NoisebridgeChinaTrip2

NOISEBRIDGE CHINA TRIP #2 -- April-2012

File:Oldcomputer.png Note: This page is about an event that has already happened. It took place on 2011-04-04 to 2011-05-03.NoisebridgeChinaTrip2/big

Edit THIS TRIP IS PAST -- but I am planning another Noisebridge China Trip: Because the first Noisebridge China Trips were so successful, I am planning a fifth Hacker Trip to China -- starting on 2-October-2015 in Hong Kong, and going for 3 weeks. Hacker Trip To China 5 You can also see info on the Noisebridge China Trip 1, that happened in 2009, Noisebridge China Trip 3, that happened in 2013, Noisebridge China Trip 4, that happened in 2014, -- Mitch. File:Petrochemical university.jpg Visit to Petrochemical Univeristy, Beijing File:Shanghai ruihao machinery equipment manufacturing.jpg Visit to Shanghai Rui Hao Machinery Equipment Manufacturing Co., Shanghai Because the first Noisebridge China Trip was so successful, I planned another Hacker Trip To China, including all cities that currently have a hackerspace, and which culminated at the Beijing Maker Faire (called Maker Carnival China 2012). When: 4-April-2012 through 24-April-2012. Optional: 9-day Beijing extension from 24-April through 3-May. Flight, transportation, and hotel Info: We'll each be on our own to book our own air fare to the meeting point on the meeting day: Hong Kong on 4-April (please note that to arrive on 4-April, your flight must leave on 3-April). I'm organizing the itinerary and the hotels and other transport. I will pay in advance for all of this. Where: In each of the cities we go to we'll visit their local hackerspace, and be shown around by local geeks to see geeky things of interest. We'll also have plenty of time to do "normal" tourist things too -- and the places we'll be going have spectacular sights! We'll explore Hong Kong for 4 days, visiting DimsumLabs hackerspace, and be shown around by local geeks. We'll then go to Guangzhou, Shenzhen for a few days to visit the Chaihuo Makerspace there, visit Seeed Studio to meet the cool folks there and to see their facilities. We'll also go to the famous electronics mall in Shenzhen. And we can go to the just-scheduled Shenzhen Maker Faire! (April 7-8). We can also visit the Ningbo Toyhouse, which is one of the first hackerspaces in a Chinese university (100 are slated to become reality soon). Then Shanghai for a week to visit my manufacturer (Etonnet) that I use for TV-B-Gone remote controls, where we'll all get to see how products are made, from start to finish, learning how manufacturing works. We'll also visit XinCheJian hackerspace in Shanghai, Onion Capsule Makerspace in nearby Hangzhou, and there will be time to visit the Shanghai electronics mall. Our last stop will be Beijing, where we'll be for a week. We'll visit the new Beijing Maxpace hackerspace, and we'll go to the the first big Maker Faire in China! (which they're calling Maker Carnival China 2012). We'll have a booth there at the Carnival, so please bring a project (or many) to show off! We'll fly home from Beijing on 24-April. (But, of course, you are free to leave whenever you like.) Maker Carnival China 2012 was originally scheduled for 21-April & 22-April. The Chinese government changed the dates to 29-April through 1-May. So that those who want to can be part of the main event, I added an optional 9-day Beijing extension. Those who want the 9-day Beijing extension will fly home on 3-May. (But, of course, you are free to leave whenever you like.) Cost: For the first Noisebridge China trip, I paid about $1k total, including air fare from SF and food and everything. This trip will probably be more expensive, since Hong Kong is more expensive than the rest of China. Also, the exchange rate for Chinese currency (Yuan, aka RMB) is now doing better on the world market. Itinerary for Noisebridge China Trip 2 3-April-2012 -- Leave home in NA or EU for Hong Kong 4-April-2012 -- Meet in Hong Kong 4-April to 8-April -- Hong Kong 8-April to 11-April -- Shenzhen 11-April to 16-April -- Shanghai 16-April to 17-April -- Ningbo 17-April to 18-April -- Hangzhou 18-April to 3-May -- Beijing 3-May-2012 -- fly home (arrive NA or EU on 