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Michael in China with 115 million ducks....
Hatton Estate has been very fortunate to join with the New Zealand's largest ever trade mission to China for the official signing ceremony of the newly negotiated Free Trade Agreement between China and New Zealand.
We took full advantage of the offical programme - making sure we got in all the right photo's and were invited to all the big dinners.
Hey we are wine people - what does one expect!
The Trade mission for the NZ/China Free Trade agreement signing and celebration was much fun and with the Chinese traditions of feasting and toasting any business deal I was in for a fearsome three weeks of eating and drinking.
The official lunches and dinners were spectacular with events at the new Sofitel and Regent Hotels particularly good. I can certainly recommend staying at the Regent, the breakfasts are very good!
Restaurants to visit –a must is a modern take on Beijing Duck called Da Dong Roast Duck Restaurant. All the local tourist guides will talk about the Quanjade in totally over the top glitzy surroundings where I had the 115,331,050th duck since the opening in 1864- but I think the food is much better at Da Dong.
We went to many places which were very good but my sense of direction and ability to read Chinese is a little shabby at the moment!
I can recommend the mad people behind the Beijing Boyce website, who seem to get most things right on the review front and clearly have an iron constitution!
Party Bars: Try out Lush in the University District where there always seems a party on and the foot massages around the corner can be recommended too- thanks to my Auckland University guides!
I also visited Dalian City about 1 hour north of Beijing by plane. Dalian is a great port town with a rich history and fantastic seafood restaurants. Ming Ye a serious wine geek, importer, exporter, trader and multi faceted businessman ensured I was well entertained there. I re-discovered my skills at karaoke (self deception is the reality here) and can also recommend the Sunny Night club after a few Baijous. For information about Dalian please see this great site for expats and new visitors to Dalian: www.dalianxpat.com
Important point to note: Baijou is to be avoided at all costs – it is strong clear liquor about 55% alcohol- it is better to have a small glass of it to be polite and then switch back to wine or beer. Something I have learned from dreadful experience. Luckily there are no photo's of this evening.....that I know of....
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We also did some work and although most of the photo's show me partying with the Beijing manager and our Auckland partners we actually did meet with many new customers and signed many new sales deals to get our wines into many wine bars and restaurants in China.
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China Dalian City an open port very near the Korean Peninsula
Dalian Seafood market
 Beijing at Night
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