Sunday, April 18, 2004
A TRUCK FACTORY, A PERFORMING ARTS SCHOOL, AND A MOUNTAIN TREK - IN AND AROUND HUAIROU
See photos about this week's posting in the Yahoo photo album. (Will open in a new browser window.)
A couple of weeks ago, Li Hui Jia [Lee Whey Geea], one of our adult private students, offered to give us a tour of the Beijing Auman Heavy Duty Truck Plant, where she designs the interiors of the large truck cabs manufactured there. Auman is a subsidiary of Foton Automotive, originally a joint venture with a Japanese car maker. The company is presently looking for a German partner, perhaps Benz. Of course, we jumped at the chance. Keyan insisted that her husband provide the transportation, and Jing Xin, another of our private students, was interested in coming too, so we were a party of five ready for a new experience. This company occupies a huge piece of land in the north of Huairou, and in its layout resembles the Ford plant at Oakville, Ontario. Huge buildings house assembly lines where specific elements are added to the product, which ends up as one of several sizes of trucks. Five thousand people work here, and presently 200 trucks a day come off the line. Workers usually work 8 hour shifts, but because the demand now is so great, they are working 10 hours a day or more, seven days a week. We walked miles, first to get to the various buildings, and then through the buildings to see the production. No one had a hard hat. We could take pictures freely. The passes Hui Jia carried for us allowed our little group to go from place to place. Hui Jia has asked that we not include photos of the shop work in our article, just general photos of the factory and, of course, of the products.
Just as in any assembly line operation in any part of the world, workers in groups handled various parts, installing them at a steady pace as the trucks were assembled. Supplies of parts were stored in separate areas on the shop floor. The sounds of machinery at work drowned out our voices, as we took in the steady activity in each vast building.
We were amazed by the activities we saw in a cluster of older buildings which contained huge metal stamping hydraulic presses which stamped metal into various shapes for parts of the trucks. These machines were two storeys high and reminded us of scenes from Chaplin’s Modern Times, with men dwarfed by the machines and constantly feeding them. The noise was deafening - clanks and hisses; clunks and bangs; squeals and groans. We walked carefully, watching huge overhead cranes move metal forms and finished parts from one section of the workshop to waiting pallets and small fork lift machines.
Auman trucks are all heavy duty vehicles, dwarfing the people who design and make them. Auman is the name of a robot, and is used as a logo on all trucks manufactured here. The trucks are test-driven on a special road on the factory site. We watched truck after truck being put through its paces by very experienced drivers around very tight curves. Then each truck goes to the holding lot, awaiting a buyer. There are, of course, many dealers throughout China, who sell these trucks. Hui Jia had just spent time with a group of customers who had been invited to Huairou for a tour of the factory as well as a tour of the sights in our area -- the Great Wall being a major attraction. When a truck is sold, a driver comes to the factory to pick up the vehicle and drives it to the buyer -- no train or truck carriers here!
Our morning tour was an insight into industrial China, a look into a factory which is not state run. After all, the planned economy is over. The vehicles we saw must compete in an ever opening market as China acknowledges its World Trade Organization obligations. We are no experts, but we came away with a sense that the Foton works represents a new, very modern and dynamic China, a kind of reworked industrial revolution with a huge pool of labour. While our tour was not a look at China’s ancient past, which has been much of our experience here, it was likely a glimpse at China’s developing future. Auman trucks, made here in Huairou, will no doubt transport much of China’s future on their rigs.
On a recent Sunday afternoon, one of the first very warm days of the Beijing spring, we visited the Beijing Bai Hui [bi whey] Art School, a very famous private school located just east of Huairou. Keyan had met the school’s principal, who wanted us to come to talk to the students about learning English.
