My Mental Vacation

Goin' to Texazzz

Howdy, ya'all. How's your mama an' daddy an' 'em?

An old friend taught me that that's how they say things down in the Great State of Texas. And, although the name of the state ends in an "s," you actually pronounce it with a "z." End of cultural lesson.

I'm taking my husband to Plano for the first time next week to visit my sister and her family. (Note to burglars: No, we are not leaving the house empty. Everyone else will be at home.)

Tony's asking: What's there to do in Texas? He's a wine lover and an excellent cook, so I want to take him to the Central Market. I found some great steak rubs there on my last visit. This year, they are having the Passporte España during the month of May. Ummm... tapas and paella! Unfortunately, it ends before we arrive, and our consolation prize is an all-you-can-eat shrimp boil.

We'll probably go to Dallas at some point. I'd like to see the JFK Museum at Dealey Plaza, which was closed on my last visit. Other than that, I'm looking forward to meeting my niece's new daughter, seeing my other niece as she's prepping to graduate, seeing my nephew for the first time since he came home from serving in the military, and visiting my oldest niece and her family in their "new" home. (New to me, that is.) I've missed a lot of family milestones.

Then there's the shopping... shhh!

Gone Bionic. Wish You Were Here.

Most of my friends and colleagues know that I had a hip replacement a couple of weeks ago. Yes, I know. I'm pretty young for this, so it has been a huge mental transition for me. It is hard to think of myself as a person with any limitations, however temporary.

I'm younger than the Baby Boomer generation, many of whom are already dealing with the challenges of aging. Marketers, like me, are putting a lot of thought into understanding what motivates and attracts this demographic. So, I've learned a few things:

• We have choices about our healthcare. Open access to a plethora of information allows us to make informed choices - doctors, health plans, medications, etc. Time to stop treating us like we're ignorant.
• Quality of life is important, and we don't "want" medical issues or their solutions to interfere with our ability to work, travel, or otherwise live an active lifestyle. When there is more than one treatment option, we will place huge importance on the impact on our lives. (I chose the doctor and hip replacement technique that promised greater range of motion.)
• Many of us care about how we look. We're not caving in without a fight. Time to think of mobility aids as fashion accessories. If I have to use a cane, I want it to match my outfit. (I'm only half-kidding.)

Basically, we haven't changed, but our bodies have. We're still consumers. We grew up on TV shows and movies where bionics and medical marvels were de rigueur. Now we're ready to buy them.

Finally, Hangzhou Part 2

I admit it. I'm a bad blogger. I manage to get client posts done on a regular schedule, but my own get done when I'm not up to my eyeballs in work. Eight months between posts - must mean that business is good.

Since I last wrote, I've visited China again. We had an opportunity to revisit Hangzhou's new Central Business District (CBD), and I'm just astounded by the speed of development in China. The CBD includes government/administrative offices for Hangzhou, as well as city services like the library and HYCAC. There's a convention center and a new theater for the performing arts. Escalators take you down to the metro, or you can walk along the river and view some spectacular public art in beautiful park areas.

This is a photo of the government complex, which is still under construction. Everything is state of the art technology, and with very modern architectural flair. There's an interesting sphere-shaped building in the center of the henge.

HYCAC (Hangzhou Youth Cultural Activities Center) is my favorite place. Mr. Jianming Huang has become our friend and I always look forward to the surprises he shares with us when we visit China. His programs for children are amazing - music, art, martial arts, and the facilities are great. I could write a whole post on Su Su City, an experiential, real-world activity center where kids learn to "do" jobs and work in the context of a thriving city where all work is important.

And there's more.. I attended a wedding of 100 couples, stayed at the lovely Shangri La, and saw the start of a fabulous new cartoon art museum. Lots of stories about Liyang, too. Need more time to write!

