Right now I'm sitting at a desk in Xi'An China.  The visit was for research on what has become a giant economy and an opportunity that should not be ignored.  After being just two days now my head is spinning and I'm really not sure where to start. 

Both Prof Christine Mingins and I we're invited to come and visit through a Chinese Government VIP program where they encourage outsiders to come and see what China has to offer the West.  Dr Chen and senior Government official and successful businessman in his own right has been the perfect host, facilitating many introductions to businesses as well as being an absolute font of knowledge on the complex nature of doing business in China.

Of the many businessmen I've met so far I've always been asked to talk about Readify and its innovative business model.  There seems to be genuine interest in the sort of things that we might be able to do in China and I've found the Chinese to be very open about there own businesses. 

Dr Chen is a bit of a history buff - so I've been treated to many long discussions about Xi'An's 3,500 year history, its Dynasty's and its people.  I'm really looking forward to tomorrow when I get to go and visit the Terracotta Warriors. 

To my surprise, the food has been a real treat. Some of the dishes don't actually look the best but as long as you can brave the look, the tastes are quite special.   

I reckon - and this is not an original though - that travelling opens your eyes.  Christine and I were the only Caucasians on the plane from Hong Kong to Xi'An - very few of the people we meet speak English although everyone speaks far more English than I do Mandarin :)

In my next post I'm going to drill in on what is on offer here from a technology outsourcing point of view and I might even squeeze in some photo's.

So what’s bad about it I hear you ask?  SMOG - and no that’s not an acronym.  Smoking laws are about the same as Australia 25 years ago and I don't think I could ever drive here.  The road rules are - "give way to everyone and don't give way to anyone" - mad, but it actually seems to work.  Lucky I have a driver!