Enroute home

Final blog

The journey home began at 8:30 am on May 25^th in Hong Kong, and ended nearly 25 hours later on May 25^th in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  The China Ag group bid farewell to Hong Kong and the Chinese experience as they boarded for a nearly 15 hour-long flight to Chicago.  Despite the lengthy flight, the time was passed with conversations among our new China Ag family and indulgence in personal touch screen televisions at each seat. 

Many enjoyed a bite to eat (mostly pizza and burgers), sharing photo files and a quick nap at the Chicago airport before boarding for Sioux Falls.  Everyone excitedly noted the familiarity of the sight of farms during our descent.  We were greeted by family, friends, or planned a shared ride home together.  The smiles and excitement were contagious as everyone reunited with loved ones and shared final comments and memories before heading home for the final leg of the journey.  Dr. Gonda was even reunited with both of his hats.  Good luck hanging onto those for the summer!  Dr. Thaler and Dr. Clay arrived home safely on Monday. 

***

It’s amazing how quickly two weeks flew by.  We traveled many miles by planes, trains and busses, met with our governor, immersed ourselves in a culture with roots that go back thousands of years, visited an array of agricultural enterprises both large and small, government owned and private.  We shared in a world wonder as we scaled the Great Wall of China and starred in the photographs of many locals!  We served as ambassadors of SDSU, of South Dakota and the United States, leaving positive impressions through our interactions abroad. 

Challenge yourselves to continue learning from your experience for years to come.  Compare what you learned abroad to our agricultural practices in the US.  Follow up with the economic growth and agricultural development of China.  Email your friends from MAFIC.  Teach others through sharing your stories.  Very few people in the world have the opportunity to explore the world as you did.  Thank you for choosing this experience, and thank your families for supporting your decision. 

Many times throughout this experience we referred to our group as a family.  We were proud of how you took care of each other over the past two weeks.  You reached out to develop new friendships both amongst yourselves but also with your peers from MAFIC.  We also appreciate the great conversations and stories that you shared with the faculty.  Getting to know each of you was the highlight of this experience for us!  Please continue to keep in touch with your new friends and with us over the years.  We have all shared an amazing and incredible life experience! 

We are deeply proud of you and grateful to have shared in this experience.

Best,

Dr. Thaler and Dr. Bott

May 24 photos

 

May 24

We spent our last full day abroad seeing the sights and culture of Hong Kong. Hong Kong is an island city of 7 million people and only 20% of the citizens have a car-the remaining 80% take public transportation (mainly buses). Gas prices here are about $9 per gallon (U.S. dollars). Due to Hong Kong's status as a British colony until 1997, there is a lot of British influence here and there are many differences between Hong Kong and mainland China. People drive on the left side of the road, have a different currency (the Hong Kong dollar), and speak Cantonese-a language that varies slightly from Mandarin (the language of mainland China). There is also more English speaking here-which makes things just a little easier for us. 

We started out walking down Star Avenue along the famous Hong Kong Harbor. The famous movie stars of China are commemorated with statues and hand prints on the walkway along the water front. Jet Li, Jackie Chan, and Bruce Lee were some of the familiar names we walked by as we enjoyed the view of the harbor. Next, we spent most of our day at the Hong Kong Ocean Park on the Kowloon side, located right on the coast. Along with the breath-taking scenery there were many attractions. We enjoyed a scenic gondola ride over the mountain where there were roller coasters, marine animal and aquarium exhibits, dolphin shows, gift shops, restaurants (McDonalds!), and last but not least, some amazing amusement rides. Everyone got in a lot of laughs, thrills, and some good sunburns.

After that, we went to visit the Hong Kong Jockey Club at the Happy Valley Racecourse. Happy Valley is an area of Hong Kong that is very luxurious and has nicer homes and stores. The Hong Kong Jockey Club was established in 1884 but people of the area were racing long before then. The Hong Kong Jockey Club actually contributed greatly to the Hong Kong Ocean Park (the amusement park), which was formed in 1977 and managed by the club until 1987. The Hong Kong Jockey Club first started racing horses that were crossed with Arabian stallions and the native Chinese "running" horse breed. We toured a museum that showed the Club's history-it was interesting to see horse racing being so prominent in Asia. In the museum was the skeleton of the racehorse "Silverlining," the first horse in Hong Kong to win a million dollars. We went out to the horse racing track located right outside the museum. It was interesting to see a racetrack in the middle of the clustered city. There were actually several soccer fields (The Hong Kong Football Club), a basketball court, and a running track within the horse racing track itself.

