Giant Bicycles Inc.:
I had never heard of Giant Bicycle before our visit today, mainly because I'm not into biking, but after today's visit I'm considering getting a new bike.
Giant produces 5,000 bikes a day and although we weren't allowed to take pictures during our tour of their factory I can tell you that their operation is quite impressive. My attention was first drawn to the number of employees working in the factory. Building a bike apparently is quite specialized because there wasn't much automation. It seemed as if every step in production was done by hand which would account for the large number of employees. It might also account for the quality of the Giant brand. If a problem is discovered along the assembly line, the line is stopped so that the problem can be addressed instead of just dealing with it at the end. As they say at Giant, "reputation is difficult to build, but easy to destroy." What I enjoyed most about our tour was that for the first time I was able to actually see in practice what I have previously only learned in books. The shelves in the enormous warehouse would have previously been filled with inventory costing thousands of dollars in carrying costs to Giant but thanks to just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing the shelves are now bare saving Giant money by reducing in-process inventory.
Giant is promoting a cycling culture - not just selling bikes. For more information about Giant go to http://www.giant-bicycles.com
Asia University:
The students at Asia University (AU) gave us an awesome welcome. They clapped and sang what I think was their school song as they presented each of us with a red lei. You would think we were rock stars! We listened to a presentation and played a couple games. Instead of listening to lectures we split into groups where we painted a toy top which was ok because by now we have heard a lot of lectures and are pretty familiar with Taiwan's history.
We went outside to try out our Taiwanese tops but I couldn't get mine to work. It was pretty amusing to watch, and everyone who got theirs to work got a prize. In a gesture of pity I received this "Taiwanese Gucci Bag" because I was so pathetic at playing this.
We each received a gift bag full of goodies and this box of treats.
We toured the campus where 4,000 students live. Freshman must live in the dorms, similar to the policy of a lot of US universities. The students and staff were great and we really had a lot of fun.
After our visit to AU we boarded the bus and went to Tungs' Taichung MetroHarbor Hospital where we listened to a lecture and were then treated to dinner at a revolving restaurant at the top of the hospital. The view was amazing and the food was delicious. We were all treated to steak but the students ate chicken because it is against their culture to eat beef.
Dinner with AU students
After dinner we went shopping at the Taichung night market with some of the AU students. The clothes are beautiful and very unique but as I was told by one of the shop keepers, they only carry one size....small. I asked her what happens if you gain weight and can't fit in a small? She said you just have to lose weight. Why didn't I think of that? If you find something you like at one store you should buy it because you probably won't find it anywhere else. Clothes don't seem to be mass produced like they are in the states. The styles are very feminine which I love. The jewelry and shoes are amazing and very reasonably priced. I even got a few necklaces for around $100TWD (about $3.60US). But again, everything seems to be one-of-a-kind so if you like something you can't buy several to give to family and friends. You can also try to get the price lowered. Most necklaces for instance were around 200-300TWD. When I saw something I liked I would ask the salesperson, "how much?" She would show me the price on her calculator and then I would tell her what I was willing to pay. If the price was already on the item and I really liked it I would just pay the asking price and sometimes they would offer a discount for buying 2 items and one place threw in a free pair of earrings (which I love!) because I bought 2 necklaces.
Bought hair accessories and a headband as well as a duffle bag on wheels which I need in order to get all my stuff home. Came across some "smelly tofu" which smells like petroleum laced smelly socks mixed with a little cow dung. No, I didn’t try any.
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