Travel stories and photos and the occasional life lesson

I know that I take my life into my hands every time I cross the street.  In Texas, from where I hail, driving outranked other daily activities on the danger-0-meter. Now, spending time in Beijing, I found the new most dangerous thing to do each day. That’s biking. Occasionally I get in the car with others.  I began driving in 1988 at the tender age of fifteen.  I taught myself how to drive a 5 speed 1980 model Toyota Celica with manual steering.  I attended driving school the summer before turning sixteen at my high school.  I recall the lessons we learned. The most important thing that the coaches teaching impressed upon us dealt with safety. Automobiles kill people. We learned all sorts of things I had never thought about before. I don’t know which nugget of information that was thrown my way counts as the most important. The fact that cars kill people sticks in my head (even today) above all other things related to being in a vehicle. I respect the car, the road, other drivers, and especially the driver of the car I ride in.  Being a passenger I observe all sorts of differences in China in relation to driving in central Texas.

Many difference relating to driving in Texas and Beijing come to mind. The quantity of cars on the road differs dramatically. It’s nearly incomprehensible to comprehend the quantity of vehicles in Beijing compared to Austin. I began driving at fifteen. My parents drove. Their parents drove and I think their grandparents may have even driven cars.   In China I find that Chinese people I know have been driving for fewer than ten years. Their parents never drove and so on.  Things that I don’t even think about such as looking behind me and using my mirrors when backing up don’t occur here with most people. I’ve seen many different people relying on folks getting out of their way as well as their sensors on their cars.  When suggesting that a driver use his/ her mirrors I get extremely confusing looks.

Another difference – When driving a car with others in the car I always check to see that everybody completely closes their door and gets in the car. That’s not a regular occurrence here.  Safety?  That’s not high on the priority list here.  Stop signs?  Nobody obeys those in China.

In the defense of this country of first generation drivers…. what they do works.  It’s so different from what I am used to. Their average speed (because of the traffic congestion) is so low that horrible wrecks like we see daily in Texas occur less frequently. My driving friends take drinking and driving much more seriously than most Texan drivers I know.

In summary I am intrigued and entertained.

Greg Gordon Uncategorized Austin, Beijing, drivers education, driving, traffic congestion

My mother arrived at the airport two hours ago for her flight back to Houston.  I arrived in Las Vegas 48 hours ago. This morning I slept in til nearly 9am Las Vegas time. I feel extremely accomplished for that feat. Yesterday I made it to about 6am  after going to sleep around 9pm Thursday night.  My adventure from Beijing to Las Vegas included very little excitement. I slept on the plane, looked at “The Town,” “Secretariat,” and an episode of “Mad Men.” The gentleman sitting next to me only breathed his less than pleasant breath on me for part of the flight.

The largest difference between this trip and the one in October was that I did not require a wheelchair. That trip occurred only 2 days after my bicycle/ van collision.  I enjoyed some good food, some relaxing activities, and a bit of sightseeing with my mother in the two days that she stayed with me. We stayed at Treasure Island. We ate one meal at a steakhouse in the hotel, another one at Sinatra’s, and our breakfasts don’t even warrant writing about.

The weekend before my trip back to Las Vegas included a Saturday and a Sunday hiking trip. I believe that I will continue to hike with my Saturday folks regularly and only occasionally see the Sunday group.  Two long days in a row every weekend for me appears to be a little much.  I did make a few new friends on Sunday.  I’ll see them all again… just not every weekend.

Tomorrow night (Sunday) I set-up for my first of two shows before picking Tony up from the airport.  I hope to be on schedule by Monday morning.  Based upon my last night’s sleep schedule I should be fine. The sixteen hour time difference does mess me up so I have enjoyed these last two most relaxing days.  I look forward to today’s continued relaxing time.

Photos to follow…..

Greg Gordon Uncategorized Beijing, holiday, Las Vegas, rest, trade show, trip, visa

Saturday in China turned out to be a work day because of the holiday. I missed my hiking like a crack addict misses his crack pipe.  I found a fix!  Sunday hiking group…… It’s similar to my Saturday group. They’ve been hiking a bit longer. I found out the the Saturday group split off from the Sunday group because a few people preferred to get out on a Saturday versus a Sunday.  The best news of the whole thing is that I now have the option to go hiking every Saturday and/ or Sunday depending upon my mood and schedule.  The folks welcomed me as one of their own almost immediately.  I believe that these hiking groups will see to it that I never ever ever leave China for more than a few weeks at a time.  Photos can be viewed from some of the Sunday scenery by clicking this link. We drove in the snow for nearly two hours to our destination. We arrived at a remote area near the Great Wall of China. The hike up the mountain to the wall took over an hour in the snow. The snow made the trek a bit more adventurous than normal.  The trip down included a few short slips and only one short fall on the slippery trail.

