(Shaoxing, Zhejiang, 24 - 26 October, 2010)

Attended the 2010 China Keqiao Internatrional Textile Expo as a guest of the Shaoxing Government.

(Dafeng, Jiangsu, 19 October, 2010)

Attended the opening ceremonies of the 8th annual Milu Deer Festival and the Non-stop Navigation Between the Ports of Dafeng and Jilong, Taiwan, as one of the more than 800 guests of the government of the City of Dafeng. The day long activities included banquets, social dialogue and visits to industrial sites.

The finale of the Milu Deer Festival Ceremony included fireworks, balloons and smoke bombs.

(Shanghai, 2 October, 2010)

(Observed on my walk back from the ticket office)

I walked to the ticket office at the train station this morning and bought a train ticket for the G7012 train on Monday morning at 11:00AM. The train will arrive in Nanjing at 12:15, one hour and 15 minutes later. A noticeable improvement from the 4 or so hours it took in 2005 to make the same trip.

(Shanghai, 1 October, 2010)
I arrived in Shanghai from Canada 29 September with the intention of making my Journey to the West. I'll stay in Shanghai until Monday and then go to Nanjing for at least one week before leaving on a sojourn of about three months to gain an understanding of the development and social conditions in the western parts of the country.

(Kelowna, 11 September, 2010)
I have my visa for China and an airline ticket to arrive in Shanghai 28 September, 2010. I hope to remain in China for about 4 months. I will be focused on teaching English as a volunteer at English corners and looking for opportunities to promote global friendship, social and business relationships with Chinese characteristics.

I have a reservation to stay in Shanghai for the first 5 days mainly to attend English Corner in People's Park Sunday, 3 October.

I'll then continue on to Nanjing to renew friendships and enjoy the life there.

(San Francisco, 19 - 20 May, 2010)
This Google I-O 2010 Developers Conference was an intense learning experience about where Google is and where it is going. It included an opportunity for me to describe my experiences in China over the past six years with a couple of Google officials and to offer opinions on changes in attitude that would permit a deeper understanding and appreciation of doing business with Chinese characteristics.

Each foreign attendee received an unlocked Nexus One prior to the event and an additional HTC phone with one month unlimited service from Sprint which I find works in Canada. As Google Earth is now functional on Android devices, this will provide me with a great opportunity to develop a mobile display for the China Rail timetables.

I have failed to arouse any observable interest from the Google people that I have met about my success in displaying the China passenger train information in Google Earth. However, I shall diligently continue with the work.

(Nanjing, 3 February, 2010)
Attended a small supper meeting with Nantong Economic & Technological Development Area Investment Promotion Bureau Director General, Zhu Jian Guo (朱建国) and assistants with my American and Chinese consultant associates.

Reached initial agreement with the Chinese investment fund manager on building an investment vehicle for investing Chinese funds in Canada.

Updated the rail.assistanceinchina.com website to include the timetables for the new high-speed routes and the temporary holiday trains in China.

Revised the bulk email system code to accommodate the authentication process for forwarding combined plain-text/html messages.

Listened to the increasing frequency of fireworks (and subsequent shockwave triggered car alarms) as Spring Festival approaches.

(Nanjing, 31 January, 2010)
Visited the CSR Nanjing Puzhen Rolling Stock Works on the north bank of the Yangtze River in Nanjing. It is the location for the manufacture and repair of passenger rail cars for trains with speeds of 120, 140 and 160 Km/hr. plus the manufacture of subway trains.

Subway car driver's cab

(Nanjing, 4 January, 2010)
The pay experience in my latest job didn't reflect what I believe is the business value of my work so I have resigned to retired life.

I spent a couple of days with friends from my neighborhood in Canada and took them along to my English corner activities. They were very happy to meet some of my Chinese friends (picture on right) and learned much about the life in Nanjing.

Now that they have left (they will visit Hefei for a couple of days) I'll be spending much of my time trying to develop more information about travelling in China for my various Internet web sites. I need to learn more JavaScript and Google Earth API technology to improve the usability of my work. I hope to make noticeable progress on this in the next year or so. The technical completion of all the China Rail passenger train timetables and station locations took about 2 1/2 years. The revision of errors and updating of timetables will always require more time but the main focus of my effort can now shift to other information systems.

(Hong Kong, 23 December 2009)
The Hong Kong I've seen so far is definitely not my element. I can understand the attractiveness of all the glitter and gold but have no desire to pursue the possession of it. If I lived here for a prolonged period of time perhaps I would find a way to meet the kind of people I enjoy communicating with, but during only a short stay there is little time to figure the place out.

As with all my travels in life, the greatest challenge is to find the food I want to eat. One pleasant surprise has been the McCafe food. The salads, sandwiches and deserts have been an enjoyable alternative to the regular fare. A little pricier than I normally pay but within affordability under my current conditions. I probably scrimp too much anyway, so a little extra is probably good. This evening I went out and located the building with the Bahá’í Centre where I'll meet Tom tomorrow. The streets around Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong, are teeming with people even at 9:30 pm.

(Hong Kong, 20 December 2009)
I'm in Hong Kong in hopes of getting a new visa to return to Nanjing. The city has enticed me to spend more than I had planned.

I'm not sure whether I'm getting lazy or smarter, but for the first time I'm using a travel agent to get my visa. The extra cost may be less than the extra expenses that may be incurred if I wait the extra day that it would take to find the visa office and see if my application is accepted. Then getting a train ticket may require even more time in Hong Kong.

As it is getting back to China will be delayed by two days due to full trains. I have bought a ticket to Shanghai for Sunday, 27 December. Only an upper berth was available.

The image at the right is a reflection on the windows of a building that reminds me of Gaudi's architecture in Barcelona, Spain. I call it "A Gaudiesque View of Hong Kong".

(Nanjing, 16 December 2009)
I have completed all the available China railway passenger timetables and located all railway stations necessary to display them in Google Earth.

At this time there are 3024 timetables and 2944 stations.

With the swift development continuing it will soon be out of date, but I have developed the software necessary to update the system and identify the need to locate new stations.

It has been a long and tedious process but success has such a price.

The results may be seen at rail.assistanceinchina.com.

(Jiangsu, 18-21 November 2009)
2009 Jiangsu Coastal Tour
Visited Nantong, Yancheng and Lianyungong on the tour with more than 150 delegates from various countries to meet with government and business leaders and gain an insight into the planning and progress on the coastal development of Jiangsu Province.

• Nantong Economic and Technological Development Area
• Sutong Technology Industrial Park
• Nantong COSCO KHI Ship Engineering Co. Ltd.
• Nantong Zhenhua Heavy Equipment Manufacturing Co. Ltd.
• Yancheng Development Zone
• Yued Kia Motors Co. Ltd.
• Sinovel Wind
• Dafeng Port
• Dafeng Pere David's deer National Reserve
• Lianyungong Economic and Development Zone
• Lianyungong Science and Education Garden
• Lianyungong Zongfu
• Lianyungong Composites Group Co. Ltd. & Near-Port Industrial Zone
• Lianyungong Port