Ni Hao Mao - Happy to say that Ali's flight made it safely! Actually.. my flight was delayed 5 hours in Shanghai - so Ali and Jordyn ended up waiting on me.
We headed to the hotel in Beijing just outside the temple of Heaven. A lot of great pics to share so we'll go easy on the typing and heavy on the photography & Video. Ali will be narrating as well.. Is Eathan old enough to start co-narrating? Deh deh deh deh deh dehhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!
Our tour didn't start until Sunday.. so we had Saturday to check out the town via our tour director - CooCoo. Here we are trying to catch a cab..
Navigating the subway line.
Hunting for Panda's... even with slanted binoculars.
Ali and CooCoo managed to hunt down the pearl vendors.. as well as some other necklaces of choice.
And yes.. we were able to find some lunch.. a mighty delicious one at that.
Yummmmy............
No jet lag on her... i still look jet lagged.. and it's been over 2 weeks!
Pearls didn't suit my fancy.. but I found some things that did. Increadibly fake.. but still caught my eye. Go figure.
Moving on to the Ming tombs..........
Sideways.. Pictures/Computer/& China - don't mix. Jordyn jumps over the emperor's walkway at the Ming Tomb.
Goodness.. greatness........ great wall.
Cable card ride to the base of the wall.
Start of our journey.. no sweat.. legs feel great.
Jordyn rocking the toboggan down the great wall!!
Monday a.m. walk through the temple of heaven.
Don't these people work?! Playing local games and chilaxing on a Monday a.m......
Forbidden City:
That's all for now. More video to come when we didn't take 15532 steps in one day.
I'd like to start with my new friend.. I asked if him if i could job shadow him.. I think that just scared him. I gave him my email address, hope to hear back soon.
So Friday was a very busy day. We visited two Cummins facilities - Cummins Turbo Technologies and Cummins Generator Technologeis and one supplier (Dana) all located in Wuxi (Wooooooooo - she).
We were able to squeeze in a supplier visit to Dana Corporation. Dana supplies sealing components and plastic parts to CMI. We were lucky to have a US representative at the facility as well as the Plant Manager coming from Detroit MI. Always refereshing to have some english speaking counterparts to cleanse the pallet.
There was one thing that struck me as odd... here it is. I was the first to point it out.. and it WILL be shown at our next B level review meeting... C'mon Dana... I mean... C'mon.
It's spelled cUmmins. Xie Xie.
We ended our busy Friday with a great dinner very close to our hotel. It was a western restaurant.. so Marsha and I got a cheeseburger and fries. Refreshing. It was right on the lake. On fridays and saturdays they have a light show. We sat outside so we could watch.
Here's a taste.
Great Friday. Now onto Saturday. Some time to Play.
Jerry had a great plan for us. We (Me, Marsha, Dunee (Traveling for CGT), Jerry, and Bella (Jerry's Wife)) planned to go to a waterside town south of the Yangtze River. It enjoys the title of "Oriental Venice". I have to admit.. I was a little worried about the smell of a water town.. I've heard stories of venice having a particular stench. I'm happy to say the water smell was fine, it was the smell of cooking tofu that had Marsha and I struggling to breathe. Jerry said it smelled great and tastes even better. When Jerry asked Marsha what it smelled like.. she replied with "toilet". Maybe our nerves are wired slightly differently... anywho - onward we go.
Before we "dive" in... Jerry took us in his car. The Chinese have a passion for luck. This was given to Jerry by Bella's mom to keep them safe while driving. Based on my experience as a traveler.. for anyone driving in China, a lot of luck is needed!!! Thanks Bella's mom!!
We stood in line for about 30 minutes upon arrival and then off we went on an extended golf cart to get to the town. Here's a piece of the trip. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
Here's a flavor of the waterside town.
Time for a boat ride!!!!!
Jerry - you ready?? Let's do this!
Check this out.. the birds on the boat catch fish.
Fly away - you're free!!!
Guess what he's eating..
Take care of your head.
Jordyn - job security.
He let me drive!!!
After the boat ride it was time to eat. I did all of the ordering.
Menu
Here's what came out... eeeek
Fish head
Snails
My bad. At least we didn't get this. Good boy... stay away from the kitchen!
Dinner
Moving on. After our water taxi ride and lunch we walked around all of the little shops and museums. I was able to find something to bring home for the birtday boy - I figured since he's 1 now, he should have his very own drum. I think he really enjoys toys that make noise.. and so do his parents.
Ethan - coming your way buddy!!
over under - lasts 2 days...
We ended our visit to the water town by taking in a local concert.
