NoisebridgeChinaTrip6

NOISEBRIDGE HACKER TRIP TO CHINA #6
-- Start Date: 11-October-2016, in Shanghai
-- End Date: 1-November-2016, in Beijing

Note: This page is about an event that has already happened. It took place on 2016-10-11 to 2016-11-01. | Edit

There is going to be a Hacker Trip To China 2017! Here is its wiki page:
https://noisebridge.net/wiki/NoisebridgeChinaTrip7

Trip #4 Welcome to China!, Beijing

Trip #3 Kung Fu Hacking: Hackers In Residence Kickoff event at Tsinghua University, Beijing

Trip #2 Visit to Petrochemical Univeristy, Beijing

Trip #1 Jingshan Park, Beijing

Trip #1 Visit to injection molding factory, Shanghai

Previous Hacker Trips To China

This will be the 6th Noisebridge Hacker Trip To China.

In previous years' Hacker Trip To China, we've visited cities that currently have a hackerspace, and visited my manufacturer, Seeed Studio, and other manufacturers. We also visited Tsinghua University, considered the most prestigious university in China, and other schools -- all of which have now starting hackerspaces. China is now exploding with hackerspaces! We also went to the International Exhibition of Inventions Kunshan (IEIK 2014), near Shanghai. And everywhere we went, we were shown around by local geeks, to see what they thought was interesting where they live. Also, wherever we went, those of us interested gave talks, presentations, workshops, and demos.

You can see info on the Noisebridge China Trip 1, that happened in 2009,

Noisebridge China Trip 2, that happened in 2011,

Noisebridge China Trip 3, that happened in 2013,

Noisebridge China Trip 4, that happened in 2014,

Noisebridge China Trip 5, that happened in 2015,

-- Mitch.

This year's Hacker Trip To China

When: 11-October-2016 (Shanghai) through 1-November-2016 (Beijing).

Flight, transportation, and hotel Info: We were each be on our own to book our own air fare to meet in Shanghai on 11-October, and fly home from Beijing on 1-November (or from wherever and whenever you decide to fly home from).

I'll organized the itinerary and the hotels and other transport. I'll pay in advance for some of this, and you can pay me back.

Where: In each of the cities we will go to, we'll visit some of their local hackerspace(s), and will be shown around by local geeks to see what interested them where they live. We'll also have plenty of time to do "normal" (and spectacular) tourist things too!

Here's some possible places we might visit, leaving plenty of room for the serendipity that makes our Hacker Trip To China truly unique and memorable:

• We'll start our trip by meeting in Shanghai on 11-October-2016. We'll visit my manufacturer (Etonnet) that I have used for TV-B-Gone remote controls and NeuroDreamer sleep masks, where we will all get to see how products are made, from start to finish, learning how manufacturing works. We will also visit XinCheJian hackerspace in Shanghai. We have been invited to the Shanghai Maker Carnival, where we can all show off our projects and give workshops (if you like). We can also visit companies started by hardware hacker geeks, such as DFRobot. We can also visit the Shanghai electronics mall (a smaller version of the famous electronics mall we will later visit in Shenzhen).
• We'll go from Shanghai to Hong Kong and visit Dim Sum Labs hackerspace. We'll also see lots of other cool stuff in Hong Kong.
  
• Then we go across the border to mainland China again, to Shenzhen to visit Chaihuo Makerspace, SZDIY hackerspace, and a few other new hackerspaces, some of which are real, and hundreds of which are brand new (this year) over-the-top bizarre government-started places where they want to create "the next Apple" (we won't visit them all!). We have been invited to the Maker Faire Shenzhen, where we can all show off our projects and give workshops (if you like). We'll also visit Seeed Studio - the open source hardware company - to meet the cool folks there and to see their manufacturing facilities. We'll meet with the founders of Dangerous Prototypes - another open source hardware company. We'll also visit other manufacturers, to see where all the things we use in our daily lives come from. Of course, we'll also visit the famous (and totally awesome!) Huaqiangbei electronics market in Shenzhen.
  
