OCTOBER 2015 NEWSLETTER
In This Issue
Last Month's Visit to Chi na - M   - M 
By Mike Genung
 
Last month, I visited China with my 17 year old daughter. Some of the questions and comments she made reminded me that, after visiting China for nearly 30 years, the cultural differences didn't faze me anymore. Some of her comments included:

"Why do they beep their horns so much?"
In China, horns are going off constantly. They drive in a tight, often chaotic formation; when they're honking their horns it's often meant to be a polite "I'm next to you, please don't hit me." (There were several instances when our host would drive dead center on the lane markers, sandwiching us tightly between two cars in either lane next to us.) Whereas in the U.S., if someone honks it can sometimes be, "Hey you @#$$! What are you doing!!" Our culture's high strung "I'll get offended and sue you if you look at me the wrong way" has made us defensive when it comes to using the horn for a safety measure.    

"They're invading my personal bubble."
In a country of 1.3 billion people, all rights to a personal bubble are forfeited. Pushing past other people in an airplane who are taking their time loading their luggage in an overhead bin, or tightly crowding others while waiting in line are a part of the game. At one point while we were about to enter a line for China customs to check us through, I told my daughter, "Get ready to charge forward." She looked at me like I was nuts, then saw what I meant, as Chinese mainlanders quickly filled in the gaps in front of her. It's not that they're being rude, it's just that it's survival of the fittest in a nation that has four times our population.
 
"That was gross."
Many of their public facilities offer restrooms that are little more than a hole in the ground. Enough said about that one.  

My daughter and I at a factory
A row of plastic injection mold machines at a manufacturer of plastic parts
Storage room of steel molds
With my business partners at their office in Qingdao
Factory that makes ink, pens and cosmetics
Some dude getting ready to get married in Hong Kong. If you'd have told me to I had to wear red pajamas to get married... well... my wife and I would have eloped.
And We Thought Thanksgiving Travel was Bad...
Chinese businesses have been closed from October 1-7 for their National Holiday. Estimates are that 750 million people traveled during the holiday, a massive influx into their travel sys tem. This makes the travel mess that we endure for the Thanksg iving and Christmas holidays pale in comparison... double the entire population of the U.S.
Note the lack of personal bubbles in this picture
The Exchange Rate
Yuan to the dollar, as of today: 6.36 to 1.
Rate when the Yuan was depegged from the dollar on June 19, 2010: 6.82 to 1.  
Change: .46 (6.7%)

Want a Quote to Source Product from China or Taiwan?
There's no charge for us to quote your project. We need the following to get started: 
  • Engineer's drawings with all dimensions, tolerances, and material requirements, and/or a sample to send. Sometimes pictures with all major specifications will work, if it's a simple product. We can refer you to a company that can do engineering and prototyping if you need these services.
  • Purchase quantities. Our suggested minimum purchase value is $10,000.00. The actual minimum will depend on the factory.
  •  The major city you are nearest to, so we can include the freight with the prices.
  • Details on how you want your product packaged, i.e. individually or in bulk, plain cardboard box or with color labels, blister pack, etc

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