How to Travel to China On Your Own – Part 3

My first trip to China, Day Three

1) Breakfast at the hotel

I didn’t get enough sleep again as it was stuffy in the room despite the open window. The subtropics are different from Moscow or Belarus, after all! I made up my mind to keep the air conditioner on at night from now on, much as I dislike that contraption…

But that’s not all. I didn’t hear the alarm on my phone at all, even though I had set a 5-minute interval for the snooze alarm. Obviously, the not too loud cock-a-doodle-doo tone chosen by me reminded me of my summer holidays in the countryside. There were a lot of chickens apart from geese and rabbits… As a result, I was happily asleep and woke up as much as one and a half hours later! And that’s considering the fact that we had to be at the bank early! Having brushed my teeth, I rushed to the third floor and, just as on the day of checking in, I began to wander along the maze of the hotel corridors in bewilderment, trying to find the restaurant. Some 10 minutes later I caught the smell of something edible and, encouraged, continued my way hoping that my intuition wouldn’t fail me.

The restaurant turned out to be small – with no more than 30 seats. The manager at the entrance asked for my breakfast certificate, after which he gave me a fork and a knife with a smile. I thanked the manager and began to look round. There were enormous pots and pans with traditional Chinese food on two long self-service tables, with a boiler and a vacuum jug on the right for those who wanted tea or coffee. I did a quick scan of the room and noticed Julia, who was finishing her breakfast. I greeted her and decided not to spend much time choosing my morning meal. Far from everything that was being offered was familiar to me, that’s why I chose noodles, boiled eggs, some greens, a bun and a cup of coffee. After breakfast we headed for the hotel’s entrance.

3) Exchanging currency at the bank

Oh, I will never forget my first visit to a Chinese bank to exchange currency and the process of currency exchange itself!!!

Yet, first things first…

So, at about 8.50 am we left the hotel, turned round the corner and a minute later found ourselves at a Bank of China branch, which was still closed. On both sides of the entrance there were two huge statues of lions (no picture again, sorry). The entrance itself was safely covered with a massive metal shutter. There were approximately 10 other people waiting for the bank to open. Some of them were standing in the shade of the trees; others were right at the entrance. The sun wasn’t strong yet, so we also chose to stand closer to the entrance. On the dot of 9 am, the shutter was raised, the doors opened automatically and we saw bank employees standing in 2 lines shout something in Chinese three times in chorus, bowing every time they shouted it. The synchrony and unusualness of that act was fascinating…

The Chinese waiting outside quickly moved towards the entrance. The bank managers began approaching the clients, asking them questions and helping them get a ticket number. Bottom line, within minutes each customer got a ticket and knew which window they would go to on seeing their number on the queue information display. Amazing! As foreigners, we were approached by a young woman who spoke good English. Having given us our tickets, she led us to a stand with special A4 size application forms which we were to fill out in order to exchange currency. We had to fill out as many as two forms, and sometimes I didn’t know how to do it even though the forms were both in Chinese and English. For example, it was required that the name of the hotel should be written in Chinese. The woman employee helped us out – she entered the necessary information herself after I told her that I was staying at the Lotus Hotel. Julia was faster than me and headed for her window when it was her turn. Some 20 minutes later a bank employee was asking her a lot of clarifying questions, unable to identify a name, a surname or an address etc. in a Russian passport. In the end he scanned the necessary pages and exchanged her currency. I had to wait till another three customers had been served and finally I got to Window 2. Well, I thought, my passport is fine, it is both in Russian and in English, so I should exchange my currency within no more than 10 minutes. Yet, I celebrated too early! The bank employee called out to a manager and showed her my application forms. The woman apologized and said that the rules of the bank require that I should use the pen that was on the stand, not my own. I never understood what the big deal was. Perhaps it was about the wrong color or something. Anyway, I had to fill out the application forms again.

In about 20 minutes I finally returned to the window, relieved to see that everything was alright this time. The bank employee began to scan my passport with a portable scanner. Then he opened a very big box (whose size and design made it resemble a military box), revealing neatly stacked bundles of banknotes. Specially for me the employee wrote the current exchange rate and the total sum on a sheet of paper, after which he exchanged my currency. A few seconds later I became the fortunate possessor of 632 Yuan and almost hopped my way out of the bank. Who would have thought that the procedure would take me one hour and twenty minutes…

2) The great trip to the exhibition

The previous evening Maxim had shown us in what direction we should go to get to the exhibition. Our reference point was a tall dark building with a red flower. It was early morning, the sun wasn’t strong yet. Thinking that a 20-minute walk wouldn’t kill anyone, we briskly walked to the exhibition. We reached a crossroads where a new glass building with a lot of non-coplanar angles was being constructed, turned left and walked down a long street towards our reference point. The cars were surprisingly few, and we didn’t meet more than 30 people, at most. On the left rose enormous majestic buildings. Some of them were still being built, but the others looked completed. At that point I noticed that the road was going up and the building with a red flower seemed to be left below. I somehow decided that if we continued walking down that street, we would get lost, so we changed our direction and took to the right, finding ourselves in a street that ran parallel. There we descended into a very clean subway and crossed to the other side of the street.

The building that was our reference point was still visible on the horizon, so it seemed that we hadn’t got lost our way yet.

At first everything looked perfect – beautiful scenery, huge buildings, a busy well-kept multi-lane road on the right, a park with lovely trees on the left. A nice place, in a word. I was once again surprised to see how clean the city was.

About 15 minutes later we saw a fence that was 3 meters high and stretched from the park to the road, and here weird things began to happen… In order to circumvent the fenced area we had to follow a young Chinese man right into the road and walk another 300 meters. As it turned out, the fenced area was a construction site. There was a street, though, too – not paved yet, but with road kerbs in place. It was as muddy as in Moscow there – pure clay around. In a word, we bravely walked on the road kerbs hoping that we wouldn’t end up falling into the mud. The worst thing was that we’d lost sight of the building which was our reference point. Yet, the very direction in which we were moving was clear to us. Our attempt to talk to a foreman who was engaged in a lively discussion with some workers was unsuccessful – the guy didn’t speak English and was saying something in Chinese. So, after exchanging a few polite smiles we walked on. Soon we passed the construction area and going through a narrow gate we found ourselves in the city centre. We could easily see that it was a posh area. The exterior of the hotels and other buildings was impressive. There were high-end cars everywhere. In a word, the centre of Shenzhen was living its own life.

3) The visit to the CHINA HIGH-TECH FAIR

We were lucky to find a student who showed us the way to the exhibition centre and actually accompanied us to it. Thanking him and showing our passports to a security guard, we finally set foot on the premises of Shenzhen Convention & Exhibition Center (it is there that the CHINA HIGH TECH FAIR exhibition was being held). After the vigorous morning walk all I wanted to do was return to the hotel and take a cold shower. It was humid. Besides, most of the buildings around were made of glass, and there were quite a lot of fountains scattered around the exhibition centre, so the city centre caused ambivalent feelings. After we confirmed our pre-registration via the exhibition web site, we were given out special forms with our visiting cards stapled to them. The administrators directed us to a row of one-floor buildings where we went to get our badges. There they scanned our passports, took our photos with a small camera and a minute later we were issued with new badges.

On going through the last security post we came to the entrance to the pavilions. There was a huge crowd of people managed by polite policemen. I must say, they were doing it skillfully, so we didn’t have to wait long to get in. Lo and behold! There were air conditioners! I recovered my interest to what was going around within minutes and began taking pictures with my smartphone. My first trip to China, my first visit to a trade exhibition – I simply had to save those moments!

I must admit that I didn’t prepare for the visit to the exhibition. As I mentioned in the first article, for the sake of integrity of the experiment everything was to be as if I didn’t know anything. That’s why I excelled in doing things the way they SHOULDN’T be done. J Naturally, planning my visit to the exhibition was out of the question. (Getting ahead of my story, I have to say that there’s nothing to do at a trade exhibition if you aren’t prepared for it. And you’re unlikely to succeed in it on your own. That’s why it’s better to visit a Chinese exhibition with competent experts in that area).

