Linfen - The most polluted city on Earth

Northwest of Xian, the city which houses the Terracotta warriors, you will find a small city (4.3 million, which is small by Chinese standards) called Linfen. The Shanxi province is perhaps the energy capital of China. Like Niagara Falls for Ontario, Linfen produces much of North China's energy, typically using coal. The province has roughly 1/3 of all of the coal in China.

VBS recently made a documentary about this toxic city, and it's worth check it out. If you like it, you might also like their documentary about North Korea that I watched after visiting the DMZ.

Who controls the Web?

Evidently, it will be China soon enough. There are now more internet users in China than in North America. We still have more computer owners, because the workers who build the computers can rarely afford to buy them.

How will this the internet? Is Mandarin computer friendly? Since I'm in China right now, I'll try to check out a Chinese keyboard...

In the People's Republic

I've written this post in advance, because today marks the midpoint of my journey to the People's Republic of China. My trip will take me from Beijing to Xian to Guillin to Shanghai. I'll see the Great Wall, theForbidden City, some Olympic Venues, Tienanmen Square, The Terracotta Army, and some of the most fabulous scenery in Guilin (described as the 'best under heaven'.) I'll also check out the most modern city in China - to get an idea of what to expect from this eastern juggernaut in the future. I would have liked to squeeze a trip down the Yangtze River to the 3 Gorges Dam, but we just didn't have enough time. Of course this isn't a tour - we'll be playing it by ear as we backpack around the eastern portion of the country.

The REALLY Long March

It's China week here at channel-one. Often, I've found myself defending China against some westerners. I would place it in the same class as the U.S., albeit for different reasons. There are a lot of things about both countries that I dislike - however since most of my conversations are with English speakers, I find that most opinions of China tend to be negative. Many times, there are good reasons for these negative impressions, however China also has a lot of strong points.

Anyways, I found an article today that provides an excellent counterpoint to my usual pro-China perspective. The Washington Post tempers praise for China's growing economy and I find the writer's analysis to be sound and fair. Essentially, he cites concerns with China's authoritarianism, environment, and economic ownership as reasons that China might never become the superpower that everyone expects.

To be fair, most of the problems he lists also affected the Soviet Union, and they had no problems becoming a superpower. Then again, the U.S.S.R. didn't have to feed 23% of the world's population with only 7% of the world's arable land...

A Crown of Olive Leaves

The Olympics are nearly upon us, and this year's host is the rising superpower of our world. Today, I added the new Digg gadget to my IGoogle homepage and was presented with some photos of China's Olympic venues. Since I will be traveling to China within the next 2 weeks, it perked my interest.

I think that the "Bird's Nest" and "Water Cube" look awesome. The Olympics are an amazing way for China to propel itself into the global community once again. For years, China has closed itself against a world which exploited and dominated it. Whether it was European powers colonizing individual cities, or America supporting a brutal dictator, outside forces left a lasting impression on the Chinese psyche. Thankfully, the Chinese seem to have forgiven the past, and are looking towards the future. I only hope that the West can take advantage of this gesture to forge a lasting partnership with the East. Otherwise, the Chinese might be justifiably insulted by western hypocrites who decry China's human rights records while they purchase t-shirts at Wal-Mart made in Chinese sweatshops.