Meet the Gaskins: Day 2: Shen Zhen

First of all, China is so much more beautiful than I expected. I'm sure I'll be visiting the overcrowded, smog-filled, stank-ass areas I envisioned in my head, but here in Shen Zhen? Feels like a tropical paradise. I'm most impressed with the beautifully manicured landscaping and how well-maintained it is. Every hedge is even, every tree pruned, I even spotted workers along the freeway pulling dead fronds off plants.

So, this day started with a tour of Dahon's factory. From raw material to finished product. And though I'm sure safety standards exist here in China...let's just say, OSHA would have had a field day. Lol. I didn't spot any children though, good job guys ;)

Walking from breakfast to the factory floor. The Dahon campus houses and feeds about 900 workers, many of which come from far away villages and go home only a few times a year.

The raw material for the bike frame.

Beginning the tour with Uncle David as our guide.

Judah with his camera documenting and narrating the process.

Observing the assembly line after the frames are cut, molded, welded and painted.

The finished product. It takes 10 days for 1 bike to go through the entire process from start to finish. About 1500 bikes are produced daily.

A cute family selfie to end the tour ;)

Next stop, Shen Zhen museum. Which, like most museums is as good as the work you put into actually reading everything...

"Strolling" through old town Shen Zhen.

Moonwalking with the dragons.

Modern Shen Zhen is only about 35 years old. Sky scrapers are built in the blink of the eye and downtown is constantly evolving. Infrastructure can be built at such incredible speeds because of centralized power, lots of money, and international talent. China has an international committee of top experts of different disciplines. For example, Bill Gates is one of them.