China 2006 - Presentations, GHoP, non-English taxi

Woke up for a day with two talks of mine with only one properly set alarm clock.

Organization running out of coffee, plates, cutlery, &glasses repeatedly.

No questions after Surgical Robotics presentation, two from chair of Path Planning session. Is the IROS not a good place for Robot-Assisted Surgery?
Momentous revelation to be remembered: Self-contained presentations are the best.

Conference Center parking lot full of buses at 17:00; gathering for Conference Banquet at the Great Hall of The People.
At first, my name's not on the GHoP-dinner bus security check list, but shows up later. A real VIP treatment: Police escort for our 17+ buses, crossing red lights in a convoy - true invitees of the GHoP. Having such an array of large vehicles allows for some very effective traffic shaping - closing off a street crossing to free it for the remaining buses is feasible.
There are 2.6 million cars in BJ currently. Plans include increasing the number of subway lines from two to ten until the Olympics in 2008.

The GHoP building is so large it doesn't change shape when one moves in front of it. First class dinner, BJ opera&music presentation.

The way back takes 15 minutes, while getting there was a bus ride of 1.5 hours due to rush hour jams.

Lone taxi back to my hotel with a non-English-speaking driver who obviously is not a BJ local and not only has no idea where to go, but also refuses to follow several clear instructions. Successful in the end thanks to a bilingual city map and a compass.