Xi'an
Report by Norm Jacknis, CIO
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On Monday, September 2 (Labor Day), we were in Xian in the center
of China. It is one of the largest cities
in China, with a population of 6.7 million.
During the high point of old China during
the Tang Dynasty (617-908 AD), Xian was the
largest city in the world.
It is the heart of Chinese civilization and
was the first capital for a thousand years.
It was also the starting point for the
ancient Silk Road from China to Europe.
It is known by non-Chinese for the terra
cotta soldiers discovered in 1974 in the tomb of
one of China's emporers.
It is also, unfortunately, has a great deal
of air pollution from coal-fired power plants.
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We met with Mayor Li Hue Mei first thing
in the morning. Mayor Li and County Executive
Spano discussed their economic development strategies
and how the two could work together. We
ran out of time to get to the next appointment,
so the meeting with the Mayor was scheduled
to be continued later.
Listen to part of the discussion by clicking
here
and here.
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| Xian has a 13 square mile High-Tech Development
Zone (HTDZ) that stretches over the southern
part of the city. It includes 22 universities,
which turn out 20,000 engineering and other
technical graduates a year. (Overall,
Xian is something of a college town, attracting
students from outside of the city.)
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At the Xian HTDZ, County Executive Spano
was briefed on the current status and plans
for the area by Mr. Zhao Hongzhuan, HTDZ Director
and Mr. Jin Hui, Investment Director. In the
background was Mr. Wang Yi, Vice President of
the well-named "Office of Opening to the
World" and also President of the Investment
Promotion Center.
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| The HTDZ is really something of a mini-city,
as can be seen from the scale model to the right,
with technology factories, research labs, offices,
and housing.
In the background is part of the showroom
of products made in the HTDZ. Two examples
are sophisticated wireless products and fingerprint-based
access control.
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We next visited one of several buildings
devoted to information technology. These
include substantial incubator space for new
technology companies.
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| Even in this city, which has not had the
economic growth of Shanghai or Beijing, there
are modern shopping centers.
And there were American fast food places
all over, including this very busy McDonalds
-- which is much beloved by the younger Chinese.
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| Over dinner, County Executive Spano concluded
the morning discussions with Mayor Li. A
delegation from Xian will be visiting Westchester
to move things forward.
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| After dinner, we were delivered to the
Tang Dynasty cultural theatre, where music and
dance from the Tang era are portrayed in their
original style. The hour-long presentation,
our only cultural venture of the trip, was interesting,
but obviously different from the entertainment
we're used to.
Here are quite a few samples of the music:
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Home - Westchester
County China Trade Delegation 2002
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