It’s late Monday evening here in Beijing and I just returned to my hotel room from a “gala dinner” at the “Royal Palace of Forbidden City Taimiao Ancestral Temple“. Describing it as “incredibly cool” doesn’t do the event justice! (It was not only “cool”, it was downright freezing — it must have been about 20 degrees out and windy!)
One very interesting “only in China” experience to share: Lionel Richie was the night’s featured entertainment — rumor has it he was paid $700k to show up and play. I’ll mention that Richie showed up probably 30 minutes later than he should of — had he realized how the right would end, I think he’d have arrived earlier. The main reason his tardiness mattered is because the party was in an enclosed tent — similar to what you see used for outdoor weddings — which did a little to protect us from the elements, but it was objectively cold!
So I’m right up against the stage — literally in the front row — toward one of the sides and Richie warmed up with a couple of old “Commodores” songs before rolling out “Dancing on the Ceiling” followed by his classic, “Hello”. Off to our right, we noticed Richie’s producer mouthing “one more….one more” running his hand across his neck — the international symbol for “cut it off”. Apparently the authorities not so subtly asked that the band wrap up — literally it was about 11pm and he couldn’t have been more than 1/2 way through his set. Richie wrapped up with “All Night Long” and did the whole “good night, you’ve been great” thing expecting to come back for an encore….But it wasn’t to be….whether it was an imposed curfew, his YouTube references (remember, YouTube is blocked by censors here), or some other reason — the Chinese government can, and does, do anything it wants — the concert was over!
Monday morning began with a keynote address by General Colin Powell — he was awesome, and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to shake hands and get my picture taken with a true American hero!
Posted 1 year, 11 months ago at 8:47 am. Add a comment
I’ve been lapse about updating my blog over the past several months — I don’t have any particular excuse, but I’m going to make an effort to post a bit more regularly again, and will re-start today with a bit of a travel journal from my first day in Beijing, China.
For quick background, I opened up an account with Rodman & Renshaw in October ‘09 based on a recommendation from a friend who’s been working with them for a while. Rodman is a NY-based boutique investment banking firm that seems to specialize in taking Chinese companies public on the NYSE, NASD, AMEX, and OTC-BB, and following the emerging companies with ongoing research. With all of the news these days about China, I thought it made sense to have a piece of my portfolio invested in this market, so I allocated some funds accordingly. Thus far, I’m up a little bit on the investments, but the most exciting thing to come of this relationship was an invitation, which I accepted, to attend their “Annual China Conference” in Beijing. Nearly 100 companies are presenting March 7-9. How could I say no to hearing keynote speaker, Colin Powell, not to mention a special live musical performance by ?
My friend and fellow Manhattan Beach entrepreneur Steve Svajian decided to join me at the event, and we landed early morning March 6 Beijing time.
Beijing airport was immaculate. Beautiful, modern design and incredibly clean. We sailed through customs and jumped in a taxi for the 35-minute drive to our hotel. I was definitely prepared for a “language barrier”, but the blank stare on our cab driver’s face when we said “Park Plaza hotel on Jinbao Street” was a bit surprising. It was as if he didn’t understand a word of what we were saying. However, we made it without a hitch and checked into our hotel which was also very modern and spotless — once again, TripAdvisor comes through with a great recommendation!
Steve and I conquered the buffet and set out to walk around. It’s barely 30 degrees today — sunny for the most part, very smoggy, and crisp. I can’t tell if it’s just a hazy day, or whether Beijing’s air pollution leaves a permanent haze — there appears to be a brownish/yellowish layer coating the sky.
We are virtually the only American faces I see, which is pretty wild, but adds to the allure of the adventure. At one point, as Steve and I were fumbling around with a map, a young Chinese woman, stopped and offered to help point us in the right direction. Ying Ying, 26, ended up being our tour guide for the afternoon and the chance meeting turned up to make our day particularly interesting as we got a true sense of daily life from a local.
I could feel the history as we approached Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City — amazing to watch the throngs of people strolling around on a Saturday afternoon.
As Steve and I chatted with Ying Ying, it really hit me that while only 12 hours of air-travel separated us from the people of China, we are world’s apart in attitudes toward government and politics, personal freedom, as well as opportunity. I’m sure I’ll have more thoughts on this in the coming days.
Additional pictures are posted here.
Posted 1 year, 11 months ago at 12:22 pm. Add a comment
We had a great time at the Belize Zoo!
Mark Humes was a knowledgedable guide. Reach out to him if you’re going to Belize.
Here’s a family picture from our trip:
Posted 2 years, 11 months ago at 5:49 am. 1 comment
How great is this picture?
Posted 2 years, 11 months ago at 2:44 am. 4 comments
As the expression goes, when the US gets a cold, the rest of the world catches the flu…And when the US gets the flu, the rest of the world comes won with pneumonia! I’m getting a first-hand look at the impact our bad economy has on tourism…
I’m sitting poolside @ the Brahma Blue, a beautiful and private hotel located on its own private island near San Pedro, Belize, which is located on Ambergris Caye. Music fans may remember Madonna’s La Isla Bonita — “Last night I dreamt of San Pedro” — which was inspired by her visit to this beautiful place. To give you a sense of how remote it is, when you arrive in Belize City (via air or cruise ship), you have to take a boat (a little over an hour) or puddle-jumper (~20 minutes) to San Pedro. Brahma Blue is actually on another island that’s a 5-minute “water taxi” ride from San Pedro. The resort has only been open since November, and the deadly combination of a bad economy and minimal marketing is clearly evident. We’re literally the ONLY guests out of 14 rooms (I’m told they’re expecting 2 arrivals today). But other than the skeleton crew of hotel staff members, we’re basically the only ones on this little island as far as the eye can see!
An informal survey of the staff here and various other hotels and restaurants we’ve visited over the past couple of days have said business is down 50% or more than usual for this time of year.
We spent our first night of the trip at Hotel Yakunah in Progreso, Mexico, before boarding The World, a luxurious cruise ship that is more of a floating “luxury condo development” than a cruise ship. I’ll blog about our 6 days on The World in a separate entry. The very pleasant owner-operators also said their occupancy is down — and we’re talking about a $50/night place.
Posted 2 years, 11 months ago at 11:16 am. Add a comment
What a fantastic vacation! The Caribbean is always great, and my first visit to the Cayman Islands did not disappoint.
One other interesting note: We travel a lot, including internationally, and I can honestly say there was a different feeling on this trip returning to the U.S. knowing Barack Obama was our President.
Posted 3 years ago at 11:30 pm. Add a comment