Muscle Up Visits its Taiwan
I
Factory BY FRANCES MICHAELSON
have been manufacturing much of our Muscle Up branded equip- ment—including our foam rollers, stability balls, yoga and exercise
mats—in Taiwan since 2005. This year, I decided it was time to visit the fac- tory and to finally meet the woman I have been communicating with by email for all of these years. It was an amazing and enlightening trip. I was very impressed with the large number of well-groomed employees and the cleanliness of the factory. I couldn’t believe the number of stages a foam roller goes through before it actually becomes a roller. The factory is located in Taichung, south of Taipei. Getting there from
Visiting a tea plantation in Taiwan. If you have the opportunity to vis-
it Taiwan, the night markets are a must. This is where street vendors set up their food kiosks starting at 5:30 pm. Students spend most of their evenings here because the food is cheap but also very fresh and delicious. I was very fortunate to be treated to
a tour of a tea plantation. The women working here were very friendly and hard
working. Imagine spending all that time in the hot sun picking tea leaves. I have a whole new appreciation of tea as I drink it now. By the way, all our meetings in the factory started with sharing tea. Sharing their tea is a very important ritual for the Taiwanese.
Frances Michaelson is president of Montreal exercise equipment company Muscle Up Inc. (
www.muscleup.ca).
A large sheet of foam enters the cutting ma- chine to eventually become a foam roller.
Taipei is simple thanks to the coun- try’s wonderful and super-clean trains that run all day. The Taiwanese people are charm-
ing, generous, caring, sensitive and extremely humble. I discovered that you must be very careful when speak- ing to them though because they take everything literally. For example, at one point as we were driving through the city, I expressed that fact that I was “starving” (when really I was just hun- gry). The car pulled over immediately and the driver asked if we should go to the hospital! I quickly learned to be very careful with my language. On another day I was walking in a
light rain when I felt a light pressure on my arm. It was a tiny elderly wom- an pulling me under her umbrella. We walked together smiling in the rain in a beautiful silence.
May/June 2015 Fitness Business Canada 15
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48