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On Sunday, March 11th, it was time to pack my bags and head out for another adventure in the golf course industry. The show season is upon us and I have attended the BTME in England and then back for the big show (Golf Industry Show) in Las Vegas. Now I am off to Beijing, China for the Golf Asia Show.
Overseas travel requires some special preparation and months ahead of time one must check on not only the validity of the passport but also a visa when going into China. A few years ago I had spent a full day at the Chinese Embassy, in LA, getting a last minute travel visa and was fortunate that I could avoid that this year.
Even though I live in LA there are few direct flights going over to Beijing as San Francisco appears to be the more frequently used hub at least for United. An early arrival at LAX resulted in checking in and waiting and that would be the rule for the day. After a short flight up the coast I had a two hour layover in San Francisco. As usual there were a few familiar faces in the waiting room headed over to China so a good chance to catch up with some turf guys. Rick Elyea, with Simplot, chatted with me about the market in China and old times as we had started off in the business together in the Chicago golf market. Along came Gary Brawley, with Tripp Davis Golf Course Architects, and he caught us up on the project he was working on near Tianjin.
As large as China is, the golf community is well connected just like in the USA. The project that Gary was working on appears to have my old friend, Kevin Adams, on site and Kevin was one of my classmates a few years back at Michigan State University. Louise Liam is also working on that project and she was a featured speaker at an educational seminar that Shenzhen Longer Fertilizer presented on Tuesday to a large group of Chinese Golf Course Superintendents.
The Seminar also featured a local golf course superintendent from the nearby Shadow Creek Golf Club. It is a beautiful design near the airport and Darren Moore is an Australian that has worked at several projects in Hong Kong and Asia.
I am not sure why but I seemed to adjust to the time zone change (16 hrs.) pretty readily this trip. Up at my normal 4:30 AM and try to get to sleep by 9 PM. For now I don’t even want to think about what time it is back in LA. I will worry about that on the following Monday.
The flight over was very pleasant and somehow I booked a nice exit seat with plenty of legroom. Had a nice couple sitting next to me that worked with orphanages in Beijing to help find homes for special needs children. Quite interesting to hear of their travels and that they had adopted 3 Chinese children themselves to add to their 3 own biological children. While in flight there was a minor medical emergency that required some professional assistance. My seatmate was also a Registered Nurse so he took his little medical kit and dealt with the situation. After that our row of 3 seats was given some special attention with the extra wine and cheese flowing our way from the 1st class cabin. Being a Good Samaritan is the right thing to do and it does have its rewards as well as sitting next to the people who really are heroes in many ways!
For those of you, who shutter at taking a cross country flight, then think of about 13-14 hours to get across from CA to Beijing. The flight actually does not spend a lot of time out over the ocean but does travel in an arc and across the Bering Strait in Alaska to get to China.
China weather is overcast and cold. Cool season grasses are still dormant and about ready to green up. Daytime temps are about 50 degrees and night time temps go down into the freezing range.
Wednesday is my writing day so I have several articles to finish for various magazines and will visit some famous tourist sites today as well. Right now I am thinking about watching the sun rise over the Great Wall of China and perhaps some tea at the palace area for lunch. Talking time to smell the roses while on special assignment for GCI.
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The last two nights have been celebrations with a group of superintendents and a variety of people from the commercial industry.
If you have never been to one of these special VIP dinners it is quite the function. Imagine a round table that seats 10 or so people. The table is covered with a glass “lazy susan” that can be rotated to share the food. Some of the American group has fondly referred to these as the spinner dinner.
The service staff starts off by bringing out the beverages. This can vary from tea to beer, juice or wine. I am not sure of the white wine that is consumed but it appears to be fairly potent. Little sipping glasses are supplied and one of the service staff has the duty to make sure your glass is never empty. My friends tell me it smells like licorice and goes down like moonshine! Thoughout the evening there will be many toasts and libations at which point people respond to a term best translated to “bottoms up” and then proudly proclaim “Cheers!”
Ample supplies of food start coming out and are placed on the lazy susan. Slowly these are moved around the table. While some things look familiar there are always a variety of new items to guess at their makeup. There is very little beef but did see some pork and also quite a bit of chicken. Once we rule those out then it becomes a little more difficult. Peking duck is a local staple and very tasty.
From the sea comes all types of fish usually with the head and fins still attached but nothing I had ever pulled out of a river or ocean. Squid and jellyfish were nice delicacies and a plethora of fruits and noodles.
In bed by 9 p.m.on both evenings…..and let me see add 16 hours to that and it would be …….oh heck why ruin the day?????
