(Nanjing, 3 February, 2010)
Attended a small supper meeting with Nantong Economic & Technological Development Area Investment Promotion Bureau Director General, Zhu Jian Guo (朱建国) and assistants with my American and Chinese consultant associates.

Reached initial agreement with the Chinese investment fund manager on building an investment vehicle for investing Chinese funds in Canada.

Updated the rail.assistanceinchina.com website to include the timetables for the new high-speed routes and the temporary holiday trains in China.

Revised the bulk email system code to accommodate the authentication process for forwarding combined plain-text/html messages.

Listened to the increasing frequency of fireworks (and subsequent shockwave triggered car alarms) as Spring Festival approaches.

(Nanjing, 31 January, 2010)
Visited the CSR Nanjing Puzhen Rolling Stock Works on the north bank of the Yangtze River in Nanjing. It is the location for the manufacture and repair of passenger rail cars for trains with speeds of 120, 140 and 160 Km/hr. plus the manufacture of subway trains.

Subway car driver's cab

(Nanjing, 4 January, 2010)
The pay experience in my latest job didn't reflect what I believe is the business value of my work so I have resigned to retired life.

I spent a couple of days with friends from my neighborhood in Canada and took them along to my English corner activities. They were very happy to meet some of my Chinese friends (picture on right) and learned much about the life in Nanjing.

Now that they have left (they will visit Hefei for a couple of days) I'll be spending much of my time trying to develop more information about travelling in China for my various Internet web sites. I need to learn more JavaScript and Google Earth API technology to improve the usability of my work. I hope to make noticable progress on this in the next year or so. The technical completion of all the China Rail passenger train timetables and station locations took about 2 1/2 years. The revision of errors and updating of timetables will always require more time but the main focus of my effort can now shift to other information systems.

(Hong Kong, 23 December 2009)
The Hong Kong I've seen so far is definitely not my element. I can understand the attractiveness of all the glitter and gold but have no desire to pursue the possession of it. If I lived here for a prolonged period of time perhaps I would find a way to meet the kind of people I enjoy communicating with, but during only a short stay there is little time to figure the place out.

As with all my travels in life, the greatest challenge is to find the food I want to eat. One pleasant surprise has been the McCafe food. The salads, sandwiches and deserts have been an enjoyable alternative to the regular fare. A little pricier than I normally pay but within affordability under my current conditions. I probably scrimp too much anyway, so a little extra is probably good. This evening I went out and located the building with the Bahá’í Centre where I'll meet Tom tomorrow. The streets around Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong, are teeming with people even at 9:30 pm.

(Hong Kong, 20 December 2009)
I'm in Hong Kong in hopes of getting a new visa to return to Nanjing. The city has enticed me to spend more than I had planned.

I'm not sure whether I'm getting lazy or smarter, but for the first time I'm using a travel agent to get my visa. The extra cost may be less than the extra expenses that may be incurred if I wait the extra day that it would take to find the visa office and see if my application is accepted. Then getting a train ticket may require even more time in Hong Kong.

As it is getting back to China will be delayed by two days due to full trains. I have bought a ticket to Shanghai for Sunday, 27 December. Only an upper berth was available.

The image at the right is a reflection on the windows of a building that reminds me of Gaudi's architecture in Barcelona, Spain. I call it "A Gaudiesque View of Hong Kong".

(Nanjing, 16 December 2009)
I have completed all the available China railway passenger timetables and located all railway stations necessary to display them in Google Earth.

At this time there are 3024 timetables and 2944 stations.

With the swift development continuing it will soon be out of date, but I have developed the software necessary to update the system and identify the need to locate new stations.

It has been a long and tedious process but success has such a price.

The results may be seen at rail.assistanceinchina.com.

(Jiangsu, 18-21 November 2009)
2009 Jiangsu Coastal Tour
Visited Nantong, Yancheng and Lianyungong on the tour with more than 150 delegates from various countries to meet with government and business leaders and gain an insight into the planning and progress on the coastal development of Jiangsu Province.

• Nantong Economic and Technological Development Area
• Sutong Technology Industrial Park
• Nantong COSCO KHI Ship Engineering Co. Ltd.
• Nantong Zhenhua Heavy Equipment Manufacturing Co. Ltd.
• Yancheng Development Zone
• Yued Kia Motors Co. Ltd.
• Sinovel Wind
• Dafeng Port
• Dafeng Pere David's deer National Reserve
• Lianyungong Economic and Development Zone
• Lianyungong Science and Education Garden
• Lianyungong Zongfu
• Lianyungong Composites Group Co. Ltd. & Near-Port Industrial Zone
• Lianyungong Port