I have been in the elevator industry for 11 years this year. I have been working in the industry for a long time, and I had some preconceived notions about the elevator market in China. Therefore, I boarded a plane to China with doubts, expectations, and a sense of pressure (?) about how a huge country of 1.3 billion people, a so-called big country, would feel.

Guangzhou, where the exhibition was held, is a three-hour flight away and is located in the southernmost part of China, so the first thing I experienced as soon as I stepped off the plane was the hot air of Guangzhou. The heat rushed into my lungs and took my breath away.  During my two days and three nights in Guangzhou, the temperature reached 32 degrees in the middle of the day, and the occasional rain showers felt more like a steamer than a cooler.

From the bus ride to the venue, the streets of Guangzhou were surprisingly clean. According to our local guide, this was due to the transformation that took place in the year before and after the Guangzhou Asian Games. Before the Asian Games, the number of motorcycles in Guangzhou was so high that it was considered a social problem.

Suddenly, there were no more motorcycles on the streets, and a small motorcycle park had sprung up in the center of the city. It's a laughable fact, but it's said to be the power of the Chinese Communist Party. There's no way to confirm whether this anecdote is true or false, but the truth is that I didn't see a single motorcycle during my three-day trip.

When we arrived at the exhibition center on the first day, we were greeted by a dragon tree. The dragon tree, which I had never seen before in Korea, is a tree that grows roots from branches that extend sideways, hanging in the air, and then grows until it reaches the ground and takes root. The roots extending downward from the branches looked like long hair that had been untangled, which is why it was called the 'ghost tree'.

Turning away from the dragon tree, I looked at the exhibition center and was overwhelmed by its size. It was bigger than KINTEX 1-2 in Korea combined, and there were hardly any visitors. From the outside, it was so quiet that you wouldn't even know the exhibition was in progress. But once I passed through security and entered the show floor, it was a completely different world.

There were about 700 exhibitors, with halls 1, 2, 5, and 6 being mainly for components and materials, while halls 3 and 4 were for the finishers. Looking at the number of exhibitors, the size of the exhibition hall, and the number of attendees, there was no shortage of atmosphere of a large country.

As a parts supplier, I have been exposed to Chinese elevator parts for many years. I've reviewed many samples and prices, and my first thought is that they look cheap and perform poorly. That's not the only thing. The paint or plating thickness seemed to be thin and the durability seemed to be poor. In short, they were considered cheap.

However, the products exhibited at the exhibition changed my opinion. There were some cheap products that I had encountered before, but there were also high-end and solid products like European products. However, the high-end products were all expensive.

If you consider the current exchange rate (about 180:1) and compare it with the same Korean products, I thought that the price is very low due to the added cost of transportation, customs duties, and VAT, or the Korean products are more competitive. I heard that there are many Korean companies making a U-turn in China these days, but I could feel it when I saw the actual products and compared them. If the exchange rate rises at the current rate, Chinese products will soon become less competitive.

After wrapping up the first day, I continued to visit the exhibition until the morning of the second day, but it was difficult to visit more companies than expected because small and medium-sized companies participating in the exhibition did not hire an interpreter. In the afternoon, we went to Kwangil Elevator, a local Chinese company with an annual production capacity of about 15,000 units.

Before visiting the company, I thought it would be the size of a factory of Korea's three major companies, Otis or Hyundai Elevator, but upon arrival, I couldn't help but exclaim, "Big country, big country!" The site is 27 hectares, which is about 81,000 square meters, and we had to take a bus to get to the inside of the factory. When I asked how many employees there were, I was told that there were 3,000, so it was truly a large country.

The original purpose of our visit was to tour the factory, but we didn't get to see the whole place, but we were able to see some of the sheet metal lines and the escalator production line. Kwangil Elevator is not a single factory, but rather a complex of several factories, similar to industrial complexes in Korea. It was operated as a joint venture with HITACHI, WESTING HOUSE, and other companies to jointly produce elevator parts and subway screen doors.

To be honest, I had imagined the inside of a Chinese factory to be messy and disorganized, but I was completely wrong again. The space was spacious enough, safety lines were drawn, and the materials and supplies were well organized. I was looking forward to seeing the actual products and processes in detail, but I was disappointed that there were some lines that could only be seen from outside the factory. However, in my opinion, what we saw was worth it. I think it was worth it because it helped me to change my preconceived notions about Chinese products and made me realize that China is not a country to be taken lightly.

On the last day of the trip, I visited a fake market that is famous in China, and experienced the Chinese food culture of eating everything but shank for dinner. It was reminiscent of Dongdaemun Market in Korea, with many shops selling their own brands.

Even before we left for South Korea, the hot and humid weather in Guangzhou was a drag. Guangzhou is definitely not a city you want to live in, even for the weather. Two days and three nights was a short time for me, but I couldn't have asked for a better opportunity to realize the majesty of China.