China. The long-awaited adventure has started. After getting three out of four delayed flights, I finally arrived and got a good night's sleep at the Shanxi Grand Hotel in Taiyuan. Most of the hotel's amenities are western style, especially useful when it comes to the bathroom. The bed is quite hard, so hard that it makes it impossible to sleep on the sides and forces me to sleep on my back - which is good, I guess. Part of the staff speaks English, which comes in very handy, plus they have a nice pool and a great western-asian breakfast buffet. Moreover, I get reliable (although government restricted) Internet access plus a TV with English, French and German channels directly from the comfort of my own little room. All in all, the hotel is becoming a little sanctuary, a refuge from the world outside my window.

That's because, outside, dust fills the air like a constant smog: there is so much of it that I can sometimes taste it on my lips. Maybe that's why people clear their throat and spit here and there. As for driving, there is no law other than the first to hit the horn gets right of way. The hierarchy goes from buses and cars, to bicycles and finally pedestrians. Road lines and lights are mainly suggestions as people don't seem to mind if you don't respect the well established western behaviors. When walking in the street, people constantly stare and even stop to look - there are definitely not many foreigners around here. And when it comes to speaking the language, the four mandarin tones are hard to master, making it very difficult to pronounce small words or sentences. It's actually fun to be in a place where you cannot understand the language, the signs and products you buy. Even using the dictionary proves to be an extremely difficult exercise. However, with a little effort and practice, I'm sure things will improve.

Going to work is like being on a little bus tour that lasts about 30 minutes: 15 minutes through the city and 15 minutes through our client's industrial facilities. The plant is huge! The biggest that I've seen by far. I think they are well on their way of becoming the world's largest producer of stainless steel. Unfortunately, the job site definitely lacks in safety practices. I could have been killed fifty different ways in the past few days - by walking in an open hole, getting electrocuted by poor wiring, stepping in water that goes over electrical wires, getting crushed by the load of a crane passing over my head or getting squeezed between heavy metal coils, just to name a few. Needless to say, I watch every single step I make and always stay alert of my surroundings.

The following weeks will be very interesting, especially since the Chinese New Year is just around the corner. In fact, people are already celebrating by putting out red lanterns and by constantly, and I do mean constantly, lighting fireworks throughout the city (which in fact is quite bad for air pollution). From the hotel, the explosions are so loud that one could think the city is under attack. Hopefully, we'll get more time during the Chinese holidays to explore this amazing, and very different country. Stay tune!