Steve Wilkins: China

China
This blog is being written in Monroe, Louisiana and is a reflection of 11 days in China.
I looked forward to this leg of the 2013 Nuffield year, partly because of curiosity about China but also the fact China is one of our biggest trading partners.Something many other countries are very envious of.
We met our guide in Hong Kong 24 hours before taking the ferry to mainland China.
Emma Fan grew up in Beijing before living in Europe and now resides in Perth, Australia.
Having a background in journalism, Emma was invaluable in giving us a Chinese experience I will never forget, and has become a very good friend to us all.

We were based in 3 different regions of China, each with their own cultures and industries.

In the south there is a more Cantonese influence and is more of a coastal culture where there has perhaps been more contact with south east Asia.
GuangZhou is a very busy city of around 10 million people and little available area to grow food, hence a lot come in the form of seafood or is imported from other parts of China and the world.

A walk around the market in downtown Guangzhou reveals all sorts of goodies from dried jellyfish to ground chilli and deer products including velvet, dried tails and pizzles.
The price for the deer velvet starts at $800 NZ up to $7000NZ for the more discerning buyer.

Travelling to Kaifeng in the Henan District the change in both climate is very evident.
The people of this region have had less contact with western people so we become the subject of many stares and impromptu photo shoots !

We are well looked after for the two days we are in the area by Ashley Fraser from Australia and Mr Suo, Mr Zhou snr. and Mr Zhou jnr. who have one of the biggest seed cleaning and handling equipment in China. A look around their plant was amazing with quality that any manufacturer would be proud of.

We were able to catch up with some local farmers who happened to be harvesting wheat by the roadside and were so friendly and more than happy to entertain us for an hour or so.
Farm size is generally only 1ac or less, but in many cases they join up with neighbours to up to 20 ac in one area. Before the combine was out the gate there was a corn planter seeding directly into the wheat stubble - something we struggle with in NZ !
For the whole time we are in the Henan district, we have three limosines and drivers at out desposal and are treated to the best restaurants and rice wine amaginable.
Thank you for everything Guys !

Leaving Kaifeng doesnt go so smoothly. The day starts off well with us leaving the hotel in our motorcade at the agreed time of 8am. That is where the fun began.

Before we get more than 1km from the Hotel we run into roadworks. The Chinese drivers are poor at the best of times but the streets now turn to chaos.

After sitting for 10 mins it becomes clear we aren't able to use the route we want to. The drivers then go to plan B and take us on a 'shortcut'. Yes thats right - the longest route between two points!

Before long we are the only three vehicles on the road and the drivers slow to a halt before doing a U turn. Not a word has been said but all of us are thinking the same thing- Do these guys actually know which way to go ?

Soon we are on the expressway and the airport signs begin to show up on the roadside. Next problem, our check in time for our flight to Hohhot is 9.35am. We do just make it, but as we are checking in, the gates are closed. We have 2 people with seats and seven without.

The two go on to Hohhot while the seven have to rebook on a later flight . This means a tranfer through Taiyuan and on to Hohhot, and a waste of an afternoon Bugger !
We are now 6 days into the Chinese leg of our GFP and our social media are becoming increasingly limited. Twitter, Facebook, Viber and the like are locked in China as are our blogs and some are having issues with emails.
As we spend most of today in various airports, we have had to resort to talking to each other !
Seriously though, the downtime we do have together, we are getting into some great debates and learning a lot about each other and our respective industries. With the nine of us including Emma, our guide in China, we are able to tackle most subjects and learn from each other.
Soon we will be able to get to and airport early enough to catch the plane!

Hohhot is different again with less humidity and heat. These people have seen even less Westerners!
The first thing you notice is the incredible amount of construction going on in China. there is a real push to urbanise the rural people but still have them work the land, not sure how that will work out...
Many of the new cities are largely empty and although the construction workers are living in the new accomodation, they are moving with the construction, so what happens as it slows down ? I can't see how this growth is sustainable....

Automated Dairy Processing Plant In Hohhot

It would seem that China's dairy consumption is at 38m tons and is likely to rise to around 100m tons in the next 20 years. The Chinese are busy gleaning ideas from all around the world to pick up the best systems to produce more of their own milk products, but even so are probably only going to be able to produce half of their requirements.