China’s Gold Rush

August 8, 2013

The Imperial Color was yellow gold and the roofs of the Forbidden City were the same color. During imperial times, anyone wearing the imperial color, who did not belong to China’s ruling family, usually lost their heads.

Now, China is having a gold rush and holds more than a thousand tonnes of Gold as of June 2010, while gold demand from China’s middle class has grown 13 percent annually for the last five years.

As you can see from this Sky News video, Chinese are gobbling up gold as fast as they can regardless of the price.  To them, it is an investment and the Central Bank of China is quietly buying gold to build reserves. China is now the world’s largest producer of gold.

Frank Homes writing for Wall Street Pit, Global Market Insight, says China can’t get enough gold and state-controlled China National Gold Group signed an agreement with Kensington Mine in Alaska to buy more.

In fact, Pacific Money.com says, “China’s society is changing beyond all recognition. At the heart of the most sweeping social and economic transformation the world has seen is the rise of a powerful new largely middle-class population. In 2000, only 4% of China’s urban households were middle class; by 2012, that number skyrocketed to more than 66%.

Discover China’s Heart and Soul

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of My Splendid Concubine [3rd edition]. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. This is the love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.

His latest novel is the multiple-award winning Running with the Enemy.

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China’s Holistic Historical Timeline


Jewish Studies in China

August 6, 2013

The Chinese and Jews have a common bond—Sinophobia and Anti-Semitism.  Archaeological evidence suggests that Jews were in China as early as the 8th century having arrived from Persia along the Silk Road.

And in China, Jews found a home without Anti-Semitism, which suggests that Anti-Semitism only exists in Christian and Muslim dominated countries.

In Shanghai, there is the Jewish Refugees Museum located in the former Ohel Moishe Synagogue, which offers a history of refugees who were sheltered in the city during World War II.

There is also a graduate program at Nanjing University, the China/Judaic Studies Association, which furthers the study of Judaism in China at the Glazer Institute for Jewish Studies. The chair for this graduate program, Professor Xu Xin, is the leading Judaic Scholar in China.

Professor Xu said, “Not to understand the contribution of the Jews to world history is not to understand the world … not to understand another people is a failed opportunity to counteract hatred and bigotry.”

The Chinese government now recognizes Jews as an official Chinese ethnic group. Source: Los Angeles Chinese Learning Center

Discover Deep Family Roots

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of My Splendid Concubine [3rd edition]. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. This is the love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.

His latest novel is the multiple-award winning Running with the Enemy.

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China’s Holistic Historical Timeline


China’s Holistic Historical Timeline

August 3, 2013

This holistic timeline in no way represents all of China’s history. This menu of China’s history is here for individuals who want to learn about China and the Chinese from near the beginning to today.

What I’ve done is provide links in chronological order—or as close as possible—to posts on this site that offer a look at China’s long history and her people. Click on the links [in red] to discover some of China’s historical, cultural and artistic evolution.

If you see a post that you feel is in the wrong time slot, let me know and I will look into it. New links may be added at any time.

 

6987 BC

The Ancient Yue

 

3000 BC

The Discovery of Silk

God, Ancient Astronauts and China’s Yellow Emperor

 

2256 – 2205 BC

ShangDi, China’s God of Creation

 

2205-1783 BC

The Xia, China’s Oldest Known Dynasty

 

1783 – 1123 BC

Shang Dynasty

The Mandate of Heaven

Links to the Stars – Ancient Astronomy

Spring Festival, Year of the Tiger

The Vanishing Street Art of Chinese Calligraphy

Chinese Drums

The Sheng, one of China’s Oldest Musical Instruments

 

1126 – 222 BC

China’s Spring and Autumn Period

Emperor Wu of Zhou Dynasty

Guqin means Ancient Musical Instrument

China Points the Way

Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War”

