Sun has this nifty program where an engineer can live and work at a remote site for a short amount of time; commonly refer to as a rotation program. By having engineers live and work locally at that remote branch, Sun can foster better communication and faster transfer of specific technology. As with any big companies that are facing global competition, we are doing our share of “outsourcing” or better known as “off shoring.” Our Solaris x86 group has hired lots of capable and talent engineers at Beijing, China. I’ve been approved by my manager for such a rotation and decided to blog my adventures here Beijing. Let me give you a bit of my background so that you will understand my perspective as I view today’s Beijing and its people. I was born in Taiwan and came to live at Los Angeles at a tender age of 13. I consider myself as part of the L.A. melting pot as such I’ve lived at L.A. for more than a quarter of a century. Back at Taiwan, I completed my elementary school there. I can speak fluent Mandarin with limited read/write ability in Chinese. I’ve never set foot on mainland China until now. So, what I will bring you is an interpreted Beijing from the eyes of a native Californian who also can speak and talk in Mandarin but clueless of day to day living of Beijing. Just to warn you, I won’t be talking about fancy trips to the Great Wall or some delicious food that you can’t get in the States, but I might intrigue you some down-to-earth observations that is not so common in States.

 I landed at Beijing June 23^rd 8:30 in the evening. Right away you can feel the weather is hot and balmy. Not a surprise as weather.com had already prepared me for what to expect. A driver hired by my company picked me up at the airport. It took us an hour to get to my apartment complex. Boy, it’s a complex alright, some 20 or so buildings each 20 stories high. This is where I’ve been warned by other rotationers who had gone before me that there are two buildings that are named 15. I thought that was kind of stupid, why they don’t just use 15A and 15B. Then after I saw the sign myself, I realized this is China. Build 15 is followed by a Chinese symbol of an equivalent of an western “A.” Here is a quick lesson for those of you who are challenged in Chinese. “Ja” is “A” in Chinese. I remember those days in my elementary school. You don’t say you get an “A” there as good student; you get a “Ja.” Below are side-by-side pictures of the two building number 15 and 15a. Note, the left picture with “Ja” symbol is at the lower right corner.

Another interesting tidbit, as for the button numbers in an elevator at my Beijing apartment, there is no usual P1 or P2 for parking level 1 or 2 instead, it is just “-1” and “-2.”

I suppose that makes sense for Chinese. Come to think of it, sometimes it is kind of confusing in the States where they designate L for Lobby and G for ground floor. I mean if you don’t speak English, how would you know G is the ground floor but everyone knows 1 is the 1^st floor and -1 is probably the garage, right?

Below is a view from my cubical, I heard that Chinese construction is quick, so I will take another picture on the same spot before I leave Beijing. I was told they are building an indoor flower nursery.