To continue our travels in China: Our group concluded its visit to Chifeng and arrived at the train station late in the afternoon. We boarded the train for Shenyang and prepared for another overnight ride to this large city. There was no time spent in Shenyang; we were bused to Changchuan (a 4-hour journey) and viewed the city of 8 million people that produces a large number of automobiles. Several companies are located there, including some well-known American manufacturers. We checked into a nice hotel in Changchuan and were shortly off to visit some agriculture facilities. The bus took us to a corn starch manufacturing company, and we received a chilly reception. There was a very tentative tour that demonstrated how a starch production facility is operated. There are by-products manufactured and marketed, as well. Very little information was given to us and the tour ended quickly, so we were on our way to another animal feed production facility. It resembled a typical grain elevator of the 60's in the USA - lots of hard work, small weighing and measuring machinery and almost everything bagged by hand. There was very little mechanization and no bulk feed delivery system. We went back to the city and had dinner at a Chinese barbeque restaurant. It was a nice event and it was good to finally get a good night's rest at the hotel since we had to leave early the next morning. The group then flew to Beijing where we were bused to a rural area, the city of Wudi. Wudi is a smaller city with much more evidence of disadvantaged people. An obviously agricultural center, there was more poor housing and people working on the streets with brooms to sweep the highway. Our hotel in Wudi was the lowest quality one on our tour. It appeared to have been built in the 50's or 60's, and it showed a lot of wear and tear. It even lacked an elevator. But it was bearable and it was the best place in the town. Nevertheless, there was new construction everywhere especially new apartment buildings were growing on every view. The Chinese government is in the midst of a relocation policy where people are moved off of the small farms and plots into new apartments so that larger agricultural practices can be implemented to improve efficiency. The government goal is more food production to feed the 1.4 billion citizens of China. We visited a new production facility that Mike Lemmon has built with partners to produce considerable numbers of swine. It is a state-of-the-art facility with modern ventilation, feed systems and manure storage. The structures also include dormitory buildings so that the laborers on the farm have a pleasant place to stay for a week or two at a time. A disturbing note about this structure: the Chinese government is not yet allowing the farm to be populated with pigs until they lift the ban on imported pigs because of the H1N1 virus. Hopefully, the government will give Mike Lemmon the opportunity to fill the buildings soon so they can begin production. This is just one of the risks I spoke of earlier in this series. We are not accustomed to such impediments here, but it is one of the risks that exist in the country of China. The facility deserves a chance to work and produce high quality pork. I hope that happens for all involved. An unplanned addition on the tour was when the group visited an elementary school. All the teachers showed up, even though the children were not there because of vacation. The teachers, all female, were very open and friendly. They showed us the classrooms and kitchen, plus the dormitories. Young children are brought in from rural areas, and they stay a week at a time. Dormitories are clean and the children sleep four to a room, with bunk beds, etc. The teachers were proud of their school and insisted on pictures with our entire group. One diversion we had here was a visit to a sea cucumber farm. Please use your computer and do a search about the sea cucumber. It is not a plant, but an animal. I describe it as a bottom feeding slug about the size of your thumb. This animal is used as a protein source, and it is produced with very little feed input. This farm had large "nursery" buildings of tanks to start the small fry. When large enough, they are moved to lagoons dredged and filled with sea water. These are collected and marketed as delicacies in restaurants. They are relatively expensive and the upscale Chinese consider them terrific menu items. My opinion was not so great. We had the opportunity to sample sea cucumber, and most of our group was not impressed. We flew from Jinan to Chongqing and arrived at our beautiful hotel, the Phoenix, at 1:00 a.m., then to bed and ready for another active day.
More later, Bill Friend -30- State Rep. Bill Friend |
