Day 86 (31 August): Pandas
This morning we went to the Chengdu Panda Reserve which is the largest in the world and watched a number of Pandas wander about.
In the afternoon, we went to th Junjiangyan Irrigation System site. The Irrigation System is a 2200 year old project designed to divert water from one of the rivers to allow crops to grow better on the Sichuan plains.
In the evening we flew to Taiyuan in Shanxi Province which is further North and several hundred kilometers west of Beijing.
Observations:
1) Plastic Surgery Ads. This is another sign of disposable income and people being willing to spend it.
2) Cars again. So the cars look nice, but on closer inspection a number of them have smaller engines than the US versions of the same. For example the badges on the Audi A6 often say it has a 1.8 Liter Turbo Engine in it which goes in an A4 in the US. The same is true for the A8, it has badges with the A6 engines instead of the larger A8 engines. Also none of them seem to have Quattro; e.g. they're not all-wheel-drive which is what most people in the US buy. Nonetheless, without easy access to car loans (I'm assuming they're harder to get in China) buying cars that cost around USD 60,000 and up is a really, really big purchase in a country where per-capita GDP is still around USD2000 annually.
3) Engineering skill. This goes back at least 2200 years in China as the Junjiangyan Irrigation System was the first of its kind in the world as I don't beleive the Romans or Greeks had anything of the level of complexity found here.
4) Infrastructure needs. Despite the nice roads, many are lacking stoplights. We went through an intersection today in Leshan where an eight lane road met a six-lane road with out a stoplight. Somehow traffic seemed to make it through safely as I have yet to see any real accidents.
5) Domestic tourism definitely seems like its on the rise as the Junjiangyan Irrigation System seemed to be on the domestic tourist circut as did some of the other places we've been on this trip. This also may be a function of people in China having more disposable income and finding an outlet for it. Its hard to doubt this is a good thing for development in China.
In the afternoon, we went to th Junjiangyan Irrigation System site. The Irrigation System is a 2200 year old project designed to divert water from one of the rivers to allow crops to grow better on the Sichuan plains.
In the evening we flew to Taiyuan in Shanxi Province which is further North and several hundred kilometers west of Beijing.
Observations:
1) Plastic Surgery Ads. This is another sign of disposable income and people being willing to spend it.
2) Cars again. So the cars look nice, but on closer inspection a number of them have smaller engines than the US versions of the same. For example the badges on the Audi A6 often say it has a 1.8 Liter Turbo Engine in it which goes in an A4 in the US. The same is true for the A8, it has badges with the A6 engines instead of the larger A8 engines. Also none of them seem to have Quattro; e.g. they're not all-wheel-drive which is what most people in the US buy. Nonetheless, without easy access to car loans (I'm assuming they're harder to get in China) buying cars that cost around USD 60,000 and up is a really, really big purchase in a country where per-capita GDP is still around USD2000 annually.
3) Engineering skill. This goes back at least 2200 years in China as the Junjiangyan Irrigation System was the first of its kind in the world as I don't beleive the Romans or Greeks had anything of the level of complexity found here.
4) Infrastructure needs. Despite the nice roads, many are lacking stoplights. We went through an intersection today in Leshan where an eight lane road met a six-lane road with out a stoplight. Somehow traffic seemed to make it through safely as I have yet to see any real accidents.
5) Domestic tourism definitely seems like its on the rise as the Junjiangyan Irrigation System seemed to be on the domestic tourist circut as did some of the other places we've been on this trip. This also may be a function of people in China having more disposable income and finding an outlet for it. Its hard to doubt this is a good thing for development in China.
posted by Traveling Brian at 11:58 PM
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