Back in Asia! Been a year - and haven’t noticed too many changes. Because I booked my plane ticket the week prior to leaving, had to fly thru Narita, Tokyo’s airport. So flew 12 hours from LAX, then 1.5 hour layover followed by a 5-hour flight to Hong Kong (HK). Let’s just say it was a really, really long trip and thank god for sleeping pills.

Talk about an airport. There’s a reason the Hong Kong airport has been rated 1 in the world. It’s friggin’ awesome! And HUGE. Luggage came out just as I walked up to baggage claim and off I went on the Airport Express Train into town. Then caught a taxi to my friend Ian’s apartment where he let me stay in the ‘”guest suite” (translation: HK apartments are quite expensive and small, see below).

Didn’t realize that we were up 48 floors until I went out on the balcony to take a look - ahhhh! What fear of heights - me??? Oh ya - let’s just say I did NOT look down to see the pool area. First day in HK was uneventful - Ian lives off an alley that has a “wet market” - in other words, live fish, meat (already butchered) and vegetable/fruit stalls are the norm.

                                  
Jo-Anne Kelleway, my BFF and partner in crime around the planet flew in from Dubai and arrived at the InfoSalons office around 1pm. The three of us went off to a pub lunch, which was a distinct improvement from American Airlines & Cathay Pacific’s food.

After collecting our luggage, we headed back to the airport via the Airport Express train. The super cool thing about taking the train (as I’ve mentioned before, but NEVER gets old) is that you can check your luggage in AT the train station & get your boarding pass. We met up with a number of friends heading to the conference - Cliff Wallace & Monica from the Hong Kong Convention Center (you know - THAT convention center on the Hong Kong Harbor), Lew & Clare Shomer of SISO and Shomex, Matt Pierce from Diversified Australia (and now Diversified Events HK), and Mark Cochrane (who is taking over the UFI Asia Director position when Paul Woodward moves to England/Paris later this year to head up the whole organization).

On arrival at the airport, we met up with a few others also attending the conference - Jime Essink from UBM, Glenn Hansen from BPA, Paul Woodward from UFI, etc. (kind of a who’s who of the tradeshow biz in Asia and other places) and boarded the Expo Express (Paul’s name) to Xi’an. Did I mention there’s only one flight a day from Hong Kong it Xi’an?

Once there, we went thru immigration (Jime went in the VIP line because he’s decided that he is a VIP), collected our luggage, walked thru customs and promptly lost everyone. Some people had been picked up by private cars (the REAL VIP’s) and all of a sudden, Ian, Jo, Matt & I looked at each other and went, “WTF? Where’s the shuttle bus?” Oh - and it was FREEZING. I mean COLD - below freezing COLD.

The weather report had said Xi’an’s weather was smoky - a nice euphemism for very polluted. Anyway, Jo honed in on the taxi line and off we went - only we had to split up because only 2 pieces of luggage would fit in each car. The other challenge was communicating where we were going - usually one of us will remember to print out the name of the hotel in Chinese to give to the cab drivers. Only this time - OOPS. Eventually Ian got it sorted out. Thankfully!

The ride into Xi’an was interesting. Somehow we lost Ian and Matt’s taxi immediately upon leaving the airport. “Twilight Zone” interesting. Nice, new 8 lane divided road with NO ONE on it, except for a car we passed going the wrong way on the shoulder of the road. We saw a bunch of construction sites and passed through 2 tollbooths - but the road was really empty like a ghost town.

Best sign award was a tie - between a crosswalk sign with an animated person walking then RUNNING before the signal changed and a huge sign in badly translated English that announced the name of the establishment as “Hair Lois Shop Beauty”. Another reason not to trust Google translations!

We finally began to see signs of civilization, then passed the wall of the old city that was beautifully lit up and had a pagoda. Christmas lights were still up in the square complete with xmas tree (star, not cross on the top). Anyway - to make an endless story longer - we made it to the hotel only to find out we were in a different hotel in the same compound. Finally got our room and headed to the bar in the first hotel - a 5-minute VERY COLD walk, where we were joined by Jenny (another Aussie who works for Jo in her Shanghai office and is mentioned in last year’s China adventures). Did I mention it’s freezing here? Thankfully they had a decent tequila (no Patron - whoohooo!!!).

Xi’an seems to suffer the same issue as many indoor facilities on the US East Coast - OVERHEATED or FREEZING. No middle ground. Why do I bring this up? It’s my quest to find a place that has a cold winter climate to have comfortable indoor temperatures!!! (Not unlike never having been so cold as summer in Miami’s Ritz Carlton meeting rooms, but that’s a whole other story!)

Our first morning consisted of a great buffet breakfast after not enough sleep helped considerably by my traveling French press coffee pot & mocha java coffee. We attended the IAEE Asian meeting which was interesting - especially at 9am!