A shiny black BMW and driver - yes, he was shiny too! - arrived at the school gate to take us to the school, where we were greeted by one of the English teachers and escorted to a reception room where we met the VP and the official photographer. We exchanged pleasantries over the obligatory cup of tea, and were soon on our way to a classroom of waiting students. In front of us were smiling faces of all ages, while at the two doors of the room, more students and teachers had gathered, jostling and craning their necks to get a better view.
In the absence of a computer for our PowerPoint presentation, skillfully assembled by our clever son-in-law Robin Andrew, Judy pulled out the calendars and maps from the trusty bag we always carry with us. Soon we were talking about polar bears and snow, Niagara Falls and the Great Lakes, school buses and the short school day of Ontario students. It always takes a few minutes for our listeners to tune in to our accents, but before long they were asking us the standard questions: Do you like Chinese food? Do you like China? Where have you been in China? Before we left for photos in front of the school, we handed out Canadian flags which we had brought with us. They always make for a colourful photo!
BaiHui Art School is very famous, and attracts students from all over China. Students begin in the primary grades and continue through to their senior year. Teachers and students all live in dormitories, and we felt that we were visiting a very large family, the atmosphere was so warm and caring. The staff knew every student by name and could tell us where each one came from. At present there are 400 students here, each paying 20,000Y per year for tuition, room and board. An expansion plan is underway which will double the enrollment.
Students have an academic curriculum as well as studying the performing arts: drama, dance and music. We passed a ballet room where students were using the barre. We heard a rock group practicing in a garage-like building situated well away from the other school buildings - a very practical location! We left with very colourful brochures about the school and a CD of students’ performances. If you are interested, there’s a web site: www.baihuiart.com.
Spring has definitely arrived in the Beijing Huairou area, with flowers in full blossom, grass turning green and trees showing the pale delicate green of new leaves. On the mountain slopes around the city we can see the pink and white clouds of flowering trees among the new green foliage. When one of the first year teachers asked us to join an expedition to the mountains to see the flowers, we gladly accepted. The Vice Principal agreed that this was a worthwhile excursion and scheduled the school van and its driver to take us to a nearby location in the Tao Valley.
It was a very hot afternoon. We went armed with water, sun hats, good walking shoes and sun glasses. The drive through the countryside was very pleasant - everything was bursting forth in the heat of spring here. We arrived at a very large trout farm, which was also a resort location for tourists, with room accommodation and dining rooms. The valley formed a cool crease between very steep heights to either side. Looking at it from the parking lot, it was an idyllic scene. No one had outlined our destination, and we set off in the belief that we were out for a short, scenic walk. It was only after 90 minutes of hard slogging ever upwards, clambering over the rocks of a dried river bed, that we realized our destination was the unrestored section of the Great Wall we could see far above us at the crest of the mountain dead ahead. Our companions were very keen to reach the top. But we were flagging, and knew that we would not go much further. Soon the time of decision arrived, and it turned out that only 3 people were determined to climb; 4 of us stopped for a rest, and then returned to the trout farm.
Here we bought nuts from local vendors – chestnuts (famous in this area), heart nuts, walnuts and almonds. We watched fish of all sizes swim in their separate ponds. The sound of running water was all around us. The mountain location guaranteed fast running water, a vital necessity for the raising of trout. As well rainbow trout, there were beautiful golden trout in separate ponds. An outdoor restaurant had been built directly over some of the ponds, and here we waited for the hearty 3 to return - a wait of almost 3 hours. As dinner time approached, we picked up bamboo poles and went fishing for our supper. Liver and cut up small fish were the bait. Judy had excellent luck, landing the largest of the three fish needed for dinner. Her second fish was so heavy that it broke her line as she attempted to haul it out of the water. Ken also caught a good sized fish.
Our catches soon turned up on the dinner table as sushi, and grilled fish which had been coated with a spicy batter. A truly delicious feast, accompanied with cold beer and several vegetable dishes. Sunburned and weary, feeling every one of the 40 or so years difference in our ages and those of our colleagues, we were glad to climb back into the van for the drive home. We doubt that we will go mountain climbing again, but are somewhat flattered that our fellow teachers thought we could go the distance!
