Dangerous Prototypes

Name: Tom
Arriving: Hong Kong 2/Apr ~06:00AM
Attending: Days 0-3 and Maker Faire
Background:  In my mid 40s, trained in s/w, currently working in fpga, hackspace director, running monthly smd workshops at local hackspace.  Soldering since I was 8, first PC was a system 80 (trs-80 clone).
Expectations:
1) Meet a bunch of fellow hackers and have fun
2) Get better at soldering BGAs/QFNs and have fun
3) Stock up on switches/connectors/leds/wire/ etc for the next few years ;-)

(I've started this for people to voluntarily share information.  Pls share as little as you want, don't share enough for someone to find out where you live and when you're gone).

Great idea Tom, not too worried about over sharing because the wife and a big dog will be home and more than happy to greet anyone who decides they want an unguided tour of my lab :)

Name: Andrew
Arriving: HK 31st Mar PM Dep 7th Apr PM
Attending: 0-3 & Maker Faire
Background: Mid 20's, studied some Mechatronics Engineering before deciding a formal engineering degree was expensive and would not take me the direction I wanted to go so I am pursuing the dream of my 12 year old self to be an "inventor". With the support of my wife we have founded our own company MOAM Industries and I work part time developing products for local industry. I also assist and help manage our family machine shop which gives me a lot more background in fabrication processes and  an eye at designing for manufacture. So if anyone knows anywhere in Shenzhen that sells cutting tips and machine tooling I would be very keen to hear!

Expectations:
1) Meet a bunch of fellow hackers and have fun
2) Get a feel for bartering with suppliers and learn some Mandarin to facilitate future transactions
3) Spending way more than I expect to at the markets
4) Exploring the city and visiting my first Maker Faire!

Excited to meet others coming along, does anyone have any idea about booking hotels etc?

*EDIT*
I have booked my hotel already (strongly recomended for Visa application)
Jie En apartment complex at 4 Songling Road, Futian, 518000 Shenzhen (to new to link) is where i have booked. Could someone please confirm that this is the main recommended hotel?

Hi, I just purchased the last ticket. I'm actually a bit scared of China, mostly for the language, but my plan would be to get there about 31mar-1apr, take the full course and see the makerfaire, then take a train to visit Shangai, then another train to Beijing, then if possible visit Lijiang and/or Guilin, then take a plane or train back to Shenzhen and back home through HK. I estimate about a month of travel. My problem is where to leave the stuff I buy in Shenzhen for when I go back home (maybe the hackerspace may help?), and I'd love to find a "partner" for the trip.

Name: Mastro Gippo
Arriving: HK 31mar-1apr
Attending: Days 0-3 and MakerFaire, available for social gathering and general partying after the event
Background: mid 20s, soldering and building (and disassembling) stuff since I was born, currently consultant developing electronic devices and working on electric cars, founding an hackerspace and helping organizing an hacker camp in Italy and running basic soldering and electronic courses.
Expectations (I think these are quite standard! :) )
1) Meet Bunnie!!! :)
2) have fun and make friends with fellow hackers
3) party!!!
4) visit China and Shenzhen markets, my long time dream
5) buy equipment and stuff for me & the hackerspace
6) see if I can find opportunities to work/collaborate with chinese companies and see in person where I buy all the stuff and who makes my things, to improve my workflow

Open questios:
-while asking around to gather info from people who visited the place before, a guy told me that there are drop shippers that take your stuff and money, and never ship the stuff. Will the 60$/20kg shipping option mentioned by Ian and TomK in the comments provide a guarantee of any sort? Are we dealing directly with FedEx, shipping bricks and stuff?
-will you assist in shipping batteries?
-I assume you pay in cash at the markets; what is the "right" amount of cash to bring around, without fear of being mugged etc.?
-I will need to book the hotel to get te visa, can someone please update the infos on the wiki with links to the recommended hotel?
Thanks and see you soon! :)

Unfortunately, I'm not going due personal circumstances, yet been there twice with ian during the Makerfairm, but I can answer some of your questions:

[quote author="gipmad"]
Open questios:
-while asking around to gather info from people who visited the place before, a guy told me that there are drop shippers that take your stuff and money, and never ship the stuff. Will the 60$/20kg shipping option mentioned by Ian and TomK in the comments provide a guarantee of any sort? Are we dealing directly with FedEx, shipping bricks and stuff?
[/quote]

suzie shipper (and I'm assuming all the shipping offices located throughout the market) is reliable (send multiple items with her). You go to their office offload the stuff and they get it packed and stamped (you'll get used to the squeeeky sound of the tape used to seal the boxes, everntually). They find the cheapest sollution to send the packet by which carier.

[quote author="gipmad"]
-will you assist in shipping batteries?
[/quote]

shippers hesitate to ship batteries (LiPo specifically). options are not telling them or take them with you on the returning. I don't know if there are shippers that will ship them, but suzie didn't like it. Perhaps there is a special carier that will send them.

