I am currently on a business trip in Shenzhen, China. Here are some pictures and impressions so far. (Blogging while on a still ocurring trip is a challenge when you have writer's block and a time crunch).
Being a newlywed for only a month now, and having already been separated from Mark for a week while he was on a separate business trip, the prospect of being away from home was hard. Furthermore, I hate going to China. Send me to Europe, Singapore or Thailand any day, but China is so dirty and people are usually so insensitive about my lack of Chinese speaking skills, that I dreaded the prospect. This time, on my trip to Shenzhen, people have been fine. Or maybe I am less sensitive about my lack of Chinese speaking skills now that I am older, and even turn things around and laugh along with them.
Dove Farm Outside of Factory WindowThe factory itself is in a rural region of Shenzhen called Ping Wu. Ping Wu is an odd mixture of manufacturing modernity and farming. There is a dove farm directly outside of the factory window (we can only guess that the pretty white doves are bound for the restaurant tables). On our drives around the region, we see bicycles piled high with chickens, and trucks full of pigs bound for slaughter. In contrast, our hotel, which is also set in this area, is very modern and trendy. The room that I stay in is painfully hip (see below), and seems awkward when considering the impoverished setting outside of the hotel. But it is certainly the best deal I've ever encountered at only $30-40 USD/night.
Hotel Room in Ping WuSeeing how the factory workers and white-collar workers in Pinghu live and work is in sharp contrast with my life in the US. But people here seem just as happy. I was taken out on the town by a factory liason one night. This young woman was around the same age as myself, and so we went Ping Wu to do some window shopping. Turns out she was a Chinese fashionista and decided to teach me about Chinese brands, and shops and relative quality for the price. She bragged that she buys too many shoes and actually has 10 pairs! I don't know any American female with less than 10 pairs.
Although Pinghu is merely a couple of hours away from Hong Kong, the brands are completely different with their own set of heiararchy. High heel pumps with lots of rhinestones and chains are big in rural Shenzhen. Often you will see factory girls in uniform walking over the dirt roads in really stylish heels.
Ping Wu Night Scene (Sugar Cane Vendor in Foreground)
My night with the factory laison (Karney Liang) ended with a fascinating insight into how my equivalent age group lives in China. She rarely gets a Saturday off, so she barely ever has an opportunity to leave Pinghu. She has never flown on an airplane and has never left the province of Guangdong. However, she, like any other girl, adores shopping and has a happy, secure life. Money doesn't buy you happiness...
