Zhuhai, Zhuhai, Zhuhai... It's never seemed so strange.

Strawberry Kids.
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On my first full day in Zhuhai I visited a factory the whole day. I won't bore you with the details, but I will say that it was an insane experience. Absolutely nuts. I was really scared by the conditions, but in reality the Zhuhai factory was the nicest one we saw. I realized by the end of the trip that this one really was not bad, for China.

The owner of the Zhuhai factory, Hank, knew that my father would be in business meetings for all of day two so he very kindly got one of his personal assistants and his driver to take me around and show me the sights. Sophie, the assistant, knew some english, but not much, so the whole time I had to guess as to where we were.

Being in China I thought I would see communism in action, but it didn't seem to be the case.

View in factory
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The first stop was an old compound that had been turned into a museum. It turns out that it was where General Sun, the founder of the communist party in China, lived with his family (between periods of exile). I was captivated by the traditional Chinese architecture, and they had many artifacts showing exactly what life was like for the wealthy in the early 1900's in China. There were also many blurbs explaining how the resistance fought. I was really interested in how much these people believed that communism was the best possible outcome, especially knowing how it impacted the world and what we now think about it. Being in China I thought I would see communism in action, but it didn't seem to be the case. The emerging middle class is an example of this, and capitalism seems to be thriving in this communist country. The poor are very poor, but the rich are quite rich and there is some middle ground. The government really welcomes foreign investment, and doesn't seem to interfere much with business.  Anyways, I'm getting off topic, Zhuhai was enchanting, and it was really amazing that I got to experience this section and little piece of history. China was forever changed by a man whose house I got to visit, and I felt very blessed.

At the convention center. It's a zebra painted as a horse.
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We stopped for lunch a in a town outside of Zhuhai. I think I was probably the first white person to ever eat there and everyone around me was laughing at my complete oblivion as to China's etiquette. Sophie kept trying to explain things to me, like how to eat without being very rude, but eventually gave up and we all just laughed at my ineptitude.

On the way to our next stop I saw strawberry fields and asked to get out to take photos. Sophie thought I wanted to pick strawberries, so we did. I had a blast picking them with Sophie and the driver, and I think they enjoyed it too. I took photos of two little kids working in the fields and their mother quickly hid them in their shed. I think she thought I wanted to steal them and I felt really badly. They were too cute not to photograph though.

The goddess that created the Pearl River Delta.
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After strawberry picking we went to what I assume was some kind of local fair ground. I bought some overpriced gifts for my friends at home and enjoyed the beautiful day. I still don't know what the place was, although it could have been an old palace of sorts, but it was wonderful. After wandering through and drinking some beer we hopped into the car and returned to my father's Zhuhai branch.