[quote author="gipmad"]
-I assume you pay in cash at the markets; what is the "right" amount of cash to bring around, without fear of being mugged etc.?
[/quote]

Depends on what you want to buy :) There are several ATMs scattered throughout heiquangbei. Try to take multiple credit/bankingcards with you as not every card is accepted in every atm. In general it is fairly safe to walk around with money, but as always be aware. Don't be the naive tourist with your wallet easy accessable :)

[quote author="gipmad"]
-I will need to book the hotel to get te visa, can someone please update the infos on the wiki with links to the recommended hotel?
[/quote]

On most big travel sites you can find an hotel easily and book it. Mostly you can book it and cancel it without cost. try to find one in the neigborhood of heiquangbei. I rented an appartement here: http://zsj.cn/futian-jieen/en/index.php ... m&do=index (http://zsj.cn/futian-jieen/en/index.php?mod=Room&do=index)

Have fun!

[quote author="Sjaak"]Unfortunately, I'm not going due personal circumstances, yet been there twice with ian during the Makerfairm, but I can answer some of your questions:
[/quote]

Sjaak,

Sorry you can't make it, am hoping to meet as many of the personalities on here as I can.

I was hoping you could comment about pricing in the markets relative to TaoBao.  Obviously many of the factories represented in the markets will also sell on Taobao.  Other than the expected 5% agent fee and domestic shipping how do prices on Taobao compare to those in the markets?  I guess knowing the Taobao prices would help in bargaining but are they unrealistic or more expensive?

I am tempted to pre-order some things through a Taobao agent to avoid some of the needle/haystack factor of the markets.

Thanks,
Tom

ps. some boring travel questions too - is it realistic to expect to be able to get 3g/4g data of some kind with a prepaid sim without spending a fortune.
pps. do you recall what electrical outlets are present in sz?  I seem to remember Hong Kong was dominated by the chunky UK style adaptors but perhaps sz uses the Chinese style?  (http://www.chinaoutletadapter.com/image ... 20Plug.png (http://www.chinaoutletadapter.com/images/Chinese%20Electrical%20Plug.png))

Thank you for the great tips. I was too naive to think about booking hotels and then cancel the booking! :) I'm also interested in 3g coverage, I see that there's no 4g but the 3g seems to be on the same bands of europe (2100MHz) and gsm is at 900MHz, so I will be able to use my phone (USA guys may have gsm problems, as your phones work at 850MHz). Are 3g SIMs cheap and have network coverage all across china?

I have tried 2 sims; one i bought at aplui street and was a prepaid one which worked in both HK and mainland china. The other options is to walk into a china mobile shop and buy a prepaidsim there. There are chinese translators that will help you buy one. Unfortunately you need to show your passport and pay in advance. You are supposed to renew the balance every month (some kind of subscription prepaid :S) if you stay less then a month it can be troublesome to cancel the 'subscription'. I had mine cancelled before that, but it was immediate cancelled and I didn't have 3g until I arrived in HK. Coverage was ok, but I can't recall whether 3g or gsm. Also Ian will show you the scketchy phonebuilding where you can buy a decent phone :)

From the miniblog:

•Optional: take the red line to Sham Shui Po and exit to Apliu Street Market. Check out the electronics, cell phone, and computer market, buy a cheap Hongkong SIM card (we like One2Free). Get back on the metro towards Central

Many stands will sell different sims, so be aware to get one that is valid in both HK and mainland china. THe balance 100HKD (+- 10USD) is sufficient for about a week or two.

The powerconnector is american in china (those 2 small metal strips next to each other).

prices are approx the same as taobao. Even if you pay a fortune (for a chinese) you have a great deal ;)

[quote author="Sjaak"]
The powerconnector is american in china (those 2 small metal strips next to each other).
[/quote]

I thought they were the same as Australian wall sockets? At least from what I can recall of bejing & shanghai.
two blades on a 45 degree slant. Whilst Hong Kong had more british style wall sockets (although it has been a while since i was there last)

The Hotels page mentions "Workshop hotel" but has no info on how to make a reservation.  Please post info so I can start on visa application.  Thanks!

[quote author="sam"]The Hotels page mentions "Workshop hotel" but has no info on how to make a reservation.  Please post info so I can start on visa application.  Thanks![/quote]

I think lots of us are stuck at this step.  I personally won't book a hotel for the visa application with the intent of cancelling it, I'm fairly sure the US has deported people for this, other countries will too.

Yep. I already have the flight booked, but I really can't book an hotel for real, as aside from the week in shenzhen I'll be roaming at random around china. I hopefully won't be deported! :)

Ah, too bad it was booked out so quickly. I only found out now that I would actually have had time. Any word on a follow up already?

[quote author="cpldcpu"]Ah, too bad it was booked out so quickly. I only found out now that I would actually have had time. Any word on a follow up already?[/quote]

Right now i suspect Ian and co are busy taming the monster they've already created and the next one is far from their minds.  We'll do our best to make this one awesome so the next one comes as soon as possible.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Ah I knew I should have looked on the forums first! I've been stressing out about the lack of details provided by the organizers since I need to get my flight and hotel reservation dealt with for the visa application. I realize they're in cat-herding mode atm, but it would be great to know the location of the workshop hotel if possible!