Greg Gordon Uncategorized 2011, Beijing, china, Great Wall, Greg, hiking, sunday, tour

I never tire of experiencing holiday fireworks. Twelve months ago today, while my month long work trip to Beijing winded down, I listened to suggestions of friends about experiencing Chinese New Year in China.

I figured that I would be able to be here again in February 2011 or maybe later to find out for myself what the talk really meant.  Today, February 3, 2011 at 12:52pm in the afternoon I sit in a Starbucks and type into my notebook computer.  I hear sounds of fireworks exploding outside.  Fourteen hours ago with the temperature dropping below freezing, the buildup to midnight intensified.  Nearly everywhere I looked I saw smoke and the bright colorful lights of fireworks.  As midnight approached the intensity and the explosions increased and a continual display of brilliant colors continued at an intense pace until way after midnight.

Greg Gordon Uncategorized Beijing, China blog post, Chinese new year, fireworks, year of the rabbit

Wow! Today at the Canada day celebration I polished off twenty-one spicy peppers to finish 4th behind a 2nd and 3rd place tie with 26 peppers and 1st place finisher with 65 peppers.  I thoroughly enjoyed the contest. It was a bit painful. I inhaled two fairly large containers of yogurt, and a small container of ice cream immediately following the peppers. I experienced the eye watering, nose running, face sweating, and mouth on fire from those peppers. The event occurred at the Canada international school in Beijing. Appropriately they played Barenaked Ladies (Canadian band) music when the band was not playing. We (Sharon, David, Tracy, Elizabeth, and I) ate a fish dinner after the event. We did briefly visit with Charles and two of his co-workers during the afternoon. They showed up for a short while. Charles works at CCTV as an on-air personality.

Greg Gordon Uncategorized 4th place, Beijing, canada day, hot pepper eating contest

The shirts with English words here in China are fantastic.

I imagine that most folks do not know the meaning of the words on their shirts. I have one very intelligent, English speaking friend, Morgan, who wore my favorite shirt yet. What makes it so special to me is that Morgan knows English! It is a good looking shirt and Morgan is an extremely attractive young lady. The shirt represents only a tiny portion of the excitement on Saturday. It’s only fair to start the weekend on Thursday.

The networking event Thursday night occurred near Guomao subway stop at the Kerry Center. That means- bike ride. The participants – forty something different people all live in China and hail from Vietnam, (mainly) Canada, Germany, England, the U.S., France, and Sweden. I imagine there may have been one person I did not meet. I made a few new friends, and possibly gained business contacts.  I met a dentist, a guy in logistics, a couple of gentlemen from a legal/ accounting firm. That can only help me. With each networking event I seem to get invited to another. That suits me well. I left the camera at home. Next week there appears to be a larger networking event with even more people that I will attend.

Friday turned (like most days here) into an adventure. I ventured to a subway stop on the blue (Line 10) line that I had not been to before. I headed north towards the airport, landed, walked, walked, walked, and then walked some more until I arrived at a large convention center full of audio, lighting, and dj stuff. I made a few great finds and am now waiting for follow up from potential new vendors. It’s so great being right here where most things are made. I believe I found my newest big humongous snow machine as well as a very impressive foam cannon. Photos and video to follow. The walk back to the subway from the convention took about 12 minutes.  I arrived back home around seven, in time to eat, clean up and head out to a cocktail reception at an art gallery, on to Xiu bar for a little dancing, one glass of wine, and then off to Vic’s for one margarita and some more dancing with Yolanda from Port Arthur, Mary from Beaumont, and Chris from Austin. That’s correct- all the way to Beijing for Beaumont and Port Arthur!  My bike gets a workout even when I go out dancing. I needed to be home before sunrise as the Saturday hike gathering took place right after 11am.

Saturday morning I forced myself to sleep past 6am. I made it til right after 7 and then prepared for a journey by subway to the meeting place near the bird’s nest for the hiking group.  Once I climbed to the street level it was clear that there was a solid mile more to get to my location. For the first time I hired one of those buggies on three wheels.

