China: Baoding

Moving on to Baoding, where the headquarters for our potential customer is located.  Amazingly, things seem to be even cheaper here.  Lunch for 7 people (we picked up a few more on the way) was $15 total!  And 2 nights in a classy hotel was around $100.

I literally never had any idea what we were doing or why we were at an office. I tried to listen to Jacky's translation in Japanese, but for the most part it was a lost cause--everything was in Chinese or Japanese. Even the itinerary mailed out before we left was in Japanese, so I could read times that we were scheduled to do "stuff", but I didn't actually know what the purpose was!!  (We had lots of things planned like: meeting with potential Transfreight China carriers, greeting current Mitsui partners, scouting locations for a Transfreight office, looking for a parking lots for tractor trailers, manufacturing & warehouse visits, and of course, our potential customer meeting.)

We were quite a sight to see though.  In Baoding, we had a convoy of 3 identical black cars.  (Why we didn't stick with the minivan and add a car to transport the new members is beyond me...)  Imagine seven people stepping out of these 3 black cars all wearing black suits in rural China.  The basic difference was that the men each had a different color tie, and my suit had a skirt.  Regardless, we commanded a certain "presence".  In fact, when we were touring an auto factory, the people on the line would actually stop their job to stare at all of us!  (Not for a moment, either.  The staring lasted until we walked away...)  Ummm, hello, we're here to see you how you work!  LOL.

Driving in China is pretty crazy.  Not up to India's standards, but close at times.  The main issue was that infrastructure is half-built.  You'd be cruising on a decent 8-lane road, and then suddenly it would turn to dirt with cement pipes in an interscetion and no lanes, signals, or right-of-way!!  When merging into traffic from a parking lot, our driver never once looked, stopped, or yielded to oncoming traffic.  It was totally bizarre!  I also saw a few cars and trucks going the wrong way on the nice divided roads, and no one even seemed to bat an eye at it!!  Tag and I would just look at each other and roll our eyes!

Here's more classy food presentation.  Chinese people really like to dig out and eat the cheek meat of the fish.  They say it's the most delicious... I think I'll just take their word for it...

I had some other interesting foods this trip like pig ear, duck bone (flavored with salt), and plenty of black seaweed (you know, the kind that boosts my magnesium and lowers my stress!).  I even had some soup that smelled like and tasted like Spaghetti-O's... Yummy!!  Dessert was never served.  By Friday, I was really dying for a biscuit cookie, spoonful of ice cream, even mango pudding!  Anything that might contain some sugar!!  Overall, Chinese food is much oilier than Japanese food and much tastier.  I was well fed, even without chocolate.

The final night, we had dinner with the potential customer and celebrated with the customary Chinese wine.  This "wine" is actually liquor with a proof that ranges from 80-120.  Strong stuff for sure.  They weren't going to make me drink it, but I did so voluntarily (you know, anything to close a deal... well, almost anything...).  The guys didn't have a choice, since it's actually a Chinese ritual to have a drinking "battle".  It was clear but tasted and burned going down a lot like brandy!  Before taking each mini-shot, you must "challenge" someone else at the table to drink with you.  (Generally someone from the opposing company.)  The eldest members are picked on the most, supposedly out of respect.  The men from the opposing company declared me a "strong drinker and good with my chopsticks"... like I haven't heard those two comments before!!  By the way, there were no hangovers from this crazy drinking battle.  Had I know that earlier, maybe I would have had even more "wine".

At one restaurant I heard the "Happy Birthday" song playing, which I thought was awesome.  The first time... then they continued to repeat the song the duration of the meal.  Apparently, this was the background music.  Tag and I were cracking up.  I guess they really don't know what the words to that song means!!

Maybe they are not good with the alphabet in general.  I was registered as "Keirer" at the hotel.  This was the name taken straight from my passport.  How you get one word "Keirer" from "Kerri Lynn Green" is still puzzling to me!!

Baoding was a much smaller town, yet it seemed to be more polluted than Tianjin.

As much as I complain about the hot weather in Nagoya (by the way the heat index is still 96 right now and it's 10pm), at least the thick air I am breathing in Japan is clean.  This polluted air had me blowing black snot out of my nose all week :(

Cool dragon at the entrance of our hotel.

Oh yeah, another reason to be happy to be back in Japan? 

Decent bathrooms. 

In China all they had were squatty potties.  (No handicapped stalls at the end with normal toilets like Japan.)  Even at restaurants, hotel lobbies, and company visits they did not offer toilet paper, soap, or a way to dry your hands.  Good thing I come prepared with tissues at all times so I didn't have to drip dry!!  The TP thing seems so basic to me.  I can't believe no one in China thinks they should provide this item!

And what is it with Asia and hard beds?  I could have thrown a towel on the marble floor of the bathroom and been just as comfortable.  No wonder these people like massages so much.  Their backs must be really jacked up...

At one point during our trip, I saw a store called "one yuan store".  (Yuan is Chinese currency.)  I really, REALLY wanted to check this place out, but we never had any time.  I had images of things dirt cheap, like crazy toys with lead-based paint or hand-stitched Nike shoes.  That place could have been a total gold mine since 1 yuan is about $0.15!!