Just before Thanksgiving 1998, I approached my wife about our vacation plans for the summer of 1999. My wife’s first reaction was you want to go where? And do what? My reply to her was Hong Kong and China, and tour the Aristo Craft factory. Sue is a budding train enthusiast, loves to travel, but hates to fly, but she also has always wanted to visit Asia. So it was easy to sell her on the trip. It took me the first 15 of the 31 years we have been married to get her on a plane. Since then she has made flights to Hawaii, one to Alaska alone to meet up with me, and at least seven international flights and more domestic flights than she cares to think about. Sue still hates to fly, but at least now most of the terror is gone. This is the start of what would be her longest flight. Besides I convinced her that this would be a 30th anniversary that she would never forget. It was just that.
We met up with another 19 or 20 Aristo Craft fans and Jonathan Polk and Dave Newell of Aristo Craft at the Asiana ticket counter at the Los Angles International Airport. Our noon time flight out of Los Angles on Asiana Airlines was one of the best international flights I have ever been on. The 11+ hours from LA to Seoul and 2+ hours from Seoul to Hong Kong went by pretty fast. Service was excellent even in coach class. It was near 11PM when we cleared customs and immigration in the new Hong Kong airport. Our tour guides met our group at the baggage claim area and had our room keys, which they distributed to us on the bus through HK to the Kowloon district. This bit of forethought was outstanding and pretty much the way things went the whole trip. When we got to the Prudential hotel our luggage was brought to us while we were unwinding and I think most of us were in bed by shortly after midnight.
The next morning we met up with three Australian Aristo Craft fans that came in ahead of us and we started our first day in Hong Kong with a tour of Hong Kong, Victoria Peak, and Repulse Bay. We took a midday break for a Dim Sum Lunch at the Aberdeen Floating Restaurant in Hong Kong Harbor. If you have never had Dim Sum this is a delight to experience. The food just kept coming, each dish was better and more exotic than the last. Finely when we thought that with one more bite we would explode it came to an end. After lunch we took a tour of the Hong Kong Harbor Typhoon Basin and anchorage. Gone are the fishing Junks that were there on my first and only trip to Hong Kong in 1966 during the Vietnam War. All of the fishing fleet is now modern diesel power, but there are still thirty five thousand people living on board the family fishing boats. They have automatic washers, microwaves, TV’s, all the conveniences of home. From there we were on to the Stanley Market for a currency exchange trip for the wives (Shopping).
The next morning we boarded our bus for the trip through the new territories to the Chinese border. The highway system was a surprise and pretty modern. However I would not advise a non-native to drive in Hong Kong or China. We traveled through one of the four special free enterprise economic zones after an uneventful border crossing. At the crossing from the economic zone into China proper we encountered our first of two minor difficulties in crossing the border into the Communist mainland. Our guides quickly remedied this situation and we were on our way towards Chinas Pearl River Delta and the Aristo Craft Factory and other sights. Our First stop was at a theme park called "Splendid China" this park had a lot of features that were of great interest to all on the tour. It is a complete replica of all the geographic and man made wonders in China. Everything is scaled out at around 1 inch to the foot and is simply mind-boggling. You can walk along the Great Wall of China, accurate in every detail for its entire length. You can see the Forbidden City and the imperial palaces and summer homes of the royalty of the ancient dynasties, As well as ancient temples, all complete with small porcelain figurines. China is a big country so this park covers acres of land. That night was spent in one of the two four star hotels that we were to use while in China. This facility was being remodeled but was more than adequate. That evening we had another of what would be several of these Dim Sum delights. I don’t understand how these folks keep from looking like beach balls with legs.
The next morning after breakfast we were off across country to the Aristo Craft Factory. This is one of five factories owned by the same corporation that manufactures a number of items under contract for different corporations. The particular Factory that we visited is the one that manufactures Aristo Craft products as well as several other smaller gauge brands of trains. After a massive ear stimulating firecracker and banner unfurling greeting we commenced our tour of the factory.
Let me add one thing before we get into the factory. I did not know what to expect before arrival at this factory. I was surprised to find a relatively modern facility that would pass our OSHA standards except for the fact that steel-toed shoes are most likely unheard of in China. As a young person I worked in places a heck of a lot worse in this country. All of the injection molding equipment is state of the art and the same for the pad printing areas and paint shops. For those of you who are a little hesitant at buying products from third world countries or have a hang up over child labor, as you should, there were no employees in this factory under the age of 18. The whole facility is staffed with skilled workers, from the Draftsmen, Machinist, Mold shop, painters, and printers, down to the assembly line workers. The workers in the factories owned by this company are unionized, work a 40 hour week, are paid overtime and get a month off for the Chinese New Year, which is a time when Chinese families traditionally get together and have reunions.
