Guangdong province is right at the bottom of China and has a tropical climate.
it has always been the gateway to trade with the west, it is joined to Hong Kong which was under UK control until 1997.
The recent economic boom in China began in this province and during our stay we met one of this areas entrepreneurial businessmen- Micahel- What a star! He could hardly contain his energy as he showed us around his factory, which made anything out of tarpaulin material from bbq covers to building covers!! Quite a guy and it was clear that in this region anything is possible.
We got a feel for the kind of commerce that happens in China with a hint of corruption thrown in; My stay in Hong kong later confirmed that back handers are often the way t get ahead.
While in Taishin city we were the unlikely stars of the school curriculum, we were split into twos and rather unprompted were expected to take an English class to 13-14 year old students from one of the areas top schools; I now admire schoolteachers even more- although a little bit of lesson planning might have been useful. I'm not sure how useful my sketches of cows and pigs might be to the future of China or Helen's description of pigs ears and tails sent from britain to China- how kind we are.
Never the less we seemed to make an impact.
We visited some wet markets in this area, if ever you need a bunch of frogs (tied up by the legs and alive) or a cute kitten in a kitten sized cage this is the place to visit.
Meat is kept fresh by the means of pure luck- chicken is kept fresh by being alive!! We are sure we saw a skinned cat.... but hey this is how it is, but it did put me off my lunch a little.
We visited what can only be described as a peasant farming village- although this is a bit unfair as they had mobile phones; how can his be a priority when you cant afford a bathroom.
This gave us an insight into how most of China still farms. After the cultural revolution of Chairman Mao each person in China was allocated a plot of land about 2 acres in size.
This still exists today and to be honest the farmers get very good productivity from this land earning about £800- £1200 from their allocation a year.
Many subsidise their incomes from handouts from more successful family members.
We saw the most awful pig farm, and a really clean one.
We saw peanuts; why did i not know they grew underground, how did that pass me by?
We saw hundreds of ducks packed onto a small piece of land; at least in the UK they would be hidden in a shed!!
All in all my general impression of this type of farming is that it is unlikely to be a threat to farming in the west....yet.
some sort of farming sharabang
So where's those pictures of ducks?
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