwell AMP named Fran was with us at dinner. I felt a little bad because Jerry and I were doing so much catching up. The poor guy felt a little out of place in a sea of booze, beer, smoking, and Philippine band music. I felt at home.
I did learn something interesting about Fran. Apparently Fran slipped one past the goalie. His girlfriend of six months is pregnant. I’m not sure how all this plays out. Fran is keeping it a secret from his parents, but her parents know….hmmmm….The Panda will have to investigate further…stay tuned fans!
Monday I met Fran at the Rockwell office. We spent the day reviewing our program and what he needed to learn. I told Fran we needed to have some materials printed for the launch. He wasn’t sure where we should go. I smiled and told him I knew a little place around the corner.
If you read my blog last time, there was quite a bit of discussion about a print shop that Jerry and I visited. I took Fran there and said these people would be able to get everything we need. We walked in the door and the same lady was working there. I smiled and said Ni Hao, she got all excited and started talking real fast. Fran got this amazed look on his face, looked at me, and said, “She remembers you!”
I said, “Yeah, we go way back.”
I then proceeded to tell Fran exactly what to ask her for. Fran would look at me and say I don’t think they will have such a thing here….”Fran, just ask her, she’ll get it, and try to keep up.”
Fran started translating what I said, and she just kept shaking her head yes. She would walk to the back corner and start pulling stuff out. It kind of had the feel of an action movie, where the hero is going to his weapons dealer to get all the guns he needs to defeat the bad guys…only I was ordering printed material and office supplies. Fran was completely in awe.
This time the trip only took about ½ an hour. I paid for the stuff (Cash) and we agreed I would pick it up on Tuesday afternoon. I got a 50 RMB discount (7 dollars) for not asking for a receipt. Once we left Fran was still in awe that the lady and I remembered each other, and that I knew she had all those things. It was funny.
Tuesday we headed out to Palundian. There are four ways to get to the Goodyear plant: A bus full of Goodyear workers, a taxi, a train + taxi, or hire a driver. I chose option 4- hire a driver. I had Fran do some recon before I got there. He found the driver and got it all set up. Here’s a run down of the problems with the others.
1. Bus- No Me Gusta! This option is full of the general labor for the plant. It has a specific pick up time. I would have to take a taxi to a designated point, and then hop the bus with them. No Ex-Pats travel this way…really never an option. The Goodyear people would look at you strange if you did this.
2. Train + Taxi- This one was appealing to me, I love trains! However I was voted out on this one, neither Fran nor Jerry thought it was a good way to travel every day. I thought it would be great! Still not sure why this wasn’t good.
3. Taxi- This one is viable, but you have the problem of the taxi driver possibly not knowing where the plant is in Palundian. It’s a crap shoot. Probably not very consistent, and it’s hard to get a cab in Palundian….which I’ll cover later.
4. Hire a Driver- Best way to go. This guy shows up at my hotel every morning at the same time. He drives you to the plant, then comes back at a predetermined time and picks you up. The cost is the same as a taxi ride out there. It cost 300RMB for one round trip. That is 45 dollars round trip, 22.50 one way. The funny part is that pays for an hour drive…maybe a little longer each way. The same cab ride in America would cost easily over 100.00 each way.
So this morning I met my driver, Mr. Gee (G), who is AWESOME! He’s my one man G-Unit! I have a great picture of him that I took today. (I’m taking pictures of all this stuff, but can’t post them directly.) He doesn’t speak a lick of English, but Fran was there to translate…On a side note, Fran doesn’t like to translate like Jerry did. Jerry and I would have a conversation with a driver or local forever. Jerry would really get into it. Fran doesn’t have that same quality. I struggle to get him going…I don’t think he knows how to take it.
So, I have Fran ask Mr. Gee all kinds of questions on the way out there. I have to know this guy, he’s my driver, right!? Mr. Gee is from Palundian. He is a driver for hire taking people back and forth between Dalian and Palundian. He use to sell farm equipment but gave that up for driving. He’s married and has a son. He likes to play Ping Pong and wants to play me in a game….step easy Mr. Gee! He drives a Hyundai, it’s pretty new and very nice inside.
He told Fran to tell me that he likes me because I like to talk. He said that most people just sit in the car and say nothing. “That’s how I roll Mr. Gee.” Fran didn’t know how to translate that one at first.
