(organization) Hello , Greetings from Yiwu China, weather here is cold and clear. Clear blue skies are unusual in China city's so it great to see, a

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ancientwisdom

(organization)
Hello ,

Greetings from Yiwu China, weather here is cold and clear. Clear blue skies are unusual in China city's so it great to see, and a good time to be doing a bit of "blue sky thinking".

Yesterday driving back from the wholesale scarf market in Yiwu with Mark (our man in China) we passed the new inland port of Yiwu. It just opened, and we couldn't resist popping in to see.

Talk about blue sky thinking, you have to say the Chinese government doesn't mess about when it comes to infrastructure. Imagine a warehouse the size of your typical B&Q - imagine 286 of those and then imagine them three stories high, 286 on each level.

This is a facility for loading up to six hundred thousand containers a year. The container lorries running up and down super sized ramps, queuing up in a huge line, ready to clear customs and then trundle down the motorway to Ningbo and be loaded straight on to ships bound for South America, The Middle East and Africa, surprisingly little goes from here to Europe and America. This is the shipping port for the worlds emerging markets.

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Yiwu only ten years ago was a wild west style trading outpost, barely any roads never mind infrastructure. Someone had the blue sky vision of creating a trading city to supply the new world. Even now they are building mega markets all over the city to cater to different industries. There is a financial district been constructed next to the river with some of the tallest buildings outside Shanghai, and a reputed super luxury seven star hotel.

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The Scarf market, I'm off there again in a few minutes. Is another blue sky thinking project. Hangzhou is a nearby city famous for clothes, and thousands of factories produce silk, cotton and other textiles. It's the fashion capital of China. But because Yiwu exports to most of the Muslim world, where the culture is that head scarves are always worn; the scarf market is huge.

The Yiwu scarf market, where all those factories and workshops show their goods goes on forever.
We have found a few suppliers in there before, but now my mission is to find the best family companies with some beautiful designs that will suit the European market. In January I'm going to a textile trade show in Delhi to get a grip on India's scarf offerings.. which I have noticed is improving rapidly and also better with cotton and natural fabrics than China.

Inspired by this city. My blue sky thinking this month is to find the best and most beautiful of the worlds scarves, build good relations with good companies and bring the stock direct to AW traders.

It's not too early to be doing some Blue Sky Thinking for next year. What's your plan?

Take care.
David

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Our newrange of village baskets have been beautifully made from bamboo. They are extremely useful and available in a wide range of sizes and shapes, just perfect for gift baskets. Also fantastic for displaying products such as soaps, bath bombs, tumble stones etc.

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