Last week the design team brought me along with them to visit a factory in Shenzhen, which is just over the border in China. At this particular factory, our SolSource solar cooker is assembled. This was an enlightening experience that allowed me to see first-hand “how the sausage is made.” Two photos below show Sloan, Maggie and Tin very focused on ensuring quality control.

Scot and Erica are currently attending SOCAP (Social Capital Markets – the preeminent conference for social enterprises and impact investors, held in San Francisco each fall) to represent One Earth Designs and meet with people in the industry. More on that event next week! Today on Skype I met with Gina, a promising high school senior who will be rejoining our team remotely. Over the next month or two, Gina and I will be researching the concentrated solar power market to analyze growth prospects and better understand it’s evolution in China.

This was a shorter work week to recognize the Mid-Autumn Festival, a widely celebrated holiday in China, Hong Kong, and Vietnam. Earlier in the week I ventured over to Victoria Park in downtown HK to check out the carnival grounds. What an electric gathering! Literally. There’s a magnificent structure that’s been constructed just for the week-long festivities. It’s called the Golden Moon, because the moon plays a large role in the meaning of this holiday. Standing at 6-storeys high and partially submerged in a shallow pond, it sporadically gives a neat light show.

I also traveled to some surrounding regions of Hong Kong. By ferry I cruised across busy shipping lanes to Lantou Island. From there, I took a bus which wound it’s way around the island and through the jungle to an old monastery, where a famous “Big Buddha” sits atop the hill. The Big Buddha is a spiritual place for all people of the Buddhist faith to visit and pay their respects. I was just excited to find a little adventure again.