Virtual China '98

Virtual China '98

Morning Itinerary (April 30, 1998)

Kai Ping, China

Author: Unidentified grade 7 HKIS student

Once again my watch did not wake me up but I did not care. I do not think that I have ever enjoyed sleeping before. I do not know if it was going to bed at 12:00 or it was the fact that we were staying in a 5 star hotel. Like all five star hotel the food was very good and it was the best breakfast that I have had on this trip. It was the nicest place that we have stayed so far. Unlike the last hotel we didn't have to stay in the room forever and entertain ourselves. There was a bowling ally, hair salon, billiard room, swimming pool and even an arcade room.

Everyone liked the hotel and I was really sorry that we had to leave, staying only one day was not enough. After a hectic time boarding the bus (there was a problem checking out), we were on our way to a factory were they made cookies.

We got there about 20 minutes later and by then were really psyched about eating the cookies. The factory itself was not very nice, it looked old and dirty, but it was nicer than most other factories that we have seen.

It was very hot by now and we really wanted to get into the air-conditioned room. Soon we were in the factory taking pictures and drool was forming in our mouths. The inside if the factory was like a great big machine. You could see all the parts working together to make one product. Next we were able to go down to the second floor, there the cookies were packed and the ladies that packed them gave us a huge hand full (about 20 cookies) to each of us. They were butter cookies and after about 10 of them we were all ready to give them away, but they were really good.

Soon after we were all ready to barf and we boarded the bus and were all ready for some biking. Once on our bikes we started off and we were not looking forward to the 75 kilometers that we had to do. It was more than we have done in the past few days and we were really tired. But still we headed out sad that this was our last day and we would leave tomorrow.

Hoping to make the best out of the 75 kilometers that we had in front of us, we decided that we would stop at a lot of villages and try to visit more people. We bussed for a while longer and then started to bike. After passing through forests of trees and vast stretches of rice paddies, we stopped at a village and interviewed some of the people there.

Although they were nice, we needed to head off again so that we could make lunch in time. We biked some more and eventually stopped for lunch. We ate quickly and visited a sewing factory. We stopped next at a rubber factory. We found out that they recycled rubber there, by taking old bicycle tires and cleaning them, melting them and them flattening them into thin strips, which were later sold. I thought that it was really interesting, but the whole place smell like burnt rubber, which was not very pleasant.

Pressing on we traveled really far, passing beautiful mountains covered with tall pine trees and yet more vast stretches of rice paddies. After stopping for a quick bathroom break (which in the middle of nowhere can be a little tricky) we rode a bit more before stopping at a small village along side the road. About five children ran to greet us, yelling "hallo" and "Bye, bye". They were really cute and I was sorry that we had left the erasers and pencil sharpeners in the bus and we couldn't give it to them. So we bought some mints at the store near-by and gave it to the little kids. I tried to take their pictures, but they ran off. The braver of the kids ran up to me and stayed long enough for me to take their pictures.

Afraid of being late at our next stopping point, we said good bye and headed out again. Once more we passed miles and miles of rice paddies and mountains and lots of people. I said hello to many of them, and from the look on their face, they were really surprised to see us.

My name is So Lai Ngan. My occupation is a seamstress in a factory in Kai Ping called the Huge Dragon Garments Co. Ltd. A normal workday would go something like this:

I woke up at 6:00 am and I left my house for work at 6:15. Then I hopped on my bike, riding 1 kilometer until I reached the factory. As I arrived to the factory, I went by to the houses owned by the factory and visited my sick friend. The factory had hired a doctor across the street to take care of her medical needs. After dropping off some chicken soup by her side, I left for work. I walked through the entrance of the sewing room, slapped in my time card, to record that I was not late for work, and took the orders that were waiting for me. Working from 7:00 am to 11:00 am, having a 2-hour lunch break from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm, then I went back to work until the end of the day at 5:00 pm. My orders were to sew together the already shaped, flower patterned, material. From 7:00 to 11:00, I completed 6 pieces of clothing. My back ached so much from hunching over the machine so long, that I was actually counting the minutes until it was time for lunch, for I couldn't wait to relax and get away from all the sewing. At 11:00 am on the dot we were dismissed to our lunch break. As I stood up from my back aching pose, my spine made a crackling sound. I stretched to relieve my sore, knotted muscles. After finishing my bland lunch of white rice topped with fried bitter melon mixed with beef, I talked to the other employees for a while, sharing gossip and the hardship of our work. With 25 minutes left of lunch, I went to visit my sick friend again and fed her white, Chinese porridge flavored with half of a salty egg. Later I went back to work, and finished another 10 pieces of clothing, working as hard as I could to get a raise on my salary. Payday would be next week, and I wouldn't want to receive only another 700 dollars for my monthly wage. I was so sure of getting a raise, for I worked twice as much as usual and even worked extra hours once in a while. So that month I expected maybe 850 dollars instead of the regular 700. I wrapped up my work, went back home on my little, cheap bicycle that is practically 10 years old. I ate my left over of yesterday's dinner and went to sleep early for another long, hard day ahead.

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