Between the 15th and 17th of May the second Asian Sensory and Consumer research symposium was held in Shanghai. Of course, we were very pleased to have yet another excuse to visit this wonderful coastal city. Following our last visit, which was held in Singapore in 2014, we had high hopes regarding the symposium and we are happy to say, we were not disappointed.
After a grueling eleven hour flight from Amsterdam to Shanghai, we finally arrived and could get some well needed rest in our hotel, where we enjoyed our hotel room view of the waterfront area of the Bund. Our days were set up as follows ; a mixture of attending sessions and exhibiting our software from morning till late-noon, while the bright lights of Shanghai gave our visual senses an overload after dusk.
The symposium showed us the tremendous growth of the sensory discipline in the Far East, both on the academic as well as the industrial front. we were very happy to not only meet up with old acquaintances, but also to create some new ones during our time exhibiting in the lobby. The topics chosen by the invited speakers were interesting and varied, ranging from people’s sensory reactions due to cultural evolution to the technical application of certain sensory tests.
It was good to see that after those busy and hectic days, where over 150 people were constantly walking from one side of the lobby to the other, everything went back to normal and just a handful were conducting their daily Tai Chi routine.