Think you have it bad?

Do you think you have it bad on your drive to work? Does traffic sometimes get backed up a little bit? Did you have to wait FIFTEEN whole minutes?....check this out:




Traffic was backed up on a highway into Beijing for DAYS! The article in pictures here

Double Pretty

There's a phenomenon in China, and among foreigners we like to call it 'Double Pretty'. I may have mentioned this in previous posts, or in conversation with you. Recently, Emily and I were waiting for a bus and lo! we spied a superb specimen. I was just fast enough to whip my camera out and snap this picture.

As the theory goes, if you wear something pretty on top, and wear something pretty on the bottom, it's even more pretty.

Note the sandals as well. They are a somewhat new fashion statement.

Good News

I'm back, after a long and full summer. I'm beginning to catch up on a few habits, like reading the news. It helps me keep a pulse on what's going on in the world, and especially in China. Here's a recent article that caught my attention. It's not often you find 'good news', so I thought it was a little special.

CHINESE PHILANTHROPIST DONATES IT ALL
Yu Pengnian’s journey from poor street hawker to Hong Kong real-estate magnate was already a remarkable one. Then the 88-year-old did something even rarer that shocked many in increasingly materialistic China: He gave it all away.

Read on...

Here's another related story about rich people and philanthropy in China.

CHINA'S RICHEST AND MOST GENEROUS (Full article below)

China’s 10 Richest, 2009
Name, wealth, industry, philanthropy ranking

1. Wang Chuanfu, $5.1-billion, automobiles, mobile-phone parts, batteries, N/A

2. Zhang Yin & family, $4.9-billion, paper, N/A

3. Xu Rongmao & family, $4.7-billion, real estate, No. 12

4. Yang Huiyan & family, $4.6-billlion, real estate, N/A

5. Huang Wei & Li Ping, $4.4-billion, real estate, finance, N/A

5. Liu Yongxing & family, $4.4-billion, chemicals; aluminum, agriculture, N/A

5. Lu Zhiqiang, $4.4-billion, real-estate, finance, No. 11

5. Zhu Mengyi & family, $4.4-billion, real-estate, No. 3

9. Wang Jianlin, $4.3-billion, real estate, hotels, culture industry, No. 13

10. Liu Zhongtian & family, $4.1-billion, aluminum, plastics, N/A

10. Yan Bin, $4.1-billion, real estate, beverages, mining, N/A

10. Zhang Jindong, $4.1-billion, household-appliance retail, real estate, No. 60

China’s 10 Most Generous, 2009

Name, donations, charitable causes, rich-list ranking

1. Yu Pengnian,$441-million, health care, education, No. 406 (2008)

2. Huang Rulun, $212-million, education, poverty, disaster relief, health care, culture & sports, No. 76

3. Zhu Mengyi, $169-million, education, health care, disaster relief, No. 9

4. Niu Gensheng $95-million, disaster relief, poverty, education, health care, social welfare, N/A

5. Chen Guangbiao, $91-million, health care, disaster relief, social welfare, No. 406

6. Yang Guoqiang & family, $77-million, education, poverty alleviation, health care, disaster relief, N/A

7. Sun Yinhuan, $47-million, education, disaster relief, social welfare, No. 172

8. Yang Lan & Wu Zheng, $47-million, education, culture & sports, No. 250

9. Huang Nubo, $44-million, education, culture & sports, social welfare, disaster relief, No. 130

10. Duan Yongping, $40-million, education, disaster relief, No. 340