The ISH China/CIHE Trade Show in Beijing has become bigger and smarter since my last visit here four years ago. Bigger because for the first time the trade show has filled eight halls of the New China International Exhibition Center in Beijing. Smarter because the 2016 version of the show has more focus on intelligent building technology.
ISH China is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year with the event running May 30 through June 1. Both descriptions of bigger and smarter mentioned above are huge leaps from where the show started in 1996. The show attracted 180 exhibitors that year vs. 1,200 in 2016. The emphasis in 1996 was on big boilers and big burners. The challenge was to convert the coal-fired heating equipment in China to products powered by natural gas.