Anyhow, I'm coming for days 0-3 as well as MakerFair, then I'll probably explore the area for another week or so. It's not often I'm going to drop so much coin on travel, so might as well make it worth my while.

Name: Zack

Arriving: Hong Kong, Tuesday 4/1 night probably

Attending: Days 0-3 and Maker Faire on Sunday. I think I'll be staying in the area until 4/14ish. If others are looking to lengthen their stay, drop me an email, always more fun to adventure with others. I'd like to spend some time in HK hiking in the new territories as well as exploring the Vegas of south China, Macau, looking for a good bottle of porto left by the Portuguese. Also thinking of visiting Zhuhai, as it's another SEZ, reportedly cheaper than Shenzhen. Besides if I'm going to Macau, it's just as easy to swing through Zhuhai as it's directly north of it.

Background: Making the move into hardware as after 14 years of working in digital media I want to make (probably foolishly) tangible things that interact with the world. Teaching myself everything from basic electronics to PCB design and rediscovering why I never liked C++.

Expectations: I'm hoping meet some very interesting like minded folk at the camp as my home base of DC isn't a haven of creativity and industry. Also, I'm really, intensely excited to see Shenzhen and hopefully get a glimpse of how this crazy part of the world functions.

Also, what are people brewing up for their HCS PCB? I haven't seen any guidelines other than max size. Are Seeed going to be making them for us?  Just curious as I got a first batch from OSHPark, only to realize that they don't support oval mounting holes, and I didn't catch it during review, so I'd rather not make such a mistake on the boards they're having made for us...

Z

Hi Zack,
there's a map with some locations here:
http://dangerousprototypes.com/hackercampshenzhen/map/ (http://dangerousprototypes.com/hackercampshenzhen/map/)
I booked a room at this hotel: http://www.booking.com/hotel/cn/jinzhim ... bb2;dcid=2 (http://www.booking.com/hotel/cn/jinzhimei-shenzhen.en-gb.html?sid=2a7d482ce80bc10d82d2e5bac454ebb2;dcid=2) as I found it a bit cheaper than the proposed alternatives and it's still near the class location.
I'm in your same situation about travel budget, so I planned a more touristic trip through Shangai and Beijing, but your Macau idea seems very interesting too. Looking for info about Macau, I don't understand if it's "part of China" or not, like Hong Kong. I mean, do I need a visa to get back into China from Macau like I need it from HK? If so I will probably get a multi entry visa.
About the board, I think that you have to follow the DP guidelines and use their Eagle design rules here: http://www.seeedstudio.com/service/inde ... pcbService (http://www.seeedstudio.com/service/index.php?r=site/pcbService)

MG

It occured to me that it'd be nice to setup group messaging for the trip. Does anyone have a recommendation for something that supports both desktop and mobile for the 40+ participants? I prefer HipChat, but it's only free for the first 5 users. I found Group.me, but that's now a Skype owned company, which some may find distasteful. Also, Convo, which looks like it'd fit the bill, but has a odd lack of any information about the company itself. I hope that the organizers already have this covered, but if they don't, then I certainly don't have any problems attempting to get something organized beforehand. Perhaps we can convince Atlassian to expand the free edition of HipChat for the class?

Z

Well, for mobile messaging, Telegram seems the preferred choice after Whatsapp acquisition. Desktop and web apps available too, and sharing the telephone number as the user gives a fall-back reliable communication channel in case of emergency. It's also mostly opensource (server side is closed).
MG

Hi - I'm Paul - I build embedded stuff for a day job, over the years I've variously been a chip designer, kernel hack, hardware designer, etc etc I have a vague claim to fame of having sold one of the first open source kits back in the mid '90s (while living in the US).

I'm coming from New Zealand, I'll be washing up in Hong Kong March 31st and will be crossing over on the 2nd - I'm hoping to get a 5-day Visa at the border but Ian's mail today has me worried .....

I emailed Jie'en (Mid Century Apartments) several times with no response.  Has any one received a response from them?  I'm moving on to other options now.

Am booked at City Inn Kexueguan Shenzhen as per Ian's email.  I looked around for a Chinese version of the location, anyone else able to find this?

I booked at the City Inn as well.  FYI it's cheaper to book through Hotels.com using 10% off code "MARCH10", or code "COUPON" for $50 off $300.

http://http://www.hotels.com/ho415384/city-inn-kexueguan-shenzhen-shenzhen-china/

I never received any reply back from Jie'en either, so I'm booked at the City Inn as well. Google maps for the area are crap, Yahoo/Openstreet Maps are the best I've found in English. The best though are chinese only (http://www.51ditu.com (http://www.51ditu.com) is pretty good if you just want to see how the streets are actually laid out). From what I can tell, the English sites and the Chinese site have the name of the hotel listed differently, so perhaps the organizers can clarify. I *think* the City Inn is at the top of Songling where it intersects Nanyuan Rd. On the chinese maps the hotel name is 城市客栈(上步南路店) (Chéngshì kèzhàn (shàng bù nánlù diàn)) "City Inn (Shangbunan Rd)" which is actually the next major rd east of Songling Rd. The address in chinese is I think (and please someone else verify, my chinese is crap):
深圳市, 福田区 ,松岭路64号
(Shēnzhèn shì, fútián qū, sōng lǐng lù liu shi si hào)
shenzhen city, futian district, songling rd no. 64
The local phone number is 0755-83292688

[quote author="gipmad"]Well, for mobile messaging, Telegram seems the preferred choice after Whatsapp acquisition. Desktop and web apps available too, and sharing the telephone number as the user gives a fall-back reliable communication channel in case of emergency. It's also mostly opensource (server side is closed).
MG[/quote]

Would we have to wait to get our chinese SIMs to set this up, or can we share our numbers now, get the group set up and still have it work with our new SIMs?

