UPDATE FROM HANGZHOU, CHINA

Well, its now mid-March and the weather has finally started to change from miserably wet and cold to wet and warm, sometimes hot. Hangzhou summers can get very very hot and humid which will make the walk or ride to work fairly miserably but fortunately my apartment to work is fairly close.

We are now a year from the grand opening of our new mall and ice arena. Busy working like crazy to get everything in order, and in place at the right time.

I am also working on 3 other projects at the same time, and all are big rinks in luxury shopping malls. All have the same name, World Ice Arena, with the city name tacked onto the end.

I am off to Nanning, in southern China, not far from Vietnam, next week for a 3 day visit to meet the people on our project and learn more about the city. Need to get a feel for how this new rink will go over once we commit to spend 5 million USD on the rink.

My little dog Kita is just fine. She is looked after by a young guy who works for me full time keeping the house in order, cooking and looking after Kita. Kita gets to go outside 3 or 4 times in a day to run around and play. Soon I can take her on my bike for rides as I've ordered a special frontpack for her that allows her to be where I can see her while riding. I have both a racing bike and an electric scooter (like a Vespa only no emissions).

Most people ride their bikes over to Westlake which is the number one tourist attraction in Hangzhou and is listed by China as one of the 10 most popular destinations in the country. You look at my photos and you'll see why. Lots of young Chinese come here to get engaged as the lakeside is very romantic.

Today my team and I will go to have middle eastern food. Their first time so I am hoping its reasonably good quality.

My email address here is tedhangzhou@gmail.com. My youtube channel where I keep most of my video's is www.youtube.com/user/tedshenzhen so go take a look.

CLICK THIS MOVIE. MY FRIENDS VISIT SHANGHAI

This is the bund in Shanghai, China. Some of my friends recently went there from Hangzhou by train. Only 70 min on the bullet-train. The Bund is a main tourist attraction of Shanghai but it's better at night. Those buildings on the other side turn into giant TV screens at night. Absolutely amazing. Love this city.

AT HOME WITH SURYA BONALY

Surya and her mom live in an enormous mansion just outside Las Vegas. The house with an amazing pool and waterfalls, sits between the tennis courts and the house. This photo was taken just after Surya had an accident. Seem to recall it was during a Gymnastics practice, not skating. Surya is a great friend and we're always in touch. She skated for me several times in Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur.

INCREDIBLE SASHI KUCHIKI

Sashi Kuchiki has been a friend for many man years, from the days in Ice Capades when he first arrived and didn't know a word of English until many years later when he and Ronnie Robertson used to fly to Hong Kong and teach at Cityplaza for a month each year for 10 years. He's a national level coach in Los Angeles and despite his age, is still on the rink everyday with his students. His daughter Natasha was World medalist in Pairs with Todd Sand.

GUEST STARS AT CITYPLAZA 1987 TO 2002

During my 15 years as manager of the Cityplaza rink in Hong Kong, we hosted numerous famous skaters. The list is shown here. Those were amazing times on that small rink. Everyone from Richard Dwyer to Dorothy Hamill skated with us. World Champions like Charlie Tickner, Valova and Vassiliev and Ronnie Robertson. The list goes on and on.

VIVI-ANNE HULTEN - OLYMPIC BRONZE 1932/36

In 1932 and 36, Swedish champion Vivianne Hulten won the Bronze against Sonja Henie in the Olympic Games. After she completed her pro show career, she began teaching and was my first coach. She continued to skate and teach until her death at age 87. She was married to Gene Thesloff of Finland and who was one of Sonja's movie skating partners. They have a son, Gene Jr. who lives in Orange County, California.