We see a lot of stuff on here from time to time, about crappy Chinese goods.
Well, a couple of days ago, my usual office supplier sent me one of their
regular e-mail fliers, on which was a high-back padded leather swivel chair
with gas lift, castors, arms, rocker action and so on. Thirty quid
(about$60) delivered. I ordered it on the 'net Tuesday night, the man
delivered it Thursday lunchtime. How good is that ? But the really good
thing about this chair, and the point of the post, is the quality of it.
Really good stout shipping box with none of the printing that you would
'traditionally' associate with Chinese goods. The chair is superbly made.
Not a stitch out of place. No missing parts - in fact there are even some
"extra parts" set into the blister pack of screws and cover caps. Every hole
lined up where it should, and every hex-head screw, which were pre-treated
with a thread locking compound, drove straight in without any effort, using
the good quality hex wrench that was provided. Even the assembly
instructions and safety warnings were in full proper English (as well as
other languages), and the diagrams were properly drawn, rather than the
'rice break' sketches we have become used to.

If the Chinese are going to churn out stuff like this now that they are a
'recognised' industrial power trading properly with the west, what chance is
western manufacturing going to stand in the years to come ? I assume that
electronic goods are going the same way, as I have now seen several 'Made in
China' valve (tube) amplifiers that were similarly well built, and have
achieved some degree of acclaim over on one of the audio groups, and at
something like a quarter of the price of similar items of western
manufacture.

Arfa