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‘Great travel,’ for Chinese, means N’burgh

  • June 26, 2011 at 11:01 pm

Published: 2:00 AM – 06/24/11

CITY OF NEWBURGH — Six visitors from China met with a crew of smiling, if a bit perplexed, City of Newburgh officials on Thursday morning.

The men were all public officials from Xiangshan County in southeastern China, touring economic centers in the United States to pick up ideas. they had already seen Miami, Washington, D.C., and new York City before they arrived in Newburgh.

“You might ask, ‘Why Newburgh?’ to that I say ‘Why not?’” wrote city press officer Ann Kuzmik in an email announcing the visit.

But, really. Why Newburgh?

“I’m not sure about that,” said Ed Lynch, the city’s director of planning and development. “They wanted to come and visit. the reason for selecting Newburgh I don’t know.”

The men arrived earlier than their 9:30 a.m. appointment and announced they had only a few minutes. they exchanged gifts — carved wooden tea pots and tea for Newburgh, carved wooden boxes and brochures about historic preservation for the Chinese — and posed for photos.

Deputy Mayor Regina Angelo worried when she heard they had to leave quickly.

“Oh, I was going to try to get them to come to the library,” she said.

The men spoke little to no English, but their tour guide tried to facilitate limited conversations. he was asked how they selected Newburgh.

“They want to have a great travel,” Ken Huang said. “They are very happy they’re here.”

Angelo asked the city manager and Lynch and Mayor Nicholas Valentine and finally Huang if the men had maybe five minutes to visit Newburgh Free Library.

“I think it would be very advantageous for them to see the library,” she said.

The men said they had to go but eventually consented to visit the library. as they left City Hall, everyone agreed it was a very nice visit, even if they didn’t know exactly why they’d come.

“There was a rumor that they may have wanted to go shopping at Woodbury Commons,” Valentine said. “I don’t know if that’s true, but it might be.”

He shook hands with the men before they filed into their van for their library visit. Angelo met them in the lobby of the library and guided them toward an art exhibit depicting various pop icons.

“This is a collage,” she said. “Stained glass. this is Elizabeth Taylor.”

The men nodded. they wandered through the building, looked at books and spoke to officials through a Chinese-speaking librarian. A couple of the men went outside to smoke.

Huang, the tour guide, hurried back and forth, speaking to the men. he said they had more stops to make after leaving Newburgh.

“We’re going to West Point and then new York City,” he said. “Oh, and Woodbury.”

dmurphy@th-record.com

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‘Great travel,’ for Chinese, means N’burgh

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