I mentioned „byrocratic fight“ above – by this I reffer to a difficult process to fullfill requirements for a visa – including new passport, photos, birth certifficate statement and detailed addresses you will be staying at, divided into individual days. After much effort and a few not really kind words given into this process, I finally got my desired visa.
„Dear boss, I am flying to China in March.“
„OK, Pavel, bring us some rice and take care!“
Travelling with 200 cm height and 125 kg weight is not easy. I also paid for a spot near the emergency exit for at least part of the flight. Then 12 hours long flight with huge Air Bus followed – there were 10 seats in one line.
After we landed, my taxi was already waiting there. First impression about traffic? Crossroads? Avoid them! Crossings? Nobody respects them. Ligts on in the evening? No way, the battery could run out of energy – everything here is hybrid. After paying the deposit I checked in a booked hotel room.
After my colleague from the NUTREND Team Benjamin Radič arrived, we were taken to a small gym, where Chinese NUTREND team was ready with cameras and clothes we should have try on. It was fun, we did some posing, photos and went to take a break to our hotel rooms.
outfits so everyone could see, who is the sponsor here.
It didn’t take long and visitors started to came for signatures, mainly to Benjamin, huge guy Pasha and also me. I was really pleased about it.
As visitors kept coming and coming it became harder and harder to go even to bathroom. One or two fans stop you to make a selfie and suddenly you face a line of 30 people desiring for a picture with you. I got used to this feeling very quickly. You feel like you mean something and getting back what you’ve given into this sport. And it is way more than just material compensation.
Next days of IWF Shanghai were similar, only daily programme changed, but contests, challenges, samples, catalogues giveaways and pictures with fans were routine.
Fitness industry in China is still new and their diet proves it – It is hard to get healthier food in Shanghai. Locals are used to fry everything in oil. Their meals taste great but are not suitable for calorie defficite. Luckily, we had healthy meals prepared in food boxes and those were delicous.
