Taking more than your fair share hurts

This year seems to be year when, finally, those individuals and countries who have for so long been using so many resources started to realise that, though these people and countries are still the richest countries, they are going to have to change.

There just are not enough resources (especially at current ways of using them) to provide a 'good standard of living' (aka Western standard of living) for everyone. So the more we life the poor out of poverty, the more they are going to be putting us into poverty, by making everything we want to buy more expensive. Fantastic irony!

Who would have thought that China could force the Americans to use less oil, simply by using more oil themselves! Who could have thought that one possible solution to the West's obesity crisis is developing countries increasing obesity crisis? Unfortunately what is more likely is that Westerners and Developing countries will just eat more processed food, unhealthily cooked food and get lazier and lazier.

Apparently 22% of Chinese are obese. If they are, then how am I still alive.... their level of obesity must be somewhat different to us 'Westerners'!

So as the World starts to realise that we are all using too much energy, too much water, too much food and too many other resources (and the world's population continues to grow, now at 6.6bn) what is going to happen? Well, individuals will complain to their politicians; politicians will be expected to do something -i.e. complain to other countries and the World will continue to make no progress.

Thankfully good old capitalism should come to our rescue as all these higher prices for scarcer commodities create incentives for people to find better alternatives. And this is why China is always in the news: not just because it is causing all these price rises, but because it must be at the forefront of any new ideas. Otherwise there are hundreds of millions of people who will not be able to afford what they want, and what they expect!

Today i felt like i had to write something positive, because the greyness has been so depressing and unbearable. A few hours of rain clears the skies...but the next day the smog is back. Just as everything seemed to be getting better -and should be getting better because of the Olympics, it is pretty clear that is not. So, though all cars and factories and who knows what else will be banned during the Olympics; there is no way that is a sustainable solution. So we can all look forward to the return, and increasing, smog after the Olympics.

But, to be positive.... many of the new technologies in factories and boilers are permanent, more efficient, 'cleaner', and new subway lines are coming online... and, well, tomorrow we are screening a film that shows that nature can heal itself incredibly quickly and better than we could ever believe (if we leave it alone and let it). www.earthshope.org is a glimpse that maybe there is hope yet!

In the meantime, the Chinese are starting to realise they cannot blame the West -because that will not solve the problem. They have to shut-up and get on with solving these many problems, because, they are the ones who will suffer! And simultaneously, the West is going to realise (as they have started to by investing in carbon reducing projects in the developing world) that they key to our own survival is really, truly, helping developing countries overcome these global problems.

Usually, if you wanted to be a hermit and ignore the rest of the World through TV, internet, Phones and World Cups, you could do...to be a part of globalisation you had to be active (indeed, unfortunately, many in Africa are denied the opportunity to actively take part in globalisation through trade subsidies and poor governments) but now, now we are realising we cannot even be passive and ignore globalisation -because our food, energy and water are getting more expensive, our climate is changing and new health epidemics are constantly on the horizon that we cannot avoid.

China and the West. So different, yet so similar.

Restoring something to actually look orginal!

Today, i read the following:

Visitors from around the world can now leisurely savor China's traditional architectural beauty at the Imperial College in Beijing, about 400 years after the first foreign students were sent there to sit tough Chinese exams.

The school, and the adjacent Confucian Temple, were formally re-opened on Saturday after three years' renovation.

Though, the reopening of Confucian Temple which is one of the best places in Beijing that no-one goes to (it is 1 minute away from the Lama Temple which everyone goes to), is good news, it is not the exciting part, which is:

The project aimed to reinforce and repair the centuries-old structures while keeping them "as original as possible," said Yu Ping, vice head of the Beijing Municipal Administrations of Cultural Heritage.

"We did not repaint the ancient patterns on the beams or remove the faded glazed tiles on the roofs because we do not want to lose the antique flavor," she said.

After the face-lifts, the two sites are now basically what they were in olden times, in terms of the layout and scale, Yu added.

