Moses Lake chamber opens door with China

MOSES LAKE - A recent trip to China prompted future business talks between Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce officials and Chinese representatives.

"We established some business connections," said Debbie Doran-Martinez, the chamber's executive director, on Friday. "We saw the opportunity in being able to provide them with a raw product in which they could finish it and ship it back to us."

They are still engaging in conversations as to what that raw product might be. 

China does not rely on raw materials and supplies coming from other countries, but is interested in doing so, she said.

"They want to get a two-way street going," Doran-Martinez explained. 

The country does not have much room.

"Anytime a plant is going in over there, it is taking up agricultural space, which opens the door for us to send our agricultural products to them," she said.

The chamber left its membership roster with Chinese representatives and touted what Grant County has to offer. 

"We opened the door and will be engaging in conversations with them," she commented. 

It is hoped a Chinese delegation visits Moses Lake in the future, she said.

She enjoyed the trip and noted the strong business ties Grant County has with China through local companies Genie Industries, Chemi-Con Corporation, Moses Lake Industries and Inland Tarp and Cover. Some of the businesses either have plants in China or receive supplies from China.

A group of 51 people touring China with the chamber's group returned earlier this month. 

The group included Moses Lake residents and people from Michigan, Portland, Yakima Valley and Arizona.

Joe and Lynn Monahan, of Moses Lake, were part of the group.

Joe Monahan is retired from Northwest Farm Credit Services and Lynn Monahan teaches social studies and math at Chief Moses Middle School. 

"Basically we decided to go because it was a good price for the trip," he said. "That was primary, the price was good and my wife teaches social studies."

Joe Monahan said he enjoyed seeing all the sites, which included a boat trip on the Grand Canal.

They visited a residential section of town and experienced their marketplace, even seeing a bucket of live eels for eating. 

Live ducks and chickens are available for sale too. Customers pick which animal they want to buy and it is killed, cleaned and delivered on the spot.

Joe Monahan learned that chicken feet demand a higher market price than chicken breast.

He did not sample chicken feet.

Another trip highlight was visiting a tea plantation, he recalled.

One worker spends two days drying one pound of tea "to get that pound dried the way they want it," Joe Monahan said.

He also noticed the rapid changes in China, with buildings of housing spaces and big high rise condo apartment units.

"It's just amazing," he said. "Row after row of high rises for living. A lot of big sections of cities, like Shanghai, didn't exist prior to 1997. Now it's just very modern, with high rise office buildings."

Moses Lake attorney Luke McKean, and his wife, Carla McKean, a nurse, also went on the trip. Her grandparents were Protestant Christian missionaries in China during the Boxer Rebellion. 

Luke McKean called the trip "eye-opening."

"It was interesting to see because China is such an important player in the world economy and will become more and more and more so," he said.

Shanghai is "an amazing city," with 30 million people living in the metropolitan area. 

He visited Thailand a few years ago and noted the differences between China and Thailand. 

Thailand is controlled by Buddhist thought and religion, along with the rigidity of its caste system.

In China, one thing the Communists did was destroy the caste system, he said.

"They were pretty brutal," Luke McKean said. 

But the Chinese are more free to pursue business opportunities. 

Trip participant Judy Oakes, of Moses Lake, called the trip "wonderful."

"It was a well-orchestrated put together trip," Oakes said. "The chamber does a fabulous job."

Before Oakes retired, she used to work as a high school counselor and as a school district director of counseling. 

Oakes went on the trip with a grade school friend.

She decided to go because the chamber was putting it on and the price was right.  

"Plus, I wanted to learn about China," she said. 

Her favorite part was seeing the richest area of the counties, as well as the very poor.

There are what she called "Third World" parts of the country because of the living conditions. It appeared there were no clothing dryers, as laundry was hung out to dry. 

Wires for electricity were wound around trees.

"Yet the people were very happy, living by the river and washing clothes by the river, Oakes commented. "That's what they're used to and they're very happy."

She also enjoyed learning about the country's culture, family structure and economy.

Columbia Basin Herald Publisher Harlan Beagley and his wife, Kim Beagley, an account assistant, were also part of the group.

He enjoyed seeing how the businesses operate, during tours of pearl and silk factories.

At a business meeting, tour participants were supposed to meet with their Chinese counterparts in similar industries.

He spoke with two women working in Internet marketing.

"It was interesting because a division of the Columbia Basin Herald thrives on Internet marketing," he said. 

Another memory he had was seeing "tomb sweeping day," in which paper products are burnt for the dead.

Ten thousand tons of fake money were burnt that day.

He called the trip's interpreters knowledgeable about the culture.

But there were cultural differences concerning what they are allowed to say about historical events, such as the 1989 Tiananmen Square event. 

He read "tank man" was alive. 

But the guide wasn't allowed to share more details about the man photographed standing in a tank's path in Tiananmen Square.

Another trip highlight for Harlan Beagley was visiting a businessman, known as "Mr. Wong," in his home. 

The group took rickshaws to his home and shared lunch together.