So, here is a typical day staying at the Pullman hotel in Beijing and working at our factory. After I've gotten over jetlag with the help of melatonin, I get up about 6:30 or so. I go down to the pool on the bottom floor and swim laps for about a half an hour. Go back upstairs, take a shower, check my messages and see if there is time to get a few emails in before breakfast [it is about 4PM in CA so I can work with people in San Jose (SJ) at that time.] I go down to the breakfast buffet. They have a good selection of European and Asian food for breakfast and pretty good coffee. Sometimes I even run into collegues from Sweden or the US who I didn't know were going to be there; we all use the same hotel because it is close to the factory. I go back upstairs and pack my bag for work.
The walk to the factory takes about 15 minutes. Even at 9AM it's already hot and I'm sweating by the time I get there. There are food carts selling a sort of flat bread with onions that looks pretty good, but I am always way too full from breakfast to try any. The Business Development Area (BDA) is a very large industrial park outside of downtown Beijing (BJ). This is where I work. If you know what a modern industrial park in Europe looks like, that's pretty close.
It's nice to come to a place in another country where you already know people. I know a lot of people in the factory; managers and engineers, but there are always new faces. We have some "black taxis" that hang out in the front of the building in case we need them. I know one of the drivers. Jon always has a warm greeting and a smile though he doesn't speak much English. He was the one who picked me up at the airport when I arrived this trip. I told him I didn't have any Chinese money yet, but I'd pay him the next day. "Mei guanxi," he said, "don't worry about it."
I set up my laptop at the "guest" desk and get to work. I can plug into the company network and access my files just like I'm in SJ, or Stockholm, for that matter. I work on my projects with other team members, have meetings, go to the factory floor and work on manufacturing setups and such. [Sorry I can post pictures here of the factory, but if anyone's interested, I can show you some offline]
About 11:45 I go to lunch in the cafeteria with one of the engineers. The food isn't bad, not great, but edible. All the factory workers get a lunch ticket for every shift they work. Sometimes we go out to eat and there are some great restaurants - which you wouldn't expect it in the BDA.
So, the rest of the day is work until about 5. At some time along there, Sweden comes on line and I sometimes work with colleagues there via email and the network. We also have an in-house IM system that allows voice and texting. I walk back to the hotel. Sometimes I eat in the hotel or take the cab ride into town and do some exploring, get something to eat, then back to the hotel. TV is pretty limited in BJ, but sometimes I have DVDs I can buy cheap there.
On this most recent trip, a colleague from Sweden showed me a shopping area with lots of restaurants right in the BDA. Definitely no tourists there! It was extremely hot and humid when we were there, but we had Hunnan food (everything has red chilis in it) anyway. The was a huge supermarket there and even a massage place. He showed me his favorite Halal restaurant there, too.
Well, that's a typical work day in Beijing.
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