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Blogs from Chengdu, Sichuan, China, Asia
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May 23rd 2013
May 23, 2013 (Chengdu) Thanks to all of you that helped me with data that we've been asking for about surgery center and clinic floor plans, equipment lists and vendors. We've made faster progress in some areas than we thought possible, so we're being pushed in negotiations to begin compiling these lists for procurement and budget purposes - a good problem, but tough to deliver the way I'd like to. I appreciate all the feedback from colleagues, friends and alumni!... read more
May 22nd 2013
May 23, 2013 (Chengdu) We have taken some time off from blogging in respect for the disasterous events in Oklahoma - our "moment of silence." We have heard the dramatic and tragic stories from friends and family and are all thinking of and praying for those affected. Our time here has been busy - we've been in many planning and negotiation sessions to advance the plans for the Sichuan Provincial Eye facility here in Chengdu. These sessions can be marathons. First, especially early on in the meetings, we have a certain amount of formality that we need to get through. Next, we have to present some concepts of planning, management and accounting that aren't always familiar to our hosts. Likewise, we have to try and understand their perspective on the impact of the project to the ... read more
May 22nd 2013
May 23, 2013 (Chengdu) Over the last seven years, one thing we have noticed - it is getting a bit easier to get a cup of coffee in Chengdu. While there are sporadic Starbucks popping up, we haven't had a caffeinated outlet anywhere near. In previous years we've found a store that had prepackaged Nescafe or some poor soul would have remembered to bring a stash of VIA coffee packets and be forced to share with the rest of the laggards that spaced it off. Fortunately, this year we have a new Taiwanese (so Paul says!) coffee and bakery shop one block away called 85°...we think that's in Celsius and the temperature the coffee is served...but who knows (or cares)...its coffee!? At about 7 am, there's a steady trickle of white folks traipsing down the sidewalk ... read more
May 20th 2013
Monday, May 20, 2013 (Chengdu) After a welcome dinner and a good night’s rest, we were up early for breakfast at the Tien Chen Lou. The challenge for many of us is to find a) coffee and b) salt and pepper – somehow these are not amenities. Finding coffee has become much simpler with each passing year. There’s none in the restaurant, but we can now find some premixed sweetened whitened coffee packets in grocery stores. One little gem we found is a coffee and pastry store (Paul Chen swears it’s a very famous Taiwanese chain) one block away that brews a nice blend! Then back to the TCL for a traditional Chinese breakfast, various forms of steamed vegetables, noodles, hot sticky meat buns, peanuts, and boiled eggs. The hospital van was there at 7:50 to ... read more
May 20th 2013
Monday, May 20, 2013 (Chengdu) The best laid plans often need to be changed, maybe even more often here in West China. If that frustrates you too much, you probably won’t survive here. If you adapt, it may present opportunity you never imagined possible. With that foreshadowing... The symposium ran overtime. Admittedly we had started a bit later than anticipated, grabbed a quick sandwich before heading to the SPPH for our meetings. Initially scheduled at 2:00 pm, we arrived around 2:30, but the CCEW team was still at the TCL hotel. The van went to pick them up and after a brief delay we began our meeting. In a rather formal looking atmosphere reminiscent of an international peace negotiation, we sat at long tables, covered in dark green tablecloths, with microphones and each team member’s name ... read more
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May 19th 2013
May 20, 2013 (Chengdu, China) Yesterday was largely taken up as a travel day getting to Chengdu and settling in to the Hotel Tian Chen Lou on Qing Hua Road. Our hosts graciously met and picked us up at the airport in two large hospital vans for a 30 minute drive to the hotel. The flight was uneventful, and our first impression of Chengdu is always from the air as we're landing - the air was much clearer than it usually is and we actually had some sunshine! The city is changing rapidly...while still under what appears to be a phenomenal construction boom, some of the infrastructure is now finished, the roads were good and it appeared greener than any of the other visits we'd been on. Nice to see. The hotel is a bit of ... read more
May 19th 2013
May 20, 2013 (Chengdu) We're watching channel 4 live from OKC and seeing the rough weather everyone is under right now. Stay safe folks!... read more
April 11th 2013
We set off very early the next morning for the Chengdu Panda Breeding Centre, about a 3/4 of an hour taxi drive out of the city. We had to arrive early as pandas are only active early in the morning when they wake up and eat, then eat some more, and maybe if they feel like it, eat a little bit more! The rest of the day they have to stay pretty inactive to conserve energy - there aren't really a lot of calories to be had in bamboo. Sadly there was yet another hill to get up and my asthma coughing and wheezing (not having been helped by the city smog) was getting really bad so I had to take it pretty slowly. We first went to have a look at the panda kitchen where ... read more
April 10th 2013
It turned out that although our trip notes said the huge Leshan Buddha (or Dafo or Great Buddha - wish they'd make their minds up!) was in Chengdu it was actually a one hour drive south of the city. On the coach we were treated to the very same video we'd had on the ferry out of Hong Kong. Remember? The chef and pretty girl who gets revenge on her ex by getting the chef to help her bake a cake with the delightful addition of poo to give to her ex? We had the same scenes, the cursed lift, the handing over of the poo cake and the added complications of another pretty girl vying for the handsome chef's attention. As for the conclusion we'd missed the first time round...well of course it all ended ... read more
April 9th 2013
As we arrived at Chengdu train station we said goodbye to our new soldier friends who were off to protect ********! I probably shouldn't tell you what they were off to protect in interests of national security ;) We had arrived in another massively populated Chinese city. Chengdu, with a population of around 14 million (!), is the capital of Sichuan province, famed for its hot, spicy food and we were looking forward to seeing how spicy this actually was. We had to wait in a queue at the underground taxi rank for ages, it being morning rush hour, then we bundled into 2 taxis, us in the one without Dennis, hoping we didn't get completely lost in this huge city without him and no real clue where we were supposed to be, other than what ... read more
