Fu Tien, Yiwu

I went to Fu Tien last weekend. It’s a mega huge shopping complex in Yiwu. First, we took a taxi to Tung Chan (RMB 7). Then we took a bus to Nan Fang Lien, Yiwu (RMB 16). The journey took about 1 hour or so. From Nan Fang Lien, we took a taxi again to Gate A, Fu Tien (RMB 17).

I got my own reasons to include all the figures and places along the journey. Simply because I think I can start a business if I bring back lots of goodies from Fu Tien to Malaysia. Like I said before, Fu Tien is super huge and from my perspective, its like 5 or 6 times the size of One Utama in Malaysia. Inside, they are a lot of things that you can buy in bulk from as simple as hair comb till as complicated as machinery hardware.

In here, the deal will always in Chinese language. If you are a foreigner, you need to hire an agent to get the deals done. The agent can be found anyway in Fu Tien. Look for any Chinese that can speak fluent English with business card in his hand, then that should be your agent. This agent will help you with all the translation and negotiation but don’t trust him 100%. The agent also will find a shipping company for you to get your goodies back to Malaysia. When the goodies have arrived in Malaysia, then you need to have another plan to collect the goodies from Port Kelang. As for now, my information is limited due to my experience. I put all this information in this entry for my future reference.

At he front gate : Gate A

The is where I was at the Gate A. Just look at the whole area stretch to the back. So huge..

These are among  things that we can buy here. Believe me, all the stuf here is so cheap that I'm having a hard time to convince myself how cheap it is..

The educational toys

The robot.

The silver jewel for women

and of course, the camera shop as well

My friend almost bought this beautiful sword.

Pictures that I uploaded are among thousand of goodies that I can find in Fu Tien. There are many more pictures that are still in my keep.

I found a malay friend from Malaysia when I visited Yiwu a few weeks back. She was with her husband and a daughter. She was there to buy "few things" for her wedding boutique in Ampang. When she said she will use a container to bring all the stuff back to Malaysia, immediately I know that her transaction that day couldn't be less than RM50k but she said, the profit from the business is enormous. I wish, I could have my own business in the near future.

10 malam terakhir

Dah masuk 20 Ramadhan dah...tak lama lagi, bulan mulia nie akan meninggalkan kita. Mungkin kalau kita ada rezeki, tahun depan kita jumpa lagi. Bulan yang memberikan banyak gandaan pahala untuk kita. Ampunan, rahmat dan pelepasan dari api neraka.

10 malam terkahir nie ada satu malam yang ditunggu-tunggu oleh mukmin. Lailatul Qadar...malam yang lebih baik dari seribu bulan. Kalau dikenang-kenang balik, Ramadhan kali ini aku tak consistent dan jauh dari suasana ibadat. Yang penting, jangan putus mengharapkan rahmat Allah dan teruskan usaha. Insya Allah, adalah balasan baik dari Dia.

Life in Holy Month

Celebrating Ramadhan in Jinhua is not that bad at all. Surrounded by Malaysian community, which is just so close from one another making it, all feel like Malaysia again. Weekend will be the time when we all get to join and Iftar together. Sometimes, at one of the Malaysian house and some other times, we just have it at halal restaurant.

Kalau dah Malaysian, mesti nak makan masakan Malaysia gak

Semua orang ada..tak kiralah Cina ka, Melayu ka asalkan Malaysian...kita makan sama2

There is no masjid in Jinhua therefore, the Solat Terawih feeling is not that strong but we can always perform it at anytime from Isyak until Subuh. Iftar start at 6.30pm. By 8.00pm, we already performed Solat Isyak so, if we start Terawih as early as 8.00pm, we can finish it by 8.45pm. After that, it just up to us whatever we want to do.

Kengkadang, makan kat restaurant jugak

I think, it’s autumn now. The outside temperature is cozy and just like Malaysia. The first 2 weeks of Ramadhan, it was like 39 – 40 degree everyday. Now the temperature is 29 – 30 degree. It makes fasting easier now. I’m not sure when winter will come but when autumn is here, winter is just around the corner. I hope I can make it to Malaysia first before the winter comes here in Jinhua.

