Day 6 -- Anhui Province

Friday, December 12, 2008. We started earlier than normal Friday morning. We had a 3-hour bus ride from Hefei to the Fengyang village. Our visit caused quite a stir. Several villagers and the local media were waiting for us at the local historical museum.

Fengyang is famous as the birthplace of land reform in China. We toured the museum, and then headed to a local enterprise zone where recent university graduates are establishing new businesses. We met a young woman who started a successful mushroom farm.





Our bus driver in this province has been very exciting. He works for the provincial government and the bus is equipped with several horns and sirens. To get us to our appointments on time, he flies through the congested streets without regard to lanes, lights, signs or oncoming traffic. It’s been exciting to say the least.

Before we left the village we were privileged to meet with one of the original 18 farmers who signed the pact in 1978 that led to land reform, and marked the official beginning of China’s overall reform and opening up to the west.

The farmer has become quite a celebrity. Earlier this year he had a visit from the Chinese president. This picture was taken with the farmer at the same table and stools where he sat with the president.



Next up was a 3-hour bus trip back to Hefei, where we met with the head of the Anhui provincial FDA. The provincial FDA branches work directly with the national FDA to regulate food and drug safety.

We discussed the recent incidents of food and drug poisoning and what the Chinese government is doing to address the issues. While it appears they are making vast improvements, there is still a long way to go. The size of the country, lack of intellectual properly regulation and the corruption of local officials, are all major obstacles. At the same time, increased communication and highly publicized consequences of past problems have helped improve the overall safety of products in China.

At the close of the FDA meeting we had another meeting in the same location with the vice governor of the Anhui Province. After the meeting he joined us for a banquet. We presented him with some gifts from the U.S., including a Missouri flag that has been flown over the state capitol in Jefferson City.



Our hotel was across the street from a Wal-Mart and I was in need of tissue and fingernail clippers, so we decided to check it out.



It was a monster establishment. Most notable was the meat section, which was stocked with all sorts of hanging meat products, including dried duck feet.



I was happy to see another difference from U.S. stores – they charged for their plastic bags. As we’ve driven around the country for the last couple of weeks, I’ve been blown away by the massive amounts of garbage everywhere. There are plastic bags in every tree, bush and riverbank. I guess if your country has 1.3 billion people and everyone is given a plastic bag when they shop, they’re bound to pile up. Needless to say, I was pleased with Wal-Mart’s efforts to minimize their use. I’ve seen similar efforts at other stores around the country.

Once again it was a day of stark comparisons. We started the day in a tiny village, meeting with small business owners and farmers and we ended the day at the huge U.S. behemoth – Wal-Mart. The juxtaposition of the birthplace of China’s new economy with the giant of U.S./China trade relations was such a perfect snapshot of the relationship between our two countries.