Cowell

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We got up early and headed to the Qingdao airport, our stay complete. Our next stop would be Xiamen and the Cowell factory.

As we entered the airport, we were half looking for the airline (Shandong) check-in counter, and half looking for our next con man that would approach us to help us get through the process. Neither was apparent.

We passed an information counter where a very good accent asked if they could help us. We told her the airline and where we were going and she directed us to the correct ticketing counter.

It was a very clean and well-run airport, and the check-in process went well. Mike was trying to check two bags, and since he's still carrying books, candy and gifts for some of the vendors, it weight .5 kilos too much (about 1 lb.), so carry-on it was.

Once we arrived in Xiamen, the driver from Cowell caught our attention and we were shuffled towards the exit. I needed to exchange a little more money and asked if there was an exchange in the airport. I showed him my Chinese money, and he showed me the restroom (I still can't figure that one out). I showed him my American cash, and he asked and we were directed towards the international terminal and a bank where it appeared we would be able to exchange it. Not so fast little one.

I approached the window and laid out the cash I wanted to exchange, only to be told that I would have to provide my passport. I had forgotten, but reached to my bag and got it out. The counter attendant then informed me that I had to go back to the business center - pointing in the direction I should go - and get a copy of it for him. Why they couldn't make the copy, I do not know. Why they needed it, I do not know. We walked that direction and were told at the first counter that appeared to be a business center that we would have to go to another one.

By the time we came to the next one we were back where we had started, and I didn't feel like

hassling with it and making the return trip, so we convinced the driver (who spoke absolutely no English) that we were ready to go. I'd use the services at the hotel.

We checked in at the hotel, dropped our luggage in our rooms, and headed to Cowell. They had invited us to eat lunch (though we were late and in the dining room by ourselves by the time we

there. Our host and hostess were Sammy (Mike and her go way back evidently) and Allen (from the Hong Kong office). Sammy's English was lacking, but Allen spoke very well.

Cowell is a huge facility, the largest we've been to yet, and much more advanced than previous factories we had visited. Compare these high-tech CNC mills with the photos of the smelter shots from Qingdao.


There is a statue/monument in front of the plant that I asked about and was told it represented the hard-working people of Xiamen.

I captured the image of them sleeping at one of the first buildings we visited. It turns out that everyone takes a little nap after lunch, and before returning to work. In this heat (it's much warmer here than in Shanghai and Qingdao) that sounds like an excellent idea.

Our tour included the dormitories, where we were introduced to the living standards of the common worker here. That consists of a 3 or 4 high bunking arrangment (little cubicles for sleeping) in a large room. There were probably 100 beds or more per floor.

Our tour continued, and knowing that Sammy would have none of it, I kept offering to drive. Not in the cards.


The showroom was very impressive (much larger than ours in Logan), and full of most of the products we sell. Posters adorned the walls of many of the folks back home. We were told that we missed David Watterson's visit by only one day. He had been there for two days and just left the day before.


At the end of the showroom is a shrine. I have seen these before. They have generous portions of food laid out before them as an offering. I think it is to insure prosperity and good luck.

We met with the Cowell gang, half expecting the "deer in the headlights" look Mike had encountered on his first visit, but were pleasantly surprised with how well the meeting and training sessions went. One hitch... the dev server in Logan must have been down because we couldn't access it to show them the new shipping and invoicing screens. Still, they seemed to catch the excitement of the new functionality and ease of use.

We finished up, met with a couple of individuals that had questions about drawings and product structures (being no help whatsoever), and "rested" for a few minutes before being taken back to the hotel.

Once back, and being so tired, we decided to take a nap before dinner.
I decided this would be a chance for a workout, so went looking for the

fitness center. It was locked, with a sign that said you had to contact the front desk. This is the first hotel where there are not very many who speak English well, so at first I had a hard time getting across that I wanted to workout, but finally, two people, dressed in spa themed workout clothes showed up to let me in.

I knew right away this was about to be an experience. I started with a little weightlifting (I hadn't done my shoulders and back this week), and was getting some funny looks from these two. Eventually, my own personal trainer showed up to help. He kept wanting me to do chest exercises and I tried to help him understand that I was working my shoulders and back. It wasn't good enough to just let me have the run of the place, and he followed me around like a little puppy dog. As I would go back and forth between the dumbbells and rowing machine that they had available, he was always there looking over my shoulder, trying to "help" me. This was driving me crazy, so I told him I just wanted to run. He led me to a treadmill and started it for me. It had a bad catch in it, and would hesitate on every revolution of the belt.

I shut it down and stepped to the next one to see if it was any better. It was, and I setup to workout. The whole while (over 25 minutes), he either stood there behind me to "supervise", or tried to look busy doing something else. I had finally had enough, and decided to leave. He asked me to step on the scales before I left and couldn't believe how much I weighed, making a big deal of the fact that it was almost 90 kilos.

The pool was just outside, so I turned to check it out... him in tow. Every step I took, he shadowed me, and bumped into me several times. I was going crazy and decided my only hope of getting rid of him was to go back to my room.

Tomorrow we have a little time to shop for pearls before catching our next flight to Shenzhen.