Latest me...(sapa la yg pandai2 pegang camera aku nie..?? nak kena nie)..hehehe

With this weather changed, I’m now seeking any opportunity to bring my camera outdoor. Early morning will be nice. The time after the sun just a few minutes appear from the horizon. Problem is, that particular time is 5.30am in Jinhua. Comparable to Malaysia, that particular time is normally somewhere around 7.15am or so…I did try to realize the plan this morning, but I couldn’t resist when my cozy bed is calling. Mission failed again….

Nothing Much (part 6)

Ramadhan in China

This year, I’m celebrating Ramadhan in China. Such a huge different from previous Ramadhan that I ever had in Malaysia. The hot temperature, the food different, the time zone…it just something too new for me.

The first 2 days was a challenged. I can’t stand the heat that I almost wanted to break my fast. But after that, I began to adapt to the surrounding. It becomes easy and easy everyday. Alhamdulillah, praise to Allah to all the strength and will that He gave me.

Work is the same weather its Ramadhan or not. After all, this is not a Muslim country. In fact, most of them don’t really believe in religion anymore. Thanks to the so-called “The Creator of New China” President Mao Zedong.

I have one assignment from my boss. He asked me to have a supplier visit in Suzhou (“Sucho” that’s how you pronounce it). From what I heard and learned, Suzhou is among a beautiful place to visit. Having that in my mind, I'm just so eager to get my camera into action. I’m expecting something different. Probably something that have Chinese soul in it. Jinhua is nothing but a ‘rock jungle’ for me. I need something else.

The journey took me like 7 hours to arrive at supplier’s place. There is no visit during the first day, we just straightaway checked in to our hotel. Only then I learned that we are actually far for Suzhou. We are actually at Kunshan, a very secluded small town but lots of buildings. No nice view, no lake, no Chinese soul…just plain and heartless buildings.

5.20 am from my hotel's room. I think, the skycrapper further at the horizon is Shanghai.

The second day was hectic. Being surrounded by people who never know about Islam, it just another challenging day for me to stand with what I believe most. But Allah is merciful. He knows what He is doing to His humble servant and I don’t have to worry.

The meeting took the whole day till night. I have to stay another night at Kunshan. For me or for anybody in Malaysia will say that 7 hours is a long journey but to the local Chinese, it’s just nearby.

This picture taken from the factory window. Just to show how close the factory and houses area.

This is the meeting room. I don't think I will ever forget about this meeting in my entire life.

I have to onboard this fast train twice and this things can go more than 200km/h. How in the world I'm going to believe than Kunshan is near to Jinhua when I have to travel in this train for 7 hours?

Kalau tersasar, bertaubatlah kawanku....

Bila sampai di China nie, macam2 kelakuan boleh kita tengok. Bila jauh dari Malaysia dan berada di sebuah negara yang majoritinya bukan Islam, kita tiba-tiba rasa tidak terikat dengan agama. Suasana bagaikan merubah kita padahal kitalah yang sepatutnya membentuk suasana.

Aku kesal dengan sikap beberapa orang kawan yang aku kenali. Sungguh tak sangka kerana bila berada di China, cara hidup tiba-tiba berubah. Kehidupan yang dulunya berlandaskan agama, tiba-tiba jadi sebaliknya. Jadi seperti orang yang tidak ada agama.

Dan yang sedihnya apabila dalam keaadaan mabuk dan hilang kewarasan diri, kawan aku boleh bercakap pasal agama dengan hebat sekali. Bercakap pasal perbezaan mazhab dan syariat. Akhir kepada perbualan itu, dia mengeluarkan fatwa yang membolehkan dan membenarkan tindakannya meminum arak. Aku amat sedih bila itu berlaku pada seorang manusia yang aku panggil sahabat aku.

Semestinya dengan perbuatan mungkar itu, dia akan ditemani kawan aku yg memang azali lagi bukan Islam. Kawan aku yang bukan beragama Islam sangat menyukai fatwa yang berlandaskan logik ini. Fatwa yang memberikan kelonggaran dalam beragama dan mendahulukan nafsu.

Kita ini di cipta oleh Dia. Hari ini kita gah bercakap umpama kita ini tidak ada hubungan langsung dengan Pecipta kita. Seolah-olah di akhirat kelak, kita mampu berunding tentang seksaan dan nikmat yang bakal kita perolehi. Alah, setakat siksaan sebab minum arak anytime jer boleh tanggung.

