This time I'm traveling on my own, at least for a week, and Mr. Roger will be joining me in the motherland (Taiwan!) next week. In the meantime, I am traveling to China for a business trip and will be hitting 3 cities in 5 days. It's going to be rather intense, with a day full of work, factory tours, trying to decipher the mainland Chinese accent, and then writing a work report at the end of each day.
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It's funny...I've been trying to get my butt over to China for the past 3 years. My first attempt was at my previous company where my bosses and I made big plans to go on a business trip to China. We had already obtained our Chinese visas, were working closely with a company we had targeted in the city of Weihai, and even got an invitation letter from the company with travel dates. But I left the company after 3 months, and my bosses canceled the trip at the last minute for reasons that are unknown to me. So that trip never materialized.
Attempt #2 was earlier this year in January with my current company. I had gotten an invitation letter with travel dates, booked hotels, and we even bought plane tickets. Then, a month before the trip, the president of the company called it off and froze all unnecessary travel indefinitely due to budget restrictions. I was so devastated. I had made so many plans and paid for Roger's ticket already. I had to untell a lot of people too, such as the companies I was visiting, my friends I planned to see, and my own grandparents in Taiwan whom I promised to visit.
So here I am now, at Attempt #3. Things fell together pretty quickly. I was asked to go to China (travel is now permitted again at work) just at the beginning of August. The president of the company allowed it, so I scrambled and successfully got my passport renewed AND got a Chinese visa in less than 2 weeks. The past month at work has been mostly planning for this trip. So, here I am now, in LAX, waiting for my 1:05 flight to Shanghai. Let's see if this trip materializes.