Mr. Gee description: He is about 5’7, 50 years old. He has black hair (I’m sure I’m not making headlines with my description so far) He wears a black leather coat that looks newer, but has a hood on it (Strange). His hat is more of a traditional hat…it’s black…it almost looks like a stocking cap that’s been chopped off half way up and sewn closed. Actually, in all honesty, he looks a little like a stylin elf. In fact, I would say the hat looks just like an elf’s hat except cut off half way up. It flops down the back, it actually looks pretty good on the guy….I bet Mr. Gee had all the ladies chasing him when he was younger…I look for that in a driver…I think…although this is my first driver….but I think I would look for these qualities.
Anyways, I have already decided that Mr. Gee and I are going to have beers together before this trip is through…actually that will be pretty funny….I’ll have to get a driver for my driver….I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Mr. Gee took us to the Goodyear plant. The town of Planudian has 200,000 people living in it. This is extremely small for the Chinese…not really even a village…just a blip on the map. However, I think the Chinese government has decided this area is going to be developed for an industrial base. There are other plants going up all over the country side. The whole area is small worn down homes and giant factories being built…with the Yellow Sea for a backdrop….and of course, smog. We pulled up to the plant, IT IS HUGE! It’s the biggest tire plant I’ve ever seen. It’s massive! It sits right on a bay of the Yellow sea.
When you approach the street the plant sits on, the ocean is behind it, a mountain bluff to the right, and a vast unforgiving country in the front. The whole place is still under construction. There is no road from the gate. You have to walk this dirt and rock path all the way to the building. The walk to the building is just over 1/4 a mile. There is no direct path, and the stone/dirt/gravel/junk path is a little treacherous at times. The whole approach has a feel like some of the scenery in The Road. Once you get to the building, it’s a good 1/4 mile through the building! It’s that big! I bet I walked a good three miles today (I say that because I made at least three trips to almost the guard gate from the back today alone!). We had several meetings in parts of the plant that took 20 minutes to walk to. It takes a good 25-30 minutes to walk to the back of the plant from the road…a lot of that time is the unforgiving terrain you have to cross. The whole plant inside is brand new. Only one machine is coming over from the old plant…the funniest thing was the bathroom….Brand new bathroom….same horrible Chinese bathroom smell!
We had several meetings with management at the plant. I got some understanding of our underlying issues…what we need to work on and improve…lots of things to get done!
Once the day was done, Mr. Gee came and picked us up. There is a funny story here. I was sitting at a table waiting for Fran, when I struck up a conversation with the Supply Chain Management guy at the plant. He was a local. I talked to him for a little while; he asked me where I was from in the U.S., things like that. After I had talked to him for a while, I remembered that I had a bunch of loose change in my bag. I always throw my change on the road into a compartment of my backpack, and then usually I dump it whenever I get home. I left it in there this time to have coins to give away…just something dumb to do. So I gave this guy a quarter, well, there were two more people sitting by him. I gave them each a quarter. They all got a kick out of it and I didn’t think anything more.
Finally Fran comes back and we leave. We make the walk all the way back to the gate. A truck driver pulls up, rolls down his window, it’s the one of the people I gave a quarter to. He says something to Fran. Fran looks at me and says that I left my cell phone on the table in the office…MAN!!!!!!!!!! Then Fran says, “Not to worry, he remembers you give him American money, he give me ride back to get your phone, you wait with Mr. Gee.”
Best quarter I ever spent.
Fran told Mr. Gee what was going on, I then sat in the back of the car. Mr. Gee and I then played a game much like Kevin Costner and Kicking Bird played in Dances with Wolves trying to talk about Ta-Tonkas. I would gesture to the car and say “Car”. I would then ask for Chinese….this confused Mr. Gee for a few minutes, then I tried other things and eventually he got what I was selling. We traded words for Car, Hand, Coat, and I think seat…but that could have been other things…tough one. It was great entertainment while waiting for the quarter express.After all this excitement, Fran and I picked up the printing, and had Hot Pot for dinner…which always rocks!