Hidup ini terlalu singkat untuk dipersiakan. Tak salah kalau kita berterusan membuat kebaikan ataupun menjauhi kejahatan. Bukankah dalam Al-Quran Allah sebut berkali-kali..setiap perbuatan akan dibalas walaupun sebesar zarah. Jadinya, kenapa kita tak berusaha untuk buat kebaikan dan meninggalkan perkara sia-sia. Sesungguhnya Allah tidak zalim tapi kitalah yang zalim terhadap diri kita sendiri.

Aku pohon pertolonganMu Ya Allah semoga Engkau redhailah hidupku dan keluargaku. Pimpinlah kami ke jalan yang benar dan jauhkanlah kami dari seksa api nerakaMu.

Hari ini mungkin kita rasa gagah melakukan kemaksiatan tanpa sikit pun rasa bersalah. Tak mustahil anak kita akan mengikut jejak langkah kita suatu hari nanti kerana hidup bagai roda. Tak selamanya kita di atas.

Manners and Policy

In China, they are several things that different from Malaysia. In here, they don’t care much about road safety. They just drive and they will honk if something got in their way.

The traffic light at junction is just merely a standing lamp with colours. Nobody care to stop when its red. The first time I got into a taxi, my leg can never stop from pushing the floor as it’s like I’m the one who’s driving. But what amazed me was, even if they disobey all kind of road regulation, I hardly seen any accident. And even if accident did happened, the traffic will not jam instantly. Everybody will just get on with the life, as simple as that.

The other things about China, they blocked certain website such as Facebook, Blogspot and Youtube. I’m not sure why, I have to find out about it very soon. So, the very first week I’m here is not a lovely experience at all. Although the internet connection is so fast compare to Malaysia, but imposing restriction to certain website is just not an ideal thing to do.

Then my housemate introduces me to the real cyber world. I call it real cyber world because I don’t have the knowledge about it before. He showed me about VPN (Virtual Private Network)…err not quite sure what it is but thing is, I have to subscribe and pay a small amount of dollar to “cheat” the China server so that I can avoid any sort of restriction. So, now I’m glad that I can update my blog. At least, this is one of many other ways to communicate with my wife in Malaysia. I know, she's always read my blog.

Internet is just so great here. Almost everywhere you can get Internet access. Using WiFi or Plug In, it just so convenience. The connection is fast that you just streaming to watch movie. Whenever I feel like I want to watch news, I just go to TV3.com.my and stream the news from there. When I want to watch English Premier League Live, I just use SOPCast and I can watch it live like using Astro.

Now with video call available, it just so easy to watch my kids jumping around in the house. Some other time, I can just call my wife handset using my Laptop without any lagging in conversation.

It just great to have this kind of technology nowadays. It just makes the world small and reachable at anytime.

Spinning around

The first intention that put me at the sidewalk was to get some street picture for myself. Maybe because I’m not that pro yet so I can’t really find the perfect picture that I want. Probably it’s there somewhere but I just failed to recognize the spot.

Anyway, I suddenly found a wet market which similar to Malaysia…. selling fish, meat, vegetable and other stuff. I also can’t get the right angle that please me but the market is just too interesting to ignore. It just so huge that almost every major item has its own building. Fish area in one building, all kind of meat at the next building, vegetable in another building and so on. Here’s the picture

Although most of the time, cleanliness is questionable but some place can be consider as clean.

This is where you can find exotic food. Frog, snake, turtle you just name it

Ramadhan is just around the corner so I think, I just have to make my own Pasar Ramadhan here in Jinhua for myself. Although, I can always have my dinner at restaurant but obviously there is no way a restaurant will open until 4 o'clock in the morning. I need to get something in case if I have to cook. Heheehee..

Anyway, when I went into the nearby supermarket, I found these...

Well of cause, the one at the right bear more weight because you got the name of Islamic Association on it. The left one probably just a 'halal' stamp to promote more sales. It is a fake 'halal' logo.

Food in China is something that I'm not comfortable to consume. They event can cheat on milk and harm millions of babies around the world. Previously, there was a case when they actually imitate chicken egg. It looks just like chicken egg but it's not. I just can't believe the Chinese can do such things. That's what happened when people look at money as their God.

Baru nak kenal tempat

Hari nie, ada satu group kawan-kawan nak pi ke Yiwu. Daripada duduk kat rumah sorang2, rasanya baik jugak ikut. Paling tidak pun boleh kenal tempat.