The only restriction that was placed on us was a request that we try not to photograph products other than Aristo Craft. Other than that we had free reign of the Factory.
Aristo Craft Products are engineered and designed in house in the US by Aristo Craft Engineers and designers. The manufacturing process is designed and completed in China. For those of you unfamiliar with the injection molding process it is quite a complex process.
On our fist stop we saw the CAD drawings for the molds for many new products being finalized, as well as the mold making process. Even in China a master machinist and mold maker gets a premium dollar. Molds for a fairly complex locomotive can still run several hundred thousand dollars.
It may come as a surprise to many of you to find out that the molds have to be larger than the finished product. This is because the plastic shrinks as it cools. For any of you who spent some time looking for the hood that hides the switches on an Aristo Craft RS3 locomotive you can appreciate the close tolerance that this involves and the fact that the seams are invisible to most of us.
We saw molds being cut by laser machinery and by hand. A lot of the fine detail work is done by laser and the ports for the plastic medium and the water cooling required to get the plastic out of the mold are done by hand on milling machinery. As we moved around the factory we saw the raw product coming out of the molds, having excess sprue removed and going to a holding area to be cleaned of the mold release agent and painted. We saw the raw product being painted and the holding rooms where the paint is allowed to cure. In another area we saw the new Aristo Craft Heavyweight Pullman car being masked up for the two-tone paint job required for the Southern livery to be put on the Southern RY Pullman. The one area that was of interest to all of us was the pad printing shop. Aristo Craft does not use decals. The graphics on Aristo Craft Products are done with a pad printing process using high quality inks. Some of these depending on the color require more than one pass with the pad-printing machine. Some Aristo Craft cars or locomotives require as many as eleven separate passes to complete the graphics.
We saw all of the different stages of the assembly process. As with any fine model the final assembly of these products is completed mostly by hand. Here each item has the appropriate part selected from bins and added to the product. Then it is checked for completeness and passed on to another individual who reviews the work of the previous person and who adds her own detail part. This process takes place on long tables throughout the factory on each of its three floors. Throughout the process senior assemblers check each item for completeness. As we neared the end of the tour we watched the assembly of the Hershey’s Chocolate Lil Critter switch engine. It went through three separate quality checks before it went in to the starter set it was being assembled for. Each check required the motive power to be tested. At the end of that line all of the components are checked for completeness before being put into the starter set box. The locomotives were tested one final time and placed into boxes which were then put into the shipping cartons to be placed into shipping containers for shipment to Aristo Craft Headquarters in Irvington, NJ for world wide distribution.
After a little more than a half day at the Factory we took another Dim Sum break with the Factory Managers hosting the event. From there we had the option of going back to the factory for more of a look or proceeding on. Since we had seen everything we wanted to see as a group we elected to move on to Zui Hai.
On this part of the trip we were forced to leave the four-lane highway system that we had been on up to this time. A construction detour put us off on a two-lane backcountry rural road. This was kind of unique due to the fact that it was what rural Asia looked like to me 33 years ago. I almost immediately caught that old feeling of looking into the brush for an ambush but all we saw were farmers working some of the most fantastically beautiful farms and farm land I have ever seen. A few even stopped long enough to wave at the bus. Ah, Pearl Bucks China at last. Darn the world is changing too fast.
Upon arrival at our Hotel in Zui Hai we relaxed, freshened up and later went off for more Dim Sum. After dinner most of us wandered across the street to a large shopping center. This shopping center had over 90 stores and shops, among these was one which most of us had to check out. Here in the middle of the Peoples Republic of China was a Park n’ Shop grocery store. We saw many North American and US brands with Chinese labels. Labels like Del-Monte, Campbell’s, Kellogg’s, and Nestle’ the list just goes on and on. This was a definite duplication of anything that you will find in North America or Europe. Everywhere we went you could find a Coca-Cola and Diet Coke is the only diet beverage sold in the PRC, although you can not find it everywhere. Our stop the next day was at the New Yun Ming Palace. This is a reproduction of a palace that existed in Beijing (Peking) and was destroyed by the British during one of the Opium wars. It was decided that due to the shame of it being destroyed it would not be rebuilt in Beijing, but instead at Zui Hai.
