This morning was no different than any other day this week but at noon the attendee's at the conference were all scheduled to go and tour Lishen's factory. Since we had just been there last week and we've seen many different factories we chose to take a ten minute taxi ride and go see what was happening at a battery exhibition that is in town. It was worth the trip and it was very interesting but I really don't need to go to another one. Much of the exhibit were companies selling equipment that is used to manufacture batteries. I thought I would take a picture of a mixer that is used to prepare electrode slurries. I figure
Lisa could have used this to make bread when all the kids were home. The tank is about the size of a forty five gallon drum. While we were in this huge conference center it all of the sudden got very noisy with this huge roaring sound coming from the roof. It sounded like very hard hail. We made our way to the front door and it was pitch black outside. I kid you not, it looked like it was midnight but it was only about three in the afternoon. It was indeed hail that we had heard but this was probably the worst storm I have ever seen and believe me I have seen a few. The rain was coming down in sheets and the wind was blowing so hard that the trees looked to be horizontal.
I've seen it rain that hard and I've seen it blow that hard but I don't ever remember seeing it raining and blowing that hard at the same time. Someone opened the door and the wind blew into the hall so hard it about knocked me over. There were taxi's out side but no one dared walk to one. We waited about ten or fifteen minutes and it calmed down enough that we grabbed a cab and headed back to the hotel. The entrance to the convention hall where we were is raised above the surrounding area so as the taxi drove off the hill down to the main road it was covered with water. He didn't even hesitate but I swear the water was up to the floor boards. I completely expected
it to come in through the door. Do you see how that fence around the construction sight has blown down? It rained off and on with plenty of thunder and lightning all day long. I still see flashes of lighting out my window as I write this and it is around midnight. Tonight the conference organizers had arranged a "banquet" for us. I tried to imagine what a banquet was because the dinners we've had every night seemed pretty much like a banquet to me. As it turned out, a banquet was pretty much the same food but in an authentic old hall with entertainment. We entered the hall and there was a guy pounding on a drum. That is when you
knew the hall was only pretend "authentic" because after the drummer we went up an escalator. Because everyone else was still at the factory tour we got front row seats. The entertainment was all OK but the highlight of the evening was the Chinese Opera singers. That was weird. Even Tim couldn't understand the words they were singing because it was all this nasally high pitched squealing sound with massive vibrato. It was fascinating but not too pleasant on the ears. I was glad to have the experience with the authentic entertainment and all but Tim was ecstatic. What I liked more than the singing (if you can call it that) were the costumes. Those aren't masks they're wearing,
it is make up put on quite thick. I went up and got a picture with the cute chick and even up close I would have sworn she was wearing a mask but her lips and eyes were moving. We got back to the hotel pretty late. They had nearly twenty greyhound sized buses to haul us all. They've done a pretty good job handling this many people. That is except for registration on the first day. Did I tell you that story? Sunday was registration so we get to the conference hall and we see all these huge lines. We find the line for foreigners and wait for nearly an hour. We get there and they fill out this form for us and tell us to go get in line for the cashier.
Well the cashier line was even longer than the foreigner line because everyone had to pay at one single credit card machine. So another hour later we finally pay and then they send us to still another line to pick up our books and this cool little hand bag. I'm starting to get quite excited. Tomorrow is Thursday and then Friday and then I can come home. I can't wait. I miss my family. A LOT.
This morning was no different than any other day this week but at noon the attendee's at the conference were all scheduled to go and tour Lishen's factory. Since we had just been there last week and we've seen many different factories we chose to take a ten minute taxi ride and go see what was happening at a battery exhibition that is in town. It was worth the trip and it was very interesting but I really don't need to go to another one. Much of the exhibit were companies selling equipment that is used to manufacture batteries. I thought I would take a picture of a mixer that is used to prepare electrode slurries. I figure 
Lisa could have used this to make bread when all the kids were home. The tank is about the size of a forty five gallon drum. While we were in this huge conference center it all of the sudden got very noisy with this huge roaring sound coming from the roof. It sounded like very hard hail. We made our way to the front door and it was pitch black outside. I kid you not, it looked like it was midnight but it was only about three in the afternoon. It was indeed hail that we had heard but this was probably the worst storm I have ever seen and believe me I have seen a few. The rain was coming down in sheets and the wind was blowing so hard that the trees looked to be horizontal. 
I've seen it rain that hard and I've seen it blow that hard but I don't ever remember seeing it raining and blowing that hard at the same time. Someone opened the door and the wind blew into the hall so hard it about knocked me over. There were taxi's out side but no one dared walk to one. We waited about ten or fifteen minutes and it calmed down enough that we grabbed a cab and headed back to the hotel. The entrance to the convention hall where we were is raised above the surrounding area so as the taxi drove off the hill down to the main road it was covered with water. He didn't even hesitate but I swear the water was up to the floor boards. I completely expected
it to come in through the door. Do you see how that fence around the construction sight has blown down? It rained off and on with plenty of thunder and lightning all day long. I still see flashes of lighting out my window as I write this and it is around midnight. Tonight the conference organizers had arranged a "banquet" for us. I tried to imagine what a banquet was because the dinners we've had every night seemed pretty much like a banquet to me. As it turned out, a banquet was pretty much the same food but in an authentic old hall with entertainment. We entered the hall and there was a guy pounding on a drum. That is when you 
knew the hall was only pretend "authentic" because after the drummer we went up an escalator. Because everyone else was still at the factory tour we got front row seats. The entertainment was all OK but the highlight of the evening was the Chinese Opera singers. That was weird. Even Tim couldn't understand the words they were singing because it was all this nasally high pitched squealing sound with massive vibrato. It was fascinating but not too pleasant on the ears. I was glad to have the experience with the authentic entertainment and all but Tim was ecstatic. What I liked more than the singing (if you can call it that) were the costumes. Those aren't masks they're wearing, 
it is make up put on quite thick. I went up and got a picture with the cute chick and even up close I would have sworn she was wearing a mask but her lips and eyes were moving. We got back to the hotel pretty late. They had nearly twenty greyhound sized buses to haul us all. They've done a pretty good job handling this many people. That is except for registration on the first day. Did I tell you that story? Sunday was registration so we get to the conference hall and we see all these huge lines. We find the line for foreigners and wait for nearly an hour. We get there and they fill out this form for us and tell us to go get in line for the cashier.
Well the cashier line was even longer than the foreigner line because everyone had to pay at one single credit card machine. So another hour later we finally pay and then they send us to still another line to pick up our books and this cool little hand bag. I'm starting to get quite excited. Tomorrow is Thursday and then Friday and then I can come home. I can't wait. I miss my family. A LOT.
4 comments:
WOW! Look at all that water!
Amazing costuming and make up those entertainers too. I'm glad you got a close up for us to see.
It's not often that you get entertainment like that when you go to your conferences. I think that's great they did that for you! That is a lot of rain but I still think not as scary as the time you were in Asia (can't remember where) and they had the typhoons or whatever it was. Did you finish picking up the gifts with my ideas? Love you!
About the machine that you said I would have loved for making bread when the kids were little....it's a delayed thought but it brought back a memory. Do you remember when I used to make bread in Rosemary and to get the dough to raise faster I'd put it on the heater vent in our bedroom? Do you remember what would happen on more than once occasion? I'd get busy and forget and we'd have dough overflowing all over!! What a mess!!!
How fun for you ... I think I would have liked the opera. You really haven't been in Florida for a true storm have you? Those storms are my favorite (except the hail ... I hate hail).
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