This wasn't an ordinary “factory tour” – this was the real deal. Allow me to explain.
After our trip to Shenzhen in December 2009, I had an opportunity to attend the annual trade show/convention of the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) in Anaheim – where all the musical product distributors display their products for retailers. At the convention I happened to notice several vendors from China including the cities we had visited: Shenzhen and Guangzhou – and initiated several conversations with their China-based sales staffs who were uniformly excited to know that this American had visited their home cities. From those contacts, I emailed with a few regarding their products – and when I explained that I might return to Shenzhen, they offered visits to their office/factories.
With some email coordination and challenging logistics (even the staffs couldn't point any internet-based map that showed their location – and many street addresses in China are only available in Chinese characters), I visited one of the factories today and got a behind the scenes personal tour of the assembly area (around 100 workers assembling electronic parts – tuners, metronomes, amplifiers). In addition the sales representatives treated me warming with tea and product demonstrations (and samples to take home). It was so very interesting but I did not request permission to take any photos – feeling it might embarrass or offend the workers.
It was an interesting experience that gave me the opportunity to explore some of the challenges and details for arranging to import products for sale in the USA.
In the evening, Martin, Staci and I went out to dinner in their local village – and enjoyed yet another wonderful meal – this time in celebration of Staci's 24th birthday. A few photos taken at dinner are available here: (to be added as soon as photos uploaded).
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