The big visit
Yesterday the Chinese President Hu Jintao visited the hotel we are all staying at, the Furama here in Da Nang. After his visit the staff and all of us were renaming the hotel the Hurama. President Hu will be meeting in Ha Noi with Vietnamese leaders to discuss the further development of relations between Vietnam and China. President Bush and the Republic of Chile’s President Michelle Bachelet will also be attending the APEC meetings in Ha Noi.
Needless to say our hotel was a busy place as all the preparations were underway for the big event the arrival of President Hu of China. We were allowed to stand to the right of the red carpet that was laid out for his arrival. We even had applause practice. After a few practices we had the applause down and were excepted as part of the official welcoming party and fit in very well with our shorts, sandals and tee shirts. One French lady was in her bathing suite (we looked good in comparison). Within five minutes it was all over and we were all back to normal and had changed into our casual evening wear flip-flops and shorts.
The day of the Presidents arrival the street leading up to our hotel was lined with students from the local school’s, all very well trained in the art of applause. They were awaiting the presidents official motorcade to come down the road way. No country can do pomp and ceremony like the Vietnamese. Below is the band that played the ceremonial hail to the chief, Chinese version for the arrival of president Hu.
Bottom line everyone had a good time, the President got a good nights sleep, we had breakfast outside, due to the large delegation taking up the breakfast hall and the big guy was gone by 9:15 am the next morning.
Just another day of life here in Da Nang.
Until later,
The Da Nang people
The Hurama, formerly the Furama
Thursday, November 16, 2006
