A Bryson in China: July 2009

Cat is a "Winter Dish"

Well, that's what the article says: "We don't serve cat in the summer time. It's more of a winter dish."

Click here to read the whole article. It seems there is a backlash against cat as a dish in China. But in the meantime, you can still buy cat in the markets.

Labels: Cat, Dongguan, Guangdong

Good Economic News

There is some good economic news coming out of Guangdong recently, for a change:

Many factories closed previously during the recession have reopened in Guangdong. Of 1000 closed textile factories, over 700 have reopened.

Employee demand increased 15% in May and 10% in June for Guangzhou and Dongguan. The only drawback is that due to so many migrant workers going back to their homes during the downturn, there are not enough available workers now for the openings.

A very large steel plant has announced it is starting construction in Dongguan City to open in 2010.

Unfortunately, ethnic tensions remain high in China, but is primarily focused in the western province of Xinjiang.

Labels: Dongguan, Guangdong News

Seen in the News in China

News from China continues to be grim and concerning:

Number of cases of swine flu continues to climb. Over 60 cases of H1N1 recently reported in Macao.

The "great firewall of China" seems to be strengthening. Reports of blockage are up, and blogs I've often read are "unavailable".

One blog did have an interesting if not bizarre story of the writers encounter of a knife fight at a Dongguan bus station, where the police did little to instigate things to a riot, but at the same time let the knife-wielding attackers leave without arrest, even though one person was visibly victimized and bleeding.