3-May) Photos File:HongKongNeon.jpg File:ShenzhenElectronicsMall.jpg File:ShanghaiPhonebooths.jpg File:HangzhouLake.jpg File:BeijingWindowsLanterns.jpg File:XinCheJianWorkshop.jpg Mitch's photos from Hong Kong Mitch's photos from Shenzhen Mitch's photos from Shanghai Mitch's photos from Hangzhou Mitch's photos from Beijing Jacob's photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jacobrosenthal/collections/72157629605815578/ You Need a Chinese Visa!! To go to China you need to get a visa! And to get a visa, you need to have a passport that is valid at least 6 months after you plan to fly away from China (so, if you are leaving China on 24-April, then your passport needs to be valid through 25-October-2012). Your passport must also have at least one entirely blank page. You also need a copy of the information pages of your passport. You also need one 2"x2" recent color photo (not a printout). For US citizens, the visa costs $140 (much cheaper for other nationalities). You can get a single-entry, or a multiple-entry visa. I recommend getting a multiple-entry visa since multiple-entry visas cost the same as single-entry, and they are equally easy to obtain. I recommend getting a Tourist L visa, which is very easy. You can pay the fee by Visa, MasterCard, Money Order, Cashier's Check or Company Check. Cash or Personal checks are not acceptable. To get a visa, you can go to your local Chinese consulate (which are all closed on 23-Jan and 24-Jan for Chinese New Year). No appointment is required. You go in one day, and it will be ready for pick up 4 business days later. My experience is that it takes about an hour the first day, and takes only a few minutes to pick up the visa a few days later. (2 to 3 business-day and 1 business day/same-day express service is avaliable for $20 or $30.) (Citizens of US and Europe do not need a separate visa for Hong Kong.) Here is the application form for the China Tourist L Visa: http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/ywzn/lsyw/vpna/rap/W020110823124017412067.pdf On this form, most of the fields are obvious. For section 2.1, check "Tourism". The date of first entry in section 2.3 is the date we will be entering China (not Hong Kong), which is 2012-04-08. Addresses for section 2.5 Holiday Inn DongHua jiaYue, Nanshan District, Shenzhen, Shandong Building, Nanhai Road, East Park, Block D -- phone: 0755-26569999 Shanghai Hanting Season Hotel, No.1018 Kangding Road, Shanghai, China 200040 -- phone: 021-62307755 Sitting On The City Walls Courtyard House, No.57, NianZi HuTong, JingShanHouJie, DongCheng District, Beijing, 100009 -- phone: 010-64027805 Name of inviter in section 2.8:           Wang Yong           Room 1202, Building #42           588 South LianHua Road (Ming Hang)           Shanghai, 201100           Tel: 021-54296820 or 13795204960 Name of contact in section 2.9, use the same info as in section 2.8 Hong Kong We will be staying at the Noble Hotel in Hong Kong, which is located in Tsim Sha Tsui, a happening, popular area of Kowloon: Noble Hotel, 5/F, Pollock Building, 9-10, Tak Hing St., Jordan, Kowloon, Hong Kong -- phone: (852) 2369 7971 We will be picked up from Noble Hotel in the morning of 8-April, and driven to our hotel in Shenzhen. Shanghai We will be arriving at Shanghai (arrive 13:40) from Shenzhen (depart 11:30am) on flight MU5314 on 11-April. We will be staying at: Shanghai Hanting Season Hotel, No.1018 Kangding Road, Shanghai, China 200040 -- phone: 021-62307755 Proposed Itinerary: Wednesday, Apr. 11th Arrival at 2pm, hotel check-in Hackers presentation at XCJ open house at 7pm Thursday, Apr. 12th Sightseeing options: (http://wiki.xinchejian.com/wiki/Things_to_do_in_Shanghai) 12:00 - Lunch 14:00 - Fabric Market 18:30 - Dinner at XinJiang restaurant 21:00 - Visit of the Bund Friday, Apr. 13th 12:00 - Lunch Sightseeing options: (http://wiki.xinchejian.com/wiki/Things_to_do_in_Shanghai) 18:30 - Dinner at Sechuan restaurant with famous Chinese masks changing show Saturday, Apr. 14th Touring the electronics Malls in the morning or other sightseeing or hangout at the hackerspace 11:30 - Lunch 13:00~16:00 - Arduino for total newbies workshop at XinCheJian