Tag: China

The Great Wall of China

And no – I did not like my picture being taken but at least it proves I have been there!

It is said that the Chinese Wall can be seen from the moon.  Unfortunately, the claim is actually a myth – but even so, the Wall is a very significant structure.

Three factors  amazed me about the Wall.  Firstly, the crowds.  We were there at 8am and so were thousands of Chinese – from all parts of the country according to my guide.  Secondly, the pride & respect.  The Cultural Revolution of the sixties clearly dealt to some parts of the country but even Mao appeared to have some respect for the handiwork of the old emperors who went before him.  And today’s Chinese citizens are very proud about the Wall and what it represents.  Thirdly, the scale.  Without cranes, without engines, without any aspect of the modern technology we take for granted, the Chinese created something they deemed was necessary and it became a legacy.

Walls do not have to be physical manifestations to be effective – the use of phytosanitary regulations as a barrier to control imports is one example that comes to mind.

But that’s a whole other blog post for another day.

CHINESE GROWN BANANAS

Bananas pop up the world over.

Pictured here are locally grown Chinese ones.  The red tape prevents the customer from splitting the hands to suit themselves, leaving those single bananas that are the bane of a Produce Manager’s life.

I did not wait around to see if the display would be replenished as it needed to be…

Behind the bananas was this “bin” of nectarines.

NECTARINES

I was intrigued to note the wide size range and the presence of foliage.  This suggests to me mechanical harvesting and minimal grading.

One could also say the condition of the leaves is an indicator of the freshness of the fruit.

LOCALLY GROWN APPLES

These apples are a local variety – quite a pretty pink en masse like this.

To put things into perspective, that price equates to 87 NZ cents!  Overall, I found China to be relatively cheap.

Moving on, the deli counters were right next door to the produce department:

TURTLES

FROGS

No, I have not strayed into the pet store.  Yes, those are live turtles and frogs.  How else could you be sure that they were fresh?

BULK PULSES AND SPICES

The bulk foods area was also near the produce and displayed in a fashion far more open than I am used to seeing back in NZ supermarkets.

Then I went past the shellfish counter…

SHELLFISH COUNTER

SMALL CRAYFISH

Being kept waiting at the checkout can be the last straw for a busy shopper.

CONTROLLING CHECKOUT WAITING TIMES

This blue line is the solution:  if there are customers behind this line of blue tiles, then more checkouts are opened – immediately.

Now, here is something I often say should still be seen in NZ supermarkets: the fresh produce weigh station.

PRODUCE WEIGH STATION

Discerning shoppers the world over choose their fruit by look and feel.

WHICH ONE FEELS THE BEST?

 This also could be any supermarket in the world:

NEAT AND TIDY PRODUCE DISPLAY

FRESH GREENS IN VOLUME

Signage varies around the store and I noticed that some nutritional information is starting to appear.

Mention the concepts of ‘threat’ and ‘opportunity’ to anyone remotely connected with produce industry strategy in this country and China gets a mention.  Both Chinas actually.  Whilst Potatoes New Zealand is busy trying to figure out how to optimise its fledgling export relationship with Taiwan and Summerfruit New Zealand is keen to export more cherries into that part of the world,  the rest of the industry is looking with mixed feelings at Mainland China.  How much of a threat will they be to our domestic industry?  Are we really about to be flooded with Chinese imports?  China is already the largest apple producer in the world.  Will we stand a chance in the international markets once China gets serious about apple exports?  And what about all this counterfeit Zespri kiwifruit which can be found in China with monotonous regularity?

Do I have any answers here?  Of course, not! But may I suggest that in order to understand China better, we need to spend a bit of time on critical evaluation – and that involves learning about Chinese mindsets and strategies.  This article about the Chinese commodities strategy in Africa entitled “The Next Empire”   is a good place to start.  I would pay particular attention to the section about Mozambique allowing 3,000 Chinese settlers in to buy and farm the land.

The article provides a wider historic perspective and is certainly not solely focused on horticulture – but neither are the Chinese.