I arrived in Dalian on Sunday night. My flight got in at 5:00 local time. I was on an Airbus A320. I’ve flown on those lots of times. In the U.S. the seats are crammed and if someone reclines you’re eating a head rest. Well, in China, you’re still eating a head rest, but the seats are bigger! This is crazy; because the people are generally smaller! Plus, the flight was 1:40 minutes, or ten minutes longer than a flight from Milwaukee to Atlanta. They served a whole meal to the plane (I didn’t eat it of course!). Delta can’t do that in the U.S. Also, I forgot until we landed about the deplaning in China. Every man for himself! Just like the elevators. A guy and girl were racing up the aisle as soon as we started to taxi on landing. An old lady hip checked me back to my seat while I tried to grab my backpack. Standard issue for a Chinese plane ride!
Once I got into Dalian, I had a car pick me up at the airport. The driver had an America n music CD playing for my enjoyment. The second song was Ricky Nelson “Travelling Man”. Great tune! A McConnell classic, both my parents were big Ricky Nelson fans, so all of us kids became fans as well. So I asked the driver to turn up the volume…it took a minute but we got it done. Then I started singing the song and the driver joined in! He knew the words! So it must be popular over here. We sang it all the way to the hotel…played it three times. He liked that we sang together. Good times!
The hotel I’m staying in this time is great! Not that any of them are bad, but this is a brand new hotel. It’s really big. They had started construction on it last time I was here. So much has changed in Dalian since I was here last that it’s hard to believe. There are three new high rises on the hotel’s street. They removed the bootleg Olive Garden and Pizza King (Which is fine). The very end of the street use to have a model ship in the middle of the square. It’s now gone and they are putting in a subway system. That is going to be an entrance. Just tons of change and growth! It’s got to be a very exciting time to live in China.
I met Jerry later in the evening. He is the guy I trained last time I was here. He’s graduated on to bigger things. He is now an instructor for Rockwell, and he is soon to take on a new role as an SA. I won’t bore you with the details, but I’m proud of him. He’s doing well. He also has visited the U.S. since I last saw him. (I was in Mexico during his U.S. visit). Apparently a lot of people took him out drinking while he was there. I think Jerry assumes everyone in America drinks 12 Jager bombs nightly. Suffice it to say, Jerry had a lot of fun in Cleveland. I can’t imagine what he’d do in Chicago. He’s going back to Dallas in early March. I’m going to send him to Billy Bob’s in Ft. Worth. It might make his head explode.
We had dinner and drinks, he remembered the names of all my brothers and asked how they were doing. I thought that was nice. I’m going to go back to his hometown one of the weekends I’m here to visit his family again. I can’t wait! I had a great time on my last visit.
The new Rockwell AMP named Fran was with us at dinner. I felt a little bad because Jerry and I were doing so much catching up. The poor guy felt a little out of place in a sea of booze, beer, smoking, and Philippine band music. I felt at home.
I did learn something interesting about Fran. Apparently Fran slipped one past the goalie. His girlfriend of six months is pregnant. I’m not sure how all this plays out. Fran is keeping it a secret from his parents, but her parents know….hmmmm….The Panda will have to investigate further…stay tuned fans!
Monday I met Fran at the Rockwell office. We spent the day reviewing our program and what he needed to learn. I told Fran we needed to have some materials printed for the launch. He wasn’t sure where we should go. I smiled and told him I knew a little place around the corner.
If you read my blog last time, there was quite a bit of discussion about a print shop that Jerry and I visited. I took Fran there and said these people would be able to get everything we need. We walked in the door and the same lady was working there. I smiled and said Ni Hao, she got all excited and started talking real fast. Fran got this amazed look on his face, looked at me, and said, “She remembers you!”
I said, “Yeah, we go way back.”
I then proceeded to tell Fran exactly what to ask her for. Fran would look at me and say I don’t think they will have such a thing here….”Fran, just ask her, she’ll get it, and try to keep up.”
Fran started translating what I said, and she just kept shaking her head yes. She would walk to the back corner and start pulling stuff out. It kind of had the feel of an action movie, where the hero is going to his weapons dealer to get all the guns he needs to defeat the bad guys…only I was ordering printed material and office supplies. Fran was completely in awe.
This time the trip only took about ½ an hour. I paid for the stuff (Cash) and we agreed I would pick it up on Tuesday afternoon. I got a 50 RMB discount (7 dollars) for not asking for a receipt. Once we left Fran was still in awe that the lady and I remembered each other, and that I knew she had all those things. It was funny.
