Glasses Capital of the World

Quoting from Global Times:

"There is a popular saying that "one out of the two people in the world wear glasses with lenses from Danyang", East China's Jiangsu Province, known as China's "capital of glasses."

From the research and development of relevant technologies to the actual manufacturing and sales, Danyang is just a snapshot of multiple domestic cities and towns that have become famous for concentrated and specialized manufacturing, while supporting the global industrial and supply chain.

As the world's largest lens production base and the biggest eyeglass products distribution center in Asia, Danyang currently has more than 1,600 enterprises engaged in eyewear and associated sectors, official data showed." 

We heard about Danyang from a friend and since it was only 15 minutes by train we went there to check it out.  Not including little shops on the street, there were two large buildings filled entirely with individual shops selling glasses.  I've never seen so many in my life.  And they are cheap.  We could get a pair of glasses for about $50.  We had fun playing with sunglasses, but there are even more options in regular frames.  If you can't find a frame there that you like, you probably never will.

You can check out the crazy style of the glasses Tessa is wearing, but also notice the selection behind her.  This is just one of the 1600 shops listed above and several shops were much bigger than this one with hundreds of frames also sitting on the glass cases. The selection was unreal.  So many frames. 

Who buys these things anyway? But the value for entertainment was great!

At some point we will go back with our prescriptions and order a pair.  

Our only protip for visiting Danyang: take your own food, plan to eat before, or even starve.  We ate some of the worst food we've had here in China there....  That is an experience we do not want to revisit.