Last Saturday, a group of us architects and engineers went on a tour of two factories, a glass factory and a paints factory. The glass manufacturer buys glass from other places and assembles it into the finished pieces. It is known for creating curved glass, such as that used in Apple stores. This afforded some cool pictures.
On the way, we saw traditional European architecture.
The entrance of the glass factory
They make their own machines.
Glass in storage ready for processing.
Here glass is heated and given curve.
Low E double pane glass.
An example of curved glass, and a picture of an installation.
We were shown how Low E coating is applied to glass, then how an assembly of two pieces of glass with a spacer is made.
Two pieces of glass with the water proofing added.
This machine pours the final structural sealant.
At the end of the machine line, the finished glass is lifted and placed on racks.
The machine that adds the Low E coating film.
The firm developed a glass with double curvature. It is patented.
It had a funny mirror effect to it and allowed for some cool pictures.
After the tour we went to a restaurant in a beautiful contemporary hotel by a lakeside. The curves in the glass made us wonder if the glass was supplied by the manufacturer.
Afterwards, we drove to the second visit, a paints and coatings manufacturer, the local plant of one of the world's largest manufacturers of the products.
There was a soccer field for employees in the middle.
We saw an installation of paint samples tested for years outside in the sun, and in machines that simulate salty sea-side environments. The words, "rated for Florida sun" came up many times.
Our hosts wanted to treat us to dinner in a fancy restaurant in another hotel.
We were not hungry, but it would not have been polite to refuse. The hosts where charming Chinese with advanced degrees. A colleague who joined our firm three weeks ago from America experienced something similar to what I did when I first arrived to China - the hospitality of the business meals, with many toasts- glasses being refilled to the brim after a few sips. As hapenned a year and a half ago to me, when our hosts found out I was vegetarian, they ordered a lot of extra vegetable dishes. I could only try one bit out of each out of respect. We were still digesting our big lunch of earlier. One plate had a full chicken, head and legs included, placed such that it looked like it flopped onto the plate and died. People didn't touch the plate- maybe out of respect for the chicken, because I stared at it, or because they were too full already. And after people had consumed a lot, big bowls of noodles where brought.
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