Dave’s Wagon

Minnesota turkey farmers want to introduce Thanksgiving to China, specifically to the denizens of modern Shanghai, a city that knows neither pilgrims nor Indians.

The idea is that where Thanksgiving goes, Minnesota turkeys will follow, raining profits on the state’s enormous turkey industry, the nation’s largest, responsible for 46.5 million birds and $516 million in sales.

It sounds like a daunting cultural hurdle, but Shanghai has a long history of embracing Western culture: Skyscrapers and Starbucks appear with the same frequency as cities such as New York and Seattle. Christmas shoppers flood the sidewalks each December to buy, but not to pray. Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day have all become occasions for card- and gift-giving.

So why not Thanksgiving?

“The Chinese embrace the commercial aspects of holidays, whether it’s Valentine’s Day or Christmas,” said Kurt Markham, director of the state agricultural marketing services division.

The effort comes in the wake of a Thanksgiving dinner held last year in Shanghai during the trade mission led by Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Shanghai business leaders and media and some members of the Minnesota delegation sat down to a traditional Thanksgiving feast.

“Our idea was to create Thanksgiving in Shanghai,” Markham said, “to create a new holiday just in that city.”

That effort has since spawned a much broader campaign. A USDA grant will pay for market research and surveys of Chinese eating habits. Two universities in China are under agreements to study ways to cook and prepare the bird. And later this year Chinese consumers might see taste-test panels set up in public asking them to try turkey.

It’s not only the holiday that needs interpreting.

The Chinese are so unfamiliar with the native North American bird that they have no word for turkey, calling it “huo ji,” or “fire chicken” for the bright color of the toms. Most Chinese homes do not have ovens. And Chinese prefers oily meats like duck over the dry, bland white meat of turkey.

Minnesota turkey farmers want to introduce Thanksgiving to China, specifically to the denizens of modern Shanghai, a city that knows neither pilgrims nor Indians.

The idea is that where Thanksgiving goes, Minnesota turkeys will follow, raining profits on the state’s enormous turkey industry, the nation’s largest, responsible for 46.5 million birds and $516 million in sales.

It sounds like a daunting cultural hurdle, but Shanghai has a long history of embracing Western culture: Skyscrapers and Starbucks appear with the same frequency as cities such as New York and Seattle. Christmas shoppers flood the sidewalks each December to buy, but not to pray. Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day have all become occasions for card- and gift-giving.

So why not Thanksgiving?

“The Chinese embrace the commercial aspects of holidays, whether it’s Valentine’s Day or Christmas,” said Kurt Markham, director of the state agricultural marketing services division.

The effort comes in the wake of a Thanksgiving dinner held last year in Shanghai during the trade mission led by Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Shanghai business leaders and media and some members of the Minnesota delegation sat down to a traditional Thanksgiving feast.

“Our idea was to create Thanksgiving in Shanghai,” Markham said, “to create a new holiday just in that city.”

That effort has since spawned a much broader campaign. A USDA grant will pay for market research and surveys of Chinese eating habits. Two universities in China are under agreements to study ways to cook and prepare the bird. And later this year Chinese consumers might see taste-test panels set up in public asking them to try turkey.

It’s not only the holiday that needs interpreting.

The Chinese are so unfamiliar with the native North American bird that they have no word for turkey, calling it “huo ji,” or “fire chicken” for the bright color of the toms. Most Chinese homes do not have ovens. And Chinese prefers oily meats like duck over the dry, bland white meat of turkey.