Introducing The Welcome Wagon

It is hard to believe that I have been back from China almost a month already.  I made a solo journey to Shanghai during the middle of May to be a part of some of the commissioning procedures for the ride.

After the plane landed in Shanghai, we were greeted by something new – government health workers.  They are taking the swine flu outbreak very seriously and took our individual temperatures and some health information before we could deplane.  It wasn’t that much of an inconvenience, but it seemed reminiscent of a scene from a movie.

The Countdown is On!

As you can see, the countdown is on for Shanghai’s Happy Valley Amusement Park to open.  This sign was near the temporary park offices.  I’m not sure who has the job of changing the numbers each day.  But they were quite diligent – even on weekends.

The inside of the trailer on the wooden coaster jobsite was a lot larger than it seemed  on the outside.  Paul Voyer was the project manager.  He decorated the office nicely with drawings (artwork) by The Gravity Group.  You can see drawings of the ride’s plan on the right wall.

Terry Hoffman was hired to do the controls work for this coaster.  He and I also shared an apartment in Sonjiang during my stay.  He had been on site many weeks installing and testing his equipment.

Chuck Bingham (front) and Paul Voyer (rear) take a short break in the Martin & Vleminckx job trailer.

Terry Hoffman works feverishly on some controls stuff.

Pizza Hut has found its way to China.  They don’t have the same menu as they do here in the states(no pan pizza), but it was still pretty good.  It reminded me of a Papa Johns style pizza.

Owen showed Terry and me the way to that famous pillar of America: Pizza Hut! (Nice shirt, Owen!)

The shadow of a wood coaster is always a nice place to have a leftover pizza picnic.

A great deal of time was spent on the site training the Chinese on how to care for their wooden coaster.  That meant that a lot of time was spent on the structure showing maintenance workers what to do.  Commissioning a coaster is a big deal and I was glad to be a part of the process.

This warning sign kept many curious visitors out...who knows what it really says.

The best classrooms don't have desks.

During the evenings, Owen (the friendly interpreter) would sometimes take me out exploring.  (Okay, maybe I dragged Owen out exploring with me.)  We visited local stores, enjoyed food from street vendors, and even met up with Ultraman!

I like meat on a stick - especially if you use that brush and put all of their seasonings on it.

Engineer by day, Kung Fu master by night!

Stay tuned for part II of this Chinese adventure…