Well…the trip has come to an end. It was an amazing experience, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I got to see and learn more about the culture of China firsthand. I hope that my blogs for this journey helped you see into some of the things that I was learning about.
Although the food in China is different than what we have in Minnesota, it is still food, and the Chinese like their food. I had the opportunity to try many different things on this trip. Who would ever have thought about eating a cow’s stomach? That was one dish I didn’t particularly care for, but at least I can say that I tried it. But the Peking Duck was delicious.
Thanks for following along this past week! I hope you enjoyed reading not only about my experiences but also those of the other students. I hope you learned things about China that you 
might not have known and have come to a greater understanding of other things. China is a wonderful place, and if any of you ever have a chance to visit, do so–it is a great eye-opening experience. I wish you all well in your future and hope you all consider China a part of it!
Archived Journal Entries
November 17,
2005
“We love carrot.” This was a quote on a bag at the University of Hong Kong. HKU is located in the heart of Hong Kong, a steamy tropical city in the southern part of China. 
The weather here is gorgeous–hot temperatures yet not too humid…unlike Minnesota at this time of the year. I hear there is snow there already!
The University of Hong Kong was founded in 1911. It has about 20,000 students, half of theme undergrads and the other half graduate students. HKU 
has 10 different schools where students can study a range of things. All of the classes are taught in English with the exception of the Chinese Language courses.
In China, education is of the utmost importance, as it is in most places in the world. In China, though, if a person does not attend a University, it’s very difficult to get a job. Life in China centers around the type of education that you get. To make it in life economically, you need to go to a University. Just think if it was that way in the United States. If everyone had to go to college to get a job, I think a lot fewer students would drop out of high school. Maybe it would be good for Minnesota and the United States to adopt a system like China’s, or for families to make it more of a priority for their children to complete at least a Bachelor’s degree. I think education is the key to success.
November 16,
2005
Greetings from the beautiful, bustling city of 16 million people, Shanghai. This city truly is amazing, and I just wish we had more time here to experience it fully. Along with visiting Seton, a leather 
manufacturing plant, and hearing a presentation by UPS, I also visited an orphanage with the first lady.
We traveled to the Shanghai Children’s Home, a beautiful complex in a suburb of Shanghai. The Catholic Church set it up in 1911, but the municipal government and individual sponsors support it now.
We met with the director of the Shanghai Children’s Home, Mr. Wang, who told us much about the facility. Currently there are 1,700 children in the Shanghai Children’s Home program; about 600 of them live at the facility we visited. The other children live with foster families in the 
community. Most of the children are under the age of 16. The Home employs around 350 people to care for the children, including 16 social workers and 3 assistants, 40 doctors and nurses, more than 30 teachers, and 100 caregivers. The children are very well cared for by all of these people. They get an education right at the home or at schools in the community, depending on the children’s health. The doctors give them regular physical examinations, and if a child gets sick, the doctors and nurses are there to take care of them.
The home also has children with disabilities. It has special programs to help these children on an individual basis, including physical therapy and recovery programs. The home said that 75 percent of deaf children whom they’ve treated recovered their hearing.
We got to visit some of the classrooms while we were there, including a colorful room with many quality toys for toddlers. They were having fun playing and singing. We also saw the five- and six-year-olds, reading and playing with Legos. Some of them knew a bit of English. It was a precious and touching moment when four little boys came up to me, shook my hand and said, “Hello. 
Good morning.” It was all in English. They were very cute! Finally we were off to visit the 11-13-year-olds. One girl gave a picture she painted to the first lady. It was a gorgeous picture. The first lady also answered some of the students’ questions about the United States, including ones about Disneyland. All of the children were in caring environments where they were learning from teachers.
I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the Shanghai Children’s Home with the first lady. It was a very nice orphanage – probably the best in the country. The children there are very sweet and growing up healthily, I believe. This orphanage is helping the children to get them out in the world to do well. I am glad to have had this opportunity.
November 15,
2005
Today we flew to Shanghai, where I traveled to the Jing’an Temple with First Lady Mary Pawlenty and Jennifer, another student. The temple was built in 247 AD and is the most famous
landmark in this district. It was originally located along the Suzhou Creek, but was relocated to its current location in the heart of Shanghai during the Song Dynasty. The name means peace and tranquility, which is somewhat misleading. The temple is located in the middle of a mess of shops and malls so it is always a bustling place.
While we were there, we got saw monks chanting. They wore yellow robes, signifying that they are masters of Buddhism. These monks live at the temple and worship there. The temple was very beautiful. It was a traditional Chinese-style temple, with statues of 
Buddha and burning incense. It seemed somewhat out of place right in the middle of Shanghai though. It was surrounded completely by high-rises and shops.
