Beijing & Dongguan

So much for all the speculation on typhoon Megi. We are safe and sound in Shenzhen. As of Thursday evening the storm was on a path set to pummel us. Sandbags were in place everywhere, like in the lobby of our building and local restaurants, in preparation for hard rains and possible flooding. Fishermen were told to empty Shenzhen Bay and secure their boats, which made the water extra calm and a little eerie. Hong Kong elementary schools were even cancelled Thursday and Friday in anticipation of strong winds.

On Friday the typhoon took a bizarre, sharp 90 degree turn to the north of Hong Kong. We never saw dark clouds or even a drop of rain here. It seems as if the typhoon in the South China sea succeeded in blowing away all of the pollution and haziness we normally have in the city, leaving behind pure blue sky and sunshine. Instead of intense waves and flood waters, this morning I saw an amazing sunrise. As the sun rose over the mountains of Hong Kong (our apartment overlooks Shenzhen Bay and the New Territories island of Hong Kong), the sky held a candy apple red fireball which exploded into oranges, pinks, and rich shades of buttery yellow, then melted into a cool turquoise blue tickled with a few feathery clouds above us.

Matt, Dean, Tic Toc and Grandaddy Langford are on their way to Beijing this morning to do some touristy exploration. The capital is about 3-1/2 hrs from Shenzhen by plane. They plan to visit the Summer Palace, Tianamon Square and the Great Wall while there. Matt plans to take lots of pictures, so hopefully I'll have some good ones to post by the end of the week. I'm a little jealous that my baby boy gets to see these wonderful historic places in China before I do!

While they are off playing, I'm in a car for the next 2 hours heading to a city called Dongguan. I'll attend the Canton sourcing fair for work this Sun-Wed with the team from ATL plus several of my Plaid Far East colleagues. We'll meet with existing vendors we do business with as well as search out new suppliers for manufacturing. The show is also usually a source of inspiration, especially for Halloween and Christmas. Buyers come from all over the world to place orders now for 2011 products. I expect to see a lot of trinkets and dust collectors, but hope to stumble on some cool new ideas in the mix.