We then went to our last supper as a group-a traditional Chinese meal and some birthday cake in celebration of Dr. Bott's Birthday, which is on May 26th. After some great traditional food we piled onto the bus and travelled back to the hotel. Bright and early tomorrow we leave for the Hong Kong Airport where we begin our long journey home-We leave for O'Hare International Airport at 11:40 and after a brief visit to Chicago we will arrive in Sioux Falls by 7:35 p.m. We are looking forward to seeing you all soon! On behalf of everyone, we would like to thank you all SO much for your support-We couldn't have gone on this great adventure without the encouragement from our friends and family.

-Bloggers Shelby and Lea

May 23 photos

May 23

Hello, once again from China! We started the second to last full day of our trip by heading to a fish farm about an hour and half south of Guangzhou. Everyone on the bus seemed to be getting ready to be home, but still ready for two last days of adventure.  As we were driving through the rain we noticed that there were not as many scooters here in Guangzhou.  Our tour guide Jocelyn informed us that in the majority of this city, motorized scooters are banned to help with air pollution. One out of four people own a car here so 75% of the 17 million people have to use public transportation.

Once we arrived at the fish farm, we were escorted to their conference room, where we were briefed by a representative of the farm. We learned that it is a research farm that uses genetics to produce a superior tilapia, which is mainly exported to the U.S. They do this by cross breeding two different types of tilapia and selling the offspring to the local farmers as young fish. These farmers will then raise them until they are harvested for their meat, since the crossbreed is infertile and will not reproduce. This research institution also has another major area of production among their greenhouses. In these greenhouses they raise vegetables, such as peppers and tomatoes.

For lunch today, we went to a cool little restaurant that was built on top of a pond. We had our own private room where they served a delicious Chinese meal. Tyler, however, showed a little more courage than the rest of the group, choosing to taste a carp's eye ball and brain. In his opinion, they tasted "slimy and salty." After dinner we stepped outside and observed the scenery of the pond. The restaurant raised their own food right along the pond. We were able to see the vegetables, fish, ducks, chickens, and even a lone rabbit that will be served by the restaurant.

After lunch, we again boarded the bus for yet another two hour trip to the Chinese-Hong Kong border. There was not as much farm land along this drive. It was more tropical mountain range, in fact, our latitude is equivalent to that of Mexico City and further south. We were reminded of the unique relationship between China and Hong Kong as we had to go through two immigration systems, not only a Chinese departure gate, but also a Hong Kong arrival area in customs. The British influence on Hong Kong is very unique, and we are excited to see what our stay on Hong Kong Island will bring us.

We are checked into our hotel in Hong Kong Island, and waiting to go out to a group supper.  Hong Kong is one of the most expensive places to live since land is so scarce.  An apartment can cost $1 million.  Not much wasted space here.

This is our final stop of our over-seas travels. We are all eager to be home in the United States with a broader understanding of agriculture on an international level; however, it will be a bitter sweet end to a phenomenal trip. Don't forget to keep checking in on our blog these last few days of the trip. We have over 5000 views thus far, and the record from last year's class was 6,300!  It is great to know our family and friends back home are following us.

May 22

Greetings to all from the land of China. We are in our second day in Guangzhou and leave tomorrow for Hong Kong. The humidity here is a little more than some of us, especially this Minnesotan, are used to, but we're making it work. Fortunately the air conditioning was included in this hotel, rather than a paid option at our previous hotel. It is becoming obvious that this region was the first in the "Made in China" revolution. Shipments of goods here for manufacturing or for domestic use arrive daily in huge quantities, and its economic impact on the region has been immense. Everything from shoes to electronics to clothing bought in the US is made within an hour of where we currently type this blog.

Our sense of smell was kicked into gear early at the seafood market which was our first stop for the day. From lobster to clam to fish species never seen before in the US, this place had it all. Stand after stand exhibited their finest seafood in aquariums and crates of various crustaceans. Statistics-wise, this market goes through about 500 tons of seafood each day, or roughly 20 semi loads daily. The sales are made to individual customers, as well as restaurants and foodservice.

