CHINA - FINALLY.....

I am finally getting used to Hong Kong airport and glad I remembered to charge my Starbucks card. My first encounter of Chineseness was as I embarked the Dragonair flight. A comedy moment followed when I could not find my seat because the seat numbers were set very low, out of my eye line of sight.

I have no idea of what is to come but landing at a chaotic Chengdu airport at 11.30pm on a Sunday evening!

I am shocked to find that Chengdu is officially home to 15 million (probably 18 million) people and the roads reflect this, along with the massive smog fest.

The Chinese Agricultural Trade fair initially disappoints me but I soon realise that this is because it does not fulfil my normal expectation of and agricultural show. Organised into provinces and designed to showcase what is produced, many stands are manned by ancillary staff. I make some contacts and find a couple of interesting products but overall leave with a thorough understanding of the types of products grown & processed in China, and the potential for their market. It served as a great introduction to Chinese agriculture and food production.

GROUNDED

All set to go on my next leg and I get a text from my wife to check flights! Naturally I am booked with Quantoss!!!! Grrrrrrr..... All their flights are grounded Three hours before I am due to depart.
Connection flights, transfers, hotel, trade fair tickets, meetings etc... are all in limbo for 45 minutes whilst I join the race to find an alternative flight to Hong Kong. I strike lucky with Air New Zealand, leaving a week for Quantas to pull their finger out