Julia was looking for new business partners in several areas, that’s why she wanted to study the latest offers from the leading Chinese companies. I only had one problem to solve, but I failed to do it within one day – the exhibition was on a slightly different subject.

Going down, in a matter of minutes Julia found a very interesting solution which could help her business a lot. She had a rather long discussion with managers of the company. Meanwhile, I was walking about the pavilion trying not to lose sight of her. (Not having a Chinese SIM-card was, indeed, more than inconvenient.)

We focused on familiarizing ourselves with the companies represented in Pavilion ??, that’s why we were not in a hurry. The pavilion turned out to be very big, so we had to do quite a lot of walking. Unsurprisingly, I became hungry very soon. I spotted a small table between two stands where a girl was offering something tasty. Chinese guys would stop at the table, talk to the girl and she would fill their miniature glasses with some beverage from a thermos flask. I thought, “Come what may”, and made up my mind to give it a go. Sadly, the girl didn’t speak English, but nevertheless offered me a small glass. I thanked her, accepted the glass whereas she looked at me attentively. I was a bit embarrassed, then I drank the beverage in one draught and only then did I realize that there was something special in the glass, something peculiarly Chinese… Yes, it’s hard to describe the taste. Neither medicine nor herbal tea – something in between… Recherché, in a word. Yet, I obviously passed the test with flying colours because the girl gave me an encouraging smile. I wasn’t in the mood for a second glass, though, so I decided to be more patient and wait for lunch time.

In the slide show you will see a few photos taken at the exhibition. I might be mistaken, but I had the impression that as many as 1/3 of the offers dealt with the subjects of “a smart home” and “a smart city”. I wasn’t really interested in those at the moment, but took a couple of business cards just in case… The offers presented by those companies were too fascinating to ignore.

Special mention should be made of the security level provided at the exhibition. There were a great number of policemen and security guards patrolling every pavilion.

By the way, a curious thing happened to me there. While Julia was talking to representatives of a company, I took my smartphone out of my bag and began taking pictures. Suddenly, someone slowly patted me on the shoulder. To my surprise, when I turned round I saw a policeman. He pointed to my unzipped bag (looks like I had forgotten to zip it after taking out the phone). Then he shook his head and wagged his finger reproachfully. Like, “no good. Be careful.” I thanked him wholeheartedly in English, zipping the bag. He smiled and continued his way.

And one more observation relating to policemen. Almost all the guys who were patrolling the area were somehow much taller than their fellow countrymen. I’m not sure, but maybe they select the tallest ones for the police force in China?

Meanwhile, we finished with that pavilion and decided to move on to Pavilion 5, where we were supposed to meet numerous representatives of Chinese scientific circles (the Chinese Academy of Sciences, universities, research units).

Apart from the main issue, I was interested in another one, which I was lucky to solve. Walking about the pavilion, we heard loud Chinese music. Coming closer, to our surprise we saw two Chinese girls dancing. There was a big crowd of visitors watching them. Soon the performance was over, but I managed to take a picture of the show after struggling through the crowd to get closer to the dancers.

It turned out that in that peculiar way China Telecom, a major Chinese company, was attracting attention. The music faded away; those who wanted to be photographed with the girls stepped aside, and managers of the company appeared. Great job! The style was really striking… Those who wanted to talk to the company representatives came up to the managers, and I noticed that one of the representatives remained alone. He looked different from the other managers – like someone of a higher rank, if I may put it like this. After a moment’s consideration, I quickly approached him and began asking him questions. My intuition didn’t fail me. The guy turned out to be КЕМ? and easily answered all my questions in very good English. Briefly, I was interested in cloud computing and data security levels. On receiving an exhaustive answer, I asked him for a business card, thanked him for his help and continued exploring the pavilion together with Julia.

I won’t bore you with all the details. We were collecting business cards and catalogues and even found some interesting solutions in related fields. There are two things that I’d like to mention specifically. First – I came across a very funny stand. I somehow decided that the bearded guy next to Einstein was our Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev. When I was showing the photos at work on returning to Russia, my comment regarding the stand raised a storm of laughter. It turned out that I was “slightly” mistaken – the bearded scholar was Karl Marx.

Another stand that gathered a lot of visitors attracted attention by demonstrating a light bulb which was giving off light without any wires connected to it, as if suspended in the air. A very unusual product. Most likely they used magnetic induction to make it work. I made up my mind to take a picture of the bulb.

Actually, that was the end of our visit to the Shenzhen HIGH TECH FAIR, as the other pavilions didn’t interest us. That’s why we headed for the exit. It was terribly humid outside. The sun was strong and the sunlight was reflected off the enormous mirrored buildings; cars were driving out of the underground car park; the visitors were streaming out from the pavilions into the street. I was yet again surprised to see such a lot of new cars in Shenzhen, most of them being German.

The whole area around the exhibition center was sealed off, and not just by regular policemen, but also by special police units. For example, along the perimeter of the exhibition center, close to the fence, there were several special forces units. The guys had automatic guns and were in full gear, with the word SWAT on their uniform. There was a van with dogs (the poor German Shepherd dogs were having a hard time despite the air conditioner). Also, there were a few armoured vehicles parked outside, one of which I even took a photo of. Interestingly, taxi drivers were not allowed to stop along the street where police cars and special purpose vehicles were parked. So our attempt to hail a taxi right at the entrance to the exhibition center was an epic fail, and other visitors had as much luck with it as we did.

4) Returning to the hotel

We had to walk back to the hotel; though, considering our bitter experience, we corrected our itinerary to avoid detours. We walked quite slowly, taking pics along the way. Say what you will, but the centre of Shenzhen is fabulous! We noticed very strange trees along the pavement. Their roots come to the surface and turn into a twisted trunk.

Some 20 minutes later we were at the hotel. Julia told me that her friend with his wife was coming in the evening, and that they had invited us to dinner.

After that we went to our rooms to get ready for the evening meeting and to have some rest from hours of walking. In the meantime I jotted down some notes about what had happened during the day. I did it every day that I spent in China and jokingly called those jottings “traveller’s notes”. It’s very convenient and helps you remember moments not captured in photos.

5) Meeting with friends, dinner and an evening walk about the city

In the evening Luda and Nancy arrived. By the way, Luda is a famous figure in Chinese history, and it’s a male name. Still can’t get used to its pronunciation… Luda and Nancy turned out to be very young people who were recently married. A great couple! Their modestly, politeness and sincere love for each other added to the wonderful impression of the meeting. Unsurprisingly, we connected and became friends very quickly.

Luda invited us to a restaurant which was literally five meters away from the hotel. It was an authentic Chinese restaurant – they didn’t offer forks there at all! Julia and I were the only foreigners in the restaurant that evening. We had a lot of fun at the table again because of my struggling with chopsticks. J But I wasn’t discouraged as I was growing better and better at using them.

When we were talking, a curious fact emerged. It turned out that Luda had been cooperating with Julia in the production of printed circuit boards, but it was the first time they’d met. And Julia had all the way thought that Luda was Lyuda, i.e. a girl. When it became clear that it was not so, everyone burst out laughing again!

In a word, we had a very good time at the restaurant. The food was very tasty, moderately spicy (thanks to our considerate friends), and aplenty again.

After dinner, we went for a walk in the vicinity of the hotel. Luda suggested buying souvenirs at one of the shops. I’ve always had difficulty choosing gifts – haven’t been able to choose the right ones since childhood, because I always think that the gift will prove to be bad. That’s why I normally try to avoid buying gifts or ask my sister to help me with it… Small wonder that I didn’t choose anything at the gift shop again, though there was something that I really liked. When we left the shop, I decided to return. Luda kept me company and helped me choose and buy two bookmarks. I was going to give one bookmark to my father and the other to my brother. Both of them enjoy reading. The only trouble was that there was something written in Chinese on each bookmark. That’s why I asked Luda to translate.

After that we strolled along the evening streets of Shenzhen, took a few commemorative pictures and came to a place with a lot of cafes and restaurants. I just loved the lighting installed on the trees and buildings around. I made a few attempts to photograph it with my smartphone. It came out well, I think.