About half of the folks at the hike were new to me. It’s getting very comfortable with this group. By far these are the most wonderful new folks I have had the pleasure to meet in my travels here. The diversity in the group is most wonderful, refreshing, and exciting. Everyone appears to work so hard during the week and work even harder at letting loose on the weekend and especially around their hiking companions.

We drove for a little more than two hours outside of the city into the mountains. The peaceful scenery makes the hustle of city life seem so far away for the time we spend in nature. The great big bonus for me was that we walked to the Great Wall.

After the hike we drove back to Beijing in just about two hours for dinner at a SPICY Chinese food restaurant and some more fantastic ice dessert at Bellagio. The evening for David, Ping, Danshing, and me still had several more hours in it. We left (in our hiking clothes) the dessert restaurant, cabbed it to the Village, found a club, and danced til 2am. For me it was a very long, tiring, and exciting Saturday in Beijing.

Greg Gordon Uncategorized Beijing, Great Wall, hike, rubber nipple

I just had the most unique lunch. I decided to get out on my bike. The journey took me about 12 minutes by bike away from home in a familiar direction. I parked the bike, walked another 10 minutes or so until I saw a few words in English, “Dumpling house.” I walked in to see no more English. I waited in line to order some food with the lady behind me literally grinding against me. There is no concept of personal space here. It’s a hoot! My turn meant that I pointed and smiled and shook my head side to side. After pointing at three (two too many) side dishes the young attendant pulled a menu out with some English on it. Whew! I ordered and paid for 6 large dumplings, a huge bowl of black bean soup, and three large side dishes of vegetables. Next I walked my little slip (after paying nearly $4.75) 12 feet to the kitchen window and waved it until the young lady with a face mask on took it and poured my bowl of black bean soup. If I did not wave the slip I would still be standing there. Here I must speak up to get attended to. It appeared that the onion and pork dumplings that I ordered were still cooking. While waiting I thought about how difficult it would be to go back and get my sides. I also enjoyed the view of the three young men making dumplings from scratch behind the young lady filling orders. Everyone wears masks and hats in the kitchen.
The line never seemed to get smaller or larger. The folks waiting to order were standing 10-14 deep. All of the three rows of 4 tops seemed to be full. Each row had 5 or so tables in it. The folks waiting for their orders to get filled – along with me- always seemed to be three deep. Once I received my steaming hot dumplings and bean soup I went back for my sides. They were gone so with a smile and a bunch of pointing I received them again. I took my food to a table that had not been cleared. I straightened up the two trays and then they were quickly taken away. I was not sitting for five minutes before an older gentleman sat with me. My soup needed salt but I did enjoy it. Because I ordered enough food for two people I took half of the soup and four dumplings home. The young lady at the food window neatly packaged my extra dumplings and soup for me after I had finished my greens and two of the tasty breaded dumplings.

My first Chinese lesson begins in 75 minutes.

Greg Gordon Uncategorized Beijing, dumplings, lunch

I arrived nearly 24 hours ago. I was TIRED by the time I fell asleep. It was past 10 pm Beijing time when that occurred. The journey to get here lasted nineteen hours from the Austin airport to the Beijing airport. My trip from the Beijing airport to my first night’s stay lasted another hour.

I am now in the process of finding a residence for my time here. The first one that I picked out fell through. I’m not scared. Also, my old China phone number expired. My slick phone that I thought I would use is locked. These are all small issues. I had trouble getting on the internet for a good while as well.  Again, all small issues compared to other goings on around the world.

As of this moment I have a phone number and phone that both work. I am using the internet on my computer, and I am about to meet with a person to discuss my temporary residence. This evening I have exciting plans. I will attend an auto show tomorrow, have dinner with an old Austin friend Friday night, and then experience a local music festival on Sunday with more western friends.

In the meantime, my video editing skills will get better, the Partymachines.com website will get a full on overhaul, and several other projects will be tackled.

Photos will follow. The most important part so far is that I am safe. Secondly, I slept through the night and remembered where I was when I awoke.

Greg Gordon Uncategorized Beijing, china, excitement, first day

I am in my final week of this trip to China.

I spent nearly $4 on some Azithromycin (sp?) and I have one more day of it. I think it is helping. I have a cold now. I’m in day four of illness. I only let it slow me down one evening. Other than that I have been going and going. Yesterday was one of the best because of the hiking excursion. We drove two hours out of the city and arrived at a beautiful mountain park where roses grow in the summer.