• We'll then make our way to Beijing where we'll visit the Beijing Makerspace hackerspace. We'll also visit Tsinghua University, where they built the world's largest hackerspace last year, and where I've been hacker in residence. Beijing has lots and lots of way cool stuff to visit and be a part of.

For most of us, our trip will end here in Beijing as many people on our trip will fly home from Beijing on 1-November-2016.

I will be in Beijing, as hacker in residence at Tsinghua University from 31-August through 10-October. Everyone is welcome to join me in Beijing for any or all of this residency. (And, of course, are everyone is free to arrive and leave whenever you like.)
I fly home from Shanghai on 2-November.

Cost: For the fifth Noisebridge China trip, I paid $2,222 total (for 4 weeks), including air fare from SF and food and everything -- including all the electronics stuff that I bought.
Part of this year's trip may be paid for by Tsinghua University.

#hashtag: #httc2016      (Hacker Trip To China 2016)

Possible itinerary outline for Hacker Trip to China 6

Everyone is welcome to join me while I am hacker in residence at Tsinghua University from 31-August through 10-October.

10-October-2016 -- Leave home for Shanghai (arrive in Shanghai on 11-October)
11-October-2016 -- We all meet in Shanghai -- hotel:  Le Tour Traveler's Rest
11-October to 17-October -- Shanghai
    12-Oct, 2:00pm:  visit DFRobot (112 Liangxiu Lu, Rm 615, Bld. Y1, Shanghai), a DIY robot company, and their hackerspace, Mushroom Cloud Space
    12-Oct, 6:00pm:  visit NYU Shanghai, anyone who likes can give a short presentation
    13-Oct, 7:00pm:  presentations at Mushroom Cloud Space
    14-Oct, 2:00pm:  visit Etonnet/Yagr Electronics, Mitch's manufacturer
    14-Oct, 6:00pm:  Opening Ceremony Neuni Matereo design and education center. map
    15-Oct, morning, afternoon: Shanghai Maker Carnival Day 1
    15-Oct, 7pm-10pm: Global Maker Summit at XinCheJian hackerspace
    16-Oct, morning, afternoon: Shanghai Maker Carnival Day 2
    16-Oct, 2pm-5pm: Hacker Trip To China presentations at Shanghai Maker Carnival
17-Oct, 9:29am high speed train G1806 from Shanghai to Zhengzhou
17-October to 19-October -- Zhengzhou
17-October-2016 -- check in at Zhengzhou hotel:  YingCheng XinDi Hotel map
    17-Oct, 6:30pm: dinner with Zhenzhou hosts
    18-Oct, 8:30am: tour of Zhengzhou High School No. 2
    18-Oct, 9am-5pm: Summit Conference of Hacker/Maker at Zhengzhou High School No. 2
    18-Oct, 6:30pm: dinner with Zhengzhou hosts
19-Oct, 10:41am high speed train G73 from Zhengzhou to Shenzhen
19-October to 24-October -- Shenzhen
19-Oct: check in at Shenzhen Chicago Suites International Hotel
    19-Oct, evening: meetup with SZDIY hackerspace people at their Harbour School tinkering space (canceled due to missed train) 
    20-Oct, afternoon: Tour of Seeed Studio's new manufacturing facilities, and three manufacturers (spring-making, PCB, plastic injection molding) 
    20-Oct, 7pm-10pm: BBQ and meetup at Litchee Lab  
    21-Oct, morning & afternoon: Maker Faire Shenzhen Day 1 (canceled due to Typhoon Haima) 
    21-Oct, evening: dinner with Dorabot robot company founder, followed by visit to Dorabot (canceled due to Typhoon Haima)
    22-Oct: Maker Faire Shenzhen Day 2 (canceled due to Typhoon Haima) 
    22-Oct, morning & afternoon: Huaqianbei Electronics Market & Troublemaker Space
    22-Oct, afternoon: SZ Maker Faire Zao Talks (Mitch gives a 20 minutes talk) 
    23-Oct: Maker Faire Shenzhen Day 3
24-Oct, 11:31am high speed train G80 from Shenzhen to Beijing
24-October to 28-October -- Beijing 
24-Oct: check in at Beijing hotel: Happy Dragon Hostel, 29 Renmin Shichang W Hutong, Beijing 100010
    25 Oct: visit Q-Space hackerspace
28-Oct, 10:40am flight MU5132 from Beijing to Hangzhou
28-October to 31-October -- Hangzhou 
28-October-2016 -- check in at Zhengzhou hotel TBD
    28 Oct, 3:30pm-8:30pm: meetup and dinner
    29 Oct, 9am: "Second Generation and Start-ups" conference starts
    29 Oct, 1:20pm-2:00pm:  Mitch's keynote at "Second Generation and Start-ups" conference
    29 Oct, 4:35pm-6:30pm:  Hacker Trip To China talks at "Second Generation and Start-ups" conference (pitanga, Cedric, Mateusz, Paul, Gabi)
    30 Oct, afternoon and evening: tour of Hangzhou (mostly West Lake) 
31-Oct, 10:30am flight MU9157 from Hangzhou to Beijing
31-October to 1-November -- Beijing 
31-Oct: check in at Beijing hotel TBD
1-November-2016 -- fly home (arrive NA or EU on same day)

