Standards/TPAC2013

A bunch of Mozillians will be attending W3C's TPAC 2013. This page exists to share useful information.

Travel Advice

• Google Map
• W3C TPAC 2013 official page (don't forget to register)
• You probably need a visa to visit China! This includes Americans! (need more details here)
  • If you're in San Francisco, see the visa form for applications in SF, the page on visas, and the information on the visa office. Note that you should bring (1) your passport (2) the visa application, filled out per instructions, and with passport photo (3) your invitation letter resulting from the mailto link on the TPAC registration form (4) if possible, a support letter from Mozilla as well (ask jet) (5) a printout of your flight itinerary (6) a printout of your hotel reservation confirmation
• Airports: The venue is roughly the same distance from HKG (Hong Kong International Airport) and SZX (Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport). While transit to the venue may be easier from SZX, there are flights from many more destinations to HKG, so it is probably preferable for many. (Any advice from those who have visited Shenzhen before would be appreciated.)
  • From HKG:
    • Note that immigration/customs control for Hong Kong is separate from that of in most of China (i.e., in Shenzhen), so entering Hong Kong is different from entering China.
    • There are apparently ferries (see schedule) that depart from the international zone of the airport (no need to clear Hong Kong immigration/customs) to multiple destinations, including Shekou in Shenzhen. The ferry seems to have advantages and disadvantages (weird luggage pickup mechanism, poor schedule frequency).
      • can you take the subway from Shekou? A taxi?
      • Subway is apparently a bit over an hour: http://goo.gl/maps/uf6pT
    • It's also possible to take trains, buses, or taxis through Hong Kong to Shenzhen
    • see wikivoyage's description of transportation from HKG to Shenzhen and also the W3C's TPAC page
      • more details on A43 bus mentioned in above link
  • From SZX:
    •  ??
• Electricity:
  • Mainland China: 220V, 50Hz, Mix of US/Japan ungrounded (type A, unpolarized) and Australian/Chinese grounded (type I)
  • Hong Kong: 220V, 50Hz, primarily UK-style outlets (type G)
• Taxi advice (for Mainland China; not sure if it applies in Hong Kong):
  • you should not expect taxi drivers to understand Latin alphabet writing, nor should you expect your attempt to pronounce transliterated Chinese to be understandable. Therefore you should have the address of your destination written down in Chinese characters. So it's probably a good idea to print out a paper/card with the hotel and TPAC venue's address in Chinese. The TPAC venue, which might be your hotel, is the Shenzhen Wuzhou Guest House, 五洲宾馆 located at 中国深圳市深南大道6001号.
  • take only licensed taxis; they should have a license in a plastic stand on the right side of the dashboard
• Currency:
  • Mainland China: Chinese Yuan or renminbi (RMB), code CNY, signed as 元 or ￥ or RMB. See exchange rates
  • Hong Kong: Hong Kong Dollar, code HKD, signed as HK$ or 元. See exchange rates
• Health:
  • tap water is not considered safe to drink
  • it may be worth being picky about food safety (in particular, considering the implications of food safety when water isn't safe to drink, e.g., avoiding uncooked food)
  • it may be worth making extra effort to avoid mosquito bites

Mozillians who will be attending

• David Baron
• Cameron McCormack
• Marcos Caceres
• Anne van Kesteren
• Mounir Lamouri
• David Burns
• James Graham
• Jonas Sicking
• Jet Villegas
• Simon Sapin