The Bodhidharma

The Life of Confucius

The Influence of Confucius

The two-faces of Confucius

Confucius Returns

Confucius with Chow Yun Fat

A short history of Taoism and its meaning

Yin Yang

China’s Grand Canal

China’s Ancient Chimes


259 – 210 BC

The First Emperor, Qin Shi Huangdi, the man who unified China

Xian, China’s Ancient Capital

The Search for the Tomb of Cao Cao

The Seven Wonders of China starting with the Qin Shi Huangdi

Tea for Emperors and Tibet

 

206 BC – 219 AD

The Han Dynasty

Buddhism in China

With or Without Paper

Measuring Earthquakes

 

Near the end of the Han Dynasty to 280 AD

Romance of the Three Kingdoms

 

300 – 644 AD

A Millennia of History at a Silk Road Oasis

[youtube-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R29A0GyLYlE]

 

596 – 644 AD

Hsuan-tsang – From China to India for Enlightenment

 

618 – 906 AD

The Tang Dynasty

Wu Zetian, China’s only Female Emperor and an early feminist

Ancient Feminism in China

Tang Dynasty Poetry

The Accidental Discovery of Gunpowder

Ice Cream from China – Myth or Fact

The First Cinderella was Chinese

The Tea Horse Road

Chinese Crossbow and other Inventions

Quyi: Chinese Singing and Storytelling

Christianity and Islam in China

The Kaifeng Jews

 

925 – 1279 AD

Sung Dynasty

China’s Imperial Encyclopedia

China’s Bound-Feet Women

The Machines of China

 

1279 – 1368 AD

Yuan Dynasty: Kublai Khan’s Mongol Empire [China conquered]

Shanghai’s History & Culture

China’s Real Karate Kids

The Millennium Cult

The White Lotus Mutation

 

1368 – 1643 AD

The Ming Dynasty Part 1

The Ming Dynasty Part 2

Emperor Yangle of the Ming Dynasty

Ruling the Oceans

China’s Romeo and Juliet

 

1644 – 1911 AD

The Qing Dynasty

China’s Last Dynasty

China’s Last Empress Dowager-Regent

The Prince’s Garden

The Qing Dynasty’s Elite Troops

For All the Tea in China

The Connection between Opium, Christianity, Cults and Cannon Balls

The Roots of Madness

The Opium Wars

The Taiping Rebellion; the Kingdom of Heavenly Peace (1845-1864)

A Forbidden City Connection to Tibet Revealed

Dream of the Red Chamber

Jingyun Dagu, Beijing’s Story Telling Opera

Peking Opera

The Importance of Guanxi to Chinese Civilization

Jack London in China

Discrimination against the Chinese in America

 

1912 to present

Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, the father of China’s Republics

Sun Yat-sen’s Last Days

Yuan Shikai, the general who became China’s president for life

Chiang Kai-shek, brutal dictator and America’s friend

America’s Angel Island

Massacre in Taiwan and America says nothing

Mao’s Long March

China’s Communist Revolution or Civil War

Mao and Snow

World War II and The Rape of Nanking

Japan’s war of lies about atrocities in China

The Rape of Nanking with Iris Chang

China’s Health Care During Mao’s Time

Mao Zedong, the Poet

Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl

From Mao to the Met

Mao’s Last Dancer

The Founding of a Republic

Ah Bing and “Reflection of the Moon”

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

Tibet Inside China

China’s Sensitivity over Tibet

Tibet as a Province of China – the unresolved issue

No Way is Tibet a Democracy in Exile!

Chinese Gold from Dead Tibetan Caterpillars

China in Korea Protecting the Teeth

China’s Great Leap Forward

China’s Great Famine (1959 – 1961)

Mao’s ‘alleged’ Guilt in the Land of Famines

Mao and Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

China and India at War – 1962

The KMT-CIA Heroin, Cocaine Pipeline to the US

Pearl S. Bucks’ China Predictions – 1966

Nixon in China

Deng Xiaoping

The Sino-Vietnam War of 1979

The Controversy, Complexity and Reality behind China’s One-Child Policy

The Tiananmen Square Hoax

Tiananmen Square Revisited

What is the truth about Tiananmen Square?

