Visit from China

My step-dad, who lives in China, is here visiting until Thursday. He has been living in China since September of 1996. He is the manufacturing/sourcing/quality control liaison for Lowe Alpine Systems, makers of rugged outdoor-wear, climbing equipment and backpacks. As such, he travels extensively in Asia, visiting factories, etc.

He always has hours of interesting stories to tell us about life in Asia and his travels. A lot of the stories are such that one would think you'd read about in a newspaper or see on the nightly news, but because of the communist government censorship, the information is prevented from being reported. And if it is reported, God help the poor journalist who dared to think it news fit to print/broadcast. I imagine their newspapers must be similar to National Enquirer and TV news broadcasts like watching E Extra or Entertainment Tonight...because what else is there to talk about if not what is actually going on?

For example, I recently heard another report on NPR about food safety in China. One of the subjects was a Beijing street-side food vendor that was making "bbq pork dumplings" mainly out of cardboard. He would find used cardboard in dumpsters or on the street, chop it up, put it in a vat with some solvents to soften it up and reduce it to a pulpy soup, then he added the bbq spices and a little bit of pork...and voila!..the cheap stuffing for his dumplings. This guy, when pursued by the Chinese journalist, not only admitted his recipe, but showed the journalist how it was done. He has pictures and audio recordings.

I asked my step-dad whether he had heard that story. Indeed, it was the talk of the nation...except not why you would expect. He said the government arrested the journalist for publishing lies. He is still in jail and they will not release him until he swears he made the whole thing up. Everybody believes the story, except the government.

Also, as you may have heard on the news (I did), China recently had some hefty flooding due to torrential rain. Local residents to the flooded area, which is quite massive, report hundreds of people missing and/or dead. The government has censored the information, and is not searching for the missing and/or dead. Sheds a new light on FEMA, don't it?

God bless America.