Thoughts on Hangzhou, Part 1

From Liyang, we went on to Hangzhou, capital of eastern China's Zhejiang province, which is a beautiful city that we have visited before. On our previous trip, we explored West Lake, which is the historic center of Hangzhou because of its cultural significance. There is a famous story about star-crossed lovers that draws romantic tourists from throughout China:

From China Daily: "'The Butterfly Lovers' has often been compared to the tale of Romeo and Juliet, except with a considerably greater degree of cross-dressing. Here a young woman disguises herself as a boy in order to secure an education. She spends three years sharing a room with a male classmate who never guesses her secret. She, however, falls in love with him. When the truth is finally out, the two decide to marry, but their happiness is short-lived. The girl's father insists she marry another and the young man dies of a broken heart. The two are ultimately united when the girl visits her dead lover's tomb on her wedding day and the couple are transformed into a pair of butterflies."

But I digress... our October trip was memorable, but not quite so romantic. We toured the new Hi-tech Industry Development Zone, and the new Central Business District (CBD.)

The Hi-tech zone was originally formed in 1990, but it has seen tremendous growth during the past few years. We had a very interesting meeting with Madame Wu, who is the Vice Director of the Administrative Commission. Companies located in the zone belong to many tech sectors, including communications, electronics, alternative energy, integrated circuits, animation, and gaming. Outsourced services are abundant. The famous Chinese e-commerce leader, Taobao, is headquartered here, along with Alibaba. We toured a Astronergy's plant, the company that is building China's largest rooftop solar power base.

Needless to say, I was quite impressed, and could not help but walk away with the impression that China's aggressive policies favoring investment and economic growth are paying off.  More later.

Li Yang and Tian Muhu Lake

After a flight out of Beijing in the early morning, we spent yesterday in the City of Li Yang, which is about one hour away from Nanjing. What a beautiful resort city it turned out to be. We met with the city administrator, their director of international relations, and a marketing director. My friend Meiling was with us, too.

Li Yang is a progressive city, with thoughtful planning. Tian Mu (or Tian Muhu) Lake is quite beautiful. It is a reservoir with a number of dams, and it is the focus of the resort area. Because it is the source of drinking water for Li Yang, they are very careful to keep the water clean and healthy. We saw blue skies there, and less smog.

The lake has a number of small islands within it, and we took a boat tour to see the lake and take a hike on one of the islands. The vegetation was lush, and a wooden boardwalk traced a path around the perimeter, and up and down some of the hilly areas. We even saw a waterfall - manmade, but designed to bring oxygen and keep the water flowing through the ponds and streams. Recycle bins were everywhere.

It was really nice to see such concern for the environment in country where we saw none of this only three years ago. Lots of other changes, too, which I'll talk about another time.

It is an unspoiled and beautiful park in a modern, small city of over one million people. Definitely worth a visit! Quiet and serene, with a five star resort (even by MY picky standards) and an inspired chef.

Day Two in China

It has been a while, but here I am posting on my blog again. Just some quick random comments about our day in Beijing. Our schedule is packed, and there is little time for thoughtful writing.

• Culture shock does not begin to describe it! How funny to find that I cannot even access Facebook here.
• Today, we visited the Summer Palace, the Temple of Heaven, and the Forbidden City. I think we walked for eight hours straight. Very interesting... we are going to watch "The Last Emperor" again when we get home, now that we have seen everything firsthand.
• The Temple of Heaven is a truly beautiful park. I love the way the Chinese people hang out in the park. We saw ballroom dance lessons, elders singing revolutionary songs, card games, and a strange kind of karaoke that involves old ladies singing opera.
• Putin is in town. We had to pass through security to get into our hotel today. Hmm...
• Traffic is awful and the sky is almost brown. Our guide says that people are becoming more conscious of global warming and protecting the environment. They are building another nuclear power plant, he said.
• Yes, Peking Duck is excellent. We enjoyed the food here very much.
• Oscar Zhang is our guide.... If you ever come to Beijing, he is an excellent guide. He has taken care of everything, and his knowledge of history is quite good. Even better, he knows all the tricks and shortcuts, so we never, ever wait in line.
• Yesterday was the last day in which the floats from China's 60th National Day parade were on display in Tian An Men Square. They were pretty amazing. They put so much into this celebration. I'm glad we had the chance to see them, along with millions of other tourists, mostly Chinese.