See photos about this week's posting in the Yahoo photo album. (Will open in a new browser window.)
A couple of weeks ago, Li Hui Jia [Lee Whey Geea], one of our adult private students, offered to give us a tour of the Beijing Auman Heavy Duty Truck Plant, where she designs the interiors of the large truck cabs manufactured there. Auman is a subsidiary of Foton Automotive, originally a joint venture with a Japanese car maker. The company is presently looking for a German partner, perhaps Benz. Of course, we jumped at the chance. Keyan insisted that her husband provide the transportation, and Jing Xin, another of our private students, was interested in coming too, so we were a party of five ready for a new experience. This company occupies a huge piece of land in the north of Huairou, and in its layout resembles the Ford plant at Oakville, Ontario. Huge buildings house assembly lines where specific elements are added to the product, which ends up as one of several sizes of trucks. Five thousand people work here, and presently 200 trucks a day come off the line. Workers usually work 8 hour shifts, but because the demand now is so great, they are working 10 hours a day or more, seven days a week. We walked miles, first to get to the various buildings, and then through the buildings to see the production. No one had a hard hat. We could take pictures freely. The passes Hui Jia carried for us allowed our little group to go from place to place. Hui Jia has asked that we not include photos of the shop work in our article, just general photos of the factory and, of course, of the products.
Just as in any assembly line operation in any part of the world, workers in groups handled various parts, installing them at a steady pace as the trucks were assembled. Supplies of parts were stored in separate areas on the shop floor. The sounds of machinery at work drowned out our voices, as we took in the steady activity in each vast building.
We were amazed by the activities we saw in a cluster of older buildings which contained huge metal stamping hydraulic presses which stamped metal into various shapes for parts of the trucks. These machines were two storeys high and reminded us of scenes from Chaplin’s Modern Times, with men dwarfed by the machines and constantly feeding them. The noise was deafening - clanks and hisses; clunks and bangs; squeals and groans. We walked carefully, watching huge overhead cranes move metal forms and finished parts from one section of the workshop to waiting pallets and small fork lift machines.
Auman trucks are all heavy duty vehicles, dwarfing the people who design and make them. Auman is the name of a robot, and is used as a logo on all trucks manufactured here. The trucks are test-driven on a special road on the factory site. We watched truck after truck being put through its paces by very experienced drivers around very tight curves. Then each truck goes to the holding lot, awaiting a buyer. There are, of course, many dealers throughout China, who sell these trucks. Hui Jia had just spent time with a group of customers who had been invited to Huairou for a tour of the factory as well as a tour of the sights in our area -- the Great Wall being a major attraction. When a truck is sold, a driver comes to the factory to pick up the vehicle and drives it to the buyer -- no train or truck carriers here!
Our morning tour was an insight into industrial China, a look into a factory which is not state run. After all, the planned economy is over. The vehicles we saw must compete in an ever opening market as China acknowledges its World Trade Organization obligations. We are no experts, but we came away with a sense that the Foton works represents a new, very modern and dynamic China, a kind of reworked industrial revolution with a huge pool of labour. While our tour was not a look at China’s ancient past, which has been much of our experience here, it was likely a glimpse at China’s developing future. Auman trucks, made here in Huairou, will no doubt transport much of China’s future on their rigs.
On a recent Sunday afternoon, one of the first very warm days of the Beijing spring, we visited the Beijing Bai Hui [bi whey] Art School, a very famous private school located just east of Huairou. Keyan had met the school’s principal, who wanted us to come to talk to the students about learning English.
A shiny black BMW and driver - yes, he was shiny too! - arrived at the school gate to take us to the school, where we were greeted by one of the English teachers and escorted to a reception room where we met the VP and the official photographer. We exchanged pleasantries over the obligatory cup of tea, and were soon on our way to a classroom of waiting students. In front of us were smiling faces of all ages, while at the two doors of the room, more students and teachers had gathered, jostling and craning their necks to get a better view.
