Splendid China ...

I have just returned from a longer than expected trip to China and Hong Kong. The trip has given me material for a few blog posts, so this first one will cover my trip to Shenzhen, for meetings of the Mobile Manufacturers Forum (MMF) as I am the chair of their Communications Working Group.

We travelled to Shenzhen from Hong Kong by bus, crossing Shenzhen Bay and seeing hundreds of these rafts, apparently a pearl farm. After crossing the bay, we crossed through Chinese immigration and were soon at our home for the next few days, the Intercontinental, inexplicably a Spanish themed hotel in China. The sight of the porters, dressed as gauchos complete with pink long socks and cowboy homes, seemed rather incongruous.

Our hosts in Shenzhen were one of the MMF member companies, TCT mobile, a joint venture between Alcatel and TCL, who are based in Shenzhen. After our work was concluded, they kindly organised a visit to Splendid China, a "folk culture village", or theme park, showcasing the different regions and cultures of that vast country.

Unfortunately, rain prevented us from walking around the park, but we got to enjoy the show, which featured a range of dancing and singing acts. After the show we enjoyed the second of the two Chinese meals on our trip, which were quite different from those I've experience in the UK or USA.

The scale of Shenzhen was staggering. A population around twice the total of Finland and with massive manufacturing facilities. One employer has a factory complex with a workforce of around 300,000 people; more than half the population of Helsinki, with dormitories, cafeterias, shops; in fact everything that an average town would have on one campus.

It was a fascinating trip, but by the time we were due to return to Hong Kong, we were already aware of the Icelandic volcano and that our flights back, mainly to Europe, might be a little disrupted.