Road Trip to Nanxun

Today we boarded the minibus and drove to Nanxun, to visit some factories that produce wood flooring. It was the first opportunity on our trip for John and Mark from Evergreen Timber to meet businessmen and talk about logs. Nanxun is part of the Huzhou economic development zone. In the poems the town is described as "thousands of households gather here on this water town market, and fishing boats and merchant vessels call at it side by side."

On the way to the business meetings, we took time for a tour of Xiaolianzhuang (small lotus village), an ancient village that included the former residence of Jiang Zemin, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China from 1989 - 2002. It was an impressive place, with much carved wood and traditional home decor. Here is a group picture of many of us in one of the courtyards of the residence, l. to r., Quing Wang, Hui Qin Li, Jinshui, John, Judy Wu, Mark.

It was a hot & humid day, and the beginning of the Dragon Boat Festival. The date is the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar (June 8th in 2008). Traditionally, the fifth lunar month is supposed to be fraught with danger, as the forces of ying and yang are out of balance. The day is celebrated with zongzi - delicious dumplings made with glutinous rice stuffed in bamboo leaves. The rice "packages" commemorate the suicide of poet Qu Yuan, who threw himself in the Miliu River on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month in 278 B.C. Local fisherman at the time threw rice on the water to honor him. Later he appeared to a fisherman in a dream and asked them to wrap the rice in silk to protect it from the fish. Eventually, the silk was replaced by bamboo leaves.

After our tour of the ancient village, we visited two wood flooring companies, Green Home (a small operation) and Sunyard (a larger company). John and Mark from Evergreen Timber were enthusiastic about talking business with the two companies. To the left below, you'll see a picture of John Barber showing pictures of his logging business to representatives from Green Home and some of our escorts from the Huzhou economic development zone.

The picture on the right shows John after he presented Evergreen Timber hats and a burlap bag full of "log pencils" to Sunyard's business manager (on the left) and general manager (on the right). John and Mark were pleased with the results of both meetings.

After the meetings, we drove to a hotel to meet with Nanxun and HED officials over lunch - or as they referred to it, dinner. Dinner was listed as supper on our official agenda. We enjoyed conversation with the group as much as we enjoyed the food - and the air conditioning in the hotel.