As we were watching the concert, I noticed this little boy and couldn't help but notice his little butt cheeks hanging out. Thought he may be growing outward a little to quickly instead of upward and bent over too fast splitting his pants.. but we came up with a different explanation. Chinese diaper!! Who needs to catch it.. let it fly baby.
That's all for now. Hope you enjoyed Wuxi and Suzhou. We came back to our oasis of a hotel. Here's a view from a reception lounge we have access to. Beautiful view.
Tomorrow we take a taxi to the train station where we'll take the high speed train to Shanghai and then catch a flight to Nanchang where we'll visit our sealing supplier Federal Mogul and then a flight to Beijing on Tuesday, fly out to Changchun on Tuesday evening.. then back to Shanghai on Wednesday.
Finally Ali comes and we spend some time with Billy and his bird. Can't wait!!
I think I take my mode of transporation to work for granted.. yes it's a long drive.. but at least I'm protected when it rains.. what do they do??
We visited a very capable supplier today - Ningbo Jinyi Oil Pump Co. Contrary to their name.. they do not provide Oil Pumps, instead they supply machined components. We are analyzing some new business with them currently - here are some photos documenting this adventure.
Marsha and I dressed in Jinyi garb to go out in the plant.. I was rocking the XXL...
Pic of the plant.
Here's Jerry!! Jerry lives in Suzhou so after this supplier visit in Ningbo, we'll travel 2 hours to his hometown where we'll stay for 4 nights. Which means I'll be able to get my clothes washed.. which is even better news for Ali and CooCoo.
After our meeting/plant tour we went to lunch with the employees of Jinyi. Only one of them spoke english - but they showed their love for us with special tastes of China.
The glass in the middle of the table rotates so everyone can share the plates that are passed on the table.
Now the fun begins - check out this little guy. He's winking at me. The head and tail are considered to be the desired flavors.. I stuck to the middle. The president of the company who sat directly to my right enjoyed the tail very much.. looked like he was swallowing Nemo.
Escargot!!! Dip in a little soy sauce.. and right down the hatch. A little chewy.. but delish. Ali - I saved the uneaten one so we can enjoy when you get here. XOXO
This little guy was doing much better prior to us getting there.. can you see how sharp those teeth are???
Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmy.
That concluded our meal. We were given a pack of cigarettes as a parting gift.. Jerry tells me they cost more than $15.. "best cigarettes in china". I'm going to save them for Ethan when he grows up as a special treat <3.
So... after lunch we hit the road to head to Suzhou. It's a two hour drive and the nice employees of Jinyi were going to drive us all the way to drop us off. Editorial comment about the driving in china - before I came I thought Ali was the only person in the world to use her horn at least once a trip to politely tell a driver that they aren't behaving as she'd like... boy was I wrong. I'm surprised horns aren't the first thing to fail in vehicles in China. I'll capture this on video soon.. but believe me.. if you ain't a honkin.. you ain't a livin.
We stopped at a rest stop along the way. I went to the "washroom" and here's what i found.
I know you're thinking, Mike - what's wrong with that.. it's just like going to the Indy 500.. a troth to pee in. Well - I agree, except that's not to pee
in.....................
Moving on.
We arrived at our destination.. and what a destination it is. Suzhou is known as the garden city for all the beautiful gardens (more to come on that this weekend). We pulled up to the Crowne Plaza.. and what a hotel it is. Shaped like an boat, right on the water, with many boat like features. What a cool place.. and such a drastic change from our earlier sites.
Here's a video of the room - apologize for the rambling, we had pijiu (beer) for lunch.. and after many many "cheers" - i was a little foggy.
As soon as we got checked in, we had a meeting in the hotel with a supplier. The meeting was in a room that looked over the lake that the Crowne Plaza is on. Here's a taste of the view.. and of course our friend Jerry! I taught him what to say when someone takes a picture...
By the way.. he just saw a Harley Moto also known as a Harley Davidson. Viva la China.
I wanted to start off today's post with a picture of a new friend. He joined us on our tour of Shanghai on Saturday. He's 9 months old and his mom doesn't speak any english either. When Marsha and I stepped into the cab.. I've never seen such fear in a baby's eyes before. By the end of the night.. i had him smiling and laughing.
Back to business.
Although it's upside down.. you can get the flavor. Can't seem to get the PC and China to agree that much.
Yesterday we started in Donguan city and after 2 hour plane ride, ended in Nigbo.
Check out our pic in front of Parker Seal's China joint venture along with some other pics of their manufacturing facility. Yes - rocking the peace sign.
Pearls didn't suit my fancy.. but I found some things that did. Increadibly fake.. but still caught my eye. Go figure.