Luda suggested having something sweet. We dropped in at a small café, engaging in a conversation about life in Russia and China. I couldn’t help noticing, with pleasure, what nice people Luda and Nancy were. They were kind of creating a special atmosphere around them. It was very pleasant to see that their family relationship was based on love, trust and mutual respect. It’s incredible, but the few hours we spent together was enough for us to become friends.

Nancy said that she worked with her husband, helping him to sell printed circuit boards to foreign customers. She speaks very good English, so she often came to our rescue if our dialogue got stuck because one of us didn’t know the necessary word. If Nancy was busy at the moment, Luda used the translator app on his smartphone, so we understood each other perfectly well.

Among other things, Luda solved another serious problem – that of staying in touch. He had bought a new phone with a Chinese SIM-card for Julia. We agreed on leaving the phone at the reception desk after we checked out, and he would pick it up later.

Finally, it was time for us to say good-bye. My new friends had to spend a few hours driving home through the city, that’s why we decided to take a taxi back to the hotel. We said our warm good-byes, after which Luda and Nancy headed home, whereas we returned to the hotel to restore energy and prepare for the next day.

The next point on our agenda was a visit to a factory which produced printed circuit boards. We had to be up very early so as to have time for breakfast at the hotel restaurant (which started at 7.30 am). At 8 am a female manager who lived nearby was to pick us up. Why so early? As almost all the factories are located out of town, we needed to get to the place before the traffic in Shenzhen got heavy. After all, it’s a city with a population of about 10 million people (or 12 million, according to some sources).

Remembering my bitter experience, I left the air conditioner on for the night, hoping to get a good sleep after a hard day. It was a futile hope, as it turned out…

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How to Travel to China On Your Own – Part 2

My first trip to China, Day Two

1) Flying from Moscow to Guangzhou

During the night flight from Moscow to Guangzhou our plane made a considerable detour. We could see it on the animated flight maps on the two monitors between the aisles and on our seat-back TVs. I only managed to get some sleep from time to time as my knees were crammed up against the seat in front of me, which would wake me up.

During the night we mostly flew over deserted areas. The clouds were scarce, so we could occasionally see dim lights below. In a word, it wasn’t really interesting to look at the dull landscape. When I woke up in the morning (for the umpteenth time), the passenger cabin was brightly lit by the sun and we were flying above fluffy snow-white clouds. An incredibly beautiful sight! The bright sunlight gradually woke up the other passengers. They were looking around in bewilderment, trying to see why they had woken up. As soon as they figured it out, they stopped talking and began enjoying the amazing view. Some passengers remained indifferent, though – they lowered their window shades and went on sleeping. About an hour later the sunlight became so intense that we had to pull down our own window shade as it was unbearable to look at the dazzling whiteness of the clouds below. Actually, it is like in the mountains where it’s not recommended to look at the white snow for a long time if you’re not wearing sunglasses.

A few hours later breakfast was served. I love delicious rolled pancakes, that’s why I ordered them on seeing them on the menu. Alas, I regretted my decision very soon. Not sure how our meals were heated up, but the procedure rendered the pancakes hard and turned the jam filling into some strange, gooey and absolutely unappetizing substance. Other than that, the breakfast was ok. As usual, the flight attendants first offered us a selection of juices and soft drinks, and after that – tea and coffee.

After breakfast I became impatient to land in Guangzhou. The flight maps promised a sharp turn and after that – a more or less direct route till landing at the destination airport. Unfortunately, the sun was still shining brightly and it was impossible to see the ground through a mass of whimsically-shaped white clouds. About two hours later a flight attendant informed us on the intercom that we were approaching the airport and that the plane would soon start descending. An hour before landing the flight attendants distributed immigration cards which took us quite some time to fill in. A card consisted of two parts. One part was to be left at the airport Immigration control whereas the other was to be kept by the passenger.

Some 20 minutes before landing the passengers were asked to fasten the seat belts, straighten the seats, put their hand luggage under the seats or in overhead bins and switch off their electronic devices. The plane entered the clouds and started descending. This moment as well as the take-off is always very unpleasant as air pressure changes can trigger airplane ear. Our seat-back TVs began showing the landscape below – the plane’s external camera had been switched on. Those who were lucky to have window seats had a chance to enjoy the view with their own eyes; the others had to content themselves with the camera views. As my seat was not in the central row, I was able to get both the top and side views of the enormous city lying below. Guangzhou evoked mixed feelings. On the one hand, it was an impressive modern megalopolis of remarkable urban beauty and design. On the other hand, from time to time I could see strange (small and absolutely unattractive) identical-looking houses standing so close to one another that even a car couldn’t pass between them. Such houses were located on rather high hills and were scattered over a large area.

At this moment our plane was about to touch down and the passengers became quiet. Thanks God, the landing was successful! The happy passengers began to clap their hands, expressing their gratitude to the crew. The plane taxied to the jet bridge, the flight attendants opened the doors to let us out. Julia and I were not in a hurry, so we were almost the last to leave the plane.

After a short walk in the jet bridge we found ourselves in a long corridor of an airport terminal where there were a lot of closed doors with signs written in Chinese. The corridor interior design was nice and without any extravagance. Interestingly, there were no signs in English that would tell us where to go! It was as if the corridor had gone dead! There was no one ahead, and there was a small group of Chinese discussing something animatedly. We decided not to walk too fast, hoping that the Chinese knew where they were going.

At last the long deserted corridor ended and we saw two signs in English showing which way foreigners and Chinese citizens should go. Walking in the direction indicated by the signs we found ourselves in a big hall where there were neat lines of passengers of our flight. They were being helped by polite policemen who were using gestures to show each newcomer which queue they should join.

It wasn’t hot inside the airport – obviously, air conditioning was on, but still it was hotter than my favorite 18C… Surprisingly, at Guangzhou airport you get your passport checked not by customs officers but by policemen. It took me about two minutes to present my passport, boarding pass and immigration card to a policeman and go through the turnstile to the Customs hall. Strangely, none of the customs officers wanted to check my luggage. I looked around and noticed that the other passengers were passing through the hall quickly and moving along to the main part of the terminal.

As we were the last to arrive, the crowd at the meeting point had thinned out. There were no more than 30 people. Peering into the signs with names and surnames held by the Chinese who were meeting passengers, we didn’t find our names, so a few minutes later we walked to the exit. That’s when we were met by Shelley – a cheerful smiley Chinese girl who knew Julia well through work. It turned out that after the flow of passengers petered out, she thought that she must have missed us and left the terminal to look for us outside. Naturally, she didn’t find us there as we were still going through passport control. That’s why Shelley returned to the terminal, where we finally met.

After a heartwarming meeting Julia and Shelley exchanged a few questions. I noticed the girl looking at me with surprise, after which Shelley burst out laughing and said that she used to think that my name was a woman’s name, so she had expected to see a girl instead of a young man. After that all of us burst out laughing. We had to explain the difference between the names Vitaly and Vitalia to her. Shelley said that she had come in a car sent by her boss – Julia’s long-time friend and business partner. On calling the driver, the girl went to buy us some drinking water as it was extremely stuffy in there. After cold Moscow, the weather contrast was striking…

While we were waiting for the car, I watched a small road close to the airport. Good quality modern cars were moving along slowly, stopping to pick up passengers at any suitable place and the drivers were signaling to each other while maneuvering. Interestingly, no one got mad, no one shouted even when someone wasn’t quick enough to get into a car. I couldn’t help wondering what the same situation would result in in Moscow.

2) Going to Shenzhen

Our car arrived. After pulling up right in the middle of the road (naturally, the drivers behind honked at us immediately), the driver helped us load our stuff into the car, and we set off. The driver turned out to be a serious and reserved dude, he didn’t speak English but it was obvious that he knew the ropes and drove confidently. As for me, I was plying Shelley with questions in-between her dialogues with Julia. And was taking pics with my smartphone in the meantime. My camera was still on the bottom of my overpacked travel bag, so I had to settle for a smartphone. The photos aren’t very good quality, of course, but that’s all I’ve got…

I was first of all struck by the climate. Warm, humid, with lush greenery. Even in the city, which we were leaving by car, it was obvious with what loving care the Chinese look after their natural heritage. As we were driving out of the city, the amount of vegetation increased.

