{"id":1911,"date":"2013-09-23T03:24:09","date_gmt":"2013-09-23T07:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crosscultural\/?p=1911"},"modified":"2013-09-26T07:38:49","modified_gmt":"2013-09-26T11:38:49","slug":"agriculture-and-guangan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/intercultural\/2013\/09\/23\/agriculture-and-guangan\/","title":{"rendered":"Agriculture and Guangan"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Dwan's<\/a>
Dwan’s farm. Photo by Jonathan Drescher-Lehman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On Friday (Sept. 20) we had the unique experience of visiting a farm located about a thirty minute drive outside of downtown Nanchong<\/a>.\u00a0 After our morning language classes, we piled into four vans and drove to the outside of the city.\u00a0 Before long the paved road ended and we turned abruptly onto a dirt road that appeared to be heading straight for the forest.\u00a0 The trees, banana plants, vines and grasses that we saw through our open windows provided a remarkable contrast to the tall apartment buildings, concrete, and seemingly endless construction of the city.<\/p>\n

The home we visited belonged to the extended family of our “Nanchong mother,” Wang Ying.\u00a0 We learned that the farm has been in the family’s possession for about five generations beginning well before the official founding of the People’s Republic<\/a> (1949) and is currently taken care of by Wang Ying’s father-in-law, Duan.\u00a0 Shortly after we arrived and had a tour of the house, we were shown to some tables for lunch.\u00a0 We enjoyed a delicious meal featuring rice and vegetables raised on the farm.<\/p>\n

\"Farmer<\/a>
Farmer Dwan. Photo by Jonathan Drescher-Lehman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Following lunch, we went with Duan on a hike around the premises to see the farming operation.\u00a0 We walked past some rice paddies, recently drained of water, that provide the family and other locals with food for the year.\u00a0 Large patches of sweet potatoes, beans, chili peppers, and greens also supplement the family’s diet and their income.\u00a0 The farm is located in the midst of hilly, green terrain, recently replanted with trees.\u00a0 Duan said that trees have been planted in an effort of environmental restoration following the events of the Great Leap Forward<\/a> several decades ago.\u00a0 As we continued, ducks and chickens wandered around; several dogs barked, disturbed by our presence.\u00a0 When we made it back to the house we had the opportunity to talk more in depth with Duan, asking questions as they came up.\u00a0 He provided the group with a greater understanding of agriculture and what it entails in Sichuan Province.<\/p>\n

Sunday (Sept. 22) provided us with another opportunity to journey outside of Nanchong.\u00a0 Part of the group met for an 8:30 a.m. worship service at Nanchong Christian Church before joining others on the bus bound for Guangan<\/a>. After about an hour and a half on the road, we arrived at the city known as the hometown of Deng Xiaoping<\/a>, a leader and reformist in the Communist Party of China, following the death of Mao Zedong<\/a>, from 1978-1992.<\/p>\n

We ate our packed PB&J lunches made by Myrrl and Ruthie in the shade of some trees before we went into the museum.\u00a0 As we ate, we became aware of the stares of some locals sitting nearby.\u00a0 Whenever we are together in a large group we attract a lot of attention; it has taken some getting used to.\u00a0 After lunch we went into the museum (there was air conditioning!) and spent the better part of an hour learning about the life and impact of Deng.\u00a0 Because of the reforms Deng pushed for toward a market economy, he can be credited with helping to pull hundreds of millions of people out of abject poverty.\u00a0 It was a neat opportunity to learn about recent Chinese history that will allow us as students to better understand what we’re experiencing in China today.<\/p>\n

Following our time in the museum, we walked through the park area surrounding the building to see Deng’s childhood home.\u00a0 The building was made up of about ten rooms constructed in a horseshoe around a courtyard, and had served as his family’s home for generations.\u00a0 We toured the house and then met in front of the lake just outside before loading up on the bus and heading back to our host families in Nanchong.<\/p>\n

-Painstakingly written by Malinda Bender<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Friday (Sept. 20) we had the unique experience of visiting a farm located about a thirty minute drive outside of downtown Nanchong.\u00a0 After our morning language classes, we piled into four vans and drove to the outside of the city.\u00a0 Before long the paved road ended and we turned abruptly onto a dirt road … Continue reading Agriculture and Guangan<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":150,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4020],"tags":[4029,4028,4026,4027,4023],"class_list":["post-1911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-china-2013","tag-4029","tag-china","tag-cross-cultural","tag-eastern-mennonite-university","tag-emu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/intercultural\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/intercultural\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/intercultural\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/intercultural\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/150"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/intercultural\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1911"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/intercultural\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1911\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1960,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/intercultural\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1911\/revisions\/1960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/intercultural\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/intercultural\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/intercultural\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}