Jarak antara Yiwu ngan Jinhua nie lebih kurang macam PD dengan KL. Disebabkan group kawan-kawan nie dah biasa dengan jalan-jalan kat sini, kami naik bas. Dalam bas tuh, sepatah perkataan pun kami tak paham sebenarnya tapi yang peliknya, budak-budak nie tahu ja nak sampai ke Yiwu macam mana. Memang tabik laa kat depa nie..

Kan selalu kita dengar orang dok ambik pakaian borong dari China kan..? Yiwu nie antara tempatnya la. Banyak sangat industri tekstil kat Yiwu nie sampaikan orang-orang tempatan bersaing sesama sendiri. Akhirnya barang-barang jadi murah disebabkan labour cost yang sangat murah. Kita boleh beli borong dan hantar ke Malaysia dan masih lagi boleh buat untung yang banyak. Tapi kena berhati-hati dan kalau nasib tak baik, senang-senang boleh kena tipu.

Selalunya kat Yiwu nie orang beli secara pukal / kontena. Jadinya, kami cuma cari kawasan kedai yang boleh jual sikit dan murah.

Nie kawasan Binwuang. Ada 4-5 kompleks lagi macam nie yang boleh jual selain dari pukal. Tirai, cadar, alas meja, sarung bantal, quilt, karpet..macam2 barang tekstil ada sini. Baju BN pun buat kat sini

Kat Yiwu nie banyak orang luar jugak yang datang berniaga especially Pak Arab. Barang-barang yang Pak Haji dan Mak Hajjah beli dari Mekah tuh kebanyakkannya datang dari sini laaa...Kopiah, sejadah, jubah, tasbih apa semua tuh, kat sini la asalnya. Jadi, kalau nak ke Mekah tuh tak payah susah-suah beli kat Mekah. Pi ke Mekah dulu buat ibadat seikhlas hati, kemudian balik nanti baru pi beli-belah kat Yiwu.

Kedai makan arab pun banyak. Jadinya, sangatlah senang kalau nak makan atau nak sembahyang kat Yiwu nie. Ada ja restoran Islam maka adalah surau dan tandas yang bersih.

Makan Matghub kat restoran Al-Hana. Pastu minum teh tarik. Bahasa cinanya "Ha Li Po"

Nie yang best nie. Tokeh dia jual tudung tapi pakai seksi tak ingat. Pelik sungguh

Nie kedai Turki. Insya Allah semuanya halal dan baik

Alhamdulillah, memang banyak kedai Muslim kat China nie. Dah tak takut dah bila sampai bab makanan yang halal. Sekarang, tempat nak beli barang-barang murah pun dah tahu. Lepas nie, boleh la buat rancangan sikit. Yang masih lagi jadi contraint sekarang nie ialah bahasa. Tapi tak apa, itu bisa di uruskan..hehehehe

An Tie (if this is the right spelling)

I like to consider myself a lucky man. The very first week I’m here, I got a chance to join a trip to An Tie. A place where you can have activities such as swimming and boat rafting. It just came at the right time. I need to make myself busy because I kept thinking of my family back in Malaysia. This trip is just the thing that I need.

The trip was organized by the local who work in Youngman Plant, the same office with Lotus. I can’t speak a single Chinese word so I just follow whatever the plan is. Nice place and beautiful scenery. Scene that I never seen before only found in magazine. Here, I got to see it with my own eye.

Sementara menunggu air naik sebelum pintu empangan dibuka

Budak local yang sama2 arrange trip nie. Sorang pun aku tak ingat nama tapi yg pakai sunglasses tu housemate aku.

Kat parking area berlatar belakang kan gunung. Kalau subuh mesti cantik tak ingat nie

Selepas empangan dibuka, boat akan turun laju ikut jeram. Gambar nie amik kat kawasan bawah sekali

Kat bawah sikit, ada jgk yg datang basuh kereta. Kereta lawa2 plak tuh

We were there from morning until 5.00pm or 6.00pm…Obviously you can’t find any sign of Surau or place that similar. So, I perform my Zohor and Asar at any suitable place that I can find. I felt so small at that time. Perhaps, all the people there were wondering what am I doing with the act of standing, rukuk and sujud. Probably they never saw it before in their life. When I finished with my solat… They asked me in Chinese which I can’t understand a single word. All I can say “…tim pu tong, wo mahasia, chi lumpur” (saya tak paham, saya Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur)..hehehhehehhe…they just nodded their head showing a sign that they understand my circumstances. Or perhaps they must be thinking that all my pronunciations are incorrect and have another meaning. I don’t know, seriously I don’t.