[quote author="drfritznunkie"]Would we have to wait to get our chinese SIMs to set this up, or can we share our numbers now, get the group set up and still have it work with our new SIMs?[/quote]
If you register the app with your local phone number, it keeps it logged in even if you change SIM, so we can start creating the group. It works like whatsapp.

That's good to know. Clearly I'm not familiar with either client, so would each of us have to setup and create the group, or can one person create it and share it with the others?

Basically we share our phone numbers, and add them to our phonebook. The app syncs with the phonebook, and as soon as it sees that you added a phone number, checks if that other person is a user of the app. If both have the app, both will be able to see eachother in the "internal" phonebook of the app. You don't have to remember usernames and passwords, as every client that you want to use (for PC, tablet, smartphone...) has to be registered via a code that you receive via SMS, so it is "safely" connected to your phone number. From then on it works transparently like SMSs. Then, one person creates a group and starts adding people, and for the group it works like an IRC chat. Only the group admin must have all the numbers in the phonebook, other people will just see their nicknames and will be able to add the number later if they want. You can also share GPS position, that should be very useful for us!! :)
I volounteer as the group admin, so if you guys want to send me your phone numbers I can start creating the group!

Works for me. I'll PM you my number.

[quote author="drfritznunkie"] From what I can tell, the English sites and the Chinese site have the name of the hotel listed differently, so perhaps the organizers can clarify.[/quote]

Dope slap. The nearest metro stop is "Science Museum", hence probably why the English name is City Inn Hexueguan.

[quote author="drfritznunkie"]I never received any reply back from Jie'en either[/quote]
This has me a little concerned.
I actually booked online. I did get a confirmation back to say it was all arranged however I think ill chase them up just to make sure they got my reservation!

Hey all, looking forward to seeing you! This was supposed to be a casual thing, but has instead taken two people more than a month to work out :) China is not wired for foriegners yet, so things like 'we have 40 engineers coming, can we get a block of rooms and how do they pay' are a non-starter. Hope our emails and posts have answered many of these questions.

-while asking around to gather info from people who visited the place before, a guy told me that there are drop shippers that take your stuff and money, and never ship the stuff. Will the 60$/20kg shipping option mentioned by Ian and TomK in the comments provide a guarantee of any sort? Are we dealing directly with FedEx, shipping bricks and stuff?
-will you assist in shipping batteries?
-I assume you pay in cash at the markets; what is the "right" amount of cash to bring around, without fear of being mugged etc.?
-I will need to book the hotel to get te visa, can someone please update the infos on the wiki with links to the recommended hotel?

We never have problems with sussie. The shippers have brick and morters so I doubt they're in the business of taking stuff for short term gain.
Most won't ship batteries. You can't even take them on most flights, and you'll likely be xrayed going into the metro and they'll take the batteries (there's signs prohibiting more than 2).
Cash only, yes. Crime is almost unheard of against foreigners... Maybe I just look poor. I feel totally safe here, more than anywhere else in the world, even the Netherlands. The Chinese working here carry giant 'wads' of cash, like bags full. I've seem people carrying bags with 100K RMB or more (~16K USD) not looking too concerned about it.

how do prices on Taobao compare to those in the markets?

Cheaper, way cheaper. I play in the markets and order on taobao. But you really need a Chinese person to handle it and agents suck. Jinhe does all that for us now.

ps. some boring travel questions too - is it realistic to expect to be able to get 3g/4g data of some kind with a prepaid sim without spending a fortune.
pps. do you recall what electrical outlets are present in sz? I seem to remember Hong Kong was dominated by the chunky UK style adaptors but perhaps sz uses the Chinese style? (http://www.chinaoutletadapter.com/image (http://www.chinaoutletadapter.com/image) ... 20Plug.png)

Data is cheap and easy. Yes, there's 4G here now but not sure of the bands.
Chinese outlets are the most amazing in the world. Its basically a 'take anything' socket, cause who knows what factory end you'll be using in your home lol. Everyone should do it. HK is a chunky UK style plug.

I haven't seen any guidelines other than max size.

We're using our own board house. Send it and we'll try to make it. Seeed's guidelines are probably pretty reasonable though.

do I need a visa to get back into China from Macau like I need it from HK? If so I will probably get a multi entry visa.

Yes, absolutely, HK and MC are basically different countries. You'll use an entry anytime crossing into mainland china.

group messaging for the trip. Does anyone have a recommendation for something that supports both desktop and mobile for the 40+ participants?

In China we use Weixin (We Chat). It works, everyone has it.

