Its after midnight here but I can’t sleep without posting a few more quick hits.

• During breakfast I looked up at the TV to see one of the most bizarre sporting competitions I think I’ve ever seen. A stock car was swerving through a snow-filled, winding, single-lane country road at breakneck speed, narrowly missing trees, farms, fences (and apparently judges) along the way. I expect crazy stuff like this from Japan, but there it was. Then I remembered how stock-car racing comes from the days of running moonshine over mountain roads just like these. Things really do come full circle, don’t they?
• Earlier this week I walked into one of the busiest bookstores I’ve ever seen. Six floors of books, filled with people browsing. The Chinese have a thirst for knowledge.
• Chinese are crazy about their mobile phones. Everywhere I looked someone was either talking or texting. Bored guards at tourists sites would look away from the “ancient relics” they were supposed to be protecting to sneak a little texting in. Even the hotel receptionist had to be chided by her manager when the receptionist eagerly reached for her ringing mobile phone while checking me in.
• My flight from Shanghai was on a Boeing 777-200, one of the few Boeings I’ve seen here. Airbus has this market locked up.
• The seats of a Boeing 777 are far more comfortable than the equivalent Airbus A330. I couldn’t wait to get off the plane I took to Shanghai.
• There is no such thing as boarding groups in Chinese airports. There is no such concept of “lines” or “queues” here, either. Everything is one mad rush after another.
• People really do bound out of their seats as soon as the plane touches down.
• Air China shows video in the cabin of the plane’s takeoff and landing, shot from two cameras on the plane’s nose. It’s fun to watch from this perspective.
• Shanghai is adding parks in an effort to clear the polluted air.
• Shanghai is gonna need a lot of parks.
• There are no open fields in Shanghai or Beijing for ordinary citizens to use. There are no public soccer fields. I saw two basketball courts during my whole visit and they were both in front of army barracks.
• Advertisements are everywhere. At the airport, you’ll find ads covering the jetway, headrests, tray tables, even the baggage carousels. I think airlines wait to put the bags on the carousel to make you look at the ads longer.
• Even the toll booths have ads. For a while I thought we were paying tolls to Sinochem.
• You’re more likely see monuments to the UPS delivery guy than to Chairman Mao, though I did see a bust or two of Mr. Mao in some restaurants.
• His countrymen still hold Mr. Mao in high regard.
• I always pack far more for a trip than I need.
• A tourist map is essential for getting around any city where you don’t speak the language. Pointing at a picture can be a real lifesaver.
• One hears horns here so often that they become background noise. The other day I almost stepped in front of a bus because of this.
• Most taxis I’ve taken have small microphones on both sides of the dashboard. Their purpose is still unclear. No microphones are visible in the back, where customers are most likely to sit.
• People cough a lot here, and for good reason.
• I wonder if the respiratory illnesses caused by China’s air pollution makes the Chinese more vulnerable to catching whatever Respiratory Pandemic Du Jour may be going around at any particular time.
• My eyes were red for over four days when I arrived in Beijing. At first I thought it was due to lack of sleep from my long flight. When it persisted, I was beginning to wonder if I’d contracted hepititis. Now I chalk it up to China’s horrendous air pollution.
• The air here turns your mucous black. Honestly. Like you work in a coal mine or something.
• China’s electricity, like America’s, is primarily generated from coal.
• I’ve seen so many dazzling buildings that they begin to look alike. One building tonight turned my head, however. It was a ten story building that was nothing more than a crumbling shell. With gleaming buildings going up on seemingly every piece of land I was frankly amazed to see a pile of rubble left standing.
• China has an insatiable appetite for concrete and steel.
• There is no such thing in China as too many people on an elevator. Or subway. Or bus.
• The word “license” was always spoken in English during my training, leading me to wonder if there is no Chinese equivalent.
• Shanghai is tall but Beijing is wide.
• Foreigners here don’t seem fully accepted. Though my Chinese colleagues were generally friendly in our business settings, few seemed to want to sit next to us Westerners at lunches or dinners. Partners who didn’t know Gary and I would move to other tables when we sat down. Maybe we’re reading too much into it but I did get a hint of that vibe.

  I can’t fault them if its true. It may be that it will take a little time for the Chinese to be comfortable with non-Chinese. Most Chinese have never traveled outside their borders and some have never left their own village. Diversity takes time.

• As I was wandering today around a popular tourist spot in Shanghai, an adorable little girl – maybe two years old – smiled and cheerfully pointed at me. I took her and her family as being tourists in Shanghai, too. While her mother explained who (or what) I was (and I can only in polite terms), I fished out a photo of my kids. While she studied her American counterparts her mother pointed at the picture and told her “baby … baby.” It was a nice little international sharing moment.
• The only black people I’ve met here were my South African friends at the hotel. The only ones I’ve seen in public are Shaquille O’Neal, Kevin Garnett, Tiger Woods and a few other American athletes who adorn huge ads around town. I got the impression from watching in restaurants that Indians here may not be highly regarded.
• One Chinese I spoke with made note of a Chinese ethnic group’s darker skin when describing another province. He gave no explanation.
• China changes so quickly that any insights I may have gotten right are already wrong.