After arriving in Beijing, I visited a part of China that was not on our schedule. I have come down with a minor infection, and thought it best to consult a doctor. Chris Barbieri, who has done an absolutely wonderful job organizing this trip, found a hospital for me with English speaking staff, and helped me make an appointment. While the rest of the delegation attended a meeting with the USDA's Agricultural Trade Office in Beijing, I took a taxi to the United Family Hospitals and Clinics.
The service was prompt, efficient and courteous. I was seen by Dr. Tony Lu of Seattle. (He attended the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, the same medical school as former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, MD.) Dr. Lu prescribed some antibiotics and sent me on my way. Total time in the clinic, including paperwork and filling the prescription, was 1.5 hours. I spent nearly that much time in the taxi. Cost for the visit was about $100 for the doctor's visit and about $40 for the medicine.
UPDATE: Someone asked what the taxi cost. About $4 each way.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Travel to Beijing
Today we flew from Harbin to Beijing. Again the airplane was a Boeing 737, this time on Hainan Airlines. All of the Boeing 737s that we have flown on domestically have been relatively new. Note that both domestic airlines we flew on have English language web sites comparable to Western airlines.
Several things were new on this flight. Flight instructions were given by a line of stewardesses in the aisle in perfect unison, like a choreographed dance. The stewardesses were introduced, and bowed. Mid-flight a lottery was held with scratch tickets. This plane was nearly full. The stewardesses made the two hour flight pass quickly and pleasantly.
We flew over first cropland and then mountains. The view was hazy the entire way.
Unlike the Jinan airport, the Beijing airport was not empty; it was the opposite of empty! Mingruo left us at the airport, and we were met by hotel staff. Here is a view of the city on the way to the hotel. Building construction is even more ubiquitous here than in the other cities we have visited.
This is the view from my hotel room. (Actually from a reception area a couple of windows down from my room; my room does not have a balcony.)
Attached to the hotel is an office of the Agricultural Bank of China. The two buildings are nicely lit up at night.
Several things were new on this flight. Flight instructions were given by a line of stewardesses in the aisle in perfect unison, like a choreographed dance. The stewardesses were introduced, and bowed. Mid-flight a lottery was held with scratch tickets. This plane was nearly full. The stewardesses made the two hour flight pass quickly and pleasantly.
We flew over first cropland and then mountains. The view was hazy the entire way.
Unlike the Jinan airport, the Beijing airport was not empty; it was the opposite of empty! Mingruo left us at the airport, and we were met by hotel staff. Here is a view of the city on the way to the hotel. Building construction is even more ubiquitous here than in the other cities we have visited.
This is the view from my hotel room. (Actually from a reception area a couple of windows down from my room; my room does not have a balcony.)
Attached to the hotel is an office of the Agricultural Bank of China. The two buildings are nicely lit up at night.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Return to Harbin
Daqing is a wealthy oil town. We saw many oil rigs.
As in the other cities we have visited, we saw construction everywhere.
Buildings are most often constructed out of concrete. This apartment building under construction is located in Anda, near Daqing. We drove through Anda on the way back to Harbin.
Anda is the dairy capital of China. The city has 1,000 concrete statues of cows lining the streets and several dairy processing plants. At the entrance to the city is this statue of charging cows (this is the back side):
We stopped again at a rest area on the toll road back to Harbin. These farmers are harvesting corn just at sunset.
As in the other cities we have visited, we saw construction everywhere.
Buildings are most often constructed out of concrete. This apartment building under construction is located in Anda, near Daqing. We drove through Anda on the way back to Harbin.
Anda is the dairy capital of China. The city has 1,000 concrete statues of cows lining the streets and several dairy processing plants. At the entrance to the city is this statue of charging cows (this is the back side):
We stopped again at a rest area on the toll road back to Harbin. These farmers are harvesting corn just at sunset.
Daqing Buddhist Temple
After lunch we visited a Buddhist Temple in Daqing. This beautiful temple has just been built, and in fact is still receiving the finishing touches now. There were many more buildings than just the main temple shown here.
UPDATE: Dr. Guo says the name of the temple is Jingle Temple.
UPDATE: Dr. Guo says the name of the temple is Jingle Temple.
Yinluo Dairy Farm
We drove through the Yinluo Dairy Farm on the outskirts of Daqing. This farm has 6,000 cows in this location, and two other facilities of similar size in other locations. It is owned by the Liu family. They have plans to add another 10,000 cows.
We stopped briefly to see the AI (artificial insemination) facility, where they collect and sex the semen from 200 bulls.
From the farm, we drove to a milk processing plant under construction in a nearby industrial park. This facility, also owned by the Liu family, will cost $25M and will process mostly fluid products. This processing room is awaiting the installation of equipment.
Mr. Liu Hailong, Chief Executive Officer of China Milk Products and the son of the head of the Liu family, hosted lunch for us. Lunch featured many dishes that we had not seen before, such as sea cucumber. I think the answer to the question "got milk?" is yes!
We stopped briefly to see the AI (artificial insemination) facility, where they collect and sex the semen from 200 bulls.
