A Bryson in China

Labels: Dongguan, Gas, Gas Prices, Life in China

posted by A Bryson (formerly) in China @ 4:31 PM Comments: 0

Going Home

It’s almost time to go home. I start out early Saturday, and arrive late Saturday in North Carolina. But of course, that is after crossing the Date Line and sitting on my posterior in an airplane, cars, or boats, for almost 24 hours.

I’ll miss a lot here. I know I will be back in three weeks. But the next visit is my last known scheduled visit to China. It seems difficult to believe. This has been home for three years. It has been a good three years.

I won’t miss the long rides to work. Sure it has been nice to sit in the back of a vehicle and let my driver worry about the congestion and crazy driving of the locals. Lines are forming again at every gas station, as price of gasoline has risen faster than the price regulations, and thus, dealers are limiting output.

And it will be nice to see a full news report without a cutaway to a public service announcement in censorship to some sensitive news report. Today was the first full news report I’ve seen in weeks, with the NPCC and Tibet info in the news. Otherwise, it has been repeat after repeat of Samantha Brown climbing the steps to the tower in Seville, and Jackie Stewart on Top Gear. I don’t think I can go to Seville now.

And no chicken feet on the table as soon as you sit down. Shucks. Now all I’ll get is hush puppies. ………..YES!!

Labels: Dongguan, Gas, Gas Prices, Life in China, Television

posted by A Bryson (formerly) in China @ 4:30 PM Comments: 0

Guangdong News

I missed a major news item from Guangdong recently. A cousin was kind enough to ask about one and send me the link. I had often wondered how this area could handle the demands of water for all these people. It may not be so well. Read by clicking here.

The other news event is more apparent. Daily my drivers are faced with difficult maneuvering past service stations along the highway. They have some kind of separation here for which stations provide gasoline to trucks versus general transport vehicles. And at the stations for trucks, the lines usually spill out into the streets blocking traffic at each. However, for cars, the gasoline must be more readily available, because lines are rare.

Today, we even stopped at one station for gas in our van on the way to work. As we sat there, several trucks pulled in requesting gasoline, only to be turned away. I still haven’t quite figured out the separation, but they were sure disappointed.

In the meantime, the lines continue to back up for trucks. They say that gas is still being regulated at a rate far lower than market prices, so refineries and distributors claim to be loosing money (read about it here). Even though it was raised recently, that only temporarily fixed the problem. A couple of weeks passed, and with the oil futures still climbing, the suppliers have cut back availability again. It’s pretty simple supply and demand economics, but without free markets, its effect becomes more apparent.

Labels: Dongguan, Gas Prices, Guangdong, Guangdong News, Life in China

posted by A Bryson (formerly) in China @ 5:12 PM Comments: 0