A once-in-a-lifetime trip now happens every year! HWTrek (pronounced Hardware Trek), a new startup focused on supporting and brokering support for western crowdfunded startups from Asian manufacturing companies, runs a tour of some of these factories in Taipei, Beijing, and Shenzhen. Arlene was invited to this tour and in one short week, learned a huge amount about the range of electronic factories, how they operate, the work they do, and who operates them. She also had a ton of great food and is now addicted to soup dumplings.
