a valiant effort

Today we came to the realization that our business application will not be approved in time for us to change over to a business visa on this trip out of the country. We are a bit bummed, yet we know we gave a valiant effort to do all we could in the process. We have exhausted every option, but won't be able to get it done in time. I (Justin) feel a bit defeated in this as we have been working so hard in hopes of finishing our registration before this trip, but alas, we will just have to finish when we return. What this means is that we will need to leave the country again this Spring sometime which may push back our opening date a bit. We will see.


I told Ali that this whole process has me feeling a bit like a rabbit being chased by a fox down an unfamiliar rabbit hole. The FOX = time, and the unfamiliar RABBIT HOLE = the maze of Chinese laws & procedures that nobody seems to be able to tell you until the last possible minute you need to know (or after the fact). We are still confident that this business has incredible potential and are hopeful that we will find just the right place when we return, finish our registration and open in time for the Summer season. It will just take a little longer and cost a little more!