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Eastern NE KS | Our pastor, John Stitz, worked on the trip in 1974 after he learned the Mao government were looking to modernized agriculture and food production. Father John took 12 couples with farming background. The trip occured in January, 1975. Reportedly, it was the fourth ag group to enter China from the US after President Nixon normalized relations. It was called a cultural exchange.
Mom and Dad were gone for about 3 weeks. They flew to Tokyo, Japan, made connections with the Chinese authorities who managed and paid for everything into and through China.
Dad delivered several hundred ampules of dairy semen to a large dairy farm in China. It was recognized as a significant technological boost.
Dad obtained the semen from KABSU (Kansas Artificial Breeders Service Unit) and 'carried' the N2 jug in checked luggage all the way to China. There was an incident in the Tokyo airport but not all the liquid nitrogen (refrigerant) was lost.
I was always disappointed that the gift was not beef cattle semen, Angus or Simmental in particular. China was not ready for that 'luxury' although the authorities readily claimed that everyone had food everyday. This was a huge achievement and was used to generate national pride.
Accommodations were simple. Hotel buildings were not always heated. The group traveled by bus and train. They visited the Great Wall, Peking and Shanghai and others I don't recall. Dad was a big crowd attractant. He wore a felt cowboy hat with a pheasant feather hatband. Handlers got used to that and assisted short discussions with everyday people.
I truly wonder if some KABSU dairy genetics are floating about in that cow herd. We never learned about the results. | |
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Dad died after 30 hours of hospice care. (Long read)