hackerspace 18:30 - Dinner Sunday, Apr. 15th Sightseeing in the morning Other sightseeing or hangout at the hackerspace Monday, Apr. 16th 10:30 - Meeting at hotel lobby 13:00 - Visit of Etonnet electronics manufacturing in Songjiang at 1pm (http://www.etonnet.com/) Address: 上海广富林路4588号, 26号楼3楼 (松江大学城地铁站) Tuesday, Apr. 17th 9:00 - Hotel check-out: Shanghai Hanting Seasons 9:30 - Going to Hongqiao train station 10:50 - Take train to Hangzhou 11:30 - Hotel check-in: Hangzhou Hanting Express 12:00 - Lunch 13:30 - Walk around West Lake 17:00 - Dinner 19:00 - Visit Hangzhou hackerspace OnionCapsule + presentations Overnight stay in Hangzhou Wednesday, Apr. 18th 10:00 - Hotel check-out: Hangzhou Hanting Express 10:30 - Going to train station 12:00 - Take high speed train to Beijing (arriving at 6:40pm) 19:30 - Hotel check-in: City Walls Courtyard house Beijing Maker Carnival schedule [1] Thursday, Apr. 19th 10:45 - Meeting at hotel lobby, going to Qinghua University 12:00 - Lunch 13:00 - Meeting with Professor Ben Koo 14:00 - Visit of Qinghua University campus and Qinghua Toyhouse 19:00 - Dinner Friday, Apr. 20th 10:45 - Meeting at hotel lobby 12:00 - Lunch 14:00 - Visit of Toyhouse at Beijing Institute of Petrochemical Technology 19:00 - Dinner Saturday, Apr. 21th 10:00 - Meeting at hotel lobby, going to Maker Carnival site 11:00 - Setting up Mitch's Arduino workshop 12:00 - Lunch 13:30 - Mitch's Arduino workshop Sunday, Apr. 22th 12:00 - Lunch 13:30 - Going to Maker Carnival site to see Art Hack weekend Monday, Apr. 23th 12:00 - Lunch 13:30 - Sightseeing? Tuesday, Apr. 24th 12:00 - Lunch 13:30 - Sightseeing? Wednesday, Apr. 25th 10:00 - Meeting at hotel lobby, going to Maker Carnival site 11:00 - Setting up Mitch's Arduino workshop 12:00 - Lunch 13:30 - Mitch's Arduino workshop Thursday, Apr. 26th 12:00 - Lunch 13:30 - Sightseeing? Friday, Apr. 27th 12:00 - Lunch 13:30 - Sightseeing? 14:00 - Theremin workshop at Maker Carnival [2] 19:30 - Swarm Agent Club -- location: "北三环联想桥青云公司". Here's a map. Saturday, Apr. 28th 12:00 - Lunch 15:00 - Maker Carnival Opening and Pre-exhibition 15:55 - Mitch's speech at the Carnival Sunday, Apr. 29th 11:00 - Lunch 12:20 - XinCheJian Squishy Circuits workshop, Toyhouse Windmill workshop 13:00 - Soldering workshop 14:20 - Iron Hack (Shouth Korea Hakcerspace) 15:20 - XinCheJian Ardublock workshop Monday, Apr. 30th 11:00 - Lunch 12:20 - XinCheJian LED Heart workshop and Simple Line Follower workshop 15:00 - Mitch's presentation 15:20 - XinCheJian Insectbot workshop, Tobias' r0ket workshop 15:45 - Tobias' presentation Tuesday, May 1st 11:00 - Lunch 12:20 - XinCheJian Useless machine workshop 15:20 - Noisy box (sound synthesizer) workshop Wednesday, May 2nd 12:00 - Lunch 13:00 - Sightseeing? Thursday, May 3rd Most people flying back... 12:00 - Mitch's flight back to SF Previous Noisebridge China Trip If you're curious about the previous Noisebridge China Trip, it has its own wiki page: Noisebridge China Trip 1 That first Noisebridge China Trip was inspired by Bunny Huang's "geek tour". -- Mitch. People interested in going on the Hacker Trip to China in 2012: You do not need to be a member of Noisebridge to go on this trip. Please email me if you are interested in joining us: maltman23 *AT* hotmail *DOT* com The trip is limited to 8 people total (including Mitch), so the first 7 people on this list (after Mitch) who buy their plane tickets will be able to join us: Name Purchased flight? Flight info 1 Mitch Altman YES Arriving 04-Apr-12 18:15 on United UA869 2 schneider YES Arriving 04-Apr-12 14:30 on Emirates EK382 3 Simon Schubert YES Arriving 04-Apr-12 11:00 on Lufthansa LH738 4 Florian Friesdorf YES Arriving 04-Apr-12 15:23 on Lufthansa LH730 5 Jacob Rosenthal (heatsynclabs.org) YES Arriving 04-Apr-12 18:15 on United UA869 6 E P S A S YES Arriving 04 Apr-12 17:55 on United UA895 7 yair reshef YES Arriving 08 Apr-12 10:55 on Lufthansa LH 0738 8 Ursula K YES Arriving 04-Apr-12 18:15 on United UA869 9 Jimmie Rodgers Yes Arriving 04-Apr-12 09:45 on Aeroflot Russian Airlines 2313 / 212 10 cibomahto no 11 MCT no 12 Adam no 13 froggytoad no 14 Joey no 15 Julie no 16 North Dallas no 17 Sophi Kravitz no