Yesterday was our first full day in Dalian. We spent the day going over various topics of mutual interest. I gave an impromptu presentation of some of our software. I spoke very slowly and did a lot of writing on the white board. Still I couldn’t tell how well I was understood. Some people asked questions so it showed they were understanding. Others were either too shy or too uncomprehending to say anything.
Larry–one of the Neusoft engineers who previously spent a couple of months in Cupertino with us–took us out to lunch. All of the food we could order was on display almost like a grocery store. (See the picture I sent.) It was a huge quantity of food and we couldn’t finish it.
In the evening the team we are working with hosted a small (one large table) banquet, There was lots of alcohol–red wine, Chinese rice wine (much stronger than Japanese sake) and beer. There was much toasting. The rice “wine” (in quotes because it is obviously distilled) was served in small glasses-less than half the volume of a shot class. After each toast a waiter promptly refilled our glasses.
With one exception, everyone in the room was a man. All the engineers I have been working with are men. There was one woman lab technician at yeswterday’s meetings, but wasn’t at the banquet. The one exception to the all-male attendees was Jane, who acts as a sort of caretaker for all foreign visitors. I’m sure she was hired for her looks and outgoing personality as well as the fact that her English is quite good–better than any of the engineers.
I had been told that Jane could hold her own when it came to drinking. Since she sat next to me, I can vouch for the accuracy of that statement. I felt sure in a serious drinking match she could easily drink me under the table.
All of the food here is unlike any Chinese food I’ve had either in the US or Japan. It is all good and sometimes strange. We had cucumbers with garlic, some kind of green noodles (or vegetable?) peanuts, some kind of white vegetable cut into french-fry-shaped pieces and covered in blueberry sauce. This last item was not desert; in fact it was served first.
There was lots of joking and laughing–most of it was in Mandarin.
The meal ended surprisingly early–around 8:30–and we all left surprisingly sober considering the amount and variety of alcohol. I even noticed that none of the Chinese were particularly red-faced, although I had noticed that Jane clasped her cheeks as if to reduce (or hide) a flush.
As you can probably tell, the banquet was the highlight of the day. It was fun and seemed utterly Chinese, in a modern, not necessarily traditional way.
I think that Dalian represents China in general in a modern–not traditional–way. There are lots of high-rise buildings, both residential and offices. There is also lots of new construction. The Neusoft campus itself is new construction with a central lobby area that extends the full eight floors of its height. Yesterday returning from lunch, Larry pointed out the “old” Neusoft building which they are now leasing to HP. I thought of the abandoned HP facility close to our house.
The weather here yesterday was bracing in the morning and pleasant as the day went along. The sky was clear and blue.
I took a walk around the area of the hotel both yesterday and this morning–traveling more so today. Today the air was hazy and smelled of smoke. I think today’s air quality is more typical than yesterday’s.
The traffic here is more adventurous than the US but not nearly as crazy as that in India. Also there is more horn honking here, but again, not nearly as much as in India. In India I found it risky to cross a road and I never attempted it in traffic. Here there are plenty of traffic lights and cross walks, so I think crossing the street here is no more dangerous than in, say New York City. That is to say, you’d better watch for traffic before you cross, but there are safe opportunities to get to the other side of the street.
