I attended the Guangzhou Convention of Overseas Scholars in Science and Technology last month in Guangzhou, China. Needless to say, my most recent trip to China left me extremely impressed. Here’s a quick run down of the hits and misses.

1. The Convention. Very organized. Had no problems with the convention, the accommodations or the transportation. A lot of companies staffed a booth at the convention. Though, for a country the size of China, I was expecting a bigger crowd—something akin to a MacWorld convention. Guangzhou seemed much more accessible than during my prior visit. In fact, I was a bit hesitant to attend the convention at first because of my prior memories of being stuck in a Guangzhou traffic jam many years ago. I am now a convert.
2. Guangzhou Subway. The subway took us directly from the China Hotel to the Guangzhou International Convention and Exhibition Centre. The subway automatically announces station stops in Chinese and English. Very convenient, especially since the Convention provided a free subway pass to travel between the hotel and the convention hall, and to move about in Guangzhou. The subway colors were a bit spartan though. A splash of color would certainly have warmed up the place.
3. Xiaolingtong (小灵通). The Convention provided free mobile phones to participants. Had read about xiaolingtong in the press for quite some time, but this was my first time using it. We were given a stripped down cell phone that vaguely resembled my first cell phone in functionality. No advanced features, but very compact and probably all I needed for a 3 day convention.
4. Friendship Store. The Friendship Store from the 80s had disappeared. Instead of traditional Chinese goods, this new edition sports Western brands. I even learned that Henckels sells cookware. I’ve only seen Henckels knives in the United States. Could certainly use a Friendship Store in my neighborhood. 🙂 However, I’m not sure who their target audience is. Seems to me that Chanel is a bit expensive for the average (and even above average) Chinese. As for foreigners, who heads to China to buy American and European goods?
5. Taxis. The great thing about traveling in Hong Kong and Guangzhou is that taxis are a viable alternative to the subway system. You can get around very cheaply in a taxi, unlike in the United States.
6. Traffic. YouTube has a video on India traffic. Guangzhou wasn’t as crazy, but it did leave me baffled at some points. I simply cannot understand motorcycles driving on the sidewalk.
7. Follow Hong Kong. This year, Hong Kong finally started banning smoking in most public spaces. I returned to the United States before I could benefit from the new law. Hopefully, this trend will spread to China.
8. Skyscrapers Aplenty. The only thing reaching for the sky were the buildings. Mature trees were far and few between. Need to plant more trees so that the city dosn’t become a concrete jungle—like Los Angeles.
9. Smog. Haven’t seen such brown haze since I left Los Angeles. And, even in L.A., the smog only obscured the faraway mountains. In Guangzhou, even nearby buildings didn’t appear clearly. Indoor smoking and outdoor pollution. Yuck!
10. Growth Trend. Each time I visit China, I am surprised by its most recent accomplishments. It’s not the United States, and not even Hong Kong. But, give it a decade or two to grow and iron out some of its problems and it’ll be close.