Wow. This must be the first time any historic attraction has not been 'restored' by being freshly painted looking to look like it was only just finished! I have yet to go visit the 'restored' Temple but I cannot wait to see if it is true. If it is I might just agree with the comment:

The temple, which looks very authentic, is what I expected to see here in China," said Vishal Shorma, a Singaporean tourist.

Could this be a turning point for Chinese tourist attraction restoration work? Could China finally be realising that the beauty in ancient sites is lost once it becomes 'brand new' again, and that foreigners can only value how old China is if China actually looks old! Too many times, and i really mean, TOO MANY times have I seen re-painted monuments, statues, temples, shrines and everything else besides and not only does it annoy me, it makes all these repainted attractions look identical!

On a less happy note, China has, in the last few months changed its visa regulations with particularly bad timing, bad communications and illogical explanations. It seems they want to 1) keep 'bad' people out of China who might cause trouble during the Olympics and b) make it harder for foreigners to work in China if they are taking away jobs from Chinese people.

Both reasons are fine, but the solutions are ridiculous. It is of course still relatively easy to get a tourist visa (and if you can come here for 30 days, that is enough time to cause trouble, surely?) but it is now very hard to come here for longer than that and this affects entrepreneurs, those working for charities or those working in SMEs, since the only other option is to get an official work visa (instead of a 'working visa' which is now no longer available) which requires an official company to apply on your behalf, much hassle and a trip back to one's home country to reapply for such visa.

If they want to make it harder for foreigners to work in China, that is fine (though slightly crazy bearing in mind how dependent China is on foreign trade), but why make the changes with only 2 month's notice and why before the Olympics, whilst everything else is happening, and why not tell people, and why not universally implement the regulations (every different visa office around the world, or 'visa extension' office in different cities in China are translating the confusing regulations differently)?

It has led to a drop in tourism, it has led to people jumping ship to hang out in hong kong or Thai beaches for the summer and it has even led people to just going home and finding jobs elsewhere. It is just crazy, though fortunately does not affect me (touch wood)!

Too many apartments

The 1st apartment I lived in was an old 20 story Chinese building and I spent about 5 months living on a camp bed in the living room (that was also the office in the daytime) though the bathroom did not have a Western style toilet, sharing the apt with 1 Chinese girl and 1 Australian girl. Rent =0; the 2nd was in an old 6 story Chinese building and I spent about 5 months living in my own double bedroom sharing the apt with a Chinese girl. Rent =100 pounds a month; the 3rd was in a modern 25 story building and I spent 1 year living in bunk beds with 3 other guys (Indian, Slovakian, Chinese) in 1 room (this time there was a living room AND an office room) and there were 2 Chinese girls in the other room. Rent =50 pounds a month.

Then, the 4th was in a modern 25 story building (this time in Xi'an) and I had the study room (converted into a bedroom with 1 of those raised beds that had my wardrobe underneath) for 6 months sharing the apt with a Chinese guy. Rent =0 (though had to furnish the room); the 5th was a slightly lower quality building 100m down the road and I actually rented that apartment myself, sharing with an Australian girl for about 4 months. Rent =50 pounds a month; the 6th was only temporary (3 months) 200m back the other way in a run-down 6 story Chinese place that had a pipe for a shower, coming out on top of a true 'hole in the floor' and no kitchen (not that i ever use one). Rent =10 pounds a month.

Back in Beijing, the 7th is the nicest so far in a very well built 30 story building with en-suite and everything. Rent =100 pounds a month. Tonight I am leaving for apartment number 8; back in the same complex as number 3, though this time with a room to myself (and thus higher rent). Hopefully I won't be moving anywhere else soon, but who knows...

I have accumulated one hell of a lot of stuff in close to 4 years; 3 large rucksacks worth of clothes, 2 suitcases of files, several bags of shoes/sandles etc, several bags of wash stuff (so many free shampoos and toothbrushes etc), lots of bedding, lots of camping gear, lots of computer gear and who knows what else is in the other bags. Oh well, time to look a fool trying to take it all downstairs to the taxi. Happy Children's Day everyone (though I believe it is only celebrated in China)!