Our next visit was to the fruit and vegetable markets. This market was different in that it dealt with the throughput of goods only by bulk, rather than individual customers. Grapes were the number one fruit quantity-wise in this market, but many others were also sold there such as watermelon, apples, oranges, grapefruit, and pineapples, just to name a few. Imported fruits such as these usually make their way from port, such as the one we visited yesterday, in refrigerated containers. Many of these containers and trucks could be seen lined up throughout the market. They are then either sold locally or bought and shipped elsewhere in the region.

After lunch, we visited the US Consulate office here in Guangzhou, which represents the United States in the south China region. It is a branch office of the Embassy and is one of five located throughout the country. The consulate also is a branch office of the USDA-FAO, or Food and Agriculture Organization. This $300 million facility was moved into in last July and employs over 400 people. One of the main duties of the consulate here is to grant visas for business, study, investments, etc. (non-immigrant visas), which last year totaled over 500,000. This number is the largest in the world granted by any consulate, which shows the global connection to this area for numerous industries. This office deals with market development for US goods as well. When last year's US imports to China totaled over $29 billion, it becomes obvious that this is an important task.

We ended the night on a more scenic note with a cruise on the Pearl River which runs through the downtown area. The lights of the city and sights along the river were beautiful to see. That's about it for the day as we wrap up our time here in Guangzhou and look forward to one last stop in Hong Kong before we head back home. Goodnight (or good morning, probably) from China and you stay classy, America.

May 22 photos

 

May 21 photos

May 21

               We started the day out by leaving our hotel in Xi'an at 6 a.m. with breakfast in hand as we headed to the airport.  We made it through Chinese security, which was way more relaxed than U.S. security, and departed at 8:35.  The airplane was a lot nicer than most of us were expecting.  It had three seats on each side and they served us "breakfast" (cherry tomatoes, cake, a dinner role, and a slice of ham).  We landed in Guangzhou, a city of 17 million people, at 10:45, and it was 85F with 90% humidity when we got out of the airport! We got all of our luggage, and met our new tour guide Jocelyn.  Then we had lunch at a restaurant beside the airport where we were served roasted goose, carp, mushroom soup and assorted vegetables.  We also celebrated Katrina's 22nd birthday with cake topped with some of China's fresh fruits-peaches, grapes, and dragon fruit-for dessert. 

               After lunch we were off on a two hour bus ride to the Nansha Grain and General Cargo Terminal Branch Company.  On the ride to the port we saw a variety of different crops, as Guangzhou is a lot more tropical than Xi'an and Beijing.  Some of the crops Guangzhou consisted of were banana trees, sunflowers, rice, grapes, corn, and more tree farms.  There are a lot of rivers, streams, and aquaculture farms.  Just like the rest of China, the water here is very polluted and unclean.  The city of Guangzhou also looks different than the previous two cities.  There are a lot more smaller houses and apartment buildings in Guangzhou.  But there are still many high-rise apartment buildings too.  For many years, Guangzhou was the only port the Chinese government allowed international vessels to unload at.

When we arrived at the Nansha Port we went to a meeting room in the Port Affairs Building and watched a video in Mandarin or Cantonese about the port (we're not really quite sure what language).  After the video we had a question and answer session about the port.  We learned that the port is on a man-made island.  It has only been in production for three years and they are still currently working on completing phase three of their construction.  This port primarily receives iron, coal, corn, soybeans, and wheat, because it is specialized to handle grain.  It then exports things like electronics, machinery, toys, and furniture.  The island is 1.192 million square meters.  The port itself has a ton of shipping containers and unloading cranes.  The port can load and unload six cargo ships at a time.  We found out that it can take up to three days to unload a cargo ship when it arrives.  We were able to ride our bus down to the area where all the containers and cranes are located to get a close-up look.  A regular container ship can carry 8,000 containers, and containers are basically what we see every day in the Midwest being transported by semis.  It was incredible and indescribable.  After the tour we headed to our hotel for the evening and supper on our own.