An excellent multi-line highway with moderate traffic, a high traffic barrier lined with flowers, a very good vehicle traffic organization in terms of road signs – everything indicated that the Chinese government pays lot of attention to the national roads. We saw quite a lot of police cars as well as stationary radars and traffic enforcement cameras. Funnily, a lot of drivers were honking there as well even if the drivers in front of them shown by the light signal that they were changing lanes.

Shelley said that the weather was a bit strange as the forecast had promised rain instead of +27C. I was happy about the weather, though, as Julia and I weren’t dressed properly for a rainy day.

On our way to Shenzhen we drove through two other fairly large cities, one of them being the famous Dongguan. I couldn’t appreciate the beauty of the cities as we mostly drove through their industrial areas. On both sides of the road there were small hills which were definitely of artificial origin. Shelley explained that the hills were composed of sand brought there from big construction sites. Special machines knock a huge pile of sand into shape, after which it gets covered with concrete in the form of large cells. Thanks to the unique climate, the man-made hill becomes green with vegetation within a year or two. And in a few more years the first trees begin to grow there. In a word, all that looks interesting and unusual.

About halfway along our trip, to the right of the highway we saw a log of big and small ships, special cranes for unloading and loading containers and other transport packaging. Shelley explained that it was a sea port. I had no time to ask her more questions as at that moment the driver asked her something and they engaged in a long conversation.

We passed several toll collection points on our way. The driver either paid in cash or by a special card which he touched on a mini-card reader, after which we continued our way. Luckily, even during the rush hour the tolls don’t create traffic jams. A very well-thought-out system…

Soon we began to notice more and more signs pointing in the direction of Shenzhen International airport. This large airport is not only an airline hub, but also a major airport which plays a very important role in the region’s economy. Some time later we saw the airport itself. For the most part, there were Chinese aircraft at the moment, judging by their liveries.

We were driving into a suburb of Shenzhen which mostly consisted of squat and seemingly inexpensive concrete buildings whose residents were obviously not very well-to-do. Washing was hung out in every window and on every balcony, there was no litter around, and in the distance one could see fields divided into small patches. There was a small shed on nearly every patch. Part of the land was planted with something, whereas the other patches were empty (obviously, they had already been harvested). Drawing analogies, one could compare it to dachas somewhere in the vicinities of Moscow. A tiny patch of land for growing fruit and vegetables, a small house or shed and manual or automatic irrigation. Can’t say for sure, but most likely those identical-looking squat houses are for villagers who work in Shenzhen and provide themselves with vitamins by doing the gardening after work and on weekends.

At last Shelley said that we’d driven into Shenzhen. The architecture on the outskirts of the city was plain, but the closer we got to the city centre, the taller and lovelier the buildings became. Soon Julia remembered the route we were following and said to me that we should approach her long-time friend and partner Lenny’s office in some 10-15 minutes.

As we weren’t in the city centre, we had a chance to feel the bustling atmosphere of a typical Chinese industrial area. A huge number of cars (mostly new, with a lot of high-end cars among them), occasional lorries and, most interestingly, hundreds of bicycles and scooters scurrying along the streets. As all the roads in the city are also provided with concrete or metal traffic barriers, one can witness a curious scene quite often: if the closest crossroads is one or two hundred meters away from a pullout, many cyclists and scooter riders simply ride their vehicles on the wrong side of the road, keeping close to the curb. Luxurious new jeeps and impressive-looking cars were moving along unhurriedly, their drivers keeping a close eye on the road. You can imagine how it looks when road users signal simultaneously every time they’re about to change lanes. Very unusual, really!

3) Meeting and having dinner with friends

Our car pulled up at the office where Shelley worked, and we went to the second floor (fully occupied by her boss’s company, by the way). The office interior was businesslike. In every room there were employees who, on noticing us, smiled cheerfully and nodded greetingly. A minute later we found ourselves in the boss’s office. Lenny turned out to be a polite young man. After a warm meeting with Julia and receiving a gift from her, he introduced himself to me. His very good English and an in-depth knowledge of the current economic situation in Shenzhen spoke for the fact that he was a very good specialist. Hardly had a few minutes passed when my guess was confirmed. Engaging in manufacturing printed circuit boards, Lenny was a university graduate with a background in economics and so he knew the current situation in the market very well.

It wasn’t really cool in the office, though the air conditioner was on. The thing is, many Chinese don’t like it when the air temperature is too low and unlike us they feel comfortable even after an insignificant drop in the temperature.

Lenny suggested that we have a cup of good Chinese tea and discuss some questions concerning our business trip. The tea turned out to be special, and Lenny seemed to understand about tea. By the way, it was the only opportunity for us to watch and participate in a tea ceremony while we were in Shenzhen. Sadly, I felt too shy to take pictures of the process, so I can only say that I really liked it… As a hospitable host, Lenny saw to it that our little cups should always be filled with tea. During our leisurely talk Julia told him about the purpose of our visit, after which she asked me to add details concerning the technical aspect of the matter. Naturally, I’m not going to write about that here, I’ll just say that all the meetings with our Chinese partners were very productive.

Through the office window I could see houses on the opposite side of the street. Surprisingly, almost all of them had metal bars on the windows, from the ground to the top (ninth) floor! I had noticed it on our way to the office. When asked why the metal bars were even on the upper floors, Lenny smiled and said enigmatically: “It’s China”. So the question remains open. At some point Lenny said that his working day was coming to an end and invited Julia and me to a small restaurant not far from the office. Shelly joined us, and the four of us walked outside. The area where the office is located is full of small shops and workshops which offer various services. They were familiar to me from my colleagues’ stories and photos. Elderly Chinese repair shoes, sharpen knives, fix bicycles and many other things right in the street. To be honest, it’s way more interesting to see all that with your own eyes than hear about it from your friends and colleagues.

Some five minutes later we came to the restaurant, where we were met by young smiley girls and guys. We sat at a table. Lenny asked what we would like to have, but we couldn’t choose anything as we knew neither Chinese nor Chinese cuisine (by the way, I’m working on remedying that already). That’s why we asked our friends to make a choice for us. Frankly, deep down I was wary of getting something exotic and still alive. Luckily, our friends had made a wonderful choice. The food both looked and tasted great! While we were waiting for our order, we were brought tea and special cups in which we were to wash the tips of our chopsticks with tea. As it turned out, many Chinese restaurants stick to that ancient tradition.

The style of the restaurant interior was interesting – it combined crude wooden furniture with ornamental castings. It’s hard to put it into words (I still felt too shy to take pictures even with my phone, though I regret it now), but if I was asked to draw analogies, I’d compare the style to that of a saloon in the Wild West. Add to this subtle aromas of Chinese cuisine, tiny Chinese style decorative details and you will understand what made the atmosphere of the restaurant ambient. There was a hole in the middle of the massive table at which we were sitting. A gas burner sat on the hole, with a small gas bottle hidden right under the table. Some ten minutes later a huge frying pan with uncooked food was brought, a cook lit the burner and put the pan on it. That is to say, the main course was being cooked before our very eyes.

Eventually other dishes were brought, and we began our meal. Talking shop at a restaurant isn’t customary in China, that’s why we simply asked each other questions about China, Russia, each other etc. It was my first visit to a Chinese restaurant and fourth attempt to use chopsticks. (The previous three had been made when I was in a popular Japanese restaurant in Khimki with my brother and his family). I was struggling with the chopsticks stoically, trying to put the food from the common dish or frying pan on my plate. Frankly, I wasn’t doing very well. The bits would either fall out or I couldn’t pick them up at all. In a word, it was fun. Luckily, my new friends helped me out again. Deftly using chopsticks, they would put food onto my plate from time to time. Lenny said that at his request there was less pepper in the dishes this time – he took into account our eating habits when he was ordering. Normally the Chinese eat spicier food. Anyway, it tasted fabulous!

