Day 11 – Company Tours and Fragrant Hill

by Plus3 China as experienced by Rosalyn

Today we had two company tours, one of a distillery and the other a coatings company. The distillery had a very distinct and pungent smell that was noticeable the whole time we were there. I believe they mainly produce Baijiu, which is a type of liquor popular in China. The beginning of the tour was a brief lesson on the long history of alcohol in China. We went through a room with displays of the ornate bottles in which Baijiu is available and some other artifacts of production.

Then we were all given our first sample of the hard liquor. It was much less than a shot, and the first sample was of a lower alcohol percentage, but still quite potent. I did not care for it, to me it tasted faintly of dirt and since we had nothing to wash it down with, left me with a bad taste in my mouth. Next we toured the production and bottling areas. When we passed by the assembly-line worker, we learned about their wages. Because this company is state supported, the wages are higher and the workers who sit and put the stickers on the bottles make 3,000 yuan a month, which is about $500. In comparison, Apple workers make 1200 yuan a month because a private company can pay whatever they like.

Our second tour was of a coatings company. Unfortunately on this tour I wasn’t able to pick up much due to the soft voice of our guide, the noise from the production areas we toured and my position at the back of the group.

The distillery was nice enough to treat us to lunch and we went to a banquet hall that is for company lunches and dinners. It was again several dishes served on a turntable with everyone grabbing what they want.  I found as we were leaving that the men and women who had been following us on the two tours and joining us for lunch were government officials. I don’t think I ever found out exactly why they came with us today.

In the afternoon, we took the bus to Fragrant Hill. Hill is a little bit of an understatement, this thing was definitely more of a mountain. All but one girl in the group elected to take a cable car up instead of doing the hike. I’m glad I did because the view on the way up was incredible! Once we got to the top we were able to see an expansive view of Beijing. Seeing it all spread out (and realizing that there is still so much you can’t see) makes you realize how unbelievably large it is.