Photos from Hacker Trip 2016

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Mitch's photos from Shanghai, Oct-2016
Mitch's photos from Zhengzhou, Oct-2016
Mitch's photos from Shenzhen, Oct-2016
Mitch's photos from Beijing, Oct-2016
Mitch's photos from Hangzhou, Oct-2016
Mitch's photos from Beijing Set 2, Oct-2016

Mitch's photos all in one place

Photos from Hacker Trip to China #5

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Mitch's photos from Hong Kong, Oct-2015
Mitch's photos from Shenzhen, Oct-2015
Mitch's photos from Shanghai, Oct-2015
Mitch's photos from Beijing, Oct-2015
Mitch's photos from YiWu & Hangzhou, Oct-2015
Mitch's photos from Beijing Set 2, Oct-2015
Mitch's photos from Shanghai & Suzhou, Oct-2015

Mitch's photos all in one place

Dave's photos

Blake's photos:

• Hong Kong!
• Shenzen!
• Shanghai!
• Beijing!

Torrey's photos from Hong Kong
Torrey's photos from Shenzhen
Torrey's photos from Beijing
Torrey's photos from Shanghai

Photos from Hacker Trip to China #4

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Mitch's photos from Beijing, Nov-2014
Mitch's photos from Shanghai, Nov-2014
Mitch's photos from Shenzhen, Nov-2014
Mitch's photos from Kunshan, Nov-2014
Mitch's photos from Shanghai (2), Nov-2014
Mitch's photos from Beijing (2), Nov-2014
Mitch's photos from Tianjin, Nov-2014
Mitch's photos from Beijing (3), Nov-2014
Mitch's photos from Singapore, Dec-2014

You will Need a Chinese Visa!!

To go to China, you needed to get a visa!

Everyone should get a multiple-entry Tourist L visa (if you only get a single-entry visa, you won't be able to go to Hong Kong).

• And to get a visa, you need to have a passport that is valid at least 12 months after you planned to fly away from China (so, e.g., if you are leaving China on 1-November-2016, then your passport needs to be valid through 31-October-2017). Your passport must also have at least one entirely blank page.

• You also need:
  • a printout of a filled-out Visa Application Form V. 2013 of the People's Republic of China (after we have everything we need I'll email you my filled out form as an example to follow).
  • a copy of the information pages of your passport.
  • a copy of your most Chinese visa (if you have been to China before).
  • one 2"x2" recent color photo (not a printout).
  • a screenshot or printout of hotel reservation confirmation (I'll email this to you when I have this).
  • a copy of your airline tickets (both to and from China).

• For US citizens, the visa cost $140 (much cheaper for other nationalities). Starting this year, you can get a multiple-entry visa, good for 10 years. We should all apply for a Tourist L visa.

You can pay the fee by Visa, MasterCard, Money Order, Cashier's Check or Company Check. Cash or Personal checks are not acceptable.

To get a visa, you can go to your local Chinese consulate. No appointment is required. You go in one day, and it will be ready for pick up 4 business days later. My experience is that it takes about an hour the first day, and takes only a few minutes to pick up the visa a few days later. (2 to 3 business-day and 1 business day/same-day express service is available for $20 or $30.)

