Chile's fruit takes root in China

The learning isn't all one-way.

"When we came here, our Chinese growers were surprised and amused when we had top of the line arbors shipped over here for trellising the grapes," said Luis Schmidt Montes, Chile's ambassador to China. "They asked us what we were going to do with those, and when we explained, they all said ‘Bu hao!' (No good!) very loudly."

The site isn't too far from Shandong province, China's coastal agricultural zone that is temperate enough to expose grape vines to winter weather. But the northern part of Tianjin gets kissed with -20 C and chilly winds. Here, the vines must be planted at an angle so they can be covered with soil during the coldest months, the way they protect vines in the blustery climates of Gansu and Xinjiang.

"We still have those arbors," Schmidt said with a chuckle, "as a monument to our foolishness."

That miscalculation aside, the Chileans offer a lot of expertise. "Table grapes represent 42 percent of our agricultural exports," Schmidt said.

Schmidt himself has been ready since the 1990s, when he was president of Chile's top agribusiness group. A man who speaks with a lot of energy and passion, Schmidt couldn't generate the same level of enthusiasm from the agriculture ministries in Beijing or Santiago. Finally, he decided he needed some "show and tell", and he urged both countries to collaborate on a demonstration fruit farm that would show Chinese farmers how they could meet the country's growing demand as well as showcase Chile's best produce.

"My agriculture minister at the time just looked at me and shook his head," Schmidt said, shaking his own head with a grin.

"He said, ‘We have $100 million in trade with China, and 99 percent of that is in copper, in mining. And you want to make a farm? You are foolish!'"

However, after the Jixian site on the edge of Tianjin was settled on, Schmidt's "crazy" idea began to blossom. Today there is a five-star hotel, conference center, golf course and an "ecology garden" on the site — not to mention a row of huge replicas of the famous stone heads of Easter Island. Schmidt also made a winning pitch to acquire Chile's pavilion from the Shanghai Expo 2010 site after that world fair was over.

The resulting complex represents both the changes in that coastal area — more tourism, less farming — and Chile's determination to get noticed. The hotel and meeting rooms are usually booked to capacity.

Schmidt loves to take groups out to see the project, boisterously testing the exercise equipment in the hotel's health club, pouring wine for guests and leading after-dinner songs. Fresh fruit may be good business, but under his wing it seems to be a lot of fun, too.

Li Wenfang and Shu Meng in Guangzhou contributed to this story.