China

[Tony Vargas]

As most already know, I took a trip to China, a communist nation in East Asia with a mixed landscape of vast grassland, endless desert, high mountain ranges, dense forest, lakes, rivers, and large metropolis cities. My first stop and port of entry was Beijing, the capital, where you can visit historic sites and Tiananmen Square. From there I went to Guangzhou where most of the factories I wanted to visit are located. And lastly, visited its largest city, Shanghai, the city of skyscrapers and where the China International Pet Show (CIPS) took place.

In addition to visiting China, I did plan a quick visit to the Philippines where I was given the opportunity of interviewing the most decorated four star General in the history of their country.

Let me put this out there from the start, I am not the type of person that likes to visit historic sites or get caught in the middle of tourist traps. When I visit a place I want to see anything and everything aquarium related. Show me fish shops, fish markets, reef tanks, and hobbyist aquariums and you have my undivided attention.

I had been planning this trip for about a year with many goals in mind. First and foremost, I wanted to visit some of the factories that manufacture some of the products we use with our aquariums. The intention was to visit the companies I admire and respect the most, without prejudice.

In addition, I also wanted to visit CIPS – considered one of the largest trade show in the world. This year the show was held at the National Exhibition and Convention Center in shanghai.

In the next few days and upcoming weeks I will post some of my key important visits, some interesting products that caught my attention, and to highlight some of China’s facts not fiction. Hopefully, I can get pass this jetlag soon enough to provide this content.

Input – should I post in order of occurrence or highlighted random events/stories/interviews?

 

[Diesel]

IMO as far as posting, post as you want a lot of R2R members/viewers their undivided attention.
This will be a great thread.
Thanks Tony V.

 

[California Reef Co.]

Looking forward to reading every bit of this Tony! Any order is fine so long as there are a few pictures to go with it!

Especially the part about CIPS!

 

[kenniole]

This sounds like a good read! and will there be pictures ?! =D

 

[nitro]

Looking forward to it.
Nitro

 

[Dr. Phil]

Looking forward to it.
Nitro

+1

 

[Tony Vargas]

Preparing for a trip of this magnitude can be a daunting task especially when everyone is trying to give you advice but, all you hear negative remakes about China. I can understand one of the suggestions because I’m a very finicky eater with a very specific palate. When at a restaurant I commonly have my usual and typically will not try something new. So, you can imagine all the negative remarks I heard about Chinese food and how I will be served or offered cat or dog meat. What was most puzzling was some of these individuals have never been to China, but heard stories. Nevertheless, I made a decision to go with an open mind and “when in China do as the Chinese”.

The other part of this trip which can be exhausting both mentally and physically is the long journey getting to your final destination. This trip started at Palm Beach International airport and ended in Guangzhou. Boarding the plane for this long flight I tried to prepare myself mentally for a very uncomfortable trip, but was given a present surprise when the hatch door closed. The two seats next to me were vacant making this 33 hour journey a little bit more relaxing.

Gate for Beijing

Preparing for a very long flight

 

[Tony Vargas]

Pleasant surprise

Arrived in Beijing

 

[Tony Vargas]

First aquarium seen in China, at Beijing airport

 

[Tony Vargas]

The plane landed in Guangzhou at 1am and after a long and exhausting trip I was looking forward to a nice comfortable bed. Pleased with the temperature as it resembled Florida’s slightly, but with less humidity. The ride from the airport did not allow me to see much because of the darkness, but decorative lights on the side of builds could be seen at every turn.

I did not stay at a traditional hotel, instead I stayed at a condo called 2513 Serviced Residence. Throughout this trip I stayed at numerous hotels and I would have to say that American hotels can learn a thing or two from the Chinese. For example they all provide toothbrush, toothpaste, razor, comb and great shampoo/conditioner. These little things go a long way and are appreciated.

The view from my room was not bad, but the complimentary breakfast was even better. My first meal in China was fried noodles and eggs and let’s not forget the dessert roll.