Talking unhurriedly while enjoying our meal, the four of us were little by little emptying the huge common dish. I remarked jokingly to Lenny that the remaining food was enough to feed another four people. That’s what the famous Chinese hospitality is about – friends and guests are always offered the best. On thanking the waiters, we left the restaurant and strolled back to the office. There we took a few commemorative photos, and Lenny saw us out. He promised to meet us again, after which the car with our unsociable Chinese driver and cheerful Shelley set off on the drive to the hotel. Eventually we left the industrial area and as we were approaching the city centre, the urban architecture was getting more and more beautiful. Excellent road surface quality, clean streets, lush greenery and lovely flowers – all that indicated that the citizens really love and take good care of their city. The only thing that surprised me was the presence of a high-voltage line not far from some residential areas. In Russia, high-voltage lines are normally to be found out of town, whereas in China transmission towers can be seen right in city areas.

4) Checking in to the hotel

In the late afternoon, we reached the hotel and got our things out of the car. The driver drove away to park nearby, whereas Shelley, Julia and I entered the hotel. There was a team of three very young hotel employees at the reception desk – two girls and a young man. Luckily, one of the girls spoke English well, so we checked in very quickly. We had our passports scanned, then the employees filled in a small questionnaire before giving us our electronic key cards. As you remember from the first article, we had our hotel rooms booked in advance by Julia’s good friend, with whom she used to work before he relocated to China.

When the female employee said how much we were to pay for two rooms, the sum was considerably different from the one Maxim had told Julia before our departure. Julia had to phone Maxim right from the hotel lobby to clear it up. It turned out that the difference between the provisional and actual accommodation costs covered the hotel risks. As the lively employee explained to Shelley, we would get our money back after we checked out. Julia paid by her VISA card (Chinese hotels are allowed to accept credit cards, whereas you may have difficulty in using Russian credit cards in Chinese shops sometimes). After that we were given a small plain-looking cardboard folder with an electronic key card and two hotel cards (one with our room number and check-in/check-out date, the other being our breakfast certificate).

While Julia was sorting it out with the accommodation cost, I took a walk around the lovely hotel lobby, passing by a fish tank in which an obnoxious black catfish (I hope, I identified it correctly) would chase the other fish in the tank.

Shelley informed us that the hotel offers free Wi-Fi. Julia connected to it immediately on her smartphone, whereas I remembered the password and decided to do it a bit later.

At last the three of us went to the second floor, where puzzled Shelley tried to find our rooms. No such luck! The thing is, the hotel corridors resembled a maze. It wasn’t until we’d walked around the floor several times that we figured out how the rooms were numbered. Rooms with the same numbers were grouped in blocks A, B and C, and there were special signs pointing their location. Some ten minutes later we succeeded in finding our rooms. We found Julia’s room first. We brought her things into her room, after which Shelley and I continued looking for my room. It turned out to be quite near, some twenty meters away. Shelley showed me how to use the key card as a key and a power switch. After that we came down to the lobby and thanked Shelley wholeheartedly for her help. She went home, whereas Julia and I returned to our rooms.

Since the Lotus Hotel is not five-star, the interior of its rooms can be characterized by one word: “neat”. Nothing in excess. Two small bottles of water on the table, which are replaced daily; a pair of new vacuum-packed slippers under the TV stand (absolutely useless for me as their Size 38 was supposedly intended for a Chinese guest, not for my own Size 44). Obviously, my fellow countrymen do not frequent the hotel. Anyway, it was not a problem because I’d taken my own slippers with me.

I was very much surprised by the absence of dust. Not sure how to explain it (maybe it was the wet climate or impeccable room service), but I didn’t spot a speck of dust anywhere in the hotel during our 6 days there.

The bathroom combination unit was separated from the room by a sheet of very thick coloured glass. It was a no-frills unit, with a small hotel toiletry kit containing toothpaste, a toothbrush, a hair comb and something else. The kits are given away to the hotel guests, but as I had my own toiletries, I left it intact. There were always a few clean towels on the bathroom shelf which were replaced daily.

My room, which was at the far end of the second floor, overlooked a small parking lot for the hotel guests. It didn’t really upset me. On the plus side, while sunshine filled the rooms overlooking the street, mine remained dark and cool…

On the whole, according to Maxim, the hotel offers good value for money, considering the fact that it’s located in the city centre. So, if you aren’t after the glamour of a five-star hotel, if you want peace and quiet and if you aren’t inclined to waste money, the Lotus Hotel is a very good choice.

Here’s the address of the hotel: No.1006 Fuzhong 1st Rd. (Zhongyin Garden), Northern Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.

And their website: http://www.szlotus.cn/

Lastly, a map in Chinese, which, printed out or downloaded on your smartphone, will enable you to explain to any Chinese driver where you need to get.

5) An evening outing in the city and meeting with Maxim

Julia had told me that Maxim was to meet us in the evening. He was to show us where we could have a good and inexpensive meal in the hotel’s vicinity, where we could spend our free time, the closest bank and how to get to the HiTech exhibition on foot.

Dusk set in almost immediately, and street lamps together with LED street lighting filled the streets of Shenzhen with light. The residential area where our hotel was located is a 20-minute drive from the city center, yet it was very quiet and there were surprisingly few cars and passers-by.

On leaving the pack of buckwheat that Julia brought for Maxim (Russians just can’t do without this wonderful food product!) in the hotel lobby, we went out to look round. I must say, the hotel has a very good location. Very close to the hotel, to the right of the entrance, there is a traditional Chinese restaurant which is full every night. On the left, there is a small greengrocery. A bit farther away there is a traditional Chinese pharmacy which mostly sells herbs. Another 50 meters away there are two Chinese restaurants where, according to Maxim, they serve tasty food and the menus are illustrated. Right behind the mini-parking lot, round the corner, there is a Bank of China branch, where we needed to exchange currency the next morning. The bank opens at 9 am, that’s why Maxim advised going there early so as to have time to register for the exhibition. (Oh how right he was…)

Gradually moving away from the hotel, we were examining the neighboring streets, while Maxim was commenting on what we saw. It turns out that some of the buildings in the area were pulled down and replaced with more beautiful and modern structures. The famous exhibition center Hi-Tech Fair suffered the same fate. The city authorities decided that it didn’t look attractive enough, after which the center was leveled to the ground and an even more modern and comfortable exhibition center was built. Needless to say, cement in China is not so expensive as over here, and city authorities have much more power…

Maxim showed us the way to the exhibition, and while he was doing so I took a few pictures of beautifully illuminated evening streets in the center of Shenzhen with my phone. Architects and designers have done a good job, no doubt!

As we continued our way, Maxim inquired if we had a Chinese SIM-card. To be honest, we had hoped to buy one on arrival, but here a difficulty arose… It turned out that the regulations on sale of prepaid SIM-cards in China have changed this year, so now they’re only available to a Chinese citizens who registers the SIM-card under their name and presents their ID (a counterpart of the Russian passport, but it’s actually a card the size of a business card). Foreigners can’t buy a SIM-card as freely as it was in the past anymore. In a word, we really overlooked this fact when preparing for the trip. Not being able to keep in touch in such a megalopolis spelled trouble. Maxim advised asking our Chinese partners or friends to register SIM-cards for us under their names. We were able to make calls from the hotel, though, but it was not the best way out, nevertheless.

As we were rather tired after such a long journey, we decided against doing too much walking. Some 40 minutes later we began our way back to the hotel. Maxim took his pack of buckwheat, we thanked him warmly, and he left. Though the evening was in full swing, I was too exhausted by the flight to Guangzhou and trip to Shenzhen, so I decided to turn in early and not to go anywhere else that night.

The next morning we had a lot of things to do before getting to the exhibition. Having agreed on meeting Julia at 8 am for breakfast, I left for my room. I connected to the hotel Wi-Fi and spent another 30 minutes messaging friends and relatives on Viber. Sadly, the connection was spotty, that’s why I couldn’t even send all the pictures taken with my phone. I had got unforgettable impressions, but my desire to sleep proved even stronger. I was asked to send an on the spot photo with a view outside my window (it was hard to take the pic through the massive external blinds, but I still gave it a go).

I sent a few more pictures, after which I logged out and set the alarm on my smartphone so as not to oversleep. Right before falling asleep I noticed another peculiarity of the room – an additional access limiting device, a kind of hinged lock unit. It was the first time I’d seen such a thing, that’s why I even took a picture of it.

