Our last day in Beijing began with an early start at 6 am by saying goodbye to Carl- the last thing we wanted to do.  We all loaded the bus and headed for the train station in Beijing to depart for Henan province and the city of Luohe.  This train station did not compare to Union Station, Amtrak, or anything in the United States.  The high-speed bullet rail train of China is more comfortable than many of us expected and included larger seats, more legroom, and speeds of 300 km/h.   After spending a few hours of much needed rest on the train, we arrived in Luohe (pronounced: loo-huh) and were off to lunch at a traditional Chinese restaurant.  They were very excited to have us as we were the first international group of students they had ever hosted.  Although Henan province is one of the most populous, it is considered part of rural central China and rarely do tourists venture this far inland.

After checking into a newly built Sheraton Four Points we were off to WH Group also known as Shuanghui, now the largest pork-producing company in the world.  We learned that this company has just completed a deal to purchase U.S.-based Smithfield foods.   Many executives and employees greeted us from the company. We were met at the bus with multiple cameras; they seemed very excited to have foreign students visiting their company. 

As our group toured the office building we learned about their past accomplishments along with future goals now that they have acquired Smithfield Foods.  Next we began round 2 of our pork slaughterhouse experience in China.  The first industrial park included their slaughterhouse.  We found out that they test each pig individually for diseases, multiple times, which many of us did not realize.  We also saw the packaging process, and different cuts of pork that were on display for us to view. They do not waste a single part of the hog; we saw curly pig tails, the heart, ears, and many organs in addition to the main cuts of pork we’re used to seeing in the U.S.  Lastly we toured their second industrial park, used for halal production, where they also provided cooked pork samples for all of us to try.  Let’s just say that the pig ear was a little crunchy.  But Ryan M couldn’t get enough of it!

After our tour of Shuanghui, the executives took us for a boat cruise on the Sha Li river. We were split up into three groups and one of the groups got to ride on a very luxurious speedboat while the other two groups rode on pontoons. The sense of culture shock continued on this boat trip as we learned how polluted and cold the river was, and still there were local citizens swimming, fishing, and even bathing in the water.

Finally we continued back to the hotel for dinner, and to our surprise we found western food at the back of the buffet!  Roast beef, pizza, mashed potatoes, pasta salad, and dessert were just a few things to help us with our craving for American food. George Witchek, a 2011 ACES alum, even joined us for dinner.  George works for Henan OSI, which we will visit tomorrow.  This hotel was a great experience and we think George had something to do with requesting the western foods from the Sheraton chefs – Thanks George!  The beds were soft and queen sized instead of the twins we’re used to.  To say the least we did not want to leave our spoiled retreat of R&R!

Photos? Flickr!