The conference, CEFCO - The 6th China Expo Forum for International Cooperation- began right on time at 5pm exactly with the opening ceremony and …count ‘em…13 speeches! The simultaneous translation was a bit rough, but we’ve heard worse. This is the 4th CEFCO I’ve attended and the level of government participation continues to grow. Among the 13 were the Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese people’s Political Consultative Conference (aka: Chinese Senate) and the Shaanxi Province’s Governor. There was a ton of press and the TV cameramen got up on the stage blocking the 600 strong audience’s view to film some of the speakers!

After the opening ceremony and 2 signing Ceremonies finished, it was a cold walk from the theater to the conference center for dinner. I’ve written a lot about Chinese banquets in past blogs and shared with you some of the interesting spare bits and parts served up regularly (sea horse soup anyone?). Anyway - as much as I love being a VIP, at CEFCO I’m really happy to be a “nobody”. I can choose what I want to try (or not) off the lazy susan in the middle of the table.

No good stories to tell - dinner was pretty good! Although they only fill the wine glass about 1/4 full at any time because it’s the Chinese custom to shoot the red wine after they toast each other. Jenny, Ian and I sat together at dinner and bravely tried Chinese rice wine. Chinese rice wine has the consistency of ouzo with the burn of moonshine and leaves a NASTY after-taste. This is being said from the woman who loves tequila. Our Chinese dinner companions laughed pretty hard at the expressions on our faces as we tried the stuff. Blegh. They did not drink the stuff….

At banquets, there are always cold appetizers to start, already laid out on the lazy susan. I had some of what I thought were noodles with tofu & spring onion and it was good. Later on in the evening I was told by a couple of people that what we had eaten (and liked) was actually pig bladder, thinly sliced to resemble noodles with veggies. EWWWWWWW!!!

Can you say, “Gullible”? It would be my face as the perfect example. The next day at lunch (where the same appetizers were served), I found out the dish was, in fact, noodles with tofu & veggies. So happy I didn’t make myself go throw up dinner! Turns out that at the VIP table, the dish that looked like the tofu noodle dish was in fact, pig bladder and veggies.

Following the dinner was the famous InfoSalons VIP Party held at the Havana Club in the Sofitel Hotel. Great Aussie wines. The party was fun. When it finished, we commandeered a private room in the club and continued to drink wine & hang out with some of our favorite Europeans, Australians and a couple of other Yanks. 1:30am came quickly.

Making the 8am breakfast the next morning was a challenge - but hey! In our biz, you better be able to make those early mornings after late nights! (Kudos to the guys who made their 7:30am breakfast meeting!) Then the workday began.

The general conference was interesting - they do something differently here than in other places - the moderator of a panel discussion sums up the most important points as each speaker finishes their speech. I’m not sure if I like it or not - why do they need to sum up what a speaker just got done saying? Maybe the repetition will help the most salient points stay in the noggin’? It happens during every seminar (including the above referenced opening ceremony with the 13 speeches - that’s right - 13 summaries too!)

It’s been interesting to watch how much more honest the Chinese have become in regards to the State of the Industry - where can they improve? How can they be better? Most venues are still at under 12% occupancy (I can see the convention center managers reading this cringing), but the Chinese venues still have lots of government support ($$$).

The following day’s seminars were interesting as were the subsequent banquets. Highlights: me trying (and clearly failing) to pick up mushrooms with my chopsticks (again) at lunch and entertainment with singing gondoliers sponsored by our friends at the Venetian Macau.

Lowlight: the dinner banquet before a lovely evening of Chinese dance. Main dishes: chicken intestines with veggies, mystery meat soup, fried chicken feet (did you know that the U.S. EXPORTS these to China?)…and lovely Great Wall of China red wine. Hmm….it’s not tasting as foul and is almost drinkable … that’s a scary thought in and of itself! Fortunately, our dining companions - all from Thailand did not think me rude for taking photos of the food (and they didn’t eat the spare bits & parts either!).

                          
(above: chicken intestines, fried chicken feet, mystery meat soup)

Driving through Xi’an with Gu and Jo to get to the banquet was a fairly straightforward scary ride…the phrase “don’t look” was muttered (screamed?) quite often. It saddens me that the most noticeable U.S. exports I’ve seen here are Kentucky Fried, Pizza Hut, Coors and of course, chicken feet. What a sad reflection on good ole U.S. ingenuity. Disappointing actually.

We get to the complex and it was freezing, freezing, freezing. The reflections of our pics look really good - cause it wasn’t water on the ground…it was ICE. After searching the huge complex, we arrived to the banquet late (thankfully) and hypothermic. (See comments about the dinner, above.)

                                 
After the show, we returned to the hotel and the usual suspects once again went to the private room at the Club Havana. The Germans and Brits sure enjoy “taking the piss” out of each other (translation - giving each other lots of shit).

The last day of the conference came early (so what else is new, right?). After a couple of interesting meetings and one seminar, it was lunchtime. Jo came and grabbed me to sit at the VIP table next to her. Before the lunch, I was named a Sr. Advisor to the Shaanxi Province Government for Exhibitions and Events by the mayor of Xi’an. That was cool. Have the certificate to prove it!!!