Nothing Much (part 5)

I can't stand staying in the hotel...

This is the hotel that I stay when I arrived at Jinhua. It’s call Best Western World Trade Hotel. The name of the hotel is like the second large after the hotel itself. It is hard to miss and easily seen from any direction of the road. But, if you tell any taxi driver in Jinhua that you want to go to Best Western World Trade Hotel, trust me that you will never reach there. Not even close.

The taxi driver will get you to the hotel only if you say it in Chinese. Xi Mao Ping Kuan..that’s the magic word that will get you to your place. This is because most of Chinese doesn’t know how to speak in English.

I just stayed in that hotel for a couple of days only. I just can’t stand to be alone for long period of time. So I moved into my friends apartment, Times Garden (Shi Dai Hua Yuan). At least, you can cook, you have friends and most important you can feel like home. Frankly say, I just lost focus easily in any conversation this few days. I can’t register things in my head. It’s like floating in the air. All I’m thinking is my wife and kids. So, by moving into apartment, at least I can pull myself together again and keep on going.

Here is my apartment from across a river at evening.

This is the view from my apartment facing the sunrise. It is 5.30am

This view is facing the other way also at 5.30am in the morning.

It is summer now. The temperature is just so high that can make me soak with sweat even at 5.30am in the morning. When I woke up to perform my solat subuh at 4.00am, the temperature was 33 degree. The local said, normally August is the peak time for summer where everyday will be hot, hot and hot. This year going to be some Ramadhan for me I guess.

Journey to the West

From Shanghai, I have to take a train to Jinhua. The journey took me another 3 hours before I can check in to my hotel. The train only stopped at 3 stations if I’m not mistake. I forgot already, I was too tired that day. Sometimes, the train hit 210km/h. most of the time, it just travel at 160km/h. The coach design are more like a flight cabin but the seat can’t be reclined.

After 2 hours from Shanghai, I still can see apartments and high buildings along the journey. There is not single scenery where I can find an empty land throughout the 2 hours. Remember, this train move with average speed of 160km/h. It just amazing how this country develop so much in just a short period of time.

The map below shows Shanghai and Jinhua in circle. When I checked the distance between Shanghai and Jinhua with Google Map, it shows somewhere around 350km distance.

This is an enlarge map of China. The circle shows the area that I travelled

Amazing isn't it...?? This country is just too big for me...hahahaha. I had a conversation with one of the workers that work at the same place with me in Jinhua. He said, his hometown is in Harbin. He only will travel back home only once in a year. He will take train from Jinhua and 48 hours after that, he will reach his hometown. Harbin is somewhere north of China, close to Mongolia.

China surely has a lot of suprise for me...

Welcome to China..

So, I’m finally ready to go to China. The country that I never been before. An old country that full with extraordinary history. I can say China is one country that will fascinate anyone in this world.

My wife somehow found her way to KLIA just before I depart. We had a supper along with her friends that accompany her. It was a relax environment and I enjoyed it a lot. This is the picture during the supper.

It was hard to leave her all alone in Malaysia with 3 active kids. I can imagine the hardship that she’s going to face in the next 7 weeks without me. All that I can do is just pray to God to ease her burden everyday in her life. That’s all that I can do from distance.

My flight departed from Malaysia at 1.40am, Thursday. I thought I can have a good nite sleep in the cabin but I was wrong. I just realize that I can’t sleep sitting. When I arrived at Pudong Airport, Shanghai…the immigration had a thorough inspection of my luggage. They’re quite startled to found a huge cylinder like item in my luggage. I kept on telling them that the things that they suspicious much is nothing by my camera lens. Then, when I showed my Lotus ID card, they smile and let me go just like that. It just weird.

The other things that really shocked me is, the taxi driver does not even know a single English word. Not even an “ok” or “yes” or even “no”…and they drive like F1 driver except that they honk a lot even when there’s nothing odd in the front. It just their habits and they seem to enjoy it.

So, here I am…in the middle of nowhere with nobody to communicate to…