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