Slight update, factories are still closed. Basically, for those who aren't familiar with how it works in china for businesses, EVERYTHING is closed down pretty much. You have to submit paperwork to the government to reopen, and then they have to sign off on it after you agree to a few conditions (stuff like no sick people, reduced hours due to quarantine, report any illness asap, stuff like that for example, maybe an inspection as well).
They've submitted the paperwork, but there's really no way to "speed up" the government letting them reopen, and there's no way to reopen without their OK unless you really enjoy spending time in prison. There's no solid date for an estimate, so basically we are just in a big hurry up and wait situation. Even if they did open, they still don't have the prototype I sent because the mail has been basically working on reduced hours.
It's a pretty big mess over there, and I'm trying to keep good thoughts in my head for em. There's something like 40k+ cases and entire cities quarantined so it's gotta be frightening living in the middle of it.
I'm waiting to hear about what sort of reduced hours they are doing at the usual place I order from, so I can get a new crystal order going with them, but it might be a little while before I hear back.
Not exactly fantastic news, but I promised to keep you updated, so now you are all up to date with what I know.
Chris