We arrived in Xuzhou and met our driver on the other end who shuttled us to Zao Zhuang City, where our plant is located. It was over an hour drive, so we stopped in the city for lunch first. We had American Style lunch – which was a pepper steak, white rice, veggies, and a fried egg. It was actually pretty good, though I was sad that they did that for my benefit.
[Side note: if you ask me to pronounce any of these names, I will do my best, but will likely be screwing it up royally]
We arrived at the plant and got a very nice tour from one of the senior operators. The plant wasn’t running so we got to get up close and personal with it, climbing to the top of the structure for a full view of the surrounding countryside. This was “real China”. I have pics on my digital camera that I will post after I get home of the surroundings. Needless to say I felt like I had smoked a pack of cigarettes after we left, as the pollution from the neighboring coke over plant was really, really bad.
We were at the plant from just after lunch until 5pm… and eventually the urge came upon me. I had to use the facilities. I went into the ladies room, and this is what I found:
Yes, folks, after that, I had experienced all of the Chinese culture one could ever ask for. Use your imagination, and you’ll be pretty close to reality.
We headed back out to the airport at Xuzhou. On the way, there are multiple toll booths, as the Chinese government has recently built some very nice 4 lane highways, and like all good governments, they are asking the users of those highways (mostly BIG trucks) to pay for them.
Driving in China is an adventure, and while trying to squeeze our way into line at the toll booth, we had our first ‘encounter’. We exchanged paint with another car. Small amount of paint mind you, easily buffed out. However, our driver and the offended driver argued for a good 15 minutes over the “price” of this exchange. It’s my understanding that insurance isn’t the norm here as its very expensive, and so this is how negotiations are conducted… curb side. We gathered quite an audience, and even had the local security come to our aid…
Some unnamed dollar amount was exchanged, and we were on our way. My colleague politely informed me that this is “Chinese stuff” – in other words, the Chinese way of doing things. Also, it’s not polite to ask how much money was exchanged, so I don’t know. There was a lot of hand waving around the bumper… so hopefully it didn’t cost our driver too much.
We got to the airport an hour ahead of our scheduled departure and waited for our plane to arrive… 3 hours late. Again, I’m told this is normal.
Wednesday was a long day… crawled in bed at 1:30am.
Thursday was spent at the office. I was treated to a traditional dim sum lunch with three coworkers that was really delicious.
Friday I worked from the apartment and went to the big Gateway mall down the street in the late afternoon. The mall was about 6 floors of stores… incredible! I was too overwhelmed to buy anything. Yes, I know… close your mouth… it is possible.
Here are a couple more pics for your entertainment…
The view from the apartment – 27th floor
The mascot for the World Expo – his name is Hai Bao. I think he is a smurf derivative.
Tonight I’ll have dinner with some friends who are expats here. Hoping to see some more culture on the other side of the river.
Zaijian from Shanghai!
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