A taste of china.

Ni Hao -

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.

Xie Xie.