On the trail of Dr. Li’s illusive Memories

Water: the Democracy versus the Authoritarian Republic

Greenpeace and the growth of environmentalism in China

China’s Educated Women Work to Bring about Change from Within

China’s Stick People – the rural urban divide

China’s Porn War

Evil Tobacco

Joining the Party

Communism and Socialism are NOT the SAME

Country Driving with Peter Hessler

Oprah Times Four in China

Hooters in China

What do Shanghai’s IKEA and Cupid have in common?

Macao Bringing in the Cash

Falun Gong’s Media Machine

The differences between Individualism and Collective Cultures


_______________

Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of My Splendid Concubine [3rd edition]. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. This is the love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.

His latest novel is the multiple-award winning Running with the Enemy.

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About iLook China


In China, when there is a subway, use it.

August 1, 2013

Believe me when I say to avoid driving in Beijing—or taking a taxi—unless it is midnight and the city is slumbering. Beijing is one of the worst cities in the world to drive in.

For example, we’ve been stuck in Beijing traffic breathing toxic fumes and watching the taxi’s meter adding numbers when we could have walked faster for free.

The other choice is Beijing’s subway system built for the 2008 Beijing Olympics (and still growing), which we prefer. It’s fast and efficient, but wear a money belt because it can become sardine-can crowded—perfect for pickpockets. I don’t even wear my backpack on my back. I wear it on my chest where I can see it.

Beijing Subway Map

Guangzhou (once known as Canton by the West) subway map

Shanghai Subway Map

Information about getting around in Xian

Last time we were in Xian, the subway system was still under construction. Several lines are open for business and fifteen are planned.

According to Michael Wurth’s Blog, Xian was boring and “very” hot. Wurth talks about renting a tandem bike and riding it on the wide, ancient Xian city wall claiming to make the ride in under 4 minutes, which is surprising since the wall runs about 17 kilometers.  That’s some really fast peddling. And yea, there are pickpockets but every major city in the world has them—like New York.

Personally, when we were on Xian’s wall, I enjoyed the experience but we were on foot and visited in the Fall and the weather was perfect.  If you want to visit China, plan for the Fall or Spring and avoid China’s national holidays when it seems like everyone is traveling.

Discover Visiting Xian

_______________

Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of My Splendid Concubine [3rd edition]. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. This is the love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.

His latest novel is the multiple-award winning Running with the Enemy.

Subscribe to “iLook China”!
Sign up for an E-mail Subscription at the top of this page, or click on the “Following” tab in the WordPress toolbar at the top of the screen.

About iLook China

China’s Holistic Historical Timeline


China’s Carbon Footprint Challenge

July 30, 2013

Bloomberg reported on China’s Datang Corp starting construction on a rooftop solar power plant in Jiangsu province as another step in China’s goals to cut carbon emssions. Plans are for this power plant to generate 6.2 gigawatt hours of power reducing the need for coal-powered generating plants.

This plant is not the only one under construction.  China is already the world’s leading producer of solar panels, and China is also building a 2,000-megawatt project in the Mongolian desert, which is planned for completion in 2019, and may be the largest solar power facility on the globe. Along with solar power, China plans to install 100 gigawatts of wind power by 2020. Source: World Changing

With the demand from China’s people to improve lifestyles, cutting back on carbon emissions is going to be a challenge as reported in China Juggles an Increase in Carbon Emissions and Renewable Energy Plans.

See Electricity is the Key

_______________

Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of My Splendid Concubine [3rd edition]. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. This is the love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.

His latest novel is the multiple-award winning Running with the Enemy.

Subscribe to “iLook China”!
Sign up for an E-mail Subscription at the top of this page, or click on the “Following” tab in the WordPress toolbar at the top of the screen.

About iLook China