               Again from China we have made it through another eventful day and look forward to ending our trip with memories that will last a lifetime. From all of us in China, you stay classy South Dakota!

May 20 photos

May 20

               The  second day in Xi'an started out with a visit to the meat market in the middle of the city. We all went to the meat market with an open mind; not really knowing what to expect. When we arrived at the meat market it was an eye opening experience for all of us. At the meat market we were able to see that there was no sense of quality control and food safety. Whether it was seeing whole cuts of meat hanging out in the open or meat being exposed to the heat from the day covered in numerous flies, it gave us all a great appreciation of how there is food safety in the United States. On the fish side of the meat market, we were able to see people cleaning live fish on the ground with no sense of how many germs existed or if they were even using clean water during the cleaning process. We learned that there are two high periods during the day in the meat market. The first high period was at five in the morning. That is the first high period because that is when the meat is the most fresh; due to the fact that they have just slaughtered the animals. They ask for the highest price during this time, and there is less bargaining for the meat because the meat is more valuable. The second high period of the day is in the afternoon around six o clock. We learned this is another high period of business because many of the people are just getting off work and need cheap food for the family. The food is much cheaper during this period because the quality had greatly decreased and is no longer fresh. Bargaining for the meat is really easy during this high period because the meat is almost spoiled. It was a surprise to us all that almost all of the stalls that sell either meat or fish sell out of their product by the end of the day.

               Our second stop of the day in Xi'an was a visit to a local farm near the city. It was interesting to see what the local agriculture was like. It was a four person family that farmed near the city. We found out that only the mother of the family was the one that worked the farm. The father worked in construction, the daughter worked in the technology sector, and the son worked in transportation. The mother that worked the land was very welcoming to us when we arrived and offered us hot tea, fresh picked cherries, and peanuts.  The family farm was roughly three quarters of an acre in size. The farm was a few short blocks away from the home. Three crops were grown on the farm such as cherries, corn, and wheat. The mother told us that she grows the corn to sell to the government which they come and harvest for her when the time is right. The wheat that is raised on the farm is used for food for the family and the cherries are sold to the market for family living expenses. One of the big things that we noticed about the family farm was that it was not in a rural setting like we are all used to. It was essentially located a short distance from the city and you could see the skyscrapers and complexes off in the distance. This was a first-hand look at how the large population of  China and the growth in the country is taking over the land.

               Our third stop for the day was a local dairy plant called Yin Qiao Dairy Group. It is a dairy factory that has been operating for the last twelve years. Its products consist of yogurt, which is twenty percent of their marketed product, baby formula, which is thirty percent of their produced product, and milk, which is fifty percent. Every day the group gets five hundred tons of milk  which collected from about one hundred farms. The company owns a couple of farms that produce thirty percent of the milk that comes into the company. The milk that they produce is low lactose because Asian people cannot consume high lactose. Milk runs about ninety cents for two hundred and fifty milliters. They have a large variety of milk flavors which ranged from strawberry, chocolate, vanilla, and date flavored milk. One of the things that we noticed about the milk, when we were able to sample, was that it was at room temperature. We found out that people drink it at room temperature because the milk is pasteurized at a higher temperature than in the United States and does not need to be kept cold. They do this because the average Chinese family has an average fridge size of a mini fridge back in the United States, and the consumption of milk is much lower. It was also interesting to know that the company did not produce any cheese products or ice cream at the plant.

               After the dairy plant our last stop of the day was the Terracotta Warriors museum. The museum is one of the many burial sites from one of the old Chinese emperors in 201 BC. Every soldier was formed out of clay from the mountains nearby. The emperor's purpose for these burial sites were so that the clay soldiers could protect him in the afterlife.  No face on any one of the soldiers was supposed to be the same. This was done by copying the faces of the soldiers. Each tomb consisted of archers, horses, warriors, officers, and generals. Depending on which type of clay soldier you were depended on how they were designed and their hair style. Many of the clay soldiers that have been found were completely destroyed and are being rebuilt piece by piece. The largest pit measure two hundred and thirty meters long and sixty-two meters wide. It was interesting to hear that one of the tombs that they have found remained uncovered because they want to preserve the soldiers for a future time when technology would be better suited to preserve the artifacts.

