Randy's Winding Road BLOG

Practical Technology - RockMelt Social Web Browser

I made RockMelt my default browser this week, so I thought I would share one of the features I have come to like.

(RockMelt)    

One feature I really like is the ability to translate foreign language web pages. I have been using this feature for awhile now with Chinese language sites.

The screenshot below is of tech.hexun.com in Chinese. Even with the 20 plus tabs open, it takes around two seconds to translate a page like this.

The result is a translated page that is understandable:

 

 

Randy's China Notebook

I had the pleasure of spending a couple of weeks in China at the end of December, 2009, and in January, 2010, visiting Shanghai, Suzhou, Taian, Mount Tai, Jinan, Qufu, and Beijing as a part of a "Historic China" Tour.

The Air China 747 out of San Francisco was very comfortable, and we enjoyed great service. (I prefer the 747 or 777 on longer flights.) Our flight was direct to Beijing, with a connecting flight to Shanghai. It's a bit of an adventure to get from the gate at the International terminal, through customs, and then to the gate for the flight to Shanghai at the domestic terminal late at night. 

 

Shanghai

I have always enjoyed the time I have spent in Hong Kong, and now have another favorite city to add to my list - Shanghai. This is a spectacular city. It's history, architecture, and people make it interesting and comfortable. Whether we were enjoying coffee or tea in the French Concession, exploring the snack shops on Nanjing Road, taking a walk through the empty streets before dawn, rocketing to the top of the Pearl Tower, or trying to catch a cab New Year's Eve along with a few million other people enjoying the Holiday, Shanghai did not disappoint.

One of the things I enjoyed in Shanghai was the architecture, including the business signs.

 Nanjing Road is a blend of older buildings and some outstanding business signs.

More business signs on Nanjing Road, Shanghai.

Shanghai is full of buildings holding up the sky.

Suzhou 

The freeway from Shanghai to Suzhou, like all of the highways we traveled, impresses you because it is perfect. There are no potholes. There are no places where weeds are encroaching, or there's dirt on the pavement. The white lines are all perfect. For much of the trip, the highway passes through mile after mile of recent industrial development and business parks. I started counting construction cranes ("the national bird of China") and soon gave up. They are everywhere, and that's what we found traveling to Beijing as well.

 Construction cranes outside Beijing.

I had the pleasure of spending a couple of weeks in China at the end of December, 2009, and in January, 2010, visiting Shanghai, Suzhou, Taian, Mount Tai, Jinan, Qufu, and Beijing as a part of a "Historic China" Tour.

The Air China 747 out of San Francisco was very comfortable, and we enjoyed great service. (I prefer the 747 or 777 on longer flights.) Our flight was direct to Beijing, with a connecting flight to Shanghai. It's a bit of an adventure to get from the gate at the International terminal, through customs, and then to the gate for the flight to Shanghai at the domestic terminal late at night. 

 

Shanghai

I have always enjoyed the time I have spent in Hong Kong, and now have another favorite city to add to my list - Shanghai. This is a spectacular city. It's history, architecture, and people make it interesting and comfortable. Whether we were enjoying coffee or tea in the French Concession, exploring the snack shops on Nanjing Road, taking a walk through the empty streets before dawn, rocketing to the top of the Pearl Tower, or trying to catch a cab New Year's Eve along with a few million other people enjoying the Holiday, Shanghai did not disappoint.

One of the things I enjoyed in Shanghai was the architecture, including the business signs.

 Nanjing Road is a blend of older buildings and some outstanding business signs.

More business signs on Nanjing Road, Shanghai.

Shanghai is full of buildings holding up the sky.

Suzhou

 

The freeway from Shanghai to Suzhou, like all of the highways we traveled, impresses you because it is perfect. There are no potholes. There are no places where weeds are encroaching, or there's dirt on the pavement. The white lines are all perfect. For much of the trip, the highway passes through mile after mile of recent industrial development and business parks. I started counting construction cranes ("the national bird of China") and soon gave up. They are everywhere, and that's what we found traveling to Beijing as well.

 Construction cranes outside Beijing.

We visited a silk factory and took a boat ride on the Grand Canal while in Suzhou. I found the silk factory fascinating. Those are some very industrious worms. It's amazing what goes into the production of silk. 

Silk Factory - Spooling the silk thread.

Taian - Mount Tai

We took a sleeper train from Shanghai to Tai'an, leaving Shanghai around 10:30 pm. Whereas Shanghai had been very comfortable, we arrived in Tai'an along with a snow storm. It's a short bus ride from the town to the park to visit Mt. Tai,  The weather prevented us from getting to the top of the mountain, the gondola closed minutes after we arrived at the top. This is a mountain with beauty and power. 

 

Climbing Mt. Tai

Qufu - Home of Confucius

Confucius Family Compound

Qufu, the home of Confucius, and his family's residence was interesting. The family compound is large. The grounds and buildings are impressive. I like the rooflines on these traditional Chinese buildings.

 

Jinan to Beijing - High Speed Rail

There has been a lot of discussion recently about China's huge investment in high speed rail. I enjoyed our trip into Beijing on a high speed train that got up to 243 km per hour. It was comfortable, smooth, and preferable to air travel. I noticed all along the route, the construction of the new maglev high speed rail system. What impressed me was that it was being constructed simultaneously all along the route. 

In my opinion, this new high speed rail system which will link the urban and industrial cities along China's east coast, from Beijing to Shanghai and on to Guangzhou is a good investment. These cities comprise urban areas with over a hundred million people. Rail is the most important means of transportation in China today.

Boarding the high speed rail train in Jinan.

Comfort is the name of the game.

The Maglev train now operating from the airport to Shanghai will be a part of a 13,000 km of high speed rail network in China to be completed in the next few years.  

 

Beijing

We arrived at the Beijing train station a few days after a record setting snow storm. Traffic was crawling, but the city was functioning, and the blanket of snow added to the beauty of the city. Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, and the Great Wall are difficult to comprehend from photographs. They are all impressive for their scale, beauty, and the history they represent, and they set apart Beijing.

 

Temple of Heaven

 

Summer Palace

Old - frozen man - Tiananmen 

The Great Wall (Outside Beijing) 

 

Observations

• China is a great tourist destination... they roll out the red carpet.
• The people we encountered were happy, helpful, confident, proud, and a lot like us.
• The prevailing view of China in the USA profoundly misses the mark... China is more capitalist in many ways than we are.
• China is gearing up to surpass the US on many fronts, and we continue to be clueless.