My current residence - on the 13th floor. Lucky me ...
Six o'clock in the morning, grey sky, temperature outside near 20°C.
Slowly the city wakes up ...
I move from the bedroom ...
... through the sitting room ...
... into the bathroom, shower and shave, get ready for work.
But first I walk through the lobby ...
... up the stairs for breakfast.
A short peek outside shows: weather has improved as expected ...
... it is warm, humid and cloudy ...
... for later today some rain is predicted.
Ah, my taxi is arriving, off we go ...
... we pass some impressive buildings - banks, of course ...
... parks and crowded crossings ...
... and reach the crowded highway feeder road ...
... and finally to the highway itself.
Passing a truck on the right - completely normal in China ...
... passing pretty houses (I don't show the other ones) ...
... rather modern busses (I don't show the other ones) ...
... until the next red light stops us.
The omni-present cameras remind me where I am.
Slowly a landmark appears in the distant haze ...
... marking our exit, we have to leave the highway.
Through the gate into Nansha, the part of Zhangjiagang in which the workshop is located.
Passing typical Chinese transport vehicles ...
... which are not seen in the west too often ...
... which I personally don't regret at all.
Finally - home run ...
... the company.
Good morning, colleagues - zaoshang hao - my workplace down front.
Anna is ready for a workshop visit ...
... and there are plenty of workshops.
Passing stacks of raw material ...
... which is cut precisely into pieces ...
... which again are processed by large machinery ...
... then transported into other parts of the workshop ...
... processed and re-formed again ...
... to finally be welded ...
... and machined ...
... by a lot of diligent hands.
In the first step they create semi-finished ...
... and finally end products like this tank.
While we were busy in the workshops, it started to drizzle ...
... but there is new material rolling in ...
... which has to be checked: we observe the incoming goods inspection ...
... while unloading continues ...
... until all material is stored inside the inspection area.
Now we pick a few samples for tracing ...
... check for stamps and other material markings ...
... and note those for further inspections.
While our colleagues continue to sort ...
... we move to another area with still more material ...
... which is cut and marked here according to the drawings and parts lists.
There are a lot of small ...
... as well as large parts to be cut ...
... to build a duct almost 4,5 km long with an average diameter of 2 m.
All parts have to be marked thoroughly ...
... in order to have the right part at hand during the fabrication process.
Well, look at the time ...
... lunch is already served: my dinner including beverage and "silverware"
While Anna is recovering from the morning ventures ...
... I do a little sightseeing:
Streetsigns, some of them even readable for "foreign devils" ...
... a tire change on the roadside (AAA took too long getting here) ...
... a very good Chinese restaurant (believe me, I know!) ...
... the number one hotel: The Garden Hotel (was not bad, but far off the beaten track) ...
... and the famous Chinese electric scooters, storefront in the background. Regard the wiring!
Around 5:30 in the afternoon, my driver takes me back to the hotel.
In the meantime, the drizzle has turned into rain.
That does not bother anybody, traffic moves as always.
Again: trucks are best passed on the right side, and the use of lights is far overrated.
I've made it! I'll wrap up the day with a short report and then "skype" home.