From the farm, we drove to a milk processing plant under construction in a nearby industrial park. This facility, also owned by the Liu family, will cost $25M and will process mostly fluid products. This processing room is awaiting the installation of equipment.
Mr. Liu Hailong, Chief Executive Officer of China Milk Products and the son of the head of the Liu family, hosted lunch for us. Lunch featured many dishes that we had not seen before, such as sea cucumber. I think the answer to the question "got milk?" is yes!
Travel to Daqing
Today we went on a day trip to Daqing, a city about 120 miles north of Harbin. It was a beautiful fall day, and we saw much countryside. Roger, Mingruo, Mike and Joe traveled in cars. The rest of us rode in the van. We did not have a guide or interpreter in the van. We stopped once on the way to Daqing, at a rest area. Most of my photos were from the moving van, and so quality is affected.
The road was a 4-lane limited access toll road. The road was in excellent shape, better than many of our interstate highways, except that whenever we went over a bridge the transitions between road and bridge were a little rough. Bridges were typically over country roads; we did not cross many railroads or waterways. Traffic was light once in the countryside. We drove at 100 kph, which was faster than the cargo trucks, but we were regularly passed by black sedans and SUVs traveling much faster.
We saw people sweeping the sides of the road by hand.
We saw a lot of corn. I mean a lot of corn--mile after mile after mile--all being harvested by hand.
Trees have been planted along the roads and in other places. We have seen this elsewhere in our travels, too. It appears to be a massive program to establish tree belts throughout the countryside.
After corn, the next most common crop was hay. This was raked by hand into large piles and left in the field.
We saw only a few livestock, including beef and dairy cows, sheep and ducks.
The land was very flat all the way. There were none of the hills that we saw in Jinan. We were told that it has been unusually dry recently, and it looked it. We were told that the soil was a fine alkaline soil.
The road was a 4-lane limited access toll road. The road was in excellent shape, better than many of our interstate highways, except that whenever we went over a bridge the transitions between road and bridge were a little rough. Bridges were typically over country roads; we did not cross many railroads or waterways. Traffic was light once in the countryside. We drove at 100 kph, which was faster than the cargo trucks, but we were regularly passed by black sedans and SUVs traveling much faster.
We saw people sweeping the sides of the road by hand.We saw a lot of corn. I mean a lot of corn--mile after mile after mile--all being harvested by hand.
Trees have been planted along the roads and in other places. We have seen this elsewhere in our travels, too. It appears to be a massive program to establish tree belts throughout the countryside.After corn, the next most common crop was hay. This was raked by hand into large piles and left in the field.
We saw only a few livestock, including beef and dairy cows, sheep and ducks.The land was very flat all the way. There were none of the hills that we saw in Jinan. We were told that it has been unusually dry recently, and it looked it. We were told that the soil was a fine alkaline soil.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Dinner 10/15
The sponsors of the China International Dairy Development Summit Seminar hosted us for dinner. This was a large group, with five round tables. It was the first time we were not all at one table.
Toasting is de rigeur at these dinners, and for the first time I ventured to make a toast. I forget exactly what I said, but somewhere in there I mumbled something about appreciating this opportunity to learn about Chinese culture. I was helpfully informed that if I wanted to learn about Chinese culture, I needed to learn that the Chinese do not feel that they are good hosts unless their guests are comfortably drunk.
It was a most enjoyable evening!
Toasting is de rigeur at these dinners, and for the first time I ventured to make a toast. I forget exactly what I said, but somewhere in there I mumbled something about appreciating this opportunity to learn about Chinese culture. I was helpfully informed that if I wanted to learn about Chinese culture, I needed to learn that the Chinese do not feel that they are good hosts unless their guests are comfortably drunk.
It was a most enjoyable evening!
Dairy Seminar Redux
We rejoined the China International Dairy Development Summit Seminar, and Dr. Mike Vayda presented an overview of Vermont agriculture. His Powerpoint presentation included both English and Chinese captions, and his talk was translated.
Following Mike's presentation, seminar attendees asked questions of our delegation on various dairy industry matters. The questions showed a strong knowledge of U.S. dairy markets, and I was surprised at how many attendees had an excellent command of English. The question and answer session--including follow-up questions--was almost entirely in English.
Following Mike's presentation, seminar attendees asked questions of our delegation on various dairy industry matters. The questions showed a strong knowledge of U.S. dairy markets, and I was surprised at how many attendees had an excellent command of English. The question and answer session--including follow-up questions--was almost entirely in English.
China Post
We had just enough time after returning to the hotel after lunch to walk to the nearest office of China Post. (Laura and Camila--hope you get your postcards soon. UPDATE: One postcard arrived 10/25 and one arrived 10/26.)
Whenever we go out, we see large bundles being carried by various means. Only once have I been able to see what was in one of these bundles, and it was recyclable plastic. There is no formal recycling system, but people will collect recyclable materials to sell.
Whenever we go out, we see large bundles being carried by various means. Only once have I been able to see what was in one of these bundles, and it was recyclable plastic. There is no formal recycling system, but people will collect recyclable materials to sell.
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