China Trip - Day 7 Shenyang

Corn is a staple in the north.  They dry it out and use it as fuel to heat their homes.  This was the harvesting and drying season.  There was corn everywhere.  They would even lay it out on the roads to dry it out and cars would just drive over it.  

Corn storage 

Glass factory.  I loved seeing this mix of architecture!  

Another part of the glass factory.  This building wasn't in use.  

I had to get a photo of this banner.  There were reminders of communism everywhere.  

Loved the copper on this furnace!

I thought these were mushrooms at first but they were these yummy custard filled pastries.  

This is the first day I really experienced terrible air pollution.  On Day 7 we took a flight up to Shenyang (just north of North Korea) to visit four different glass factories.  I always enjoy sitting next to a window so I can see the terrain change below me.  But on this flight the pollution was so bad I couldn’t see anything!  I took a couple of photos as the plane was about to break through the layer of pollution into clear blue sky.  When we landed it wasn’t any better.  The sky looked like it was overcast and felt like it would be a drizzly day.  Yikes, that couldn’t have been good for my lungs!

This was also my first day of traveling without my coworker.  This time I was traveling with Chinese nationals, the owner of the second host factory and two designers.  My coworker also didn’t warn me that I would have an entourage when I arrived in Shenyang.  What a weird experience!  The last few days of the trip we always had people with us but we usually fit in one car or van.  But when we walked out into the airport parking lot there were three cars waiting for us.  Then when I toured the showrooms and selected pieces for sampling and photographing there were five people behind me photographing the same thing.  So it was a challenge to focus and actually work.  I ended up selecting way too many items and after looking through my photos I was not in love with some of the things I did choose.  Lesson learned.    

The Chinese are incredibly generous and great hosts!!  Every meal was overflowing with delicious food.  The meals in Shenyang were no different.  The food was a little less spicy and there seemed to be a little more variety in textures in the north.  One of my favorite treats were dumpling pastries that were filled with some kind of sweet custard.  They were so yummy!!!  I included a photo of these pastries that were made to look like mushrooms.  I was a little skeptical about trying them at first but was totally surprised.