FRED

So everyone says to me, " How come you are always talking about your dog, Fred?". What's the big deal?  I do say what a great dog he is and how smart he is and I wish I could bring him to China. Well, our son, Reed, is taking care of Fred back in Vermont. The other day Reed was going to take Fred on his daily walk and said to himself out loud " It's bright out, I better get my sunglasses". So he ran upstairs to his bedroom and when he returned to the kitchen, this is what he saw. Smart or what!

Silk Road Trip 2-- Seeing Red--Hot Chilies

 Our trip on the Silk Road was in the far  western China province of Xinjiang. This is known as the Xinjiang Uygar ( said like wee-gar) Autonomous Region. It is the largest region in China but with the smallest population. The Gobi desert resides here as well as the Tien Shan Mountains which lead toward Tibet. The vast basins of this region are rich in deposits of oil, gas and minerals as well as agricultural fields. In recent years the area has seen an invasion of tomatoes, chili pepper, safflower, Chinese Wolfberries (gouqi), and Chinese red dates. This area is particularly suited to these "red crops" due their location 40 degrees north  of the equator. This climate has less precipitation, a hot summer and substantial temperature differences between night and day.
   The tomato spread from the forests of South America and came to China by sea in the late Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). It was first grown as an ornamental plant. It was not until the early 20th century that the Chinese used it as food. Today, one in every four tomatoes is produced in China and half from here in the Xinjiang province.
  Another large crop are the Red Chili Peppers. I took the pictures below while traveling on a bus from Urumqi to Kuytun. What you see are beds of peppers drying out. Just incredible. These beds are each about the size of a football field and some are bigger. The basins are a natural drying yard because of the relative humidity of less than 30%, surface temperatures of  70 degrees C and strong searing winds. You can faintly see the Tien Shan Mtns. in the background which creates this basin. Chilies are a mainstay in regional cooking. Locals prefer dried chilies to fresh ones-- they crush pods, add salt and fry the mixture in vegetable oil to make a condiment eaten with dumplings, buns and noodles. A favorite dish here is fiery chicken, potatoes and chili. Delicious!

A Uygar Serenade.

Happy trails to you...  Riding off into the sunset on camels at the Gobi Desert.

The Economics-- China vs. USA

Everything goes in cycles. Good times, Bad times.Love and War.Daily life, and, of course, Economies.China is growing and growing with no end in sight. The US seems to be stuck in a recession with no end in sight. Today in the Shanghai Daily there was  the story of the  unemployment news in theUS. Jobs are not being created and the rate went up to 9.8%. In that same paper the following articles appeared about China. 1). China set to invest US$1.5 trillion in 7 sectors ( alternative energy, biotechnology, new-generation info. tech, high-end equip. manf., advanced materials, alternative-fuel cars, and energy saving and environmentally friendly tech.) China is trying to be the " Green" country going forward and is seeking alternatives to dwindling commodities. They also want to get away from being just known as a low end manufacturer. 2). Symantec expects to triple it's revenue here in China within 5 years-- typical of many tech. firms. 3) Starbucks plans to triple it's presence in China in 5 years. It wants to run 1,500 stores in China by 2015. 4) General Motors sold a record 196,990 units in November up 11.2% from a year earlier. Shanghai's GM sales rose 33.4% annually in November--- which leads me to buy some recently IPO'd GM shares on The NYSE at $34. Just a suggestion. 5) China to invest $500B more in next 3 years on Hi-Speed trains.
This growth mirrors the US back in The Industrial age of the late 19th -early 20th century when these headlines would have begun with the US and not China. But things go in cycles and China will have it's hiccups and the US will bounce back. But that's why Jane is working in China now.

And a few random pictures for your entertainment pleasure.

These are the spider men of Shanghai. They swing back and forth
on their ropes in perfect unison as they wash the windows. I
applied for a job but they don't accept anyone over 60. Darn!

Jane and I at Expo in Shanghai this spring to attend a
performance of the Philadelphia Orchestra. The China pavilion
is lit in the background.

My favorite local Xiao long bao ( steamed dumpling with soup inside)
place. A short walk from our apartment.

Inside Ling serves up the best that you can order from the
menu behind her. No, I cannot read Mandarin so lunch is often
a surprise but usually not moving.

The electrical panel in our basement. Kidding. This is the panel
in an older building that was going to be torn down as soon
as the final tenents left.

Jane on her way to work.

John signing up for what he thought was Mandarin lessons.
Dig this guy's hat.

Turns out it was a special blessing for long life ( hey, I'm
still alive). I had to blow on this box for some reason. That
and 15RMB ($2) and I was good to go.