In the absence of a computer for our PowerPoint presentation, skillfully assembled by our clever son-in-law Robin Andrew, Judy pulled out the calendars and maps from the trusty bag we always carry with us. Soon we were talking about polar bears and snow, Niagara Falls and the Great Lakes, school buses and the short school day of Ontario students. It always takes a few minutes for our listeners to tune in to our accents, but before long they were asking us the standard questions: Do you like Chinese food? Do you like China? Where have you been in China? Before we left for photos in front of the school, we handed out Canadian flags which we had brought with us. They always make for a colourful photo!
BaiHui Art School is very famous, and attracts students from all over China. Students begin in the primary grades and continue through to their senior year. Teachers and students all live in dormitories, and we felt that we were visiting a very large family, the atmosphere was so warm and caring. The staff knew every student by name and could tell us where each one came from. At present there are 400 students here, each paying 20,000Y per year for tuition, room and board. An expansion plan is underway which will double the enrollment.
Students have an academic curriculum as well as studying the performing arts: drama, dance and music. We passed a ballet room where students were using the barre. We heard a rock group practicing in a garage-like building situated well away from the other school buildings - a very practical location! We left with very colourful brochures about the school and a CD of students’ performances. If you are interested, there’s a web site: www.baihuiart.com.
Spring has definitely arrived in the Beijing Huairou area, with flowers in full blossom, grass turning green and trees showing the pale delicate green of new leaves. On the mountain slopes around the city we can see the pink and white clouds of flowering trees among the new green foliage. When one of the first year teachers asked us to join an expedition to the mountains to see the flowers, we gladly accepted. The Vice Principal agreed that this was a worthwhile excursion and scheduled the school van and its driver to take us to a nearby location in the Tao Valley.
It was a very hot afternoon. We went armed with water, sun hats, good walking shoes and sun glasses. The drive through the countryside was very pleasant - everything was bursting forth in the heat of spring here. We arrived at a very large trout farm, which was also a resort location for tourists, with room accommodation and dining rooms. The valley formed a cool crease between very steep heights to either side. Looking at it from the parking lot, it was an idyllic scene. No one had outlined our destination, and we set off in the belief that we were out for a short, scenic walk. It was only after 90 minutes of hard slogging ever upwards, clambering over the rocks of a dried river bed, that we realized our destination was the unrestored section of the Great Wall we could see far above us at the crest of the mountain dead ahead. Our companions were very keen to reach the top. But we were flagging, and knew that we would not go much further. Soon the time of decision arrived, and it turned out that only 3 people were determined to climb; 4 of us stopped for a rest, and then returned to the trout farm.
Here we bought nuts from local vendors – chestnuts (famous in this area), heart nuts, walnuts and almonds. We watched fish of all sizes swim in their separate ponds. The sound of running water was all around us. The mountain location guaranteed fast running water, a vital necessity for the raising of trout. As well rainbow trout, there were beautiful golden trout in separate ponds. An outdoor restaurant had been built directly over some of the ponds, and here we waited for the hearty 3 to return - a wait of almost 3 hours. As dinner time approached, we picked up bamboo poles and went fishing for our supper. Liver and cut up small fish were the bait. Judy had excellent luck, landing the largest of the three fish needed for dinner. Her second fish was so heavy that it broke her line as she attempted to haul it out of the water. Ken also caught a good sized fish.
Our catches soon turned up on the dinner table as sushi, and grilled fish which had been coated with a spicy batter. A truly delicious feast, accompanied with cold beer and several vegetable dishes. Sunburned and weary, feeling every one of the 40 or so years difference in our ages and those of our colleagues, we were glad to climb back into the van for the drive home. We doubt that we will go mountain climbing again, but are somewhat flattered that our fellow teachers thought we could go the distance!
All text and photography © copyright Harkaway, 2003 - 2004
