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Tainted Milk? - People of Shijazhuang, Capital of Hebei province, China's North China Plain

What a Difference a Day Makes. When I took this picture in Shijazhuang in Hubei Province, what I saw was a cute boy holding a bottle of milk. With the recent news of tainted baby formula and milk products, it has now assumed a completely different meaning.

The city is an important centre for the dairy trade, being the headquarters of the Sanlu Group. Both were rocked by the 2008 baby milk scandal. Chairman and General Manager of Sanlu, and several party officials, including vice mayor in charge of food and agriculture, Zhang Fawang, were reportedly removed from office. Mayor Ji Chuntang reportedly resigned on 17 September.

Since Sanlu, the region's largest purchaser of milk, was ordered to halt production, farmers in Hebei are suffering hardship because of the lack of purchasers for their milk. Many are said to be contemplating selling their cows into a buyerless market. - www.wikipedia.com