Liuyang Day 2

I promised pictures, and there are a BUNCH following this entry. Stay tuned. I have to warn you, this is a LONG entry. Longest by far yet. Still, it sums up the trip quite nicely.

Well, my second day in Liuyang was definitely the best. I was picked up in the morning by Amy and Mr. Xu at the crack of 9:30; giving me enough time to enjoy a morning steam-shower and breakfast buffet.

Once I was in the car, Amy informed me I would be taken on a bit of a sightseeing tour of Liuyang. We stopped about 15 minutes from the hotel and wandered around the downtown area for a bit; just looking at the concrete marvel of the Liuyang River (浏阳河). Tons of people were fishing from the bridge and off the bridge (from 100 feet above the water, no less). It was quite interesting, in a stark and austere sort of way.

After that, we wandered into a park and Mr. Xu and Amy disappeared for a few minutes, leaving me to take a few photos of the park gates and temple nearby. After asking about the temple when they returned, they asked if I wanted to take a look inside. Of course I did, so we went up to the entrance, just outside of which a few groups of people were burning funerary 'money' in massive cauldrons full of coals as a way to honor their ancestors and dead loved ones. The money was just yellow tissue paper covered in writing, but there was smoke and ashes floating through the air all around the concrete temple 25 feet from a busy road. It was a little bizarre, but quite beautiful.

We then entered the temple, where there was incense lit in every corner and gold painted statues of 3 famous figures (about whom I couldn't get a detailed story of). My camera wasn't allowed out of it's bag inside the temple, which I understood, and I had to perform the basic bowing and prayer gestures as instructed by the temple keepers before we were given free reign to explore a bit. After wandering around the tiny interior, we exited the building and got back in the car to head out toward the countryside to visit 像象 (Xiang4Xiang4) Rock, or 'Resembles Elephant' Rock. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I didn't particularly mind as the countryside was very beautiful regardless.

After about an hour in the car, we pulled up to this MASSIVE cliff side in the middle of a range of small mountains. The mountain had been carved by rainfall and water for thousands of years until a little bit of it, from the right angle and a lot of imagination, looked somewhat like an elephants trunk. Yeah, I didn't really see it. I've got a photo later, so you can be the judge. At the bottom of this cliff was a large pond (or small lake) with a dozen or so flat-bottomed river barges anchored at the shore. I stepped onto one of these boats to get a better angle for a photo, and was jolted when Mr. Xu pushed it off from the shore and we started moving around the little lake!

There were a few other boats on the water, mostly filled with kids and adolescents playing in the water and on the ladders dangling from the cliff. It was a lot of fun and I ended up stealing one of the boats from the kids. To be fair, they boarded our boat in an act of aggression first, making my actions defensable by the laws of the sea!

After a couple hours sweating profusely (it was 35 degrees), we left the area and headed back to the town of Guandu for lunch. More chili-laden food, but amazingly tasty nevertheless. I joked that when I got back to Beijing, all the food would be totally flavorless because there weren't any chilis! After lunch we headed for the Cake and Shell factory of Guandu fireworks (where I would be visiting next).

We arrived and were greeted by the production manager for the factory. A young gentleman of about 25-28, he wasn't particularly talkative, unlike the manager for the factory from the previous afternoon. Still, the factory was MASSIVE, employing over 600 people in the various operations and covering over 2 square kilometers. I asked how big it was exactly, and the manager only said "It takes 8 hours to walk to all four corners of the factory". Big.

We toured the cake production likes and the shell production lines, but unfortunately the shell side was cut a bit short because it was getting too hot out for production to continue (fire hazards apparently, though I don't really see how or why). It was VERY interesting to see the production lines though, and the workers all pointed at me and smiled when they saw my camera.