NOTE: The Chinese consulates are all closed for holidays on: 2-May, 30-May, 4-July, 29-July, 5-September, 3-October, and other dates:
2016 Chinese Consulate Holiday Schedule

(Citizens of US and Europe do not need a separate visa for Hong Kong.)

Previous Noisebridge China Trips

If you're curious about the previous Noisebridge China Trips, they have their own wiki pages:
Noisebridge China Trip 1
          That first Noisebridge China Trip was inspired by Bunny Huang's "geek tour".

Noisebridge China Trip 2

Hacker Trip to China 3
Hacker Trip to China 4
Hacker Trip to China 5

-- Mitch.

People interested in going on the Hacker Trip to China #6, 2016:

Below is a list of people interested in going on this year's Hacker Trip To China.

You do not need to be a member of Noisebridge to go on this trip!

Please email me if you have any questions, or if you would like to meet up with us on the trip:
mitch *AT* CornfieldElectronics *DOT* com

The trip is limited to 20 people total (including Mitch)
-- the first 19 people (after Mitch) who are either there already, or who bought tickets to meet in Shanghai on or before 11-October-2016 are the people who are in this Trip
       (which probably means flying away from home on or before 10-October)

Note: Many people have gotten good deals on their plane fares (including me) with the help of my friend Vlad at:
       Flystein
Feel free to email me, and I'll send your email to Vlad, who will be happy to help you with your flights.

	Name	Purchased flight?	Flight info
1	Camila Agustini	Yes	Arrive: Shanghai 10/12 Departure: Shanghai 11/1
2	Cedric Honnet	yes	Arrive: Shanghai on Oct 12th at 11:40 am
3	Charles Paul	No	Arrive: Hong Kong resident - will be around for HK and Shenzhen portions of trip
4	Daniel Armstrong	No	Arrive: Meeting up with the group for the Shenzhen portion of the tour.
5	Gabi Agustini	yes	Arrive: 10/21 Departure: 10/31
6	George Gally	yes	Arrive: Shenzhen only -- from Bali on 11th
7	Htoo Wai Htet	Yes	Arrive: Arriving Shenzhen on 22nd of Oct at 11:45 local time with HU7703 from PEK
8	Jacob Rosenthal	yes	Arrive: Shenzhen Sept 28th
9	Joe Menard	Yes	Arrive Shanghai on 10/11 at 5:25PM, United flight 857. Departing Beijing at 12PM on October 27th, on United flight 889
10	Mateusz Zalega	Yes	Arrive: Shanghai 10/11; Departure: Shanghai 11/1
11	Michal Gajda	yes	Arrive: from Singapore at 5am on October the 12th, with Air Asia flight 332 (from layover in KL)
12	Mitch Altman	Yes	Arrive: 31-August-2016, 6:20am, on Azerbaijan Airlines J2 67 from GYD to Beijing (PEK)
13	Paul Strohmeier	Yes	Arrive: Arriving in Shanghai 10th of October, 10:10am with Aeroflot flight SU-208
14	Pitanga	Yes	Arrive: 10/5 HKG Departing 11/14 HKG
15	Rebecca Wee	Yes	Arrive: Arriving Shanghai on 10/11 via Shanghai Airlines at 7:05pm - Departing Shanghai at 10/17 at 1am via Air Asia ; Arriving Beijing 10/24 via Shanghai Airlines 9103 at 3:55pm - Departing Beijing on 11/2
16	Roman Lechapelier	Yes	Arrive: Shanghai 10/12 Departure: Shanghai 11/1
17	Scotty Allen	Yes	Shenzhen only
18	Steve Young	Yes	Arriving Shanghai on 3:15 PM Sat, Oct 15, on Air Canada flight 87. Departing Beijing at 4:05pm, Fri Oct 28, on Air Canada flight 30.
19	Victor Diaz	No	Arrive: Shanghai 11th
20	Vikraman Venu	No	Arrive: Only doing the Shenzhen leg, Joining you all on 19th, leaving on Oct 23