The three hour hike included eighteen Chinese folks and one Texan. Everybody spoke English because of their time spent outside of China. Afterwards, we dined at a hot pot restaurant that specializes in DONKEY meat. Don’t knock it til you try it. It’s just like beef except more lean. My part of the meal was $5.50. I love those kinds of meals.

I met Lucy (originally from China) from Canada at the airport on the way to Cambodia. She introduced me to Tracy and Steven. She grew up with Steven in Beijing and she met Tracy, a Chinese native, living in Toronto. Tracy has since moved back to Beijing.  This is all a very interesting education I am getting. One of my new hiking friends, Jay, presently lives near San Francisco with his wife and two sons. He has a company that develops medical devices. He hires engineers in China to develop the devices and then he applies for approval in the United States. Jay first went to America in the early 1990′s and has since moved there. Another new friend, Vanessa, first went to Iowa for graduate school in her early 20′s. She spent 10 years in NYC after getting a degree in Asian studies. She now manages a boutique hotel in Beijing called Hotel Côté Cour .

Tracy works 100 yards from my hotel. She and I had lunch on Tuesday before touring her office. Light in the box is the website. Check it out. They sell Chinese items to the U.S. There is free shipping. Brilliant! Super cheap prices! Her boss, Alan Guo, sat with us for a few minutes. He had something to do with the Google China. Google his name. He’s all of 33 or so. He got a graduate degree at a small private college called Stanford. Tracy invited me hiking yesterday. I went. We had a BLAST. It’s a group of folks; married, single, all kinds, 20′s up to around 50 who go hiking each Saturday who are Chinese who moved away and then came back to China. They all speak English. I was the only non-Chinese person with them. We left at 11am, drove more than 2 hours, hiked more than 3 hours, drove part of the way back, ate Donkey dinner, and then drove back. I got home at 9pm or so. There was no alcohol and I loved that part the most as I have a cold.

Steven, the other friend of Lucy, is a graphic arts designer guy.  I went bowling with him last Sunday and I’m going again in a few hours. He lived in California for a few years.

Please excuse the errors. I’ll blame it on my cold. Also, they don’t have medicines at the store here. You must go to a pharmacy. It’s different.

I am getting good at the metric system.

I’ll take bowling photos today.

Greg Gordon Uncategorized Beijing, cold, hiking, new friends

When I travel, one of my favorite things is randomly running into someone I know.  Until this morning I had not randomly run into a familiar face on any of my China adventures.

John was determined to watch the National championship college football game so I was fine going along. I casually mentioned that it would be great to see someone I knew at the establishment where we landed. We arrived about a half hour before game time and quickly said hello to all four of the other patrons watching the game. Logan was from Dallas so we felt so much closer to home. The others were from all over the U.S. About forty-five minutes after we arrived Logan’s friends showed up. I could hear them talking. I recognized one of the voices as a gentleman with whom I worked way back in college when I worked for the Texas state comptroller’s office.  His name is Chris Conyers and I was recently thinking about him and where he was. His voice was very unique and I really liked that guy. I turned around and saw a guy in a Texas football jersey with his ten year old son in tow. It looked AND sounded like Chris Conyers. I thought there was no way possible for it to be my old friend. I stood up, kept trying to figure if it was Chris and heard Logan say, “Greg, this is Chris.” I responded with, “Hi Chris, I’m Greg Gordon! John, say hi to Chris Conyers. We used to work together!!!!!”

I turned to Cameron and said hello and then began catching up with Chris. This was the most wonderful football experience I have ever had. I am not a football fan. This may make me get out more often to see football games. Maybe it won’t. I have randomly run into familiar people since the fifth grade when my grandparents took my brothers and me to California. We saw Bobby Lett from my class at the Farmers Market out there. I have also run into someone in the subway in D.C., Yellowstone National Park, and Las Vegas. Now I get to add Beijing, China to that list.

After the game we bought a few things. I got new phone covers and some very needed jeans. I only came here with one pair so I am glad to be able to now wear a different pair.

The fifteen minute walk from my temporary residence to the subway was cold yesterday morning. Amy, John, and I spent a little time at the hair salon after working awhile and enjoying lunch at the factory.

I went to sleep before ten last night without dinner and then slept in all the way to 4:10am today. I get so much computer work done between 4:10am and 7am that it’s okay to get up so early.

Greg Gordon Uncategorized Beijing, china, football game, national championship, Texas