I was a little sad to leave Shanghai- the hustle and bustle was irresistible! I can see why so many American expatriates get sucked into the allure of China and decide to stay.
Our first night in Shenzhen we ate dinner on our own. Since it was already a late night and there weren’t many food options near the hotel Mike and I decided to experiment with a Chinese McDonalds. Much of the menu was the same- the same delicious fries and burgers. However, we decided to try the taro pie (in place of apple), which was delicious! It was a similar texture, but rather than the apple cinnamon flavor it was much fruiter but tasty in its own unique Chinese way.
Our first full day in Shenzhen was filled with a company and factory visit to UMBRA, a home décor company based in Toronto, Canada. UMBRA predominately sells their products through retailers such as Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, Macy’s and a variety of others including private labels at Sears and Walmart. In fact, I recognized many of their products and even own a few myself! Many of the products at Target marketed to college students each fall are made by UMBRA, so it was interesting to see and hear from the representatives of the company. In the morning we learned about the company history, culture, and operations and in the afternoon we had the opportunity to visit the manufacturing plant.
The plant is actually one of about 30 manufacturing plants that produce UMBRA products, but it’s the location where the assembly of materials and packaging are put together. This stop was one of the most eye-opening and enlightening of the trip. It was amazing to see so many people working in unison in almost a rhythmic dance to assemble products they would never use to sell to people they’d never meet. The factory seemed moderately clean, well-lit, and safe and also silent and disciplined. Official working hours are 8 each day, but most workers jump at the opportunity for overtime pay to send home to families to pay for their children’s education because monthly pay is a little over $200 US dollars. UMBRA offered their workers the choice of dorm-style housing or a living stipend to spend on housing nearby, but most chose to live in dorms as it was a more frugal option. I was so glad when one of the guys in our group asked if we could see the dorms and the managers from the factory agreed!
The dorms looked like something I remember from summer camp growing up. Each room had 3 sets of bunks, had one bathroom with a showerhead sticking out of the wall (there was no separate stall), a porcelain hole for a toilet, and a small modest sink. Many of the workers had fashioned a small kitchenette on the patio adjacent to the bathroom in order to save money and cook their own food. A few of the wealthier workers had hand-held DVD players or small TVs but mostly the rooms were with little form of entertainment, which implied that there wasn’t much time for leisure in their lives (or funds for it).
I tried to imagine what working there would feel like. What things would I bring to hang on my wall? What part of the curtain rod assembly would be my job? How many times a week would I be crouched over performing the same motion? 6,000? 7,000? More?! (We actually calculated it out- a worker on average performs the same motion 7,000 times per week).
I thought it seemed like a pretty large price to pay so American college freshmen could have picture frames and brightly colored trash cans that match their bedspreads. But then I thought, what would life be like for these workers if this factory didn’t exist? Many would be without work and might not be able to afford their child’s education or worse, starve! It’s a sad dilemma- many have nowhere else to go but to work in a factory, and at least UMBRA had safe and clean working conditions and gave their workers health insurance. I’ll never be able to shop in a Target or Bed Bath and Beyond the same way again.
After a day of deep reflection, we visited the Walmart headquarters in China. Honestly, that meeting wasn’t as interesting as I expected it to be. Basically, Walmart did their research before entering the Chinese market and handled all cultural challenges quite well. It was interesting to hear their plans for expansion into smaller tier 2 and 3 cities as well as the variety of business models they’ve created or acquired in China. In fact, one model that Walmart has created they call the “discount compact hypermarket” that is designed to be a smaller, more local grocery and general store for smaller Chinese markets. It’s a model not used in the US (since they would most likely just construct at Supercenter store). It has done extremely well in the localized Chinese markets. We were also able to tour a Chinese Sam’s Club, which was much more upscale and luxurious than in the US. The electronics section of the store took up much more floor space than the western counterpart, and it seemed that the store was positioned more as a luxurious shopping location rather than a bulk shopping store.
In all, I think Shenzhen had some of the best opportunities to learn (Walmart’s headquarters and the factory visit to UMBRA), but it was my least favorite city on the trip because it wasn’t as lively and vibrant as many of the other cities we visited. Many describe Shenzhen as the mainland commuter city to Hong Kong, and that’s exactly what it felt like! I was sad we had to miss Guangzhou, the last large tier 1 city in China but unfortunately we didn’t have time for a visit. Hopefully I will later in life!