Apparently you can't access blogspot.com inside of China...or Amnesty International. I stopped trying to access websites at that point out of concern that my visa would get revoked. Two weeks in China and 70 hour work weeks in the days leading up to the trip have kept me off the blog.

China changes faster than I can keep up with. This trip was an exceptional demonstration of that. What a time to be there amongst riots, strikes, record breaking cold and snow that incapacitated the rail lines, and a new level of congestion and polution. I am shocked that I made it out of the country. When my parents learned that Guangzhou train station was housing 150,000 stranded travelers they started calling their church prayer chain, friends across the country, and their neighboors to pray that my co-worker and I would make it out. While I was hesitant to pull out the stops on something like making it on a train to Hong Kong, it was nice to walk right into the station, cue up for the train, and be wisked away from chaos. Yes, it was the train station on CNN where cops were beating people with billy clubs. A good reminder to me that prayer works and that my parents are constantly on my side. The factory that I went to visit had settled a strike about three days before I got there. In truth, I would have loved to witness 3500 people organizing solely through word of mouth to shut down an entire factory and then go run amock in the streets protesting and snarling traffic until their demands were met. Chinese laborers are catching on to the fact that most Americans don't want to pay much for labor on consumer goods...and the laborers are pissed. Factory workers want more money, benefits, and respect. The jig is up and I figure we have 5-10 years before we burn through cheap Chinese labor the way we did with Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. It doesn't take unfiltered Google searches, access to Amnesty International, or blogs for the Chinese to understand that the global economy is shifting; if they play their cards right it will shift in their favor. We're outsourcing not only our manufacturing, but our entire economy. And I'm right in the middle of it collecting a pay check off of the whole deal. Sometimes I'm too scared to honestly ask myself if I'm the problem or the solution. Either way, expect prices at Wal-Mart to go up soon.

I didn't pull my camera out very often. I did get this shot of the waterfall and Koi pond at my hotel to send to my friend who is a Koi fanatic. I have a video of a traffic jam that is fairly unbelievable; I'll try to get it on here soon.

Between battling it out with the factory and suppliers, keeping myself out of petty work politics, and freezing my arse off, I had some shining moments. The highlight for sure was spending the weekend with friends. They are Chinese nationals that I worked with at my old job. I love knowing that our friendships extend beyond work. The level of loyalty, commitment, and hospitality that exists in our friendships is striking. They took me to their homes, out to dinner at local restaurants (definitely rolling the gastro-intestinal dice), for the best meal I've had since Christmas (spicy Hunan food), and took me bowling. They even made me a custom pair of shoes. It was a hard trip but a good one. I learned a lot about shoe making, pride, Tylenol PM, and how smiling can make everything come together.

I stepped off of the plane in Grand Junction and nearly got tackled on the tarmac by my friend K-Lar (she's a baggage handler and knew I was coming) and stopped off for dinner with the Copes. There was beauty in that visit. I'll tell you more about that in the next post. After 14 hours of sleep, three loads of laundry and some kind vegan cassarole from the Trading Post, I'm ready to jump back in. Zaijyen!