The Factory of the World

10 years later: a journey to Shenzhen

I will continue to post my experiences and learnings on topics from family and business to design and engineering.

Since I started in business in 2013, China has been a big part of the journey. Suppliers, manufacturers and agents have mostly been from Guangzhou or China. It's been more than 10 years of working with China and this just felt like the right time in our journey to visit. I had very high expectations going in. I knew I would love it no matter what. I was looking forward to an adventure through the heart of wealth creation, technology and culture in Shenzhen.

I landed in Shenzhen at 4am. And the adventure started right away. My own data plan was not working, so Airport Wifi was the only way to get a didi (Chinese version of Uber/Grab) out to the hotel. The pick-up area is well-organised and I had no problems finding the car. However, this is probably cause it was 4am and there were only 2 cars there. Got into the car and the driver starts to ask me questions. Looking at his phone, he needed to input a 4 digit code. My best guess was my handphone number, after a few tries we got it. And seatbelts are a must. From the little I could understand, he was trying to explain to me that there were cameras that could capture within the vehicle.

8am and I was off. First factory visit did not disappoint. The breadth and quality of work for a predominantly North American clientele truly surprised me. After that was a visit to the Internet of Things Expo 2024. This is where Chinese hustle truly shined. They were sales people stopping me at random times, handing me their brochures and exchanging WeChat details. After which, they sent English versions of the brochures. the expo had tons and tons of everything you would ever need - from chips to full blown AI driven products. I was also invited to the launch of the World AIOT Alliance where there was an international gathering of guests - from India to Romania.

The next few days were the same blur of factory visits, amazing food and meeting new people. A factory that had a thousand workers, dormitories for the workers, a cookhouse and a small supermarket billed itself as small. A lady from a small village in China leading quality assurance for a European powerhouse billed herself as "small fish". And the college student working in Plateau Girl who "spoke little English" but was able to discuss manufacturing in China with me. There's a humility in general and I love it.

One of the highlights of the trip was HuaQiangBei, which apparently means "Powerful China" and I truly understand and wholeheartedly agree. I thought Sim Lim was impressive in its heyday but nothing could prepare me for the sheer scale of HuaQiangBei. Everything electronics was available - from small components all the way to full blown servers. There were plenty of foreigners walking about and it was very clear they were looking for new things to sell back home.

Shenzhen is great. It's really everything I thought it would be and more. The development from a small fishing village designated as a special economic zone in the 1980s to the powerhouse that it is today has really left me inspired. The energy of the place has provided me with the kick in the ass I needed.

I can't wait to go back with May and Layla and have them experience what I did. I also can't wait for the rest of the team to visit Shenzhen and get inspired! 

I'm looking forward to the next time I'm in China. Shanghai perhaps?