Tuesday we headed out to Palundian. There are four ways to get to the Goodyear plant: A bus full of Goodyear workers, a taxi, a train + taxi, or hire a driver. I chose option 4- hire a driver. I had Fran do some recon before I got there. He found the driver and got it all set up. Here’s a run down of the problems with the others.
1. Bus- No Me Gusta! This option is full of the general labor for the plant. It has a specific pick up time. I would have to take a taxi to a designated point, and then hop the bus with them. No Ex-Pats travel this way…really never an option. The Goodyear people would look at you strange if you did this.
2. Train + Taxi- This one was appealing to me, I love trains! However I was voted out on this one, neither Fran nor Jerry thought it was a good way to travel every day. I thought it would be great! Still not sure why this wasn’t good.
3. Taxi- This one is viable, but you have the problem of the taxi driver possibly not knowing where the plant is in Palundian. It’s a crap shoot. Probably not very consistent, and it’s hard to get a cab in Palundian….which I’ll cover later.
4. Hire a Driver- Best way to go. This guy shows up at my hotel every morning at the same time. He drives you to the plant, then comes back at a predetermined time and picks you up. The cost is the same as a taxi ride out there. It cost 300RMB for one round trip. That is 45 dollars round trip, 22.50 one way. The funny part is that pays for an hour drive…maybe a little longer each way. The same cab ride in America would cost easily over 100.00 each way.
So this morning I met my driver, Mr. Gee (G), who is AWESOME! He’s my one man G-Unit! I have a great picture of him that I took today. (I’m taking pictures of all this stuff, but can’t post them directly.) He doesn’t speak a lick of English, but Fran was there to translate…On a side note, Fran doesn’t like to translate like Jerry did. Jerry and I would have a conversation with a driver or local forever. Jerry would really get into it. Fran doesn’t have that same quality. I struggle to get him going…I don’t think he knows how to take it.
So, I have Fran ask Mr. Gee all kinds of questions on the way out there. I have to know this guy, he’s my driver, right!? Mr. Gee is from Palundian. He is a driver for hire taking people back and forth between Dalian and Palundian. He use to sell farm equipment but gave that up for driving. He’s married and has a son. He likes to play Ping Pong and wants to play me in a game….step easy Mr. Gee! He drives a Hyundai, it’s pretty new and very nice inside.
He told Fran to tell me that he likes me because I like to talk. He said that most people just sit in the car and say nothing. “That’s how I roll Mr. Gee.” Fran didn’t know how to translate that one at first.
Mr. Gee description: He is about 5’7, 50 years old. He has black hair (I’m sure I’m not making headlines with my description so far) He wears a black leather coat that looks newer, but has a hood on it (Strange). His hat is more of a traditional hat…it’s black…it almost looks like a stocking cap that’s been chopped off half way up and sewn closed. Actually, in all honesty, he looks a little like a stylin elf. In fact, I would say the hat looks just like an elf’s hat except cut off half way up. It flops down the back, it actually looks pretty good on the guy….I bet Mr. Gee had all the ladies chasing him when he was younger…I look for that in a driver…I think…although this is my first driver….but I think I would look for these qualities.
Anyways, I have already decided that Mr. Gee and I are going to have beers together before this trip is through…actually that will be pretty funny….I’ll have to get a driver for my driver….I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Mr. Gee took us to the Goodyear plant. The town of Planudian has 200,000 people living in it. This is extremely small for the Chinese…not really even a village…just a blip on the map. However, I think the Chinese government has decided this area is going to be developed for an industrial base. There are other plants going up all over the country side. The whole area is small worn down homes and giant factories being built…with the Yellow Sea for a backdrop….and of course, smog. We pulled up to the plant, IT IS HUGE! It’s the biggest tire plant I’ve ever seen. It’s massive! It sits right on a bay of the Yellow sea.