Not so cool? Boiled Broth with Fresh Sea Cucumber. Stewed fish maw and mushroom in abalone sauce. What’s a fish maw??? 

After rushing from lunch, we quickly changed into seriously warm gear and headed out on buses to see the Terra Cotta Warriors. Jo’s new name became Nanuk from the North (although she’s from the South) - or the Michelin Man, depending on who was doing the name-calling! I was wearing tights, jeans, socks, tennis shoes, long underwear top, thermal top, heavy winter coat, scarf, headband and warm gloves - and was almost comfy. Almost.

The last time I went to see the Terra Cotta Warriors was 1991. Much has changed, but the world’s largest jigsaw puzzle is still that! Where there had been quasi-temporary tents over the excavation site there are now massive (unheated) buildings. They did not permit photography then. Fortunately they do now!

                 
      (pics above: the largest pit of soldiers, me, Mike & Wolfram from the Venetian Macau)

It’s worth the trip to see the soldiers. 8000 buried soldiers, generals and horses (complete with bronze bridles) in 3 pits - with no record of having been made, much less buried! Every face of the warriors is different - and the faces are from all over China. Speculation is that the Emperor buried nearby wanted to make sure he was protected in death and had this massive army built & buried for protection in the afterlife. They’ve also speculated that he killed all 750,000 workers once it was done so they couldn’t talk about it.

The warriors are made from Terra Cotta - their trunks, legs & feet are solid, while torsos and heads are hollow. Once the army was complete, they were placed in formation in trenches and subsequently covered by lumber then dirt. When the lumber finally rotted out, the dirt crushed everything below - hence the jigsaw puzzle reference.

Did I mention it was FREEZING?

Anyway we loved the tour and our awesome guide Coco. The soldiers were originally painted to look human, but the paint doesn’t do well once it’s exposed to the air. I love the fact that they have chosen not to open some of the sections until they invent a solution to keep the paint from disintegrating once it hits oxygen.

                                      
On the drive out and back, it was hard not to notice the level of pollution in the air. Not smog. Pollution. The prime heat source in Xi’an is coal - for heating in the home, cooking and for electricity. Mountain where? In front of us? Oh! To the left? Are you sure?

We did not stop at the Emperor’s tomb but saw it in the distance. It’s never been opened. They were quite wily when the Emperor was buried. The tomb is surrounded on the inside by a mercury moat or river - lethal to breathe or touch. That’s one way to make sure the grave robbers stay out!

After returning to the hotel complex, it was rush rush rush to meet for drinks then head to a special VIP InfoSalons CEO dinner. We went to a great Halal restaurant (there’s a sizable Muslim population in Xi’an) where you help make your own dinner. If you can read Chinese that is. They took one look at us and removed the directional cooking signs at each place setting.

Instead, we tore pieces of bread into little bitty pieces that were then cooked in a broth of choice - veggie, meat or chicken. Dinner was delicious, wine and beer flowed and a lot of laughter was had by all. I’ve mentioned this before, but it bears repeating - most business lunches and dinners are held in private rooms of restaurants. Our room at the restaurant was beautifully appointed and quite private. Even had it’s own western-style bathroom!

Best way to move a group of semi-drunk CEO’s (not unlike wrangling cats)? Gu saying he had 2 announcements: 1) The bus driver was going to leave us to find our own way back to the hotel and 2) that The Club Havana had called and wanted to know where we were!

So off to Club Havana we all went …where the last night in Xi’an was celebrated in the usual style.

The next morning (why do they come so darn early???), the InfoSalons group was holding a staff retreat, so Matt and I decided to do some sightseeing and took a taxi to the Muslim Quarter. You know how “they” say that Chinese people rise early? NOPE. They don’t. We arrived to the Quarter around 9:30am or so. It was just beginning to wake up! SLOWLY.

There were a few women with their faces covered (unless you count surgical masks), but did see a bunch of men wearing round white hats - their version of a religious head covering.

It was fascinating and sometimes really disturbing to walk through the streets. Lots of street food was being cooked - using coal - and the area selling “spare bits and parts” of dead animals smelled - well let’s just say we were happy it was quite cold instead of warm out.

                      
They have a mosque in Xi’an! Here’s the pic of it. If you look closely, there are different drums around the entire outside to call for worship. It was a BIG building and quite tall. No turrets or minarets though!

We chose to walk back to the hotel - it was under a couple of miles back down a major street. Wow. The Pollution. I mean THE POLLUTION. This is what Xi’an looked like at 10:30am and that’s NOT FOG or clouds. When we returned to the hotel (after no more than a 1/2 hour walk) I felt grimy, my lungs hurt and my white sweater wasn’t.

                                   
Strangest thing I saw on the walk back? Men sitting on chairs directly (right) in front of cell phone stores selling fake phones, with the prices on signs. At least that’s what we think they were selling.

Then it was time to go. Had an uneventful cab ride back sharing a cab with Joerge from Messe Nueremburg but heard that Matt and Jo broke the land speed record in theirs! Met up with Exhibition Express folk for the trip back to Hong Kong - and said farewell to Xi’an.