Our Man in China: On the Road Again

      Nanchong, heard of it?   Well, you should have-it's a big city in northeast China, in the province of Sichuan(4818 sq. mi.).  Our Minister went there to have a look around.   The first thing he noticed were the people: there's lots of them.   Mostly, they are of the Han ethnicity.   The city is composed of 976 sq. miles or about 20 times the size of San Francisco(49 sq. mi.)  The urban population runs to about 1, 858,875 millions and the prefecture pop. is about  6, 278,614 or about the size of the San Francisco Bay Area.  It is an agricultural region, sending food products throughout China and East Asia.  The urban area is in the Gaoping district of the prefecture.   Products include silk(with a lively textile business), rice(of course), pork, and oranges.  The region is home to a landmark range of mountains: the Qin mountains.  It is also significant as a source of labor for the more industrial east coast and south east manufacturing area of China.  His report is expected to include photos of the city and the surrounding landscape.