Register |
Login
Shop for male chastity devices and other training tools through
this link to support us.
New stuff:
| << return to blog entries
2010-03-17 03:42:50 (2692 views) Given financial and logistical constraints it was decided that moving to Guangdong, China would be the smartest, craziest and perhaps only way to see this product through to its final stages.
Some of the issues that brought us to this decision:
- parts and samples being shipped around the world through fedex mean high shipping fees and import duties of 20% or more on components. And delays of weeks each time (even paying expedite rates doesn't prevent packages being blocked at customs for days, in fact this has been quite common).
- need to verify quality and repeatability of manufacturing and assembly processes (we'll be doing quality testing in person in the beginning)
- need to find cheap labor for assembly (of the final product, not just the pcbs)
- need to be in Hong Kong to open the company's bank account. Annoying bank rules just changed and this can no longer be done remotely...
- last but not least, having tapped hugely into personal savings and basically neglected paid work - and with the delays incurred to date and revenues not yet being produced - first world living expenses are no longer entirely in the comfort zone
So, this is not a "trip". We canceled our lease in the west and moved here with suitcases, bags full of components, instrumentation - the whole Lab! :)
We've left full time jobs long time ago anyway, and we've got a couple of friends working in that area, so we thought - why not?!?!?
So... ok, here's the first China report!!
We flew through Fiji (odd combination of existing return tickets, special rates and hassles - don't ask). Our possessions were inspected very carefully at customs. An annoyingly suspicious Fijian lady kept ramming her huge hands through our static sensitive integrated circuits and asking "what's this?" "Where do you use this?". She had not heard of "Resistors" before so explaining ohm's law to her was a bit tricky, fortunately she assumed the oscilloscope was a "radio" and we didn't contradict her so she didn't try to take it apart.
The night was uneventful compared to our last stop in Fiji (at that time there was a tropical hurricane and flights got canceled and pieces of the hotel's rooftop came off). Unfortunately jet lag was unavoidable, and we woke up at 3am very very hungry. With all the restaurants shut down for the night and not a soul in sight we dined on Fiji water and a huge dried squid from Korea we happened to have in the suitcase. Very hard squid too, took almost an hour to chew through its various parts. Then we went for a walk on the beach. With no lights anywhere the sky was amazing, you really had the feeling of floating in space on a tiny planet.
The next day we arrived in Hong Kong after a 10 hour flight (3 infants strategically positioned throughout the aircraft meant absolutely no sleep).
Chinese visa applications are just a tax, the authorities don't even look at your face, in fact we went through an agency right inside the airport who just took the passport and the money and promised to obtain a visa within 24 hours. Here our past experiences in China (language and negotiation) helped a lot, we paid only 650 Hong Kong dollars per person against the 2000+ the sharp looking american tourist next to us was being charged. He tried to argue in English when he saw our "special" price but they just told him that US passports are more expensive and so he went elsewhere.
After this necessary first formality we were exhausted enough from the flight to get a room at the Regal (right inside the airport) which set us back over 200 bucks.
The next day we obtained visas as promised, and bought bus tickets from Hong Kong to Guangzhou (through Dongguan and Shenzhen). The train would have been a better choice. The rain, fog and traffic made this trip much longer than expected. The scenery from the window was depressing - mud, broken down buildings, lots of red and yellow banner, and lots, lots of Silent Hill type fog. Seems like weather-wise we picked the wrong combination of time of the year and location...
4 hours and 2 passport checks later we finally arrived in Guangzhou ready to collapse - but instead went ahead and started looking for a place to stay, together with a local buddy from Korea. That was not very successful due to a large number of problems with the apartments we were seeing, such as absolutely no heating anywhere. At night, starvation and lack of sleep won and we booked a room with a local guy who turned his apartment into a low cost hotel. Then headed to the local Japanese restaurant for some sushi and sake. Nothing worse than Japanese food cooked Chinese style, by the way - but everything's good when you're hungry.
Cities in the Guangdong province aren't as industrialized as Shanghai or Beijing - but this was chosen as a very favorable location where we can visit and inspect the mold factory and assembly houses and also have access to Hong Kong. Samples (of remote control overlays and other needed parts) can be received from anywhere in the mainland in 48 24 hours! This is a big advantage for the product and our ability to hasten its release.
Living expenses here are much cheaper than in the west.
Though China is emerging as an economic superpower and the "rich class" is expanding fast, the quality of life for most people is utterly appalling.
Pretty much the "ultimate sacrifice" in terms of comfort.
Just a few issues and interesting things in the past few days:
- facebook and youtube are blocked
- housing agent changed terms of contract after signing
- odd looking old lady appears speaking cantonese dialect, finally we understood she wanted to retrieve her mahjong table supposedly borrowed from her by the old tenants
- no heating in any of the buildings in this area! Supposedly the winter period is so short that heating isn't needed. In reality though nights are freezing cold (though it's already March) and this year the weather is particularly bad due to very heavy fog (see picture). Electric stoves are ... hmmm... "made in china" and aren't very warm so the first two nights were basically a camping trip (sleeping with jackets on and too cold for showers...)
- things are generally broken (water cooler, elevator, faucet)
- phone makes a strange and horrible sound when you put down the receiver
- innumerable buses leave thick black clouds of fumes as they pass by - never noticed before how hard it is hard to run when you're trying not to breathe...!
- hot water only lasts 5 minutes. Maintenance guy guarantees it's the way it's supposed to be and after 1 hour of tight grilling literally flees leaving a contact phone number which seems to belong to someone else.
Comments
Post new comment
 |
I've been following you for a while now, seen the ups and downs, and am willing you on to a successful conclusion!