The temple is currently undergoing a renovation. It had been made into a plastics factory during the Cultural Revolution and changed back into a temple in 1983. This is the reason that it is going through renovations.
It is a very beautiful place, and I thoroughly enjoyed visiting it. It was also very fun to be able to spend time with the First Lady. She is a remarkable person and very nice.
November 14,
2005
Today we began going to our meetings, starting with a briefing for the entire delegation. There was a question and answer session with the senior U.S. Embassy representatives. Most of the talk was about the environment and economy of China.
One topic was education, and specifically what China hopes to accomplish with partnerships in education in the United States. Someone mentioned that it would be good for more U.S. students 
to learn Chinese. I agree wholeheartedly. China is a major rising economic power, and to work with China in the future, which is imminent, we need to be able to communicate with them. Also, it is important for us to learn about their culture and understand it so that we can build lasting partnerships.
On working and partnering with China, Governor Pawlenty said, “As to the challenge, let’s not shrink from it.”
I was with the Steel and Mining Delegation today. In the morning, after the meeting with the senior U.S. Embassy representatives, Chinese representatives from the steel and mining industries gave presentations on the Chinese industry. Did you know that China produces one third of the world’s steel? China is also the largest importer of iron ore. These things are especially relevant for Minnesotans who live in my area of the state, the northern Iron Range, where iron mining is one of the largest sources of employment.
During our lunch break, I traveled with the Steel and Mining delegation and the Chinese presenters to a Sichuan restaurant in the mall under our hotel. Eating there was a lot of fun, not only because it was good food but also because the food and style of eating were authentic. Every dish was brought out and set on a Lazy Susan-style rotating glass plate in the middle of the table. One dish was Hui Guo Gui Yu (double fried fish), or a type of spicy fish. It tasted a little sweet but had a very spicy effect as I swallowed it. We also had duck served with little white bread buns. The buns had slits down the middle and you put the duck and the spices in it. In the words of delegate Tom Pustovar, “It’s like a hamburger.” We also had Chinese salad, served in a 
vase with lettuce on the bottom and cucumber, carrots and celery-like sticks sticking up. The celery-like sticks weren’t as crunchy or as stringy as American celery. I personally liked the Chinese version of celery better. Then for dessert, the cooks brought out a variety of little treats. I tried one that looked like a piece of pineapple, but was actually sticky rice. It tasted like warm cinnamon bread. We also had bean juice custard, made by pouring hot bean juice into a dish and then swishing a rock mineral through it. The mineral was rich in calcium. We then waited five minutes while the bean juice hardened into a custard-type dish. You then have your choice of making it either salty or sweet. I decided to have mine sweet. The bean custard was green and reminded me of egg whites. There was a sweet sauce poured on it that tasted like pure brown sugar. It was very good.
Then it was back to the hotel for the presentation by the Minnesota Steel and Mining delegation members to the Chinese. The presentation covered the different mines on the Iron Range, and individual company owners or CEOs gave brief introductions on what their companies do. Then there was a chance for questions from the Chinese. It was very cool to see that officials from Lai Wu Steel were at the presentation. Lai Wu Steel became a third owner in the mine in Eveleth, Minnesota to help bring 400 workers back to work after the mine had originally closed. Without this investment from Lai Wu Steel, those people would still be out of work. Tomorrow, the Steel and Mining delegation will stay in Beijing to attend the China Mining 2005 Congress and Exhibition, which runs through Thursday.
November 13,
2005
Hey to all of you from CHINA! It's amazing here, and I'm having fun. After our amazingly long flight, we got to the hotel. We didn't get much sleep, but oh well…that just makes everything more interesting.
We
visited the Great Wall and the Forbidden City today. Then for dinner,
we got to experience a Chinese Street Fair. I really enjoyed that.
Although it was a mock street fair, it seemed like it was real.
There were little booths with different kinds of foods. We had the
opportunity to try all kinds of Chinese cuisine. It is similar to
the State Fair in that each booth had something different, and all
of the food was amazing. I got to try the Peking Duck!! I was so
excited to try it, and it was VERY good. I watched the chef prepare
it; he put the hoisin sauce on a small pancake (which looked like
a mini tortilla), then a piece of celery and the tips of green onions
went on, and finally the duck. I wasn’t sure at first if I
would like it, but the sauce gave the duck a sweet taste that was
simply YUMMY! The celery and onion added a little crunch. There
were not only food booths but also art booths. At one, a man was
making small animals on a stick out of sugar. It was neat to see
the way he would pull bits of the ball of sugar out to form the
feet or the nose of the animal he was working on. The best part
was you could eat it when he was done. All in all, it was a fun
evening filled with fresh fruit, delicious cooked dishes, and the
chatter of a real street fair.
