Hello from Beijing.. I had just one day here this time.. and I worked hard to make it worthwhile.. This is my forth stay in this hotel.. and it brings back memories.. I remember buying the weirdest white socks I ever owned here.. another time I remember going to the lost and found and ‘finding’ a pair of running shoes because I’d forgotten mine (I ‘lost’ them again after I used them).. I also remember going to a whole in the wall restaurant a few blocks away and having a blast trying to communicate with the folks there.. they had as much fun with us.. One of our group (Hi David !) had the presence of mind to have brought a Chinese restaurant menu from the states.. we used that as our rosetta stone… .. so from then on we called the place ‘rosetta’s

Most of all, I like running from this place.. it’s a block off of a canal..there are cobblestone paths on either side of the canal.. and it’s just a perfect place to run in an otherwise unrunnable city.. this morning it was dark and about 20 degrees when I got out to the canal.. it was completely iced over an beautiful

before the run I improvised a quick breakfast in the room. instead of paying for the $35 breakfast I ate a whole package of oreos from the minibar.. and then ate an apple.. i think it balanced out health wise.. .. ying and yang..

 

Next stop was work.. I got on a shuttle bus with a bunch of other ibmers and had a great talk about work stuff on the longish drive to the site.. one of them was a Colony fan.. so we talked about that too.   Next week is the Spring Festival here.. so work was pretty quiet wiht many folks already out on holiday.. but I was able to meet with most of the folks I wanted to see.. Her’ my freind Yong-hua and her team.. they gave em a great (!!!) demo of the stuff they’ve been working on.. I was so impressed..

Yong-hua and Ling Shao and I grabbed lunch in the caf.. you can see how empty it was…

I had several great meetings there at the lab..  then new freind JY showed up from Shanghai and we headed over to a client.. You could really see the cities famous haze in the air as we drove..

 

 

The client meeting was fun and interesting.. After that JY and I went outside to try and find a taxi.. no dice.. the streets wore completely packed with traffic and all the cabs were filled.. JY made the great suggestion that we eat first.. then find cab later.. We found a great, great, great !! place that served high end Beijing style food..

You simply have to check out soem of the things on the menu.. ‘numbed and hot camel tendon’, donkey skin role, jew’s ears (a yummy fungus) , pine needle salad, stinly tofu, multi flavor intestines .. the list goes on.. !

 

 

 

We got back to the hotel around 8:30.. now I’m goign to sleep. I have a 6:50 am flight which means I need to leave the hotel at 4AM.. ugh..
good day.. good trip..
more from the road tomorrow..
nite all, nite sam
-me