Now, off to Waveline for a tour of their facility!

Building Lights

Morning View!

 

[TomatoSauceTy]

MORE!!!!

 

[Paul B]

I originally thought this thread was about dishes

 

[Tony Vargas]

I originally thought this thread was about dishes

That is funny, never thought that it would be interpreted that way.

 

[melypr1985]

I can't wait to see more Tony! Thanks for sharing

 

[Tony Vargas]

The ride to Waveline’s facility was like driving in a major city in the US, I would compare it to down town Ft. Lauderdale with wider roads. But, there was something that got my attention, which I noticed at almost every turn, the number of new high rise buildings going up. At one point we counted more than 20 cranes at one site. From what I observed the Chinese do not build these high rise buildings one at a time, but strategically commence the build of all the high rises at the same time.

These tight community of building did reflect some of the old traditional way of living. Many of the residents in these high rises still place their clothes outside the window. I was informed that most like their clothes to dry naturally as oppose to having them dry in a dryer.

Something else I noticed, was the lack of law enforcement (Police) presence on the streets. This I would say was offset by the numerous cameras found at every turn and the number of flash photography taken everywhere you go. I would have to say that facial recognition software is used in order to monitor everyone’s whereabouts, just my speculation.

Finally arrived at my destination, Waveline. I was greeted by two of the owners, Eddie Ye and Daniel Nguyen. Two of the most humble people you would ever met in this industry of ours. I consider them very special people not just because of their incredible hospitality, but during all our conversations at no time did they bad mouth the competition. But instead focused on explaining and demonstrating what makes their products better through unique Quality Control procedures.

In the next couple of days, I will upload a video where Daniel will give us some insight to the history of Waveline.

Construction cranes at every turn.

Clothes and sheets hanging from many windows.

On the left hand side Eddie Ye and Daniel Nguyen to the right.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Ooh cool! Can't wait to follow this.

 

[RLSS-WAVELINE]

Thank you Tony for visiting the Waveline factory. Hope you enjoy your trip to China!

 

[Tony Vargas]

Many of the aquarium manufactures are located in Guangzhou and visiting Waveline was a priority for my visit to China. Eddie and Daniel greeted me with open arms and instantly made me feel welcomed in a place far from home. This was not my first meeting with Daniel, as we find ourselves at many of the trade shows throughout North America. Nevertheless, it was my first introduction to Eddie who treated me like family from the start, very inviting.

The first full hour of my visit I was introduced to as many of the employees as possible. We talked about the company’s early days and what we could discuss during the interviews. Some of the things my eyes and my camera may have seen were not ready for public awareness. From a glance you can see that the place was in high gear, as they were preparing for the China International Pet Show (CIPS) in Shanghai.

Eddie took some time to show me a few 3D illustrations of their booth for the CIPS show. They were all so busy preparing for the show that I was surprised how they found time for my intrusion and the interview.

Daniel agreed to the interview and here it is.

Tony:
Hi Daniel, I would like to thank you very much for allowing me to come and visit your facility. I now that most manufactures don’t like people coming by to see what they are doing. But I also like to thank you for allowing us to interview with you and to hear a little about the company’s history. So, if you can start from the very beginning and give us an idea of how you guys got stared.


Daniel:
Well Tony, in 2010 we had a vision of what the aquarium industry needed and we approached a few OEM factories to design us a pump. And, at that point we had an idea of using a DC power pump. We’ve asked a company to work with us, come up with a design to manufacture the DC 5000. We had the first few batch a very large success, but as the orders were coming in the quality of the product was not up to our standard and we asked the factory to put some check marks for us and we could not come to an agreement with them. In terms of quality and standardizing the product. At that point we decided to cut our ties with that factory and bought our own machines and used our own manufacturing methods following North American standards. Manufacturing what we have now is the DC 6000.

In the next video of this interview we will discuss the importance of departmentalization of the factory and how it effects quality control.

 

[larangcon]

Following along...

 

[Breadman03]

I'm in for the ride