2/15/09

Things that have been keeping me interested:

A Recycling in China Blog natural resources, recycling culture, news commentary from Shanghai. And, a doom-and-gloom look at the scrap industry recession hitting China.

China on the Wild Side, a Time Magazine photo essay of disaffected, experimenting Chinese youngsters qnd related article by Rian Dundon.

Migrant workers flooding back home over the New Year holiday starting to get nervous about shrinking employment prospects in the East and the perilous future of life back in their rural hometowns. Now that is is over... how are they faring?

And now the worst drought since 1951, before my parents were born? This is a great overview of Water in China. This has not been a great lunar year and it threatens to get worse... Global joblessness seems on track to derail so much...

My new favorite classy China writer, Evan Osnos, has jumped off the New York Times ship and aboard the New Yorker. Based in China, he travels and reads and does excellent reporting for both articles and a great new blog. I especially enjoyed his visual on the hundreds of massive hydroelectric dams that may (or may not) be contributing to the seismic instability of the entire southwest of China (where I live and freaked out when feeling tremors from the 5.12 quake north in Sichuan.) He also has a nice Blogroll that took me in some new directions.

And finally, Starbucks has launched "South of the Clouds" the first domestically-produced coffee blend from (you guessed it!) Yunnan beans. That's right. Starbucks is trying to turn Chinese coffee into the next Chinese tea. I dream of the possibilities. This is a great review of articles on Starbucks in China- from object of disdain (think Forbidden City location, now defunct) to object of pure desire, to the point of dozens of Starbucks look-alike coffeeshops actually creating a bigger market for coffee in general and expanding the caffination levels of dozens of millions of Chinese folks who need something stronger than tea.
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Why Lotus? Why Pine?

The lotus signifies the progress of the soul from the primeval mud of materialism, through the waters of experience, and into the bright sunshine of enlightenment.

The pine signifies longevity and endurance because of its green foliage year round. In both good and bad weather, the pine thrives year after year thus it also represents pure life and constancy in the face of adversity.

Yunnan Province is a mountain landscape created when the Indian Sub-continent crashed into the tropical lowlands of Burma. It is a place with hundreds of unique species and dozens of amazing topographies. When I walk the mountains of Yunnan, I breathe fresh pine air and marvel at the indigenous wildflowers. Yunnan is also the conduit through which Buddhism came to China, along the caravan trails from India. The lotus is a Buddhist symbol of purity and perfection. When I photograph these flowers, I am always captivated by their geometry and peace-inspiring colors.

my motto

Look well to this day For it is life The very best of life.
In its brief course lie all The realities and truths of existence,
The joy of growth, the splendor of action, The glory of power.
For yesterday is but a memory. And tomorrow is only a vision.
But today well lived Makes every yesterday a memory of happiness And every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well, therefore to this day.

--from the Sanskrit