During our walk with Maxim, I noticed that it had become much cooler in the city after the sunset, and even a light wind began to blow. That’s why I decided against leaving the air conditioner on for the night (it proved to be a bad decision later on) and hit the sack.

© JouFair.biz | ChinaTrader – The best goods from Chinese trade shows and exhibitions

How to Travel to China On Your Own – Part 1

My first trip to China, Day One

1) Preparing for the trip

Hello everyone!

Though I have to do a lot of work helping JOuTrip customers and my friends to purchase goods from trusted Chinese manufacturers and suppliers, I didn’t have a chance to go to China myself until recently. Unlike the other guys on the team who spend at least 5-6 months a year in the field, i.e. in China, my major responsibility is to deal with orders and customers.

During that time I built good work relationships with Chinese managers and electronics specialists through my job duties. We became good friends with some of them, keeping in touch via Skype or email. Many of my Chinese friends have been flying to Moscow at least once. Business communication allowed us to get to know each other better as a mutual interest in our countries was growing day by the day. I lived in Belarus back then, so I couldn’t meet them even when they came to Moscow, that’s why I had to form my opinion about my friends without ever seeing them in person.

In most cases they visited Moscow to represent their companies at international exhibitions of security technology and electronics. On returning to China, my friends spoke enthusiastically of their recent Moscow trip and always invited me to Shenzhen. Yet, I didn’t seem to have any opportunity to see China, though I was eager to do it. Working on the website section dedicated to delivering Chinese goods and digesting the information provided by my JOuTrip colleagues (JOu LTD being the primary company at that time), I often caught myself thinking that it would be great to meet all my friends in their native country! That’s why I was thrilled with a colleague’s unexpected suggestion to visit China with her.

Julia’s company (Julia is the colleague’s name) specializes in designing and manufacturing printed circuit boards in China. It has been cooperating with several major factories in Shenzhen for more than 10 years now. As the subject interested me a lot, I agreed to accompany her on the trip, hoping not only to help Julia to realize her plans, but also to learn something new from the immediate communication with Chinese specialists.

After a brief discussion of the agenda (Julia asked me to help her with a trip to an electronics exhibition in Shenzhen, and then she was going to visit a few factories) we had practically no time to prepare for the trip. Julia took it upon herself to make the necessary travel arrangements without resorting to third-party companies in China. I decided to entrust myself to her experience and write a big article about traveling to China on one’s own after we returned. The only thing I did was tell my Chinese colleagues and friends that I was planning to be in China on 16-21 November 2015.

It turned out to be a kind of experiment when some theoretical knowledge was implemented into practice. For the sake of integrity of the experiment I decided to act like someone who only knows a few things about China and who has never been to Chinese trade fairs and exhibitions as well as plants and factories. That’s why while preparing for the trip I used the minimum of information obtained from my Chinese friends – it boiled down to a 7-day weather forecast and how to get from Guangzhou to Shenzhen. I made up my mind to get everything else sorted out independently and act according to the situation.

There was only a little time for the preparations – a little more than a week, actually, that’s why everything had to be done quickly. Julia booked an Aeroflot flight from Moscow to Guangzhou, after which we submitted our passports to get a visa with the “Kitaeast” company, fairly well-known in Moscow. Here’s the link to their website in case you need their help: http://www.kitaeast.ru/

Submitting the documents didn’t take long. The whole thing cost us 2500 rubles. We were promised to get our passports back in 6 days if we were granted the visas.

Sadly, Julia and I were swamped with work all the way, that’s why we didn’t have time to prepare for the trip properly. Yet, we did find time to buy small gifts for our friends. A friend helped me to buy two sets of handmade nesting dolls (forgot to take pics, sorry), and I also bought some sweets produced by a famous confectionery founded as far back as the Soviet times. The gifts were supposed to make a great topic for conversation and they were good per se. As I don’t drink, it didn’t even occur to me to buy alcohol as a “gift”. Naturally, we informed our friends and business partners of the upcoming visit. I must say, they were no less happy about it than us. The thing is, our Chinese friends are very nice and sociable people, with whom we have developed close relationships over the years. The only upsetting factor was that I hadn’t met them in person yet. To be fair, during her previous visits to China and our Chinese partners’ trips to Moscow exhibitions Julia met a few of them, and eventually they became good friends. Nevertheless, Julia knew some of them through Skype and email only.

As I’ve already said, I had wanted to see China for many years, but couldn’t do it for various reasons. Creating video instructions for the website, I would dream of flying to China and later sharing the details of the trip on the website. To be honest, I couldn’t believe that my dream would come true till the very last moment…

A day before getting our visas, we phoned “Kitaeast” to ask about them, and we were assured that the company would have known about a visa denial the day after submitting the documents. We also found out that there is a direct flight to Hong Kong, but to fly back from Hong Kong one needed a double entry visa, whereas ours was single entry. As Julia lives in Moscow and I don’t, we agreed that she would get my passport and bring it with her to Sheremetyevo airport on the day of the departure. It looked like a convenient decision, but eventually it became clear that it was not perfect. Usually, when I’m preparing for a trip inside Russia, I make a list of things that I need to take with me, how many of them etc. One of the items on the list is buying some currency as I don’t want to rely on my Visa card only (unfortunately, there have been discomforting incidents). Following my list, I scheduled buying currency for the last moment, completely forgetting the fact that some banks require passports for this generally simple procedure. So my visit to a nearby bank was unsuccessful. In the end I had to go to the airport with Russian rubles, hoping that I would have time to exchange currency there.

Aeroflot offers online check-in 24 hours before departure. You can do it on a personal computer or a mobile phone, after which you can choose your seat. If anything, it’s not difficult – it only took me a few minutes. After completing the check-in you can email your boarding pass (which is equivalent to a plane ticket bought from a ticket office) as a PDF file or print it out right from the website.

Following the deadly terrorist attacks in November, airports stepped up security measures. That’s why I had to remember that it’s desirable that I should arrive at the airport not 2 hours before the flight, as usual, but 3 hours in advance at the very least. Sadly, I failed to do it. I will tell you why. The trouble is that I seldom travel by plane. The last time I did was in 2010, during my unforgettable trip to Norway. I often travel by train or by bus, even if it’s a long-distance journey. That’s why I prefer to use an ordinary travel bag. I’ve never had a hard shell suitcase for the simple reason that I didn’t need it. Being serious by nature, I prepare for any trip thoroughly. This time was not an exception. As usual, I made a list of things to take with me for my own personal use and as gifts. As to clothes, I just made some changes regarding the warm weather in Guangzhou and Shenzhen. I decided against packing white shirts because no business negotiations with our Chinese partners were planned. I chose black formal trousers, jeans and casual lightweight trousers. There was a problem with T-shirts because I had only a few lightweight summer tees. When I was leaving for Moscow last time, I mostly took warmer tees – after all, winter was coming.

Reasonably concluding that it should be hot and humid in a seaside town, I decided to take all the T-shirts I had, planning to use two tees a day. I packed my personal belongings and gifts (to prevent the gifts from getting damaged in transit I put them into soft protective bags). I also took a few electronic items to show to the business partners. After spending a lot of time packing, it turned out that the bag wouldn’t close. Realizing that I couldn’t leave anything out, I had to re-pack the bag several times until I finally managed to zip it. Unfortunately, it didn’t occur to me to take a photo of the overpacked bag, but it was quite a sight… The bag wasn’t heavy as it mostly contained clothes and qualified as hand luggage due to its size, which I was happy about, because it meant that I wouldn’t have to check it in. I have bad memories of this long and exhausting procedure during the memorable trip to Norway.

Right before posting the article, I remembered that I still have one picture of my travel bag, which became noticeably lighter after the trip.

