February 4, 2012   1-877-631-2845

Wood Flooring Forum 2011 in Shanghai

Rob Banks handshake

Recently I was in Shanghai to speak on an international panel at ‘Wood Flooring Forum 2011’. It was a full day event in conjunction with the massive Domotex trade show held annually at the end of March in Shanghai. The Wood Flooring Forum was held March 25th at the Kerry Hotel Pudong. Organizers included China National Forest Product Industry Association, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Shanghai Building Materials Industry Association and along with various local government groups. I know … [Read more...]

What You See in The Middle of Nowhere, Part 6: Ducks In A Truck!

Ducks in a Truck

Ducks in a truck. What else can I say? At a road stop at the side of a highway driving to who knows where, rural China. I heard this crazy noise (and smelt an odd smell) and, well, here is what I saw. Ducks in a truck. What else can I say? Lunch anyone???? … [Read more...]

The Best Food In China

Restaurant in Sichuan in China

After visiting a factory in Chengdu (Sichuan province China) we went for lunch in a small country restaurant. It was smokin' hot out so we decided to go for smokin' hot local food! Sichuan is of course the most famous region of China and one of the most famous in the world for very spicy food. The location was a gem of a 'hole in the wall type' restaurant. I love this, I don't need fancy restaurants, I want to see what it is like to live like a local and what they enjoy to eat. A 'day in the life … [Read more...]

How to Travel to China and Stay on Your Game, Too

Shenzhen China

If you follow my blog, you obviously know  I do a lot of travel to Asia. Living in Vancouver is a brilliant location to do business with Asia as we are the gateway to the Pacific Rim. The best airline in the world, in my opinion, is Cathay Pacific Airways , and they actually became a global player due in part to the success of the Hong Kong to Vancouver route. That has now extended to New York, Vancouver, Hong Kong.  So the flight is more popular than ever. To get to Hong Kong from … [Read more...]

Xiamen, China: Can you make a city beautiful by adding lights?

Gulangyu Piano Island

Xiamen, China is a beautiful city, one of my favorite cities in China. My BuildDirect peers and I travel here primarily for the stone business.  The region is famous in China for natural stone used for flooring tiles, counter tops and landscape. When asked why I feel it is such a beautiful place, I find that I describe three things. First,  Xiamen, China is a coastal city looking out on the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean, and I love harbor cities. Second, Xiamen has a cool … [Read more...]

What You See in the Middle of Nowhere, Part 5: Live Food!

Map of Dongguan City

I was traveling in a small town in Guangdong province in the South of China. We were approximately 30 minutes outside of Dongguan City and we went into a local market. Southern China is known within China for its food, the locals pride themselves on being food connoisseurs and they eat out very regularly. Lots of seafood like shrimp and crab, quality rice, and roast duck appear regularly on the table. We also ate a lot of variations of soup. A good restaurant will always be full with … [Read more...]

BuildDirect Goes to Sweden

Flag of Sweden

This past July, I took a trip with my family to Europe.  I stayed in Sweden for a while on a farm that dates back to the 1850s.  While I was there I saw an example of old European style long board hardwood flooring. Well it was actually pine flooring, so technically that's softwood flooring. I shot this video that explains more. I hope you enjoy the video! … [Read more...]

BuildDirect In Wuxi China, Part 2

Buddhas birth

As I wrote in my last blog post, I was in Wuxi, China last year, a city a few hours drive outside of Shanghai and the attraction I went to see was the ‘the Big Buddha’. The Grand Buddha at Ling Shan is approx 300 ft tall (88m) and I believe is top 10 largest Buddha statues in the world. Take a look! The area around the Grand Buddha was massive and absolutely beautiful. It was kind of a Disneyland for promotion of the religion. The location in the mountains gave you … [Read more...]

BuildDirect In Wuxi China, Part 1

Lake Tai

Traveling is China for myself rarely means I get to experience tourist type attractions. But when I was in Wuxi China last year, one day a factory owner took me out to see some of the local tourist attractions. The video is the key attraction of this blog as the area is really a beautiful part of the world. I start the video over looking Lake Tai and then most of the video is the area surrounding the Grand Buddha. Wuxi is nicknamed ‘the Pearl of Lake Tai’ as it sits on … [Read more...]

What You See In the Middle of Nowhere, Part 4: Beer!

Dinner Session Beers

I love this series as it really does reflect my life of element to when I travel, especially in China. I do not get to experience what a tourist would.  I rarely see beautiful things, museums, the Great Wall (I've been to China dozens of times, and I still haven’t seen it!).  But I do get to have experiences that are amazing and pretty unique. Now having been to China as many times as I have and reading about my experiences on this blog you might think…. “Wow, all Rob does in China … [Read more...]