- I'm hoping to get a 5-day Visa at the border but Ian's mail today has me worried .....

Please get a visa before hand. Most embassies have a main in service. Its not worth betting on constantly changing rules to get one at the border.

I *think* the City Inn is at the top of Songling where it intersects Nanyuan Rd. On the chinese maps the hotel name is 城市客栈(上步南路店) (Chéngshì kèzhàn (shàng bù nánlù diàn)) "City Inn (Shangbunan Rd)" which is actually the next major rd east of Songling Rd.

Songling starts at Shennan (goes by Huaqiangbei) at Science Museum (kexueguan) goes to Nanyuan, then about half a block over continues from Nanyuan to Binhe. All the hotels along songling are about 5 minutes walk from the metro station. It's a small neighborhood (that I love!).

Would any of you be interested in going to 'Japanese secret location' (or maybe somewhere else) on the night of the first? It's an all you can eat and all you can possibly drink type affair so be warned, no worries if that's not your thing. We're trying to assemble a small group to go the night before Day 0. Cost is 200RMB/person. It's izikaya style in a building in old Shenzhen with tons of Japanese stuff. Everytime i go it's only Japanese people eating there. Need a pretty firm head count because we have to reserve a room soon.

Count me in

Hi, I'm Kiko.

Current Base: London, UK
Arriving: HKG 06:00 1 Apr,
Hotel: City-Inn,

@Ian: Please count me in for the day -1 dinner!

I'm planning on dumping my stuff @ left-luggage and going into Hong Kong in search of a good deal on a new laptop, before heading to the border later on the 1st. If any of you are coming through HKIA that afternoon (or earlier and want to shop too) let me know, we can share cabs etc.

No concrete plans in the following weeks, don't fly out of HK for a month, so I'm just winging it for a while and open to ideas.

I'm hoping one or more of you will be a good fit to help me move a project forward too; a bit too long to explain right here though.

@Zack: For the HCS PCB, I didn't have anything specific cooked up so asked for some Espruino boards. Happy to swap some with others if they want to trade something cool.

@Mastro: I'll DM you my UK number to add to the messaging group.

Looking forward to meeting everyone.
Kiko.

P.S. Someone let me know if you feel I'm mistaken in thinking I'll find a better deal on high end laptop in HK than SZ (Sony vaio pro/Apple MBP or similar).

Buy computers in hk for.sure. so much cheaper and tax free. And likely not.total crap. Go to aplui, see our global geek page for.my maps.and video, and check out golden computer market. You're still better off ordering online at home but....

PS.. don't take taxis in hk LOL. They'll rip you off frequently and everywhere you could want to go is faster and easier.by taxi. Take airport express from airport to central is 100hkd and takes 20 minutes. Taxi is an hour and 350 to 400 hkd. I've never, ever been ripped off by a taxi in Shenzhen though :)

Thanks Ian,
Advice taken. I have heard that HK metro system is great, just wasn't sure If I'd still be fully laden with luggage.

I just want to also take a minute to thank you for all your effort organising this stuff. I've been in your (lol, the spam-hammer won't let me say s.h.o.e.s), so can appreciate how time consuming it can be.
Kiko

Hi everyone! I suppose that I should introduce myself too. I'm Richard Sim (@richard_a_sim on Twitter for those who are there) and am professionally somewhere between being a software engineer and a hardware engineer - on the side of software but heading in the direction of hardware. ;) I do my own thing these days, which consists of contract/consulting work and my own projects that will one day develop into products.

I'll be arriving in HK at 6:10am on the 2nd (day 0) along with Tom K as we're both from Vancouver. Unfortunately that means that I'll be missing the Day -1 dinner, boo! I'll be staying at the City Inn and will be there until the 9th.

For the PCBs I also didn't have anything of my own ready to go (I tried! But ran out of time), so I used an OSHW design instead (STM32-E407 from Olimex) that I modified slightly to fit the 10x10 size requirement. Should be a fun build, though I have at least 10 *different* STM32 dev boards already, hah.

I'm really looking forward to meeting everyone and experiencing Shenzhen, the markets, and the workshop - it's going to be an amazing time!

Kiko: HK subway is indeed excellent - to save money take the airport express to Lai King Fong and transfer there to the subway (red line will take you to Ap Lui Market - get off at Sham Shui Po)

Ian: many thanks for the map (and for organising the whole thing!)- that answers most of my missing questions of how to get from here to there for Day 1

Everyone: Like many I'm sure I'm getting in on day 0, what are people doing for dinner that night?

I'm getting in super late on 4/1, so I'll miss the awesome sounding dinner.

As for the Day 0 activities, is there any information as to where/when we're rallying that morning? I'm going to be super jet lagged, so would rather figure that out now than stumbling around Wednesday morning hoping that someone mistakes me for a hacker at the City Inn and takes me under their wing ;)

Taniwha: if I'm not a zombie at that point, I'll be game for whatever. Dunno if there is a night market close to our hotel area, but those are always good times.

[quote author="drfritznunkie"]As for the Day 0 activities, is there any information as to where/when we're rallying that morning? [/quote]

This would help Richard and I too.  We're flying in to HK on Day 0 at 6:30am, hoping to be in SZ before the action starts.

