zandertoyAfter my family left on the 1st I went back to China to work at the factory for a few days.
Today is my last day here and I am so relieved to be heading home tomorrow. Being away from home really sucks especially since I have been away since the 21st of December. Thats around three weeks!
Being at the factory is a fun experience. Its fun to see your designs being made but also a huge reminder of how much labor is involved when making a bag. Even the simple act of edge painting 1 little tab is amazing. Each thread is trimmed and burned. Even our most simple collection takes a long time to make.
Being in this industry is really amazing! There really is no difference when you consider country of origin except the labor costs.
Its really awful that people have such a negative connotation with “made in china” but we are to blame. We are the ones who wanted things cheaper and farmed out the labor overseas. The garment district is almost non-existent because of this.
I am very thankful that I get the chance to travel because it really opens your eyes to see what the rest of the world is like. This trip especially because I now have the experience to travel across the border alone. Normally I get escorted with a driver but they sent me on a bus over the weekend. Almost got lost but thankfully someone on the bus spoke english and was able to guide me across. You basically have to get off the bus, take your luggage and go across the China border and when you get to the other side you have to just walk around and find your bus. Luckily this guy saw that I was with the bus company because I had to wear a sticker. Then you get on the bus and travel like four minutes and then get off the bus to travel through Hong Kong immigration. such a complicated process but is just how it is here.