Struggling with the bag took me over an hour. Then I got a call from my brother, who has been living near Moscow for quite a long time now. He offered to use his suitcase. As we had planned a farewell party with some friends before the flight, he promised to send the suitcase with one of them. He couldn’t deliver it himself as his kids had fallen ill. We gathered at a friend’s place not far from Sheremetyevo. I took out all the things from the bag and began to pack the suitcase. Unfortunately, the suitcase turned out to be even smaller than my bag, so I had to put everything back into the travel bag. Unsurprisingly, I only managed to do it properly at the third attempt. Bottom line: I lost an hour and began worrying that I had too little time to go through customs at the airport… A friend took me to Sheremetyevo (Terminal F), after which I met Julia. On receiving my passport, I quickly bought some currency at an airport currency exchange office (by the way, they didn’t ask me for my passport), and we moved on.

2). Departing from Moscow

I’m not going to tell you about going through customs and passport control.

Let me just say that it was tough. To my great surprise, both of our cameras as well as Julia’s laptop were scanned, though (theoretically) it might lead to data loss. Yet, I can’t say that for sure – perhaps modern security equipment doesn’t damage gadgets.

It had started freezing and even snowing the day before our departure. That’s why I faced another dilemma – how to dress in such a way that I wouldn’t be too cold in Moscow and wouldn’t be too hot on getting off the plane in China. So I decided to take a hooded jumper and a denim jacket instead of a warm one. To be honest, the airport unpleasantly surprised me with how little passenger information it provided. Right after going through customs we moved closer to our gate and began waiting for our boarding announcement. You can imagine our shock when it turned out that the gate had changed, and so now the gate was about 100 meters away from where we were! We hadn’t heard any gate change announcement, despite our listening to all the announcements carefully. It’s possible that they did make the announcement, though, but only those who were in the new gate area could hear it. We joined the queue and had our passports and boarding passes checked once again, after which all the passengers went down the stairs and found themselves outside. A big bus took us to our Airbus A330.

I couldn’t take a picture of the plane as it was dark, so I found one online:

The plane turned out to be nice and well-kept. A flight attendant directed everyone to their seats. I put our things in an overhead bin. (Julia also took her suitcase with her as carry-on luggage). The passengers began to settle into their seats. Sadly, we immediately noticed that there isn’t really much legroom on Airbus A330. My knees touched the seat in front of me, which made me realize that I was in for an uncomfortable night…

We spent another hour on board waiting for transit passengers traveling to China via Moscow. No one was particularly nervous about it, though. Those who had to change flights were worried that they might be late, but the flight attendant assured them that the plane would make up the time in the air and arrive in Guangzhou as planned.

At last the plane took off and we’d been admiring the fantastic view of brightly illuminated Moscow below until the plane entered the clouds. After passing the clouds and gaining altitude, the plane began level flight. I was surprised at how noiselessly and smoothly it was able to fly.

The flight attendants proved to be very friendly and were performing their duties just fine. Every time the plane hit turbulence, we were kindly requested to fasten the seat belts and stay seated. The flight attendants were working efficiently. Say what you will about Aeroflot, but the airline with its long-time traditions is impressive. In the evening we were offered a meal – unsophisticated but quite nutritious. On the other hand, I couldn’t expect to see any posh economy class food. The temperature on board was very nice and cozy, that’s why during the flight we were neither cold nor hot. Yet, I couldn’t sleep comfortably as the pain in the knees crammed up against the seat in front of me woke me up repeatedly.

Dear friends! You will see a continuation of the story about my first trip to China on the website a bit later, so eventually you will learn about almost each of the 6 unforgettable days that I spent there. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments below or via the contact form on our site.

As usual, I will try also to share my observations which might be of use to you when you’re preparing for your own trip.

© JouFair.biz | ChinaTrader – The best goods from Chinese trade shows and exhibitions

Chinese military smartphone – the most expensive in its class

Hello, dear friends!

Today we have something exclusive… and we are really hope that the model which has surprised us, will amaze and you!

As you know, progress is not staying on the same place, and the market demands new decisions. For many people it is not enough to arrange just the reliable rugged phone which too restricted in its possibilities because of firmware limitations. A lot of people better would like to receive the same reliability (or protection), but with powerful functionality of the smartphone. So, if you need to make the decision which helps you to survive a difficult minute – just stop the searches! Rather all-weather and multitask rugged smartphone is intended not only for soldiers, the militarized protection services, special divisions, but also for builders, miners, travelers, etc. Let’s tell in such way – the new Chinese rugged smartphone should be the best choice literally to everyone who need high quality, modern and “hard to kill” gadget, some kind of the tank in a miniature. (For such phones jokers even invented a new word – a tankphone). Unfortunately, the modern rugged phones can brag maximum of performance on standard IP67 (dust and moisture protection), but the smartphone that we are speaking about – quite another matter. The Chinese military smartphone JFM367 (A2 series) possesses the maximum protection among similar devices, and was developed according to military standard MIL-STD-810G. Even motherboard components are allocated by different principle, not to mention about protective properties of the phone case and its nice screen. It is well known that military men approach to military electronics absolutely with different requests, than civil people. The design is not so important for them but has crucial importance reliability and serviceability in extreme conditions. No wonder that the equipment developed according to military standards, has a high cost. Top level production process and technology automatically generates also the higher price. Chinese rugged smartphone on Android OS did not become an exception. In China, manufacturer’s retail suggested price is about $670. Fortunately, we have an agreement about offering special price for this model. Knowing that fact that export version of the Rhino smartphone was produced in limited edition (it’s mean that the quantity was too small) we can give you a special discount. Don’t wait until the offer expire – buy this “armored” Chinese smartphone just for $649.99. It is necessary to tell that on present day in China it’s the best offer on the rugged smartphone of the top level price category.

JFM367, as it has already been told, is the smart phone. Unlike extremely popular Chinese rugged phone, that stay on production line till now. (Small lyrical digression … perhaps you do not know, what exactly this inexpensive model was ordered by company Caterpillar who decided to offer to builders rugged phone of “own” development. We hope it’s make sense to you…) Android 4.1 plus the modern hardware stuffing allow to derive a maximum from the potential put by the Chinese vendor. Users are able to launch simultaneously several applications without loosing in processor capacity and data processing. One more plus is that the smart phone works with two SIM cards simultaneously that allows to forget about recent time when you have to carry in your pockets two phones.

Device case is protected under standard IP67. (The number six means security blanket from a dust, and the seven says that the smart phone can even be dropped for a short while in water on depth up to one meter). Of course, you may not want to drop your gadget in the water. But during the rain or dusty storm you will have a conclusive superiority over owners of the normal phones, electronics of their devices in such conditions will come to the end literally in some minutes. Besides, this Chinese military smartphone is strongly reliable against shocks and falling. Boys from developers team made some tests – they threw it on road under car wheels, and threw out from a window of the third floor, and beat about a wall, and … (However, you can do all these tests independently when become the happy owner of the exclusive rugged smart phone. Results will much surprise you).

By the way, please pay attention to configuration of the case, system connectors and a storage bay. The approach is very serious – a back cover reliably fastens bolts, the case has the internal titanic insertion, all connectors are reliably protected by special spacers.

It was nice to see that the vendor equipped Rhino with the qualitative camera 8MP (forget about low quality primitive cameras resolution in 3 or 5MP!). So, even if you do not go to mountains, in woods, travel on the river or in desert, the smart phone is completed under the full program. Bluetooth, GPS navigation, Google Play (apps shop) will make you an expert in city jungle… Operating system: Android 4.1 allows to derive a maximum from the smart phone by setting of applications practically for all tastes.

The processor (CPU): MT6575 Cortex A9, frequency 1ГГц. This processor is a winner from among the all Cortex family by the lowest power consumption that does its irreplaceable at usage in the modern smart phones. The graphic accelerator built in the chip (PowerVR SGX531) allows to remove qualitative video clips in HD format with 30FPS. Certainly, the chip without problems consults and with powerful video-applications, practically without loading the base processor.

RAM memory: 512MB. The built in storage: 4GB, plus possibility of magnification at the expense of memory stick MicroSD usage in the maximum volume to 32GB.

Wi-Fi: 802.11 b/g/n. The unit can be used and as the portable access point Wi-Fi, allowing to distribute access to the Internet and to other devices. As a matter of fact, it is possible to make a router of the smart phone if needed.