I'll figure out the stuff and send a group email ASAP. For meeting for dinner, for day 0, and the first morning talks.

[quote author="ian"]I'll figure out the stuff and send a group email ASAP. For meeting for dinner, for day 0, and the first morning talks.[/quote]

No stress, we can work it out by sms if necessary.

can I +2 on the dinner still?
I'm going to be on the HK side the day before and coming in the morning of April 1st.

Sure. We made a reservation for 10, there's maybe 2 cslotay left after adding you but its a big room so we can probably fit 15

Is there anyone arriving Sunday, or am I the only one?  I'll be checking in to City Inn this afternoon.  If anyone wants to get dinner, let me know.

I'm in Shenzhen for almost two weeks on this trip.  In addition to the Hacker Camp and Maker Faire activities, I'm going to meet with a couple manufacturers to prep for a future product I'd like to have built in China.  I'm making a LED Matrix display controller which I've been discussing on the forums.  The next version I'd like to have the controller more tightly integrated with the display, with an enclosure to make it more of a finished product.
Matrix Controller Board Discussion (http://http://dangerousprototypes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=56&t=6125&p=56311)

Looking forwarding to meeting all of you at the Hacker Camp!

I'm here, so is Aaron from Oomlout. Shoot me an email, I live just across the street.

Tip for anyone staying at City Inn: don't depend on Wifi working.  I asked about Wifi when I checked in, and the lady made a call and said they will try to get it working tomorrow.  There's working Ethernet in the room, and luckily I carry a WR703N travel router.

Update: a woman came by my room later offering me a router, so it looks like they have some on hand as needed.

I picked up a SIM at the Unicom shop on Ian's map closest to the hacker camp.  I was helped by a girl who spoke english well.  I asked for one of the 3G packages in the "A" group shown in Ian's photo, but she recommended the 4G plans instead as they seemed to be a better value but required a more expensive SIM up front. I told her I was only here for two weeks, and she said that both the 4G and 3G lists had to be used for a minimum of 6 months.  She instead found me a 3G SIM that for 80 RMB gives 300 MB data/month.  This was cheaper than the 300MB plan I was going to select, so I was happy.  I'm not sure on the phone/text rates, but it will probably be fine for my short visit.

Picture of the package in case you want to ask for it specifically.
[attachment=0]

If you'd rather get another plan like the 4G, you might want to avoid saying you're here for a short visit.

---

[quote author="EmbeddedCreations"]Tip for anyone staying at City Inn: don't depend on Wifi working.  I asked about Wifi when I checked in, and the lady made a call and said they will try to get it working tomorrow.  There's working Ethernet in the room, and luckily I carry a WR703N travel router.

Update: a woman came by my room later offering me a router, so it looks like they have some on hand as needed.[/quote]

Awesome tip, thanks, just packed the airport express.

Hi all,

Ben from San Francisco here... I do a lot of different contract enginnering work, mostly turning ideas into products, and I also built a web site that stores reusable electronic design snippets and can automatically assemble them into working circuit designs: http://http://dangerousprototypes.com/2013/03/14/hackeda-build-your-own-custom-circuit-board/.

I've been staying with my Chinese friend (who is also an awesome sourcing agent, let me know and I'll put you in touch) the last few days, and just got to my room at the Jie' En Mid-Century apts yesterday. I'm planning on doing some exploring today, if anyone else is in the area and wants to join, let me know. I'm in room 208.

Mobile: +86 1353025195[the number after 5]
Skype: nosliwne[the letter after 'a']
gchat/gmail: (same as skype)
QQ: 277180184[the number after 8]
WeChat said it was incompatible with my device :(

Hi,
I will arrive in ShenZhen tomorrow evening with the purpose of attending the Maker Faire and having a look at the markets.
I am Danish, but currently living in Beijing. I hope I might have a change to meet with some of you in ShenZhen.

[quote author="jfa"]Hi,
I will arrive in ShenZhen tomorrow evening with the purpose of attending the Maker Faire and having a look at the markets.
I am Danish, but currently living in Beijing. I hope I might have a change to meet with some of you in ShenZhen.[/quote]

Reply with your wechat and I'll add you to the group chat.


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[quote author="jfa"]Hi,
I will arrive in ShenZhen tomorrow evening with the purpose of attending the Maker Faire and having a look at the markets.
I am Danish, but currently living in Beijing. I hope I might have a change to meet with some of you in ShenZhen.[/quote]

Reply with your wechat and I'll add you to the group chat.


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Quick post mortem thoughts on he train I'll edit as I think of more.

1. This was a bunch of fun and excellent value for money.  Things went well from my point of view, I hope that was the case for others.

2. It was so so so helpful having local knowledge of good places to eat.  I've travelled a lot, food in a strange place is hard, especially for a quick trip.  The fear of getting Ill makes these decisions hard.  I really, really appreciate this aspect, it was done really well - the restaurants were all great as were the prices.

3.  The soldering school stuff was awesome.

4. The market intro, language stuff and market tour was all excellent. Would be good to add basic colours to the language intro and perhaps bigger/smaller.

