For the past nearly three months, I’ve dealt with China and manufacturing in China. It has been stressful and interesting and exhausting and eye-opening. I don’t know nearly enough yet, but I know a lot, and what I’ve discovered agrees with what I’ve heard from others who have spent years and decades there. The following …
Monthly Archive: May 2012
Permanent link to this article: http://engineerinshenzhen.com/initial-findings-on-manufacturing-in-china/
Back in the States
I’ve returned to the United States for a while. There are some things you just shouldn’t try to do in China, and I needed to do those things. If you 1) Need a good internet connection or 2) Need to do rapid prototyping and engineering, then the U.S. is better. China is the place to …
Permanent link to this article: http://engineerinshenzhen.com/back-in-the-states/
Getting from Shenzhen to Hong Kong International Airport
HKIA is cheaper than Shenzhen airport for flights, but it adds a layer of complexity to the voyage. Hong Kong is a special region of China; U.S. citizens don’t need a visa for stays of 90 days or less, but that doesn’t apply to mainland. The primary languages spoken are English and Cantonese, whereas Shenzhen …
Permanent link to this article: http://engineerinshenzhen.com/getting-from-shenzhen-to-hong-kong-international-airport/
Unsolicited business cards
I’ve discovered that white guys carrying manufacturing prototypes are like magnets for people who work for international freight agencies and are also traveling on the subway. All I have to do is sit here and other people come up to me and hand me a business card. This has happened a few times now. At …
Permanent link to this article: http://engineerinshenzhen.com/unsolicited-business-cards/
My new favorite breakfast
Since moving from my old moldy place to a spare bedroom in someone else’s, my morning commute has changed slightly. This puts me directly in front of Ichibenor, which is a chain of bakeries. Inside I found this roll. The green tint is because it’s green tea flavored. The red things are beans, which the …
Permanent link to this article: http://engineerinshenzhen.com/my-new-favorite-breakfast/
Get out of my computer, China!
Today I was browsing the internet in the apartment, and a strange ad came up on the Google maps web site. Normally Google doesn’t show ads on their own pages; especially ones that look like this. I started to do some investigating, and what I found was disturbing. It turns out my internet service provider, …
Permanent link to this article: http://engineerinshenzhen.com/get-out-of-my-computer-china/
Validation
I recently met someone who has been in China for the last year and Shenzhen for the last two months. He had read this blog and thought ‘he says everything I’ve been thinking but have been too lazy to write.’ Many of the things I’ve described here have also been experienced by the friends who …
Permanent link to this article: http://engineerinshenzhen.com/validation/
Pedestrians get no love
If there’s one thing I’d like to change about Shenzhen, it’s having the right of way on sidewalks and the sense of safety that I can be a pedestrian without getting run over. Sadly, the sidewalks are frequently populated with as many cars and motorcycles and bicycles as the road is, and going in both …
Permanent link to this article: http://engineerinshenzhen.com/pedestrians-get-no-love/
Crossing the street is hazardous
This morning I barely avoided serious injury. I had the crosswalk telling me it was ok, I looked both ways, I even slowed down as I started because it looked like a bus was considering going anyway, but it changed its mind. As I crossed, a car on the wrong side of the street was …
Permanent link to this article: http://engineerinshenzhen.com/crossing-the-street-is-hazardous/
China can be gross sometimes
Since I’ve been here I’ve seen a parade of disgusting everywhere I go. It’s relentless and it’s exhausting. Here are just some of the notable ones: As I came up the escalator from the subway, a woman was crouched on the sidewalk vomiting into a corner. At least she was kind enough to do it …
Permanent link to this article: http://engineerinshenzhen.com/china-can-be-gross-sometimes/