Network ranges 2G (GSM850/900/1800/1900МГц) and 3G (WCDMA/HSPA 2100МГц).

The smart phone has the good display with 4.3” diagonal, 800×480 resolution, and capacity multitouch.

To complete the picture it is necessary to mention that users able to get access to such functions as Bluetooth are, GPS, Google Play, Adobe Flash (it eliminates at once problems with video playing on sites), etc.

The front camera 0.3MP, the back camera 8MP (by the way, this camera does quite good pictures even under water).

Microphone and speaker, unlike some budget versions of rugged phones, are installed qualitative, and even additional protection against a moisture and dust will not hinder to talk process.

Very much pleases that inside of the smart phone we found the serious battery with capacity 3000 mAh. Unfortunately, in the industry of telecommunications the unhealthy tendency that in normal smart phones vendors put the weak battery in capacity in 2000 till now is watched, is more rare in 2500 mAh! Everyone knows that formula – the much more accumulator capacity is – then much more the smart phone operation time is. Therefore military smart phone JFM367 is in advantageous position – the minimum time of its operation makes 6 hours (review of video or with Wi-Fi data transfer activated). The maximum lifetime from the battery makes you working time up to 72 hours.

Languages in the export version: 16, including Russian, English and German.

Supported formats of files (without added by means of loaded with Google Play applications): MP4, 3GP, MP3, WMA, JPG, GIF, PDF, TXT.

The smart phone is delivered in funny plastic package (till this day we have never met such one). Top at a box transparent, device fixing very reliable, not possible to get the damage during transportation process. By the way, it’s a very nice idea for gift, especially for man. Marketing experts thought over all to trifles. When you will open exterior package, before your eyes appears not a odd faceless cardboard but successfully constructed boxing, whence the smart stylish smart phone cheerfully laying on.

Ports and connectors:

• Dual SIM cards (2x GSM + WCDMA)
• MicroSD/TF card slot
• 3.5 mm audio jack
• Micro USB port

Predictably, “the mobile tank” supplied with necessary sensors and sensor controls among which there is a gravity sensor, light sensor and the pressure sensor.

Please note that OS Android and device firmware cannot be updated without special allowance from the vendor. Any attempt to make it leads to warranty cancellation.

Warranty: 12 months

Certificates: CE, FCC, RoHS

Smart phone dimensions: 145x70x20mm. Weight with battery is 260g.

PACKAGE CONTENT

• Rugged military smart phone Rhino
• Cable USB (optional)
• Earphones (optional)
• The accumulator rectifier
• Carbine for fixing (optional)
• Battery 3000mAh, 2 pcs.

© JouFair.biz | ChinaTrader – The best goods from Chinese trade shows and exhibitions

Chinese tablet Cube U30GT – high category at budget price?

Hello, dear friends! As usual, just before a Canton Fair we feel lack of time, that’s why we are trying to pay attention to the first line (priority) objects (like China visit preparation for our clients). In this period is a really hard thing to find a free minute to write a new article and place it on site.

So, let’s turn to our theme. While tablets with big display still have a high price and tablets with 7 inch display are victorious leaders, wholesalers does not lose a hope. During last year was a great increasing of sales in the line of devices with diagonal more than 10 inch. Today we will look on one popular model from Cube with a big display. (Probably you know that this manufacturer is one of the best twenties in China and in comparison to its competitors, the main target is the development of modern and easy to get devices).

We are happy to offer to your attention the Chinese tablet PC Cube U30GT with 10.1 inch display. It’s looking like the manufacturer decided to make some kind of experiment with device price and fixed it too low (in compare to competitors) for such a good, quick and modern gadget… Decision is yours – you can request a sample just for $210, but by performance and quality of execution this model will be on step ahead from more than twenty expensive tablets that was produced by other manufacturers.

Does it true or not – you will find while reading the article and studying the technical parameters of the device.

Probably the best way is to start with the sides of the tablet. Developers placed all details into the case thickness of 9mm. In the result they got a super-slim type case tablet PC. The very idea is, indeed, very nice, because nowadays the bulky and heavy device is nonsense. So, the total dimensions of U30GT tablet are: 26x17x0,9 sm.

As for display, here we also wasn’t successful in finding bugs, although we tried to do… Bright, high quality IPS matrix (WXGA), in fullness supports multi-touch. Aspect ratio is 16:9, and resolution is 1280×800. Video, photo and “heavy” graphic applications, that need the serious resource allocation, was launching and displayed on the screen just wonderful.

By the way, several words on video quality. As we expected, in tablet PC of such level manufacturer installed the well-proven graphic processor Mali 400 MP4, who allow to not only make a launch of Full HD video but also modern 3D applications, that need of serious hardware support.

Speaking about main processor, on motherboard is installed member of the Cortex A9 family – dual core Rockchip RK3066 with frequency 1.6GHz. Maybe you think that such a tablet should have quad core processor? Please do not forget that in such case the total price would increase too, and this will prevent a lot of potential buyers the possibility to get beautiful tablet PC in adequate price. So, the decision of the manufacturer to leave the chip with dual core we accept with a pleasure! Just think – it’s not an easy thing to pay additional 90 dollars just for more quick processor. From other side, if to use the tablet for e-book reading, Internet surfing, music listening and video watching (exact as it used by 90% of users), you will never see the difference between 2 and 4 cores of the main processor.

The Cube Tablet PC U30GT have 1GB Random Access Memory (DDR3) and built-in 16GB. If you want, it’s easy to increase the amount of memory just by inserting the MicroSD card (up to 32GB).

All that is working on OS Android 4.0.3 (by the way, to avoid warranty break, during warranty period manufacturer does not allow users to manually change the OS and firmware if it’s not downloaded from official Cube web-site).

The speed of working Chinese tablet Cube U30GT is great! In comparison to many others – this one is working very fast and stable. The apps installation traditionally is going through Google Play (the export version has this function unblocked). Following version of firmware supports Flash 11, and it’s very warm received by many user.

Data transfer is able to do through external 3G modem (via special included USB adapter), WiFi (b/g/n) or through Bluetooth.

Both cameras (front and rear) have 2MP resolution. The quality, of course, is not HD, but to make a Skype call is more than enough.

File formats that tablet is working with: MP3, WAV, WMA, AAC, MP4 (1080p), AVI, MKV, 3GP, RMVB, RM, MPV, FLV, JPG, BMP, GIF, PNG, Word, Excel, PPT, PDF, UMD, EPUB, TXT, RTF. (In brief – the device is possible to use as an audio/video player, electronic book reader, and as a photo frame).

Language packs as usual have 14 different versions. If you need some specific language (for example, French or Polish) – please mention that while making the order.

The battery is pretty good – its capacity is 7200mAh. With fully charged battery you can watch the video up to 6 hours long. The charger (100-240V, 12V 2A) is available in 3 plug formats: USA, UK and European. Please do not forget to choose the right kind of the plug if you ordering to USA or UK!

The backside case material, as it should be at gadget with price up to 250$, molded from white quality plastic. The good news – the coverage (paint) is not easy to get dirty.

It’s a pity but the Chinese manufacturer placed only one sensor into the tablet. It’s so called G-sensor. But even this one is able to turn the picture in correct way if you will change your tablet PC up and down.

Fine speakers, microphone, and preinstalled Skype allows to connect to conversation with your friends or colleagues just in few minutes after new tablet was picked up from the parcel. It’s very, very comfortable and nice. J Beside Skype, we can quickly mention about web-browser, interactive calendar, clocks, calculator, Google and YouTube access. (We suppose, that you know that some of these functions are available only in official export versions and blocked for local market).

In-outs, slots and jacks: MicroSD slot, mini USB, HDMI, 3.5mm audio jack, DC jack.

PACKAGE CONTENT

• Tablet PC Cube U30GT
• USB cable
• Cable-adapter USB (OTG)
• DC charger
• Earphones

You can buy Chinese tablet PC Cube U30GT as a sample (1-10pcs.) or order a bulk quantity. Please be so kind to provide maximum information regarding your order by sending a request to JOu LTD. manager via contact form.

© JouFair.biz | ChinaTrader – The best goods from Chinese trade shows and exhibitions