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In what it is known in Macau as
Mainland China, the old city of Jin Shan (the front
mountain) gave a very big leap forward in industrial terms that
was quite unexpected by me.
I have heard of the old city back in the 60's when we could not
go to mainland China. Most of the Macau Chinese population came
from Jin Shan, Foshan, and
Shi Wan,
the oldest ceramic center in Southern China.
A bem poucos quilómetros de Macau, na
chamada China Continental, a velha cidade de Jin Shan (montanha
da frente) deu repentinamente um salto industrial deveras
inesperado por mim.
Friends told us it was just ten minutes ride from Macau so we
went there.
Before everything else it is important to explain that
all this region was agricultural, and with the new industrial
era, where Volkswagen
Shanghai and
General Motors Shangai speaks much louder than what
politics try to infuse on world audience.
This having been said, you reach Jin Shan and you can
buy marbles, ceramic tiles, house hardwares, entire kitchens of
international quality and design, bathroom acessories of the
latest designs, custom made doors and even custom made
industrialized finished bathroom furniture.
American Standard, Japanese Toto, German Kohler,
were identified instantly among other brands.
In this period of extraordinarily fast technological
transformation, China has been manufacturing for these companies
while it capitalized on the technologies and learning from them.
The narrative below unveils a bit more over what is China
today, and how low their prices are for the domestic market.
Suffice to say that we had to buy a big airline bag to carry
things and it costed less than US$20. |
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DEPARTING FROM MACAU |
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Going to China, as we say
in Macau, it is done through the border gate. In the second
photo it is visible the ancient border gate built by the
Portuguese which is kept as a relic, while behind it is the new
immigration building.
The amount of people crossing any day is of hundreds of
thousands, and it takes about ten minutes to show your Macau
resident card. Then you go down the stairs and cross into
no-man's land. |
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The visitor walks 300 meters and
he begins to see the Chinese side of the immigration. Another 10
minutes wait and you leave the Immigration and are confronted
with a huge square and a shopping mall thousands of square
meters large.
This is
Gongbei which has no limit to
Zuhai
where many foreigners, including American staff from Macau
Casinos have bought weekend flats.
You take a taxi for US$2.00 and you reach Jin Shan in no
time. |
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The city is an immense supermarket
of the goods mentioned. I took some pictures of kitchens here.
Are they any different from what come from the Magazines? Yes,
they cost many folds less. |
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Many different ceramic tiles, by
the hundreds, are there for you to choose. |
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More no frilss house appliances
shopping malls where you can buy anything for an unbelievable
cost. |
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Magazine style
lavatories, many as low as US$35, shops selling all kinds of
lighting equipment, mostly Made in China. These photos are but a
very brief samples. You tend to spend hours looking for what you
want as the offer is immense. |
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Foreign designers furniture made in China are
on display in hundreds of meters of corridors. Then suddenly you
find that you are exhausted and it is almost night. The last
picture shows our return to the Macau Immigration building.
Many things can be said about China by the West, but the fact is
that it is getting to what is briefly shown here in just simply
20 years with an average growth of 9.5 percent. |
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Copyright
© 2007.
by Antonio Cejunior
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