Well, my reprieve from travel toward the end of 2010 was soon ended with the arrival of the New Year. So far I have been to Beijing, Qingdao, Singapore and Lijiang with plans to head back to Singapore, Qingdao and then to India all within the next three weeks. Needless to say I am getting really good at packing and living out of a suitcase.
I just returned from our National Sales Meeting held in Yunnan province at a city called LiJiang. LiJiang is located in western China near Tibet and is in a very mountainous region - sort of the foothills to the Himalayas. The city is 2,400 meters above sea level and you could really tell if you exerted yourself too much. We stayed in a very nice hotel in the Old Town which is very touristy but very beautiful at the same time. The weather was unseasonably cold during our stay with temps at or below the freezing point and because LiJiang is in the southern part of China the government does not supply central heating. The hotel was mostly open air and they only heat the hotel rooms, however, they don't turn on the heat until 7pm. When I got to my room it was 10 degrees C. (about 48 degrees F) so I immediately turned on the room heater and cranked it on high. After 30 minutes of blowing cold air the temp was still at 10C. I went to the front desk to inform them that my heater was malfunctioning to which they replied "No problem - we turn heat on at 7pm" (it was 5pm at this time) I asked them if they could turn it on earlier to which they replied "7pm is earlier - last night we turned it on at 8pm" I decided to walk around the town - if I was going to be cold I was at least going to be outside besides the walk warmed me up. Had a light dinner with a couple of coworkers who arrived at the same time as I did and then got back to the hotel around 8pm - looking forward to having had the heat on for a full hour. Got to the room - 9 degrees C! I called again and was told that the heat was indeed on and that it might take some time to warm up. I crawled into an incredibly cold bed with an extra blanket looking up at the ceiling and seeing my breath! It was like winter camping. I was finally able to warm a section of the bed with what remaining body heat I had and was able to fall asleep. However, each time I strayed for my little "cone of warmth" I was shockingly awakened by the ice cold sheets to my left or right. I woke up about 6 am and the room was 8 degrees C - 46 degrees F!! It turns out that one of the hotel's main boilers failed and about half of the hotel rooms had no heat, that, combined with record low temps for the region was a cruel combination. They repaired the boiler the next day and when the maids cleaned the rooms they also installed electric blankets under the sheets - the second night was wonderful at warm 19 degrees C - 66 degrees F.
The meeting went well until I learned that my early Saturday flight to Shanghai was cancelled due to snow in Shanghai! I then had to take the only other flight available which left around 2pm and arrived home around 7pm - I have never been so happy to return to a nice warm home - finally!
I just returned from our National Sales Meeting held in Yunnan province at a city called LiJiang. LiJiang is located in western China near Tibet and is in a very mountainous region - sort of the foothills to the Himalayas. The city is 2,400 meters above sea level and you could really tell if you exerted yourself too much. We stayed in a very nice hotel in the Old Town which is very touristy but very beautiful at the same time. The weather was unseasonably cold during our stay with temps at or below the freezing point and because LiJiang is in the southern part of China the government does not supply central heating. The hotel was mostly open air and they only heat the hotel rooms, however, they don't turn on the heat until 7pm. When I got to my room it was 10 degrees C. (about 48 degrees F) so I immediately turned on the room heater and cranked it on high. After 30 minutes of blowing cold air the temp was still at 10C. I went to the front desk to inform them that my heater was malfunctioning to which they replied "No problem - we turn heat on at 7pm" (it was 5pm at this time) I asked them if they could turn it on earlier to which they replied "7pm is earlier - last night we turned it on at 8pm" I decided to walk around the town - if I was going to be cold I was at least going to be outside besides the walk warmed me up. Had a light dinner with a couple of coworkers who arrived at the same time as I did and then got back to the hotel around 8pm - looking forward to having had the heat on for a full hour. Got to the room - 9 degrees C! I called again and was told that the heat was indeed on and that it might take some time to warm up. I crawled into an incredibly cold bed with an extra blanket looking up at the ceiling and seeing my breath! It was like winter camping. I was finally able to warm a section of the bed with what remaining body heat I had and was able to fall asleep. However, each time I strayed for my little "cone of warmth" I was shockingly awakened by the ice cold sheets to my left or right. I woke up about 6 am and the room was 8 degrees C - 46 degrees F!! It turns out that one of the hotel's main boilers failed and about half of the hotel rooms had no heat, that, combined with record low temps for the region was a cruel combination. They repaired the boiler the next day and when the maids cleaned the rooms they also installed electric blankets under the sheets - the second night was wonderful at warm 19 degrees C - 66 degrees F.
The meeting went well until I learned that my early Saturday flight to Shanghai was cancelled due to snow in Shanghai! I then had to take the only other flight available which left around 2pm and arrived home around 7pm - I have never been so happy to return to a nice warm home - finally!
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