Day 9 -- Leader of the Day

Monday, December 15, 2008. Note -- If you are reading this in order, I skipped days 7 & 8. They were weekend sightseeing days, with no major substantive meetings. I'm running out of time here in China (I'll be home this weekend), so I thought I would skip to the meatier stuff and go back and update the missing days when I have some extra time.

Everyday one member of our delegation is selected to act as leader of the day. The leader is the first off the bus and takes the lead on introductions and tours. The leader introduces the rest of the delegation, moderates the Q&A sessions and presents the gifts to our hosts. The leader of the day sits a the head of the dinner table, converses with the host and often leads the group in toasts.

My turn came on Day 9 in Wuhu city. We started the day by checking out of the hotel and headed to an auto manufacturing plant.

The Cherry company is the largest car manufacturer in China. They manufacture several different models, most very small. The smallest is the QQ, which is about the size of a Smart Car.



Similar to the U.S. automakers, Cherry has been hit hard by the current economic crisis. They have cut their shifts down to just a few per week.

After touring the auto plant we got back on the bus for the trip back to Hefei.

Before we left town we stopped on a bridge over the Yangtze River for a quick photo session. It is the longest river in Asia and the third longest river in the world. It was too foggy to see far, but impressive nonetheless.

Back in Hefei we went to an area outside of town that is the site of massive economic development over the last 2 years. On the shores of one of the largest lakes in China, we met with officials who explained that their development is becoming the model for planned communities throughout China.

Lunch was with a leader from the local Youth Federation. He was formerly with the provincial prosecutor’s office, so we were able to ask him lots of questions about the Chinese legal system.

After lunch we toured a portion of the University of Science and Technology of China. It is the top science university and one of the top 3 overall universities in the country. Over 10,000 USTC alumni are currently living and working in the U.S.



Our next stop was the village of Sangang which is an example of the “new socialist countryside.” A village of about 5,000, it is currently under massive development due to an infusion of new money. The new income stream is from a tree nursery business that the entire village has established.



Dinner was in the home of one of the local tree farmers. The family cooked us an amazing feast. There were lots of toasts and many gifts exchanged as this was the last dinner with our Anhui Province hosts.

Near the end of dinner, a cat wandered under the table and enjoyed many delicious table scraps.



A quick dash to the airport and we were off to Shanghai. It was a quick flight on Eastern China Airlines. As we exited the terminal to load the bus, there were fireworks exploding in the Shanghai sky.