Waving the flag in Anhui Province

This year was the hottest summer in Shanghai in over 100 years, but I can't say that I noticed so much. 7am, to the office. 7pm, arrive home. The work load has calmed down a lot more now, but the days were all running into each other for a time. One nice break this month was the chance to accompany our Consul General on an outreach trip to Anhui Province.

Outreach trips are sort of like waving the U.S. flag around, being the face of America in a city that doesn't see so many visitors. We learn more about our host country, and we share what the Consulate can do (issue visas, promote trade, facilitate people to people exchange). When our Consul General travels, he often invites an entry-level officer to accompany, and this time it fell to me. 

Our destination cities were Ma'anshan (马鞍山, "Horse Saddle Mountain") and Tongling (铜陵, "Copper Hill"), mid-size mining cities along the Yangtze River. Basically, in the 1950s, Beijing decided that Ma'anshan would produce steel and Tongling would produce copper. State-run companies were set up, entirely new cities were built, and thus it was so. And in case you are picturing cities full of smoke-belching factories, Ma'anshan was really quite lovely. Its two million residents enjoy hills, lakes, parks, and of course one of the world's greatest rivers running through the heart of their city.

Our first stop was a brand-new urban planning museum. Apparently not just Shanghai can do this; 3rd and 4th tier cities are in the game too. And not to be outdone, Ma'anshan's model came with a sleek video on a multi-story screen:

Factory visits also seem to be obligatory for outreach trips. This visit took us to Ma Steel group's giant steel rolling factory. Oh my word. Massive. Cavernous. Look how small we are walking through:

And in this whole kilometers-long factory, there were only about 100 workers, most notably supervising a coursing flow of silvery molten steel to be pressed into long sheets and rolled up:

Eventually this steel will be cut into pieces for auto frames. I'm really gaining respect for engineers this tour and how they make the world go round. Global economic growth, we can do it!

Our last stop in Ma'anshan was at a memorial park to the ancient Chinese poet, Li Bai (李百). One thousand years ago, Li Bai lived in this region and sat atop the hills overlooking the river, drinking by moonlight and writing poetry. 

It was blazing hot at the end of the day, my pretty new shoes were no longer comfortable, and the park was deserted of visitors. But our CG was genuinely pleased and gamely quoted some Li Bai verses he'd memorized long ago, to the satisfaction of our hosts. It was a good reminder that there is so much to learn here, so much history and culture to appreciate. And that poetry memorization is perhaps one of the most pleasant ways to further bilateral relations.