Random observations

It has been the longest stint without a post. I am experiencing a little ennui, but, at least, I don't have a foot of snow. It is at least 60 degrees here today. I read this morning that Central Park has not had an accumulated inch of snow before November 1 since the year 1879. Global weirding. 2012 is coming.

Here is a glimpse of one of China's most dangerous coal plants. In America, we have the lawn and its two-stroke motor mower. In Changchun, we have the street corner peddler who roasts chestnuts and pine-nuts and pops popcorn for the masses. Pick your poison.

This morning I hear shouting quite early in the courtyard of my building complex. I assumed it was the men who are working on insulating the roofs of the city, but it was a wedding and there was an archway of purple material and pink flowers spanning one of the doorways. Weddings here happen early in the morning and are usually at a restaurant. They last about an hour.

The most obscene reminder of the have and have not that I have seen in China was a wedding making its way from one place to another. It included a procession of red Audi convertibles and a couple dozen Hummers festooned with pink ribbons.

I have decided to be a Wall Street CEO for Halloween. I will have a dart board on my back and wear my one suit. I will have a pin that says CEO.

Sleeping on the Kang

Last weekend, I took my first real foray into the countryside of Northeast China. It was beautiful. It was the tail end of fall foliage, which is magnificent, though not like my beloved New England.

The corn had been harvested and the rice had been woven into piles.

Rice in the foreground, corn in the middle, and the rolling hills tinged with orange in the background.

A crib for corn.

There was a wide assortment of things drying, as well. The part of Liaoning Province that I went to is famous for its ginseng. There are also mushrooms and peppers pictured here.

 

The farmers were fattening pigs and geese for the winter. There were chickens and sheep in the streets.

 

Ubiquitous in Northern China's countryside (and nearly half of China's 1.4 billion live in the countryside) is a heated bed that has existed since the Neolithic Period. On the other side of the wall from this stove which Olive is stoking is the kang. It stayed warm all night long. Here she is burning the slash from a cornfield. When winter comes they will burn wood. I slept with Olive's father in one room and she and her aunt slept in another room on another kang.

I went to visit the 87 year-old grandfather of my friend. I brought him a box of cigarettes...which my friend told him was my attempt to kill him. His daughter lives with him and fixed a beautiful feast.

A random house in the village with its clothesline. I could not resist.

The Waking Red Phoenix: Solar Dreams

The dragon and the phoenix are yin and yang in Chinese lore. Here are some articles on China and solar, nuclear, and wind issues, debacles, and opportunities. Only the first article in the list is not related to energy directly. The last article only makes passing mention of China in its last paragraph, but I include it, because it puts in sharp focus the reasons for taking an interest in these debates. The expected, projected rise in demand here, and in India, is frightening. 

Andrew Jacobs' piece is interesting because it shows the strength of the Chinese government's resolve to safeguard the environment. On the other hand, they may just shift the problem to another community.  "Government officials promised to relocate the plant after 12,000 residents took to the street."

I don't know enough to comment on Solyndra or the WTO issues, but I predict these will be the central contentions between the US and China in the weeks and months to come.

A Contest For Supremacy — By Aaron L. Friedberg — Book Review

By MARTIN JACQUES (NYT)

Aaron L. Friedberg considers the growing Sino-American rivalry and calls for the U.S. to project hard power to counter China’s rise.

China Shuts Solar Panel Factory After Antipollution Protests

By ANDREW JACOBS (NYT)

Since last Thursday, the factory, JinkoSolar Holding Company, has drawn hundreds of protesters who blame the plant for fouling the local air and water.

Energy Demand Is Expected to Rise 53% by 2035

By BLOOMBERG NEWS (NYT)

China and India will consume 31 percent of the world’s energy by 2035, up from 21 percent in 2008, the Department of Energy predicted. 

Solyndra and the China Blame Game – Venture Capital Dispatch – WSJ – As we watch U.S. solar start-ups go up in flames, it’s easy to blame China. On Thursday, in light of the federal investigation into now-bankrupt Solyndra, Reps. Henry Waxman (D., CA) and Diana DeGette (D., CO) asked the House Committee to examine whether heavily subsidized Chinese solar companies are skewing the market, and making it impossible for U.S. manufacturers to compete.

China Marches on With Nuclear Energy, in Spite of Fukushima

By KEITH BRADSHER (NYT)

Questions abound about whether China will be a savior for the international nuclear power industry or a ferocious competitor. 

U.S. Says Some Chinese Subsidies Violate Trade Rules

By KEITH BRADSHER (NYT)

The Obama administration gave the World Trade Organization a list of 200 programs, some in solar and wind power, that it said may unfairly benefit Beijing. 

 

With Deaths of Forests, a Loss of Crucial Climate Protectors

By JUSTIN GILLIS (NYT)

Trees, natural carbon sponges, help keep heat-trapping carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. But insect and human threats are taking a heavy toll on them.