               A little word from all of us on the Chinese expedition. We cannot wait to arrive at the Sioux Falls airport and see our families with open arms and greasy cheeseburgers. (Hint Hint). We wish you well and ‘til next time!

Blog by Brooke, Connor and Tyler

May 19 photos

May 19

The first night at the new hotel in Xi'an went very well. We were happy when we walked into breakfast and saw bacon and some other western breakfast foods.  We started out our day by taking a bus ride to Shaanxi Kingbull Livestock Development Company.  They breed, feed, and slaughter their beef cattle; they slaughter 100,000 head a year.  They sell their beef to high-class restaurants and export to other countries.  The beef sells for 140 dollars a pound.  They breed their local breed called the Qingchaun with Angus cattle that are imported from Australia.  These crosses are then bred to Wagu cattle to produce the Kingbull cattle breed.  An interesting fact is that 20% of the cattles liquid intake is beer because the managers believe it helps with fat deposition. 

               On the way to the next stop we had to drive through a market on the side of the road.  They were selling everything from vegetables to clothing.  Then we arrived at the Qingchaun Beef Cattle Breeding Center, which is the biggest owner of Qingchaun cattle in China.  All the cows are dry-lotted in pens with brick floors. They have the biggest silage bunker in the area.  The diets consisted of silage, soybean meal, and wheat byproducts. It was interesting to see the differences in the body type of the local Chinese cattle as compared with those from home. 

               We headed to our next stop, which was a dairy breeding center nearby.  They had 500 cattle on the place but only 200 were producing milk at the time.  The pens were very empty and they weren't close to their full capacity at all.  The milking parlor wasn't a parlor at all and was actually done by a portable milker that was hooked to vacuum lines that took it to the milk tank.  The cows looked in good health but they were different than what we are used to seeing when it came to conformation. Students and faculty with a plant-based interest were also engaged with identifying crop and local plant varieties throughout the farm.

               Next we ate at the Northwest Ag and Forestry campus cafe and the headed to Besun group base for pig production and processing.  Here they finish and slaughter 4,500,000 pigs a year.  We got to see the processing plant but we weren't allowed to take pictures, which shows their lack of transparency for production. 

Our afternoon fun continued at the Xi'an city wall.  Everyone decided to ride the tandem bikes around the wall, which soon turned into a race between most of the boys.  Stetson and Adam were the first ones to make it around the 9-mile city wall.  The entire group enjoyed the cityscape during this much appreciated surprise outdoor fun.

               For supper we had traditional dumpling dinner.  We got to try 18 different types of dumplings, which are a specialty in the Xi'an area, dating back to an empress from Xi’an who had a keen liking for elaborate dumplings designed to look like the food source they contained.  The dinner was followed by a traditional dance show that displayed historic dances from the different dynasties that ruled the Xi'an area. 

Until tomorrow!

Blog by Kyle, Justin and Kelsey S.

May 18 photos

May 18

               This morning was a pretty fast paced morning in order to make the high speed train to Xi'an. We are done with our Beijing part of the trip and moved on to Xi'an, where we will be until Wednesday, May 21. We ran a little behind to start the morning, trying to get money exchanged for the Pearl Market. After getting our money and checking out of the hotel, we headed to the Pearl Market. The Pearl Market was a huge hit with everybody. It was a fun time bargaining with the venders, and a lot of people came back with some great items, including pearls! We were a little behind for leaving the Pearl Market because people were still trying to get good deals.

               After the Pearl Market, we went to a five star restaurant for lunch. This lunch was great and included eating duck! The waitresses showed us how to make duck tacos. You started by taking the "taco shell", which was almost like a thin crepe, and dunking the duck into soy sauce to spread it on the shell. After getting the duck and soy sauce on the shell, you could add cucumber and onions to the shell and enjoy.

               Following lunch, we went to catch our high speed train to Xi'an. The train ride to Xi'an took 4 hours and 40 minutes and the train travels at 300 km/h, which is roughly 180 mph. It is interesting to note that China's technology is behind the United States. Instead of scanning our tickets to get on the train, they used a hole-punch to mark our tickets. Their technology is very much so behind ours in many different ways and we have noticed that on our trip.  Also, while on the train, many students/faculty enjoyed watching Frozen. As we traveled from Beijing to Xi'an, we noticed that the landscape changed from flatland to a very mountainous region. There are many more farmers and villages than we were able to see in Beijing. The main crop that we noticed farmers were growing was rice. Each farmer has only a very small patch of ground to farm that is often not much bigger than a large room. As we moved into the more mountainous region closer to Xi'an, most farmers were growing their crops on terraces. Also, there are many skyscrapers just randomly being built in the countryside, which is interesting to see.

