via The Big Picture:
These Are Brilliant
Author: Sam Kornstein
Civilized Shenzhen Warm Homestead
I spent yesterday afternoon in the city of Shenzhen, a manufacturing hub in China where among many other things, iPhones and iPad are made. I was fairly surprised to find no factories at all in the city proper. Instead there were wide newly paved boulevards, endless rows of some of the largest skyscrapers I have ever seen, modern subway stations, offices, shopping malls, city parks, restaurants, and western hotels. It turns out that by some measures, Shenzhen is the 12th largest city in the world. I was there to attend a buyer-manufacturer conference for a research project I’m working on. It was an event held at a Westin hotel, where buyers representing international brands from all over the world come to find
Salt Shortages
A Chinese student I’m working with received a text message from the government that reads (in Mandarin), “Right now China has enough salt in the market. There is no need to worry about a salt shortage.” Apparently Chinese citizens are stockpiling salt to protect against potential radiation exposure from Japan. But according to a Bloomberg article on the topic: Table salt does not contain enough of the type of iodine needed to block radioactive iodine from damaging a person’s thyroid gland and should not be taken as a substitute for potassium iodide pills, according to healthline.com, a U.S.- based health-information Web site.” “I just wanted to buy it for cooking, but I went to six supermarkets and there’s no salt
Largest Earthquakes Since 1900
This is an interesting reference: Wow. The 9.5 Chile earthquake in 1960 created tsunamis that killed 68 people in Hawaii and 138 people in Japan. Tokyo is 10,668 miles from Santiago.
Happy St. Patty’s Day
For anyone wondering what happens on St. Patty’s day in China, it’s not so different from St. Patty’s day in the States. This is where I am planning to be this evening: I have yet to visit a large city that does not have a cliché Irish Pub.
Dinner in Guangzhou
Fish: Pigeon:
“Free” Music
I wasn’t previously aware of this. Music is completely free in China. Not just “easy to pirate with no consequences due to a lack of intellectual property rights legislation” free. Completely legally free. On Google. There’s actually a little link between the ‘News’ and ‘Shopping’ sections labeled ‘Music’: Once you click it, you can search for any artist, song, or album, and then easily download a high quality mp3 file from the Google page right to your hard drive, with no restrictions: Apparently Google earns advertising revenue on this, and gives the major record labels a cut. They’ve agreed to it because something is better than nothing. Can I take this music home? I looked at the ads.
Vitamin Functional Drink
That’s how Red Bull is described in China:
Chinese Drinking Games
I’m in mainland China for the first time, and the first six hours have been a very interesting experience. All positive things, just very interesting. I’ll be spending the next two weeks the Gold Coast Marina Club, a state-owned hotel located on the banks of the Pearl River in Guangzhou. This place has embraced a strange variety of styles, including wood paneled walls decorated with model sailboats that remind me of old US beachclub hotels out of the late 70s, giant romanesque pillars spread throughout the lobby, and a dome shaped ceiling that is painted to look like a replica of the cloud ceiling at the Venetian. All things considered, it’s a very comfortable place to stay. Also, before I get to
Clever Inventions
Via Marginal Revolution: “United States Patent 3962748 and no, this is not from the Onion.”