China

Interesting Times in China

Posted in Business, China, Geography, Investing, Societal Values, Transhumanism, Travel on November 5th, 2006 by leodirac – 3 Comments

“May you live in interesting times.” -Ancient Chinese Proverb (actually, it isn’t.) The idea behind this saying is that times of rapid change are generally quite painful. Historically interesting times are those involving wars and revolutions — things where lots of people die. Growth and improvement have only come through very slow gradual change. But in today’s China, this is anything but true. Right now is one of the most interesting times in China’s long history, and for the majority of the country, it’s fantastic. (If we all work hard, that kind of intersting time might be behind us.) We…

...full article


The Best Foreign Language Phrasebooks

Posted in China, Ego, Travel on November 5th, 2006 by leodirac – 2 Comments

I’m currently traveling in mainland China. One of my primary reasons to be here is to practice my Mandarin. I lived in the town of Jinan for the better part of 2001, and by the end of my stay had a rough conversational grasp of the language. For cultural and geopolitical reasons I’d like to keep this skill. I’m also planning on going to China’s Global Debutante Ball in Beijing in 2008 and a little force-fed practice now can’t hurt. I think of myself as a dilettante polyglot – I have or have had a smattering of many languages –…

...full article