Lunaticoastro visits QHYCCD
Nearly 20 years of shared history between Lunaticoastro and QHYCCD certainly deserved a visit to strengthen the ties between both companies even further, and that was exactly what we at Lunático thought a few months ago when we decided to travel to China.
From that moment on, Beijing and a visit to the QHYCCD headquarters became a mandatory stop on our trip.
The welcome we received was truly warm, and the QHYCCD team went out of their way to look after us, making that day an unforgettable experience for us.
A trip to Beijing and QHYCCD
We woke up to a very pleasant first of April, not too cold for that time of year, and by 7 in the morning we were all ready for the car sent by QHY to pick us up.
The group consisted of Jaime, Águeda, Darío, Íñigo, Irene and myself, Débora. Being a family company means that some members of the family have always been fully involved with Lunatico, while others have been involved only occasionally, but in any case, we all feel very much part of Lunático.
After about 45 minutes of driving, a bit more chaotic than what we are used to, we arrived at our destination, a suburb on the outskirts of Beijing where the QHYCCD headquarters are located.
We were welcomed by Yang, Head of Sales and someone we have worked closely with since 2019, Yilia from the marketing department, and Ma and Qiao, QHY engineers. They took us out for breakfast, a typically Chinese breakfast that we genuinely loved.
Endless trays of different baozi, soup dumplings (xiaolongbao), tofu pudding, soy milk, fried dough sticks (youtiao), wonton soup and tea eggs.
You do not always need to start the day with a coffee!
Arriving at QHY was our first real contact with driving in China, and it deserves a separate mention. There are a lot of people there, and everyone just finds their way through.
In Beijing, and later we confirmed the same in other large Chinese cities, the driving experience is different. Not only because of the amount of traffic, with cars, motorbikes and bicycles all sharing the same spaces, but because of the constant frenzy.
Everyone seems to be in a hurry, traffic lights appear to be more of a suggestion, and drivers often go through them on red. Motorbikes and bicycles move freely between the road and the pavements, weaving around pedestrians and honking to make their way through. Everything is in constant motion and you really need to pay attention.
Even so, during the three weeks we spent in China we did not see a single traffic accident. It seems it is simply a matter of adapting 😉
Visiting the Great Wall
After breakfast, we set off for our visit to the Great Wall.
We were going to see the northern side of the section known as the Badaling Great Wall, famous for its magnificent scenery and excellent state of preservation.
Since we were quite a mixed group in terms of age and energy levels, we decided to split up. The younger ones, and Yang too!, made the visit on foot from the first tower all the way to the twelfth. The rest of us took the cable car up to the sixth tower and started the visit from there.
Both options allowed us to enjoy the wall in all its splendour.
The bright day made it possible to see the mountains in the distance, with the wall winding across them towards the horizon.
Alongside us, hundreds of visitors, mostly local people, were climbing up and down the steps with varying degrees of effort. And not only the people accompanied us during the walk, but also the sounds: conversations all around us, loudspeakers at every tower giving instructions we of course could not understand, all of it made the moment feel completely real and vivid.
Inside QHYCCD headquarters
Once the visit to the wall was over, and after grabbing something to eat there to recover some energy, we headed to the QHYCCD headquarters.
There we were welcomed by Dr. Qiu, Vice President Ms. Kayla, and the rest of the team, including Cha, who helps us so much with technical questions and after-sales support.
They treated us to jasmine tea, absolutely delicious!, and beautifully presented fruit platters. Afterwards, they invited us to visit their facilities.
QHYCCD occupies a large space spread over two floors, and together with Dr. Qiu and Mrs. Kayla we were able to visit every department: R&D, engineering, production, quality control, testing, marketing, warehouse, etc., all perfectly integrated and connected in a very efficient way.
They also showed us some of their upcoming releases, and we can already say (without revealing anything, of course) that they are going to be a guaranteed success 🙂
Dinner at Quanjude
After visiting the company, we returned to the city where Dr. Qiu treated us to dinner at Quanjude, one of the most famous restaurants in China, known for its traditional roast duck.
The restaurant was founded in the mid-19th century, and its speciality is Peking duck. Every duck they cook comes with its own identification card!, and judging by the card of the duck we had, quite a few ducks have passed through their ovens over the years.
Besides enjoying their famous traditional recipe, and considering the restaurant’s extensive and rather unusual menu, we also took the opportunity to try other dishes that were quite exotic, at least for us, such as jellyfish and sea cucumbers.
After dinner, we were taken back to the hotel, bringing an end to a very intense day.
