Dandong city, Sept 9th 2023, Peacock Watch Group factory visit & more.

First, there are some important people missing in this account since the days I had available to visit Dandong were right smack in the middle of the dates for the huge Hong Kong Watch and Clock Fair. That meant that the senior leadership of the Company wouldn't be available to me--but...well, yes! That makes perfect sense to me, and I happily understood.

That noted, Mr. Yang Wei, General Manager of the Factory did the next best thing and arranged a guide and translator for me so my visit could still proceed.
Thank you, Peacock, and Mr. Yang. I know it was a busy time, and I appreciate the accommodation.

Per Wiki, Dandong is a prefecture level city in Liaoning province, with a population somewhere over two million people. Most notably, the city is right across the Yalu river from Sinuiju, the capital of North Pongyang province, North Korea. You'll see in photos later, it's not far away, at all.

Peacock is the modern regeneration of Liaoning Peacock. one of the most prolific and highest quality of the early brands. akin to Beijing, Tianjin, Guangzhou or Shanghai. Collectors will recognize Kongque (Peacock), Liaoning, Hongqi (Red Flag), and Wannian Qing brands, all from the Liaoning Peacock factory.

Here's how the day went...

I was up early since I was staying in Shenyang, leaving that city and boarding at 9:04AM for an ultra comfortable business class seat on a 300km/hr fast train to Dandong that cost less than $50. The full one-way journey is 256 km (about 160 mi) and has stops. Those stops included, arrival in Dandong was still only 1 hr & 40 minutes away.

Complimentary water or pop, coffee or tea and this cool snack pack for business class customers. By way of comparison, 2nd class on this train, no free snacks--and which is still way more comfortable than economy class on an airline--would have only been just over $10.

I have some stills but these short clips illustrate beautifully what I saw between the two cities. Be sure to watch past the first and second green hill as the train leaves the city in the first video.

It was a beautiful, clear sunny day when I arrived in Dandong. Maybe 30C, so 86F by late afternoon, 80% humidity.

I was immediately met by my guides for the day at the Station exit, Mr. Tong Bo (white t-shirt/Marketing) and Mr. Wang Guangwen (black t-shirt/Administration) and taken to the factory.

(The photo is from a lunch between the two portions of my visit, and it was as super-friendly as it looks. Very best regards to both hosts!).

The new Peacock factory is literally next door to the old factory, and during the second part of my visit, I photographed the original buildings--but foolish me didn't get  a single photo of the outside of the new factory. But on the plus side: I did wear a Peacock movement watch (the Atelier Wen "Hao") on this visit.

I'm hoping I made up for that error to at least some degree with all these inside shots, starting with where i started the visit, in a foyer/display area

Here's a close up of the "circles" display behind my left shoulder. Click on it for a 200 megapixel version and details

In the same display area was this very detailed overview of the factory's manufacturing processes. Clock on the photo for the very large file (readable by a phone camera & Google translate if you want details).

More photos from the display area. Click for much larger...

There's a very cool tourbillon display model here:

Which gets us to the factory proper...

Staff recreational facilities...

Peacock lab coats...

Some photos of the office/admin area

Here's where we had lunch...

I had noticed the older factory buildings as we drove in to the new area, and I had asked Mr. Tong if it would be possible to wander outside so I could take photos of the original factory, and was immediately told yes, so immediately after lunch we returned and I snapped these...

With that, my tour ended with me accomplishing what I'd set out to do. <y hosts very kindly drove me back to the train station to return to Shenyang.

On the way back, we drove beside the Yalu River. What you see across the river is North Korea.

I had about 3 hours before my return train to Shenyang was leaving so, after being dropped off at the train station, and saying my grateful goodbyes to Mr. Tong and Mr. Wang, I indulged in some aimless wandering around downtown Dandong.

Which brought me back to the station for my return to Shenyang (8:14 leaving Dandong to 8:35 arrival in Shenyang), but I had about an hour before the train call, so I headed for one of the small restaurants attached inside the station. Really nice noodles "full deal meals" w/drink etc for about $6 and worth every penny.

With that, it was a different snack pack on the return...

...and some of the similar beautiful out-the-window scenery as the sun faded for the day...

Arriving near the outskirts of Shenyang as the evening loses its colour, and darkness descends...on a busy day in Liaoning province.

To almost close: some example watches from the original factory, starting with a pair of Shizhi or "trial run" watches, usually worn by employees for government officials for durability testing.

Mr. Tong reminded me that the full and current Peacock movement catalog is always available here: www.peacockwatch.com/product/43

And, finally: the Atelier Wen "Hao" I was wearing during the visit
(32 jewel Peacock SL3006 automatic mechanical movement with bidirectional winding, 28,8000BPH, 41 hr power reserve, regulated in 5 directions to +/- 10 seconds/day accuracy)