November 10,
2005
Hey Everyone!
Only a few more days and I'm off to China. I can't believe it! Before I leave, I want to share with you some of the Protocol Tips I learned for use in China, since you should never leave home without knowing how to behave properly in the country you are traveling to.
First,
you should know how to dress appropriately. In China, for both
business meetings and entertainment, loud colors should be avoided,
especially solid red-which is reserved for brides, and white-which
is used for funerals. Conservative skirts and dress suits for
women and ties for men are appropriate. I had to buy some new
outfits for this trip so that I would be properly attired.
Second, chopstick etiquette is very important.
Chopsticks are used at all meals, so it's a good thing that I
know how to use them! To begin, pick up the chopsticks with your
right hand, then transfer them to the left hand, and then take
the proper grip your right hand. Do not point or gesture with
the chopsticks, and do not lick the ends of the chopsticks. When
you finish eating, the chopsticks should be placed together neatly
on the table in the chopstick rest with the tips pointing to your
left.
These are a few of the things that I learned, and I will be
better prepared when I travel to China. For more tips on protocol
in China, you can check out http://www.minnesota-china.com/PDFs/protocolTips.pdf
November 3,
2005
I am visiting an orphanage with the First Lady while in China, so I thought it would be good to learn more about them before I go. What I found out was so interesting that I thought I should share it with you.
Did you know that, as recently as 1991, thousands of children in China’s state-run orphanages were neglected and starved, and in several provinces the mortality rate was at least 77.6 percent? The situation was grim. Some children were left to die in rooms without food, water, or human contact; and the living ones received very little care, poor quality food and none of the stimulation that children need to grow up healthy. The overcrowding of orphanages also led to the rapid spread of disease within them.
There are many reasons that Chinese orphanages were in such a sad state. China’s “One-Child” population control policy and the cultural preference for boy children certainly contributed to the problem, as did the relatively low status and pay for orphanage workers.
Then in 1995 and 1996, two documentary films, The Dying Room and Return to the Dying Rooms, exposed these conditions. More than 100 million people in 40 countries saw those films and, since then, charities the world over have been working with the Chinese to reform orphanages. They are helping to train staff and make the orphanages healthier environments with learning aids. China has also changed the adoption laws so that more children can be adopted.
I was very interested to learn about orphanages in China, and now I am even more excited to visit one. There is still a lot of work to do in Chinese orphanages, but this is a good start.
Sources:
COCOA (Care of China’s Orphaned and Abandoned)
http://www.cocoa.org.uk/background.htm
Human Rights Watch/Asia
http://www.crin.org/docs/resources/treaties/crc.12/China_HRW_NGO_Report.pdf
October 24, 2005
"Eating is the utmost important thing in life." --
Confucius
As I love eating, I thought it would be fun to bring you some
info on Chinese food. While I was at Sen Lin Hu, the Chinese language
village at Concordia Language Villages in Northern Minnesota,
I had a chance
to eat a lot of different Chinese food. I thought it was fun getting
to try
all of the different dishes. We had tons of rice there! It was
a good
thing that I liked rice. But it's a common misconception that
everyone in
China eats lots of rice every day. While rice flourishes in the
southern
part of China, it does not grow as well in the north because of
the climate.
So people in northern China eat more breads because wheat is the
dominant
crop.
Chinese people typically eat a healthier diet than many Americans
do. In China, the meat and vegetables
are cooked together, so often the dishes contain fewer calories
from meat
than Western style food. Cooking the vegetables over high heat
for a short
time in their own juice or in a small amount of water keeps them
bright and
crisp. This also helps the vegetables retain most of their vitamins
and
minerals.
A very famous dish in China is Peking Duck. This preparation of
duck is a
delicacy, and I hope to try it when I am in Beijing. It is prepared
by
rubbing the duck with spices, salt, and sugar. After hanging in
the air for
some time, the duck is roasted in an oven or over the fire until
it becomes
brown with rich grease on the outside. It is usually served with
mandarin
pancakes and green onions for brushing on the hoisin sauce. This
is a very
lengthy process, but it looks like fun. I have included the recipe.
Since they first discovered the tea leaf thousands of years ago,
the Chinese
have come to believe drinking tea is healthful for the mind, body
and
spirit, so they drink a lot of it. In fact, tea is an integral
part of the
Chinese lifestyle, traditions and cuisine.
Now you know a little more about Chinese food. I would recommend
going to a
local Chinese restaurant to try out some ethnic dishes. Here in
Hibbing,
there are a couple of Chinese restaurants. I have been to the China
Buffet.
My personal favorite dish there is General Tsau's Chicken.