The New Yun Ming palace is a wonder, completely reconstructed in all of the detail of the original construction. Walt Disney would be proud of this if it was his. All detail is in place as well as costumed interpreters/reinactors like you would find at Williamsburg, VA or one of our national parks. From there we headed to the port and boarded the hydrocraft for the trip across the South China Sea and Hong Kong again. We were picked up at the harbor by our bus and taken back to the Prudential Hotel. From there we were on our own for our evening meal, no more Dim Sum. Dim Sum is an expensive delight here at home. Loving rice and international foods I never thought I would get tired of it. First stop Pizza. The next day we were on our own for a day of shopping or more sight seeing, and getting packed for the next days departure back to the US. We spent the day shopping and making a raid on the Hard Rock Café tee shirt shop, and then to McDonalds for lunch. I never thought I would walk out of McDonalds and say, "darn that was good". Our return trip out of Hong Kong through Seoul was as delightful as the trip over. I only wish that it had not been the high vacation season in Korea as that can be one delightful place to spend an extra couple of days. The next trip Aristo Craft makes is supposed to be sometime in 2001. If they change the itinerary a little Sue and I just might go again.
Some essential notes on travel in Hong Kong and China:
First of all you just can’t go to the Factory or just show up at the factory and expect to get a tour. You have to go as part of an organized group escorted by Aristo Craft. They take care of the arrangements and will get you the best available price. In fact I don’t think your going to beat the Aristo Craft price anyway you try. You sure won’t be able to beat the company of other happy Aristo Craft fans and owners.
A bit of caution if your troubled walking moderate distances, or climbing stairs you may have some moderate difficulty. Most of Hong Kong and a lot of China have made things Handicapped accessible, but this trip still takes a little stamina and it can get quite hot and humid depending on the time of year you go. My wife asked me if it was that hot in Vietnam, my reply to her was yeah we had a few cool days like this.
If you’re going there and expecting things to be like they are at home, give everyone else a break and stay home! The constant whining by someone about how different things are can really ruin a trip like this for the rest of the crowd. Your going there because it is different and WOW, is it different. It is not Pearl Bucks China any more, but it is more different than anything that you will ever experience. As far as Asia goes I have lived in Korea, Vietnam, and traveled in Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong and The Philippines and this was my first time back in 32 years. Everything was a new adventure all over again.
Hong Kong is an ultra modern city. It is now under the control of the communist government of the Peoples Republic of China. Little has changed yet and everywhere you go there are thousands of shops and stores. This includes the Circle "K" and 7-11 chains. As well as most of the fast food stores that you will find here in North America (I refrain from using US as we have many Canadian and other members in the TCA). Hong Kong is a relatively safe city, but as with any big city you should travel in-groups, exercise a certain amount of caution and be aware of your surroundings at all times. A no-no that is briefed in our office every time we leave the country either on vacation or official travel is avoid any clothing that will draw attention to you as a north American. Example no cowboy boots, western hats loud t-shirts that type of thing. In a group you can get away with it, but if you wander out on your own then these things should be avoided. Other than that take lots of money and your plastic, as you can shop until you drop.
English was a requirement in all schools until several years ago and most individuals do speak English in one degree of fluency or another. We didn’t see any Peoples Republic of China (PRC) Soldiers or uniforms in Hong Kong. In fact we only saw a few police who were armed. We did see a lot of security cameras in what could be potential crime areas such as parks and street corners. Currency from the mainland is not accepted in any of the stores or banks. A lot of stores will do currency conversions for you if you do not have the local currency. You will get a better rate in most of the hotels or at the American Express office. Plastic is your best bet if dealing with a store. You get the current rate on the day that the transaction is posted and it is usually more favorable than that of a travelers check. In fact I don’t carry many traveler’s checks anymore other than for what I actually need for a little cash and incidentals.
China on the other hand is still considered a third world country. Little English is spoken or understood but is being taught in schools as English is now the international business language. Europeans are still a novelty in some areas and large portions of the population have never seen one. You had better get used to being stared at. Many civil rights are still restricted. The economy and living conditions are rapidly improving to the standards that the rest of us are used to as a norm. We saw many factories under construction, and many more completed but setting empty waiting for tenants. Most of the Major North American, European and Asian corporations are represented there. We were surprised at the number of high rise apartment buildings, complete with air conditioning that we saw going up or completed all over the area that we were in. This area extended from Hong Kong all the way to the outskirts of Canton and back down to ZuiHai near Macao. We rode by several golf courses and several family type amusement parks and lots of theaters. The average person in this region has some type of disposable income that allows them to spend on luxury and leisure activities. Your Canadian currency and US will be accepted as will travelers checks and many but not all stores can accept credit cards. I recommend that you exchange just what currency that you need in the hotels. During the whole trip I saw a total of 6-8 PRC solders. Being a US Army veteran of the Vietnam conflict, a retired AF reservist and a career civilian with the Department of the Army, I look for these things. None of the military we saw were armed, Two rode by the factory while the fire works were going off, more out of curiosity than duty and the others were riding in a truck on what looked like a work detail. The border crossings are a little intimidating. Sue and I went to Spain and Portugal last spring and went through European Pass Port control in Frankfurt Germany and saw more guns there and encountered the same lack of personality types in immigration so this has to be getting to be universal.