5. Internet in china is hard, people need a killer data plan.  I've burnt though 2.5G of data on 3g in 5 days, no video about 1hr of skype.....  The hotel internet has never worked for me (can ping gw but no dns responses from it).  I've been looking up a lot of data sheets and stuff and generally staying in touch with home.

6. I think it would be good to include name cards for participants as well as pcbs.  Get people to submit a design with a wechat login and include it on the card.  They would be useful for both other participants and buying. Give people a template with enough chinese that stall vendors can find us later (eg. to email data sheets - yes, they will do this for you).

7. Perhaps it would be good to rent an office for the duration of the trip as a base for people.  Perhaps something big enough to use as the presentation space but generally something for people to use as a base.  The presentation space was fancy and no doubt expensive, something more ghetto would probably be fine.  Not sure how to deal with the lock thing, perhaps a pinpad. Throw in some decent internet and a fridge of beer to make it awesome.

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Haha Tom I totally agree with you, these days were AWESOME and I'm very happy that I will stay here longer.
About the data plan,  I think of it as a way to disconnect from my "other" world and to fully enjoy the moments I was living without being distracted from the Internet. With some light browsing and messaging, I ate just 170mb of my cheap ass 300mb data plan. A big part of the merit for this goes to the CRAPPY chinese internet, I got so frustrated every time I had to load a page that I said "fuck it, do I REALLY need that??" and closed the phone!  :)

yes I agree, totally awesome - thanks Ian, Jin and everyone else.

(the hotel net was screwed because there were 2 rogue servers running on it - for next time the router/DNS you want is 10.88.88.1 - if they gave you a wifi router make sure it's plugged in the right way around ....)

Suggestions for the next one you run:
- a link to the course mini-web site from the DangerousPrototypes front page
- a scheduled day off in the middle to go shopping
- PCB exchange (for those who want to - we should have just done it)

    Paul

Thanks everyone for coming!!! We had such a great time putting this together and meeting everyone! I defo want to do it again, though it will be much more compact and a few months until we can get to it.

In the future I'd like to limit talks to one morning, 2 hours, 15 minutes each (8 talks). It was too grueling to keep everything up for three days. I'l sending everyone a survey now to help figure out what to keep and what to cut.

Videos of everything will go in the coming weeks as we have time to edit stuff together.

Thanks again for coming, great to meet you all!

I had an amazing time; huge props to Ian and Jinhe on putting on (and pulling off!) the event. It was an invaluable experience, made all the more mind-blowing by the calibre of the attendees. So many great, passionate minds in one place.

All the improvement suggestions made so far I agree with. Break in the middle++. Everyone was just itching to get into the markets!
Having a home-base office would allow for hosting a networking event, which I think would've filled in the professional end of the event nicely. I'd say start the ball rolling for the networking event with everyone getting up and doing a 2-minute lightening talk on what they do/their project, and then let people just mingle. While the dinners and parties were awesome, there were so many people I realize now that I really didn't get an opportunity to talk to or learn about.

You should also point out to future attendees that they should try to stay for at least a few extra days after the event in order to cover the markets. I'm very thankful that I did this, and would've been so disappointed if I hadn't!

Oh, and don't forget to send out the hot air temps & flow rates that the instructor was using. :)

Thanks again Ian, Jinhe, and Akiba, you guys successfully pulled off THE best event I've ever attended.

Hi all

looks like that the hacker camp went off with a bang.

I wanted to go but I only learn of the trip after I arrived back from my snowboarding in Japan (with a broken arm, which required 9 pins and plate inserted into my soldering arm)

Anyhoo I would be interested (in the early planing stages) of a trip to HK for Halloween (I went back in 2007 and it was a bloody hoot) so I would be thinking of flying to HK or Shenzhen from Sydney (it depends on what is cheaper and easy for visas) and having a Geek tour (shopping, tours, classes etc) and if there was a possibility of a soldering workshop (I am not sure if they would do it for a single person or as a group or that was a once off) and have my weekend partying on in HK

I like to seek advice on if such a trip can be arranged (if someone has the contacts or can act as a go-between) or any other advice (as I said this trip is in the VERY early stages and is open to ideas)

We're going to try to do 2 more this year, averaging once per quarter. Not sure when else yet, after maker fair bay area. That's June or July, but that's a pretty terrible time to be in SZ if you're not used to the heat. October is good, but starting to get really cold.

Hey Ian

July is too soon for me (to save up) and yes I cannot stand the heat !

The reason I would be interested in going in halloween time is it gives me more value out from the air ticket from Australia (any one event alone is not enough to justify the cost but a hackercamp and halloween/getwasted night would)

I would also agree with having a day or two in the middle to tour the markets (otherwise I would get distracted by the shinny things)

I would be thinking the week before halloween.  arrive on monday, hackercamp, mail shiny things before crossing the border into HK then spend fri/sat/sun rocking on and assuming I don't go down with the ship, I would fly back home

if I can plan well in advance then I can pay off the hotels, flights etc

food for thought....

