More and More Chinese Travelers Coming to Edison Ford
With the help of the Lee County Visitor and Convention Bureau (VCB) and Visit Florida, more Chinese travelers (individuals and groups) are visiting Edison Ford. The VCB is also facilitating visits from traveling journalists.
Sunny International, a tour operator from Miami, regularly brings groups on Mondays and Thursdays each week. 
During a recent visit, a group posed for a photo in the Edison Botanic Research Laboratory with Edison Ford Historian, Patrick Deja, who is fluent in Chinese. Members of this group told Patrick and CEO Chris Pendleton that “Edison and his industries and workers brought much progress to the world and China. Chinese admire his work greatly.”
Traveling journalists from several publications are visiting Edison Ford to help spread the word in China about this great travel destination.
Visit Florida has conducted extensive research on Chinese tourism and shared some of that research with Edison Ford. According to Visit Florida, studies show that China is the world’s fastest growing economy with explosive growth in the number of Chinese travelling abroad over the past several years.
Edison Ford also collaborated with the VCB and Visit Florida to translate and create guide maps and tour scripts in Chinese. The maps are available for Chinese visitors and the scripts are available for tour leaders and visitors with special needs.
Quadricycle Replica Update
For the past year, Edison Ford staff has been building a replica of the original Ford Quadricycle. The Quadricycle’s current phase has primarily consisted of heavy machining. Edison Ford Automotive Curator, James Moss has been purchasing raw material and transforming this into viable components for the engine. With the flywheel complete, James has ordered material for a 6-inch pulley and plans to have the entire crank shaft assembly ready by mid-April in order to work on the cylinders.
The goal is to have the engine finished by the end of summer.