After the tour, I had my ass parked in an air-conditioned room for a few hours to watch a DVD of the Liuyang International Fireworks Competition from last year. If anyone from the Canadian industry is watching this, I tell you that we have never seen a truly 'big' show. There was one show out of the four, from a French company called J.C.O., that was probably the size of 4 Laronde shows put together, and less length to boot. They ripped the sky apart. Nowhere near as artful as the shows we see regularly, but an order of magnitude bigger.

Later that evening, after meeting a couple Americans from Flashing Thunder (incidentally the hosts of PGI next year) and chatting with them for a bit, we were all led to the back of the building for a demonstration. More shells, more cakes. No photos because I was taking notes, but interesting effects that I've never personally seen before.

Tim, Bob, Dan and Maggi: This is an aside for you. The manager of another factory who makes stage fireworks was there. His gerbs were hands down the most amazing chinese products I've ever seen. Absolutely smokeless and odorless silver fountains that were 6 feet high and 2 minutes in duration (with NO perceptible loss of height or choking off). A gold gerb that was 60 seconds long and 5 meters high with the most amazing multi-branching sparks I've ever seen. My jaw was hanging open after that one and Yuleoh (from Aurora) laughed and asked if I had found a favorite. These were amazing.

Anyways, after that it was fairly late and we went for a late supper, just John (owner of Aurora), Amy and myself at another small restaurant. Was dropped off at my hotel and woke up the next morning to begin the trip home. I had to fly economy class this time, which was just dreadful; bundled in amongst the cattle like that. I don't suggest you try it. I'm kidding, of course; the flight back was enjoyable and uneventful. Met Mr. Han (The Chinese Oilman from the flight down) at Beijing International when I landed and agreed to call him for lunch or dinner sometime in the next week or two.

All in all, the trip was a resounding success and only marginally more expensive than I had budgeted for. The start was a bit rocky, but it turned out to be an amazing experience and I learned a lot about how the fireworks industry in China is run and how their production processes are laid out. It was educational, interesting and a lot of fun. I wasn't lying when I repeatedly said to Yuleoh, John and Amy that I will definitely return to Liuyang sometime in the future.

Alright kids, here come the photos! These are links to larger versions, so if you want more detail just click the image to open a bigger one. There are a lot, but only small captions by each one.

My Hotel's Lobby

Chrysanthemum Stones. These are another famous export of Liuyang, and are fossilized sea anemones extracted from the mountains in Liuyang county. Artisans often carve the stone around the Chrysanthemums. This particular one was about 4 feet tall and cost about 36000 yuan (about CAD $5700)

Me in front of Liuyang River

Amy in front of same.

Mr. Xu and Amy at the park in Liuyang. That's not a temple or anything at the top; just a tower for the public.

Entrance to the temple. That's all incense in the holder to the right

Boats and such tethered in the pool by Resembles Elephant. I liked the colors

Me! Resembles Elephant is in the background.

Mr. Xu and Me at the Resemble Elephant Rock

Kids boarding our boat in an act of piracy!

Making his getaway

Boats and such tethered in the pool by Resembles Elephant. I liked the colors

Me! Resembles Elephant is in the background.

A worker cautiously and carefully (read: frighteningly fast) measuring lift for cakes.

The star production line of the first factory. The building in the foreground is on the powder production line

A lady putting effects into tubes with lift in them. The lady in the background (hard to see) is tamping the effects and putting those damned paper caps on top

Tube plug production. These two churned out an easy 40 in the 5 or 6 minutes we were there

Cake tubes in the sun letting the glue dry

A man pressing cylindrical stars with a mallet and a bronze form. He was making them so quickly it was mind-boggling

Piles of coal next to the boilers. These produce the steam used to heat the drying rooms.

Cakes being fused together

Lady putting effects tubes into fused and lifted cakes. Apparently she makes about 200 per day (I have no idea how long their 'day' is)

Anyone from the industry see a familiar shape in this logo? Guandu has no affiliation with Dancing, despite almost identical logos.

That's rice. ALL the roads had massive swathes of rice drying in the daytime heat on the roads all around the countryside.