When you approach the street the plant sits on, the ocean is behind it, a mountain bluff to the right, and a vast unforgiving country in the front. The whole place is still under construction. There is no road from the gate. You have to walk this dirt and rock path all the way to the building. The walk to the building is just over 1/4 a mile. There is no direct path, and the stone/dirt/gravel/junk path is a little treacherous at times. The whole approach has a feel like some of the scenery in The Road. Once you get to the building, it’s a good 1/4 mile through the building! It’s that big! I bet I walked a good three miles today (I say that because I made at least three trips to almost the guard gate from the back today alone!). We had several meetings in parts of the plant that took 20 minutes to walk to. It takes a good 25-30 minutes to walk to the back of the plant from the road…a lot of that time is the unforgiving terrain you have to cross. The whole plant inside is brand new. Only one machine is coming over from the old plant…the funniest thing was the bathroom….Brand new bathroom….same horrible Chinese bathroom smell!
We had several meetings with management at the plant. I got some understanding of our underlying issues…what we need to work on and improve…lots of things to get done!
Once the day was done, Mr. Gee came and picked us up. There is a funny story here. I was sitting at a table waiting for Fran, when I struck up a conversation with the Supply Chain Management guy at the plant. He was a local. I talked to him for a little while; he asked me where I was from in the U.S., things like that. After I had talked to him for a while, I remembered that I had a bunch of loose change in my bag. I always throw my change on the road into a compartment of my backpack, and then usually I dump it whenever I get home. I left it in there this time to have coins to give away…just something dumb to do. So I gave this guy a quarter, well, there were two more people sitting by him. I gave them each a quarter. They all got a kick out of it and I didn’t think anything more.
Finally Fran comes back and we leave. We make the walk all the way back to the gate. A truck driver pulls up, rolls down his window, it’s the one of the people I gave a quarter to. He says something to Fran. Fran looks at me and says that I left my cell phone on the table in the office…MAN!!!!!!!!!! Then Fran says, “Not to worry, he remembers you give him American money, he give me ride back to get your phone, you wait with Mr. Gee.”
Best quarter I ever spent.
Fran told Mr. Gee what was going on, I then sat in the back of the car. Mr. Gee and I then played a game much like Kevin Costner and Kicking Bird played in Dances with Wolves trying to talk about Ta-Tonkas. I would gesture to the car and say “Car”. I would then ask for Chinese….this confused Mr. Gee for a few minutes, then I tried other things and eventually he got what I was selling. We traded words for Car, Hand, Coat, and I think seat…but that could have been other things…tough one. It was great entertainment while waiting for the quarter express.After all this excitement, Fran and I picked up the printing, and had Hot Pot for dinner…which always rocks!
Monday, February 14, 2011
Back To Dalian
Today is Monday. I spent the weekend in Shanghai and have now flown up to Dalian. So I have a little catching up to do. Let’s rewind to Saturday morning. Steel wanted to go with me to the market place in Shanghai. I wanted to go to the pearl market, it’s a great place in Shanghai. There is lots of stuff there, not just pearls, but pearls are definetly the main attraction. I’m not sure why Steel wanted to go with me. I told him I’d been before and that I knew where it was, but he wanted to come along….so I said sure! Why not?
Steel came by the hotel at 10:00 AM and we grabbed a cab to the market. We went in and headed up to the pearl market floor. I got my game face on, pockets flush with Chairman Mao money, and prepared to start the negotiations! (This really is one of my favorite things to do in China!) As we are going up the escalator, Steel is giving me some advice on the market, I chuckled and said, “Steel, let me show you how Daddy walks.” He looked at me confused, I smiled and we entered!
It was around 10:30 and the market had just opened. The Chinese are obsessed with making the first and last sale of the day. They believe it brings them good luck for the day. They will even sell at almost a loss, just to get the first sale done. You need to move fast through the booths, get as many “First Sales” as possible. Steel was impressed with my negotiations.
They always start high…way high! So then you really have to chop the legs out of the offer. You should probably end up paying 20-25% of the original price. So I would start my negotiating at 10%. Of course you have to say, “Ti-Gwe-La!” which means “That’s too much”. Then you start going back and forth.
Here’s my little take on the negotiations. I would bargain them down on one string of pearls. I would get it to the price I wanted, then ask them for a new price if I buy three! This sends them into a tizzy, because they know they have to do cut the price more to get the order. When you negotiate with the street vendors you have to take it when the price is agreed upon. So I try to change the dynamic a little. I agree on the initial price, but then drive it down more with quantity. I call it the Wal-Mart approach.
