Beijing, China

Greetings from halfway around the globe!  This week, I'm in China.  I'm spending the first half in Beijing and the second in Shanghai.

It only took me about 22 hours to reach my hotel in Beijing.  I'm about 14 hours ahead of Austin, so the jet-lag is rather intense.  I'm trying to do the best I can, but I'm still a bit sluggish in the afternoons.  I managed to find a little "treat" at a street vendor.  They usually don't refrigerate the drinks, but this was a lucky find:

Thanks goodness for Coke Zero

Every time I travel to China, I'm continually amazed at how many people are actually here.  My company's office is located at the top of a very tall building.  There are so many people trying to get into the building in the morning, that the line is REALLY long:

How many times have you stood in line this long, just to get to an elevator?  Crazy...

In the office, we met with several software developers.  We give them prototype hardware to create software for computer chips that will be on the market in the next year.  I had a chance to look over their work and help them improve it.

While we were driving to dinner, we came upon this sight.  In the middle of a busy street, you see a crazy collection of bikes, scooters, cars and people walking.  If you look closely, you'll see a guy sitting on top of this huge stack of boxes/bags:

 While in Beijing, I also met with some game developers.  Most of the Chinese game developers create "online" games - much like "World of WarCraft".  The amazing thing is that they have millions upon millions of customers.  We were helping to improve a game called "Myths and Heroes 3":

In my hotel, I found this fun little cart.  In the evenings, they serve Mövenpick ice cream.  What's Mövenpick ice cream, you ask?  It's some of the best in the world.  I was first introduced to this culinary treat in Switzerland.  My daughter served us a "buffet" of flavors.  She was very happy to know that this ice cream is available outside of Europe : )

This picture is for Mom - she's a HUGE fan of Oreo cookies.  I just wanted her to know that when she visits Beijing the next time, that these are waiting for her:

When you travel a bit – like I do – one of the best things to keep you going, after a long day, is a picture of these two:

I leave for Shanghai tomorrow, which means that I'm a few steps closer to going home and seeing my family : )