Thankfully, my flight home was safe and uneventful. My husband, Barry, met me at Dulles Airport. We had both been waiting for that hug for just over six weeks. It will take me a while to reflect on this entire experience. I'll post some thoughts once I have had the opportunity to process them.



If you are really interested in China you may want to take a look at a couple of books. Both of these were recommended to me by my friend Yungtai Hsu who just finished his doctoral studies at… Continue

Monday April 26, 2010

I worked in my room for an hour or so, packed a little and then met Susan and Victor from Motor China to discuss…

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Sunday, April 25



The advice about getting to the auto show early was very good. In the end I didn’t leave my hotel until about 8:10 AM. Actually got to the exhibition hall about 9:20 AM and was caught up in multitudes of people. Also, as the day went one, the show got more and more crowed and it was tough even walking in the aisles without getting jostled.



There is way too much to write. Here are a few bullet points with my impressions from the 2010 Beijing International… Continue

Saturday April 24



My day was pretty good. I went on a “field trip” with about 12 – 15 people for the conference. It was a good opportunity to “network” during the bus ride. We went to a Hyundai assembly plant, which was pretty cool and also to what is referred to as an “Auto Exchange” – it’s like a huge indoor mall where almost every car under the sun is sold. At this place, the Beijing Asian Games Village Auto Exchange, they sell just about every make and model made and/or sold in… Continue

Thursday April 22



The conference is great. The speakers have all been good. The information is fascinating. China is such a dynamic market. Networking is fun. There are lots of interesting people here. Frankly there is so much information it is tough to absorb it all. That will probably have to wait until after I get back to the US.





Friday April 23



I just got back from the conference. Apparently, I did ok. Now I can relax a little. I was told that my… Continue

April 20



I had a little packing to do this morning before leaving the hotel.



I got a taxi to the Kowloon Airport Express station and was very surprised to see that I couold actually check in there. I was somewhat hesitant to leave my suitcase. I was concerned that it would never make it back to Beijing. However, I took the risk. The Airport Express train was very easy and convenient.



Again, thanks to the Star Alliance Gold card, I was able to choose my lounge of… Continue

Saturday, April 17



Today I finally broke down. After five weeks away from home I a) returned lousy coffee in a Xian airport coffee shop and requested an exchange for cappuccino and b) THE REAL BIGGY – I had a Whopper, Coke and Fries for lunch at the Beijing airport in transit to Hong Kong. The Whopper may have been a mistake, since my stomach hurts for the first time since I got here. Returning the coffee was definitely NOT a mistake – however, they did try to get me to pay for both… Continue

Tuesday April 13



I leave for the U.S two weeks from today. While I continue to have a good time and learn a lot, I am looking forward to going home.

I arrived in Xian early yesterday evening. From here I am scheduled to go to Inner Mongolia, Hong Kong and finally back to Beijing for my last week which will be very busy with meetings. I’ll also have a companion the entire week, the UK based founder and organizer of IBIS, Chris Mann. We’ll both be very busy.



Xian will… Continue

Sunday, April 11



Nanjing is a very important city in the history of China. It served as the capital during 6 dynasties, until being moved in 1400s to Beijing. It is the burial site of the father of modern China, Dr. Sun Yat-sen. It was the sight of an unspeakable war atrocity in 1937 often referred to as the Rape of Nanking conducted by the invading army of Japan. And after WWII it served as the Capital of the Nationalists, lead by Chiang Kai Shek, but was ‘liberated’ in 1949 by… Continue

Thursday, April 8



Vincent took us to a special restaurant along the canal for a typical Yangzhou breakfast. It was very good. After that we took a VERY long walk in a huge park known as Slender West lLke Park. We walked and talked in this serene setting. I fed doves which landed on my hands and arms. Little school kids said “hello” to me since I was almost the only westerner in the park at the time and I suppose I stood out like a sore thumb. Anyway, this was pretty… Continue

Monday, April 5



Today is a Chinese holiday and there was no work. It is called ‘Grave Sweeping Day”. It is a time when many people go to the graves of their ancestors and burn imitation paper money and a variety of other ‘necessities’ for those in the afterworld, for example: paper houses, luxury cars and more. So, Sonny, family and I got to enjoy a rare three day weekend.



It turned out to be a really fun day. The weather was lovely and the pace was… Continue

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Ironically, I had to go all the way back to the area of the Israeli Embassy first thing in the morning. Why? I had an appointment with a Commercial Officer at the US Embassy which is around the corner from the Israeli Embassy. Again I had challenges getting by the Chinese speaking guards, but…

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Sunday, March 28

Luckily I had the phone number of one of the tour guides who lead the AMR trade show media and VIPs the previous weekend. Her name is Jane. I arranged for her to take me to the Great Wall of China at Mutianyu.…

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It’s been a week since I last wrote. It has been a busy week with a combination of fun and business.

Friday, March 26

Today I had a real experience riding the Beijing subway at the height of morning rush hour. I knew it would be crowded. I’ve ridden crowded subways in rush hour before in New…

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Blog entries from Karen Fierst during her stay in China and attendance at the Automotive Maintenance and Repair Show Beijing,… Continue