There is one last piece of the negotiation that has to go on. Once you’ve basically decided on the price, they ALWAYS bump it ten more RMB. That’s basically 1.50 US currency. My last trip I would just give in on that because it was such a little amount. This time they would bump it 10 RMB, and I would say “You give me two pairs of earrings.” There would be a pause, then I would GET IT! I loved it! It worked every time! Kind of like a bonus round! I think this is the only way I truly like shopping. Usually I dread it, but Chinese haggling is for me! I love it!
After we got done on the pearl market floor, we went up a floor…this is where the REAL fun was! There were a bunch of shops that sold all kinds of stuff. Fake watches (But low end), suitcases, toys, almost anything you can imagine. As we walked around we found a person that had a “Secret Room” of designer bags. They took us in there and it was packed with all kinds of designer bags and fake rolex watches. The problem is, I don’t even know what I should buy for the women I know. I have no idea if they’d use it. I didn’t feel like haggling with him, plus I’d have to lug them around China with me. I figure I’ll hit it on the way back through Shanghai.
The real excitement was the DVD store. It never ceases to amaze me. Here’s what I “Rented”.
Complete Seinfeld Series- 20 Dollars
Madmen Complete Series- 5 Dollars
Boardwalk Empire Season 1 (Which isn’t on DVD yet) 3 Dollars
Rosetta Stone Spanish Levels 1-5 7 Dollars
Hilarious! Great deals! Going back there!
Well. I have to go to dinner, so I’ll have to finish catching up the blog tomorrow night!
Steel came by the hotel at 10:00 AM and we grabbed a cab to the market. We went in and headed up to the pearl market floor. I got my game face on, pockets flush with Chairman Mao money, and prepared to start the negotiations! (This really is one of my favorite things to do in China!) As we are going up the escalator, Steel is giving me some advice on the market, I chuckled and said, “Steel, let me show you how Daddy walks.” He looked at me confused, I smiled and we entered!
It was around 10:30 and the market had just opened. The Chinese are obsessed with making the first and last sale of the day. They believe it brings them good luck for the day. They will even sell at almost a loss, just to get the first sale done. You need to move fast through the booths, get as many “First Sales” as possible. Steel was impressed with my negotiations.
They always start high…way high! So then you really have to chop the legs out of the offer. You should probably end up paying 20-25% of the original price. So I would start my negotiating at 10%. Of course you have to say, “Ti-Gwe-La!” which means “That’s too much”. Then you start going back and forth.
Here’s my little take on the negotiations. I would bargain them down on one string of pearls. I would get it to the price I wanted, then ask them for a new price if I buy three! This sends them into a tizzy, because they know they have to do cut the price more to get the order. When you negotiate with the street vendors you have to take it when the price is agreed upon. So I try to change the dynamic a little. I agree on the initial price, but then drive it down more with quantity. I call it the Wal-Mart approach.
There is one last piece of the negotiation that has to go on. Once you’ve basically decided on the price, they ALWAYS bump it ten more RMB. That’s basically 1.50 US currency. My last trip I would just give in on that because it was such a little amount. This time they would bump it 10 RMB, and I would say “You give me two pairs of earrings.” There would be a pause, then I would GET IT! I loved it! It worked every time! Kind of like a bonus round! I think this is the only way I truly like shopping. Usually I dread it, but Chinese haggling is for me! I love it!
After we got done on the pearl market floor, we went up a floor…this is where the REAL fun was! There were a bunch of shops that sold all kinds of stuff. Fake watches (But low end), suitcases, toys, almost anything you can imagine. As we walked around we found a person that had a “Secret Room” of designer bags. They took us in there and it was packed with all kinds of designer bags and fake rolex watches. The problem is, I don’t even know what I should buy for the women I know. I have no idea if they’d use it. I didn’t feel like haggling with him, plus I’d have to lug them around China with me. I figure I’ll hit it on the way back through Shanghai.
The real excitement was the DVD store. It never ceases to amaze me. Here’s what I “Rented”.
Complete Seinfeld Series- 20 Dollars
Madmen Complete Series- 5 Dollars
Boardwalk Empire Season 1 (Which isn’t on DVD yet) 3 Dollars
Rosetta Stone Spanish Levels 1-5 7 Dollars
Hilarious! Great deals! Going back there!
Well. I have to go to dinner, so I’ll have to finish catching up the blog tomorrow night!
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