Connecting with China — Report on Kootenay Delegation’s Trip to China

Well, one full day in Asia completed and our second full day about to begin. But perhaps I should step back a bit first and recap what has happened so far.

Our delegation from Cranbrook and area consisting of Mayors Wayne Stetski (Cranbrook) and Ron Toyota (Creston), Councillor Diana Scott (Cranbrook), Dr. Nick Rubidge and Patricia Bowron from the College of the Rockies, and myself arrived in Taicang, China early Tuesday evening local time (about 4:00 a.m. MDT) after about 18 hours in transit of which 3 hours were in airports, 12 hours in the air and 3 hours on the highway.

Arriving at Shanghai's Pudong International Airport we were greeted by officials from the City of Taicang, along with Paul von Wittgenstein, an East Kootenay businessman living in Shanghai who has helped up develop this initiative with Taicang China and Wonju, Korea. 

Oh, we were also greated by 38 C / high humidity heat which, as Pat Bowron put it, was "like walking into a sauna." Personally I don't think that quite does it justice...you remember that scene in the animated Christmas classic "Frosty the Snowman" when Frosty is trapped in a poinsettia hot house and begins to melt and become a puddle...well, call me Frosty.

Despite the seasonally hot / uber humid weather we have been treated exceptionally well by our hosts. They set a standard in hospitality and graciousness that is hard to match. I've thrown in a few shots of our accommodations, the Loudong Hotel, with Diana taking a picture of me taking a picture of her in front of the hotel, the hotel's lobby — is "opulent" the right word? — and the meditation gardens.

Hard to believe this is all in the midst of a modern rapidly growing port/industrial city of almost 1/2 a million.

After a "light", informal dinner (by their standards) it was off for all of us to get some sleep. While our rooms are very comfortable I don't think any of us were able to sleep for more than a few hours due to our internal clocks being broken.

The first full day (June 19th) began with us connecting with the China-based reps for Teck Coal (Beijing), Canfor (Shanghai) and the provincial government BC Trade rep (also based in Shanghai). It was great that they accepted our invitation to participate in our meetings on the first day: meetings that focused on Taicang's growing interest and presence as a major port of entry to Asia for our natural resources.

To say that the port is impressive is an understatement. It is the 2nd largest deep sea port in China located at the mouth of the Yangtze and they want to be the preferred destination for our region's resource exports. I've thrown in a few shots of the port here as well.

Now I have to apologize for the quality of the pictures but I'm no photo-journalist, by any stretch of the imagination, and am using my iPad for the shot. On the bright side I have managed to keep my thumb out of every picture I've taken so far, including a couple wonderful shots of the floor. But one thing you may have noticed is the heavy haze, which is a seasonal combination of high-heat and humidity smog from the power plants in the area.

Our discussions with 12 officials from the Port Authority were very formal and still at the high-level stage but very positive. We were able to introduce the representative from Teck, Canfor and the BC Trade office and discuss a range of other opportunities.

The afternoon was a bit lighter for us to give us a bit of a rest. I think they realized we hadn't yet acclimatized from our long trip and the travel and weather (I know I hadn't). However, we did visit one of the Canadian-based manufacturers who have set up in Taicang (Surrey-based Accupress) followed by a brief visit to a part of old Taicang that is much the same today as what it was 1,300 years ago. After that the formalities were on again as we went to meet the Mayor of Taicang who also hosted the official welcoming banquet.

I leave with a few shots of old Taicang as I head off for the start of Day 2 in Taicang. I'll hopefully be able to send another post tomorrow (our schedule and Wi-Fi availability permitting).

Kevin