Dylan Schiemann

On Tuesday, I gave my talk at QCon about the Open Web, which was well attended and received. The use of professional real-time translators was an interesting change from every other talk I have conducted previously. I don’t think the translators were able to keep up with my pace, so I forced myself to talk much slower than I would normally prefer.

After my talk and a traditional Chinese lunch at TusPark, I had a press interview which also included real-time translation. In China, press interviews are more formal with all press members invited to the same interview rather than having a bunch of one on one interviews. In the US, this only happens for much more important interviews.

In the evening, I was part of a panel discussion about trends in enterprise development, but before that, Randy Shoup convinced me that I needed to have real Beijing Duck with him and a colleague. All I can say is, wow, I’m glad I did. Beijing Duck is like Moo Shu Duck in the USA, but astoundingly better. We went to a place that is known for its duck, and used to be a place that was often reserved for foreign dignitaries. The level of service was extremely precise, with red being the abundantly dominant color scheme. Beijing Duck makes me happy, and if I had to pick, it is probably my favorite of all the food I enjoyed in China, though dumplings, Hot Top, and kung pao chicken give it serious competition. After a slow and warm cab ride to dinner, I decided to share off my expertise with the Beijing Subway which returned us to the hotel much more efficiently than rush hour traffic in Beijing.

I’ve also had an intentional culinary sense of adventure, and have grown fond of tea, and have tried everything presented to me that does not look like an animal part!