NoisebridgeChinaTrip6

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

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 (Beijing) through 1-November-2016 (Shanghai).

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

  • We'll start our trip by meeting in Beijing on 11-October-2016. We'll visit the Beijing Makerspace hackerspace. We'll also visit Tsinghua University, where they built the world's largest hackerspace last year.
  • We'll go from Beijing to various cities around China that have opened up hackerspaces over the last few months.
  • We'll make our way to Shenzhen / Guangzhou for a few days to visit Chaihuo Makerspace, SZDIY hackerspace, and a few other new hackerspaces. 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 Dangerous Prototypes - another open source hardware company. We'll also visit some 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.
  • If we go to Hong Kong we can visit Dim Sum Labs hackerspace. We'll also see lots of other cool stuff in Hong Kong.
  • We'll then go to Shanghai where we'll visit my manufacturer (Etonnet) that I have used for TV-B-Gone remote controls and NeuroDreamer sleep masks, where will all, hopefully, get to see how products are made, from start to finish, learning how manufacturing works. We will also visit XinCheJian hackerspace in Shanghai. We can also visit the Shanghai electronics mall. For most of us, our trip will end here in Shanghai as many people on our trip will fly home from Shanghai on 1-November-2016.

I will be in Beijing, as hacker in residence at Tsinghua University from 1-September 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.)


Cost: For the fifth Noisebridge China trip, I paid $2,222 total, 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 1-September through 10-October.

10-October-2016 -- Leave home for Beijing (arrive in Beijing on 11-October)
11-October-2016 -- Meet in Beijing
11-October to 18-October -- Beijing
18-October to 23-October -- Shenzhen
23-October to 25-October -- Hong Kong
25-October to 1-November -- Shanghai 
1-November-2016 -- fly home (arrive NA or EU on same day)






Photos from Hacker Trip to China #5

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:


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

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: 1-May, 25-May, 3-July, 31-July, 7-September, 1-October, 2-October, and other dates:
2015 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 Beijing 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 Mitch Altman No Arrive: 1-September-2016, ??:??pm, on United UA??? from TXL
2 your name here No Arrive: your flight arrival info here
3 your name here No Arrive: your flight arrival info here
4 your name here No Arrive: your flight arrival info here
5 your name here No Arrive: your flight arrival info here
6 your name here No Arrive: your flight arrival info here
7 your name here No Arrive: your flight arrival info here
8 your name here No Arrive: your flight arrival info here
9 your name here No Arrive: your flight arrival info here
10 your name here No Arrive: your flight arrival info here
11 your name here No Arrive: your flight arrival info here
12 your name here No Arrive: your flight arrival info here
13 your name here No Arrive: your flight arrival info here
14 your name here No Arrive: your flight arrival info here
15 your name here No Arrive: your flight arrival info here
16 your name here No Arrive: your flight arrival info here
17 your name here No Arrive: your flight arrival info here
18 your name here No Arrive: your flight arrival info here
19 your name here No Arrive: your flight arrival info here
20 your name here No Arrive: your flight arrival info here