So I had to go visit factory of one of our component suppliers to explain to him that the cr*p he supplied for last shipment would never be tolerated again.
Last time we went to their factory we took train from Beijing to Tianjin (30 mins at 300kmh) then hire a car and drive 1.5hrs to factory. This time the
rocket scientist who masquerades as the GM of the trading company who facilitates most of our purchases makes the startling discovery that if we take same high speed train BJ to TJ but get off half way there at a small station called WuQing then factory owner can collect us there and drive us 5 mins to the factory which previously spent 1.5hrs driving to - UFB.
Anyways when we get off at WuQing and walk outside here is this overhead bridge spanning the road directly outside station:
Now I am thinking to myself cough when they build an overhead bridge here they do it in a very serious manner. So we are met by factory owner and we have to cross over this bridge to meet our 'chauffer' who is going to drive us to factory - as we are walking across bridge factory owner points out the huge complex of buildings across road from station - I mean like complex stretched for a mile to the north and a mile to the south - turns out we are looking at the
WuQing Flotentia Village Outlet Complex - just like the big outlet malls in the states but prolly 3 or 4 times bigger just by external view.
YES this is Beijing outlet mall - apparently literally 1,000s of outlet stores - Chinese and International brands - all selling at very low duty free prices.
Now I did not go inside - but this info supplied by factory owner and later verified by a number of Beijing residents. I did not go to check but will definitely do so late March when I am next in BJ. So if anybody wants to go check - you need to buy ticket at Beijing South to WuQing - 20mins by high speed train - just get off and walk outside across bridge and you are there - you could not get lost. If you do not speak Chinese I would however buy return ticket to BJ before I left BJ as there is only small ticket selling area at WuQing and I guarantee they will not speak English - also you might need to wait for train as it is on main TJ-BJ line so if all tix sold in TJ prior to dep might be bit difficult getting a seat - don't really know that for a fact but personally would not chance it.
I'll get a series of pics when I visit next and try to get info on pricing at the outlets but it certainly sounds like an experience.