CIT 2013 IN PARTNERSHIP WITH TCT. 20th - 23rd March 2013.

Yes, I spend the last week in Beijing attending CIT 2013. Prof Gao RuLin is very kind. Each year, he invites us to be an international Faculty member and so I have been to Beijing every year since the early 2000.

This year is definitely the coldest. Last year, it snowed on the last day. This year, it snowed on the first day, and throughout the whole meeting from 20th March - 23 rd March, it was coooooooooold.  I was obviously underdressed, not realising that it will be minus at night.

My hotel, which was linked to the convention center by a linked bridge ( thank God ) was next to the Bird Nest Stadium, near Olympic Park.

It was quite a sight. After the snow, the sky was clear and there was only minimal haze.

I had a free day on 22nd March 2013, and so I took the Beijing Subway to Tian An Men. Notice the haze. Without the snow, the haze is quite bad. Noticeably, many Beijing residents are now wearing mask when they commute and when they walk in the streets.
The meeting itself was good. looks like Abbott Vascular is not a main sponsor, so there was little  said about the ABSORB stent. I particularly enjoyed the cine reviewed sessions. Nothing new to report. Obviously the Americans were trying to get us to focus on treatment of structural heart disease, like TAVI and the Europeans were working on their RDN for Hypertension. As for PCI, looks like we have come to a plateau, and it is just trying to do it better. No new hardware.
On the last day, 23rd March 2013 ( the last day ), at 9am, I was trying to enter large Hall ( we call Function Hall A ), to see the cine case reviews and listen to the discussions on the complications of PCI on the cases presented. There was NO standing room. The whole Hall was packed and I squeeze in for a while, found it very stuffy and came out. I could hardly had space to stand. That is the interest there.

Overall a very good meeting. I enjoyed it.
Next year, it shall be in Shanghai in mid-March 2014.

I see that GE 13 is not here yet.