Josh Travels China II Volume 1

April 26, 2007

The flight from SLC to LAX was pretty easy going. It only had about 30 people on it. My ears were really giving me some trouble on the flight from the pressure. I never have trouble with my ears on planes. It seriously felt like my right ear drum wanted to explode. I was willing to let it do so if the pain would just go away. Of course this all happens before I switch planes at LAX for my 16 hour flight half way around the world. I was thinking this could really be a terrible trip if this doesn’t go away.

The majority of the pain went away when we touched down at LAX. My ears were still hadn’t popped even after getting off the plane. After getting into the terminal, Ashley and I walked up to the flight board to see which gate we need to go to for our connecting flight. We were headed to Taipei, Taiwan from LAX. For our flight, the board read TBT. We looked at each other and wondered why the board said our gate was “To Be Determined.” We had three hours till our flight departed, so we decided to get some food. Yes, I know… TBT is not the acronym for “To Be Determined”…. But more about that later.

We sat down at a Mexican Restaurant in the terminal. We finished eating, and the board still said TBT. Since the flight left in about two hours, we thought they would have decided the gate by then. We sat around probably another 15 minutes before we came to the conclusion that TBT didn’t mean “To Be Determined.” In fact, it meant Tom Bradley Terminal. We were in the totally wrong building waiting for the gate to be posted.

We finally made it on the plane. It was a pretty smooth ride. Our plane was late landing into Taipei. We had to walk straight off of the plane and right on to our connecting plane to Hong Kong.

The flight from Taipei to Hong Kong was just under two hours. We took the train from the Hong Kong Airport to meet up with Scott, Becky, and Paul. We arrived at the hotel around 11:30am. Ashley and I were jet lagged pretty badly this time. So, we rested while the rest finished up some meetings. We met up for dinner at Dan Ryan’s Chicago Grill. It seems to be a tradition while in Hong Kong.

The next morning, we left for Shenzhen. Shenzhen is in China, just outside the Hong Kong Border. We visited a couple candle factories and their showrooms. The showrooms are always impressive. However, I love to see how the factories operate. I've heard stories about factories in China, but have never been able to see it for myself. So, now I had my chance.

I was amazed on how many people work in the factory. People are everywhere. Almost everything is done by hand one piece at a time. It was amazing to see the factory operate. Everyone had their own job.

After our factory visits, we headed to Guangzhou by car. When we left Shenzhen to head to Guangzhou, it started to rain. This wasn’t the normal type of rain. I am talking serious “buckets at a time” type of rain. This took the “when it rains it pours” saying to a whole new level.

So, our trip from Shenzhen to Guangzhou was supposed to be an hour by car, but it was four instead. After the journey, we finally arrived in Guangzhou. Guangzhou is where the huge China Export Fair is located. At this fair, you see anything and everything you can possibly think of to buy. I am not kidding. They have everything you could possibly imagine. This fair is located in huge expo halls in many different locations around the city. We use the METRO (subway) to get around the city to see the different halls.

We have walked the show the last two days and have one more day to go. There will be more to come I am sure!