Linyi, May 14: Linyi Trading Area, Logistics Center and University Preparation Committee
Modern-day Linyi is a center of wholesale trading and exporting of goods -- commodities, agricultural products, manufactured items, consumer products, and so on. We spent some time touring the large complex of buildings devoted to trading. Many of the buildings are dedicated to just a single type of product, with offices of many companies engaged in trading of that particular kind of goods. Examples include sewing machines (top left), bedding (top right), shoes and hats (above left), and many others.
After touring the trading area, we went to the Linyi Logistics Center (next page). Across the street from the logistics center is a group of apartment houses, with a more traditional trading area in the center of it -- an open-air (though under roof) market for food and consumer items (above).
Linyi Logistics Center
The Linyi Logistics Center itself is the city’s planning and administrative control center. There we were given a presentation about the city, and shown a very elaborate scale model of the trading area. We could recognize several of the buildings we had already seen in the model. Some of the model’s details are shown below.
Linyi University Preparation Committee
We then visited the Linyi University Preparation Committee, which has offices in the Law School of Linyi Normal University. They are the planners for a university to serve 20,000 students, which is to be completed in five years. Construction has started, and some of the campus is already completed. We looked at a scale model of the campus, and discussed the plans with two of the officials (below right).
Below: apparently English spelling isn’t among the Law School’s major strengths.
Dinner with Linyi University Preparation Committee Officials
The food we had in China was always excellent, and it was usually presented very elegantly too, as it was for our dinner with the Linyi University Preparation Committee officials. Of course there were often dishes we had never encountered before, such as steamed sea cucumbers and deep fried scorpions, both of which were served on this table. Our hosts (at right and in the striped shirt below) were joined by a representative of the local Communist Party (red shirt, below center) for this dinner.