               Once the train arrived in Xi'an, we collected our luggage and met our new local tour guide Maggie. Maggie has been super nice and helpful so far, and she gave us a quick history on the city of Xi'an while the bus drove to our restaurant. Our restaurant was another traditional Chinese meal including chicken, rice, vegetables, pot roast, noodles, sweet lemon bread, watermelon, and tea. After we left the restaurant, we got back on the bus and drove to the hotel. The hotel is very tall, and many of us are staying on the 26th floor. The hotel rooms are very fancy and have elegant lighting and wood finishings. There is a walk-in shower, and there are even bath robes provided in the closet. Each room is equipped with its own computer for surfing the internet, and there is even a button to open and close the window curtains automatically! It was a great way to be able to relax and end another great day in China.

 

Blog by Jordan and Tasha

May 17 photos

 

 

May 17

This morning we traveled to the center of Beijing to visit Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. The crowds were so dense that even Chelsey and Matt who have frequented the Minnesota State Fair which is famous for large crowds, were amazed by the number of people. Since it would be easy for the group to be swept away by the mass of people, our guide Michelle, reminded us that we needed to stay together like "sticky rice." We followed a flag she carried and then Jordan, one of the seminar leaders, attached a large flower to his bag for us to find our group. We were impressed by the number of Chinese people who were visiting the site. Michelle told us that many of these people were visiting the square and city for the first time.

In class were learned about the political protests that took place in 1989. However, Michelle warned us that in Beijing they want to put this event behind them. So she said we were not allowed to talk or ask about it while we were there.  The square and the city were magnificent and full of old history. Michelle explained that all of the artifacts in the city were all original pieces of jade, gold, silver, flowers, and enamel. Michelle also explained that there are over 900,000 treasures, but only 10,000 -20,000 of them are available for the public to see. We have all heard about the impressiveness of Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden city, but not until you see it, can you really understand the magnificence of its beauty.

This visit involved much walking and with as warm as it was today, we were very ready to get on the bus and have water. Following this visit, we took part in a traditional Chinese Tea Ceremony. We watched as Chinese women prepared the tea and had a chance to smell and sample each kind. We tried six categories of tea: green, white, black, yellow, flower, and oolong. We learned proper Chinese etiquette for holding the glass and were told to drink each of our small cups in 3 sips. Each category has a special purpose. For example, oolong is believed to help regain energy while black tea is supposed to cure beer belly and constipation. Many of us enjoyed the tea so much that we purchased several varieties to bring home.

For lunch we went to a local Chinese restaurant for noodles that were highly recommended by Michelle. The meal was a hit with a majority of the group. Following this meal, we visited the Hoch Ung area and rode on "rickshaws", which are basically a cart attached to a bicycle that seated two. The ride gave us a new perspective of the culture in China. The highlight was being welcomed into the home of a local Hoch Ung family. The woman of the family proudly shared with us the history of her 200-year-old home which has been in the family for four generations.  This area has a vast array of economic worth.  One home in particular which was one of only a few owned by the family rather than the Chinese government was valued at $40,000 per square meter. This home, located on the "dragon line" which we learned runs through the center of Beijing, was worth millions of US dollars. By contrast, many other homes in the area had two rooms and several homes shared a communal bath facility.  We were all impressed when the woman of the home, her daughter, and Michelle all played the Gu Zheng, an ancient string instrument.

P.S. We only experienced one minor hiccup throughout this day when Kyle, Stetson, and Matt were late to the bus after stopping at the Olympic Boulevard. However, thanks to their hustle back to the bus they were only 15 minutes late after touring the Bird Nest from the 2008 Olympics. We still had time to go to a Silk Factory and see how silk is made and had the chance to purchase some genuine silk items.

Submitted by Chelsey, Michelle and Matt

May 16 photos