I had a really interesting experience with Susie shipper.  I've thought about this a lot - there is a culture clash that occurs when hobbyists meet professionals.  A professional shipper thinks "he wants to ship this anyway so I will do everything I can to get his business".  The hobbyist thinks, "ok, so I think I can justify spending x on shipping".  The problem is that the first leads to under quoting and that makes the second blow their budget (like 2x in my case).

A second culture clash occurs with time.  The shipper thinks, "no one wants slow services and the margins on them are terrible".  The hobbyist thinks, "I'm buying 2 years supply of stuff, I can wait a month or even two for this stuff".  I had this weird experience where I was asking for a slow service, was told it wasn't possible, ended up being undercharged and my goods went a slower route (8 days instead of 6) that I would have chosen.

All of this is a mixture of language and cultural misunderstanding, China really is a challenge for those without language skills.  You just have to expect things to go wrong and learn from them, this was an interesting experience.

Any idea on a new Hacker Camp? I want to go to Shenzhen this fall and this would be a great start of it.

Mid september I think. Wanted to do one this week after maker faire singapore, but honestly just never sat down and wrote the post. Also, too, its freaking hot here and nobody wants to go out in that.

I'm thinking we do it the weekend after maker villa in penang. That way if you want, we can fly into singapore for cheap and take the trains up to KL and penanag the week before the camp. Then either fly back, or come home by sleeper train and bus for 4-5 days through thailand, cambodia, and vietnam :) Or if you don't want all that, maker villa is still an option for a side trip.

Ah ok. Mid september might work for me (Assuming I get my visa fast enough, I live in EU right now).
October (as shadowtec prefers) would also be my preference.

The weekend after maker villa (https://www.facebook.com/events/1444789412449183/ (https://www.facebook.com/events/1444789412449183/)) would be the 29th of august though.

China visa is 4 days if you do in person and a few more if you use an agency. A formality only. I'd worry more about getting reasonably priced air tickets.

The problem for us is a) too many people and b) we're otherwise busy, and planning and execution sucks up a ton of time (about two people 3 months full time for the last one). ITs so hard to plan a date months in advance, we've passed several dates we set already. I guess our plan is just give a shorter notice and see who comes. I hope a MUCH smaller group this time. 5-10 would be ideal.

Date is set.... Thursday 23 September to Saturday 25 September. Optional activities two days prior. If you want to join us in phuket we will be there the week before.

Prices went up because we took such a hit last time.

Tickets and announcement go up today.

I jumped in and bought the ticket, now I have to worry about getting up there. Whats the deal with accomodation in the area too? Im guessing booking via expeida isnt a viable option.

You can check out the hotels on the hacker camp site at hackercampshenzhen.com, or the visiting shenzhen page:

http://dangerousprototypes.com/docs/Visit_Shenzhen (http://dangerousprototypes.com/docs/Visit_Shenzhen)

We tell everyone to stay in City Inn, it's right in the middle of everything, bookable on Expedia, and $30-$60/night. Of dozens staying there, nobody has had a terrible horror story or anything.

[quote author="ian"]Of dozens staying there, nobody has had a terrible horror story or anything.[/quote]

I would avoid the top floor.  Lots of buckets down the hall catching the leaks from the roof and my room had a horrific sewer gas smell.  I've spent enough time in India to be fairly immune to these issues but avoid it if you can.

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Tom! you need to tell us. We assume if you don't complain... :) Hackers have to be about the most tolerant, easy going people in the world.

[quote author="ian"]Tom! you need to tell us. We assume if you don't complain... :) Hackers have to be about the most tolerant, easy going people in the world.[/quote]

Oh come on Ian, you were way too busy/drunk for crap like this!


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Lol, true that :P

One of the fields on the visa form is information of inviter in china. What to put in there?

if you're doing a tourist visa you don't need to fill that in. If you have a letter from a business, then you put the business info there.

Getting close now.

Ive booked into the city inn, but I cant seem to find its address in chinese on expedia to print out to show anyone.

Im arriving in HK at 6:30 am on the monday if anyone else is getting in around that time.

Also is a local sim really needed? Does roaming not work onto the networks over there very well?

Well I have made it. Cant seem to get anything when roaming on the phone, so will go get a sim after I have had a bit of a sleep.

How did you go getting a taxi to the hotel? I'll be doing the same in Wednesday morning.

I basically came out of the door from the immigration place and waited with a massive crowd till realizing I needed to go across the bridge. Helps to read the notes on the page. Then got to the other side and found a car.

There were a whole lot of people standing around seeming to be doing nothing. which I initially thought was a queue waiting, but they seemed to just be standing there.

Ive had no luck with wifi in the room, but there is an ethernet port and luckilly I bought a USB ethernet adapter so I have connectivity on the notebook at least.

Did you end up finding a copy of the hotels address in Chinese?

No, but Expedia had the phone number. That helped as they could give the address.

Im getting hungry. Is there anything near to city inn that a crazy looking white guy who only knows english will be able to order from sucessfully?

Get on weChat if you're not already. Plenty of guys on there already.

Ive only got ian and a couple of other people that matched my addressses in there. same username on wechat but its really flakey on my phone, for some reason I am only roaming on edge and I keep getting errors in almost everything I do.