U.S. farmer, Chinese reporter meet on both sides of the world

Doug Mueller and Hong Tian share an unusual bond. The Eau Claire (Wisconsin) County dairy farmer and his family hosted the Chinese education reporter when she visited the United States in 2001 as a World Press Institute fellow. In April 2002, they visited again when Mueller traveled through China with the Wisconsin Rural Leadership Program. Photo by Casey Langan

(This article was reprinted with permission from The Country Today in Eau Claire, Wisconsin)

SHANGHAI, China — All told, they’ve spent less than a week of their lives together. Yet this Wisconsin dairy farmer and Chinese journalist have broken bread together on both sides of the Pacific.

Doug Mueller is a participant in the Wisconsin Rural Leadership Program and farms near Fall Creek (Wisconsin) in rural Eau Claire County. Hong Tian, an education reporter for the People’s Daily newspaper, has lived in busy Shanghai (home to nearly 16 million people) her entire life.

They first met in August 2001 while she participated in the World Press Institute’s fellowship program. The program gives a small group of foreign journalists a look inside American newsrooms and homes. While a majority of the four-month program is spent at the nation’s largest newspapers, a week is split between life with a small-town journalist and a farm family in the Upper Midwest.

The goal is for the journalists to see how average Americans live, said Mr. Mueller, whose family hosted Ms. Tian. Although it was her first time staying on a farm, she said it didn’t take long to notice the big difference between rural life in China and the United States. “The gap between suburb and rural areas in the United States is not as deep as it is in China,” she said, noting that even in remote areas, most American farmers enjoy advanced infrastructure and a stable social security system, unlike in China where most farmers don’t have access to public services and facilities.

Mr. Mueller recently visited China. He told Ms. Tian that after seeing how Chinese farmers live, he came away with a new appreciation for how much American farmers have.

Accustomed to crowded city life, Ms. Tian was most impressed with how much land the Muellers own and the farm’s sweeping hilltop view. She said even though American farms use computers and other modern techniques to farm, they “keep their tradition very well.” Last summer Ms. Tian admitted to the Muellers that she had been carrying a misconception about Americans. She found them to be more open and friendly than she had expected.

Recently, she also shared that although Americans are well known for their “passion for grandeur,” she discovered and admired the more puritan traits she saw while visiting the Muellers. She calls them a hard-working family people with a strong religious faith.

In the past the Muellers never requested a guest from any particular part of the world. But when Mr. Mueller found out he’d be traveling to China with the WRLP in April 2002, the family requested a Chinese reporter to stay with them in 2001. Mrs. Mueller has kept contact by e-mail with Ms. Tian since the journalist returned to China last fall.

Once Mr. Mueller received the itinerary for the time he’d be in Shanghai, they made plans to meet on the only night that both of their schedules allowed. On a Friday night, Ms. Tian met Mr. Mueller and a small group of other WRLP participants at a Brazilian steak house in Shanghai for a visit.

Ms. Tian refers to Mr. Mueller as an “American Cowboy.” “Although Doug evaluates himself not brave enough to be called ‘cowboy,’ I think he really is in my mind,” she told The Country Today.

Cowboy or not, Mr. Mueller and his wife, Jane, have previously played host to two WPI other journalists (men from Romania and Bangladesh) at their farm. He said hosting foreign visitors has been a great experience, especially for their children: Meg, 19; Peter, 14; Steven, 9.

The reporter from Bangladesh spoke to an elementary school class that Mrs. Mueller was substitute teaching at. Not only did the students enjoy hearing about arranged marriages in Bangladesh, but the initially nervous reporter enjoyed himself so much that afterward he said he could be teacher.