VOLTING all of China into the 21st Century

May 9, 2010

For China to match the United States, a dependable supply of electricity is needed. Besides more power plants and running more lines to carry that electricity, it also means replacing the ancient villages from feudal times with homes built to modern standards.

China at night

Then rural China would have the same opportunities to live like the spreading urban middle class. To succeed, China would be starting the largest construction project in the history of humanity.  Once completed, all 1.3 billion Chinese would be able to buy and plug in washing machines and dryers for clothing, TVs, computers, air conditioners, electric heaters, refrigerators, freezers, etc. 

What is it going to take rural China to catch up with urban populations?

It is estimated that each American uses about 11,000 kilowatts a year.  Since the United States produces 4.062 trillion kilowatt hours of electricity a year, China would have to produce almost 18 trillion kilowatts so everyone in China could plug in the same number of gadgets Americans do. Source: EIA

America at Night

For the Chinese to match the American middle class example, China’s sky would have to look like America at night. Of course, while all this construction and relocation was going on, the Western media would be reporting how horrible China’s government was to force those rural people to give up their old, feudal lifestyles.

Read more about the next super power.

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. 

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3 Comments | China, Chinese Culture, Chinese middle class, economy, environment | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Freedom

May 7, 2010

If you have been reading “iLookChina.net”, you may have discovered that many Chinese have similar freedoms to Americans. 

Every citizen in the US has a right to a mandatory education to twelfth grade. China has mandatory education too, and the better the education, the higher earning power.

Americans may buy property but so can the Chinese. In America, most homeowners have to pay annual property tax but not in China. In fact, if one has the money, he or she may buy anything sold in China just as in the US. But most Chinese pay with cash and still manage to save.

The average American carries $8,000 in credit card debt. If you are an American, are you one of those credit card slaves?

 

Recent estimates say sixty-five million Chinese globetrot as tourists. In 2007, it was estimated that fifty-seven million Americans traveled internationally.

About the only freedom the Chinese don’t have is they aren’t free to publicly criticize their government. The punishment is severe, but that is spelled out in their constitution. It isn’t a secret.

In America, we might have a Bill of Rights to protection us from our government, but we don’t have any protection from violent street gangs that clog every American city. China has one person in jail for about every 867 Chinese.  In America, it’s about one out of every 31 adults.

What does freedom look like to you?

To learn more, see “You’ve come a long ways, Babe“.

Lloyd Lofthouse is the author of the award winning novels My Splendid Concubine and Our Hart. He also Blogs at The Soulful Veteran and Crazy Normal.

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Leave a Comment » | America, China, Chinese middle class, crime, education, tourism | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Investing BIG in Education

April 21, 2010

China is making HUGE investments in education. In 1998, then-President Jiang Zemin called for a massive increase in enrollment in higher education. Since then, high school and college enrollments in China grew. Source: FP-Foreign Policy, April 14, 2010

Tsinghua University's east gate

In China, more than thirty percent graduate with degrees in engineering or technology. In the United States, only five percent of university students graduate in these fields, while U.S. universities produce more psychologists.

That is why President Obama has encouraged American students to study science. Source: White House

What’s going to happen if American students do not start working hard to become engineers and scientists?

Tsinghua University

In 2040, the Chinese economy will reach $123 trillion, or nearly three times the economic output of the entire globe in 2000.  It’s a fact that people with an education in engineering and science earn more and are more productive.  China and India combined are turning out more than 600,000 engineers a year—ten times that of the United States. Source: Rocketry Planet

To see the results of this push in education, discover Adding to Honor in One Lunar Leap

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of The Concubine Saga. 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.

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1 Comment | China, Chinese middle class, economy, education, family values | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

China’s Middle Class Expanding

April 20, 2010

“Present estimates of “middle class” in China range from 100 million to 247 million… Estimates of the size and growth rate of China’s middle class vary. Roughly half of China’s projected urban population will be middle class in 2025.

“Unlike the United States, where income typically peaks between the ages of 45 to 54, it is predicted that the wealthiest consumers in China will be between 25 to 44 years old because the younger generation will be more highly educated.” Source:  Rise of China’s Middle Class

Buying Cars:
“In the first quarter of 2010, Chinese bought 4.61m units, up 71.78 percent year on year, according to the CAAM.” Source: The Truth About Cars

Buying Houses:
“…demand is still strong. A recent survey by the Hong Kong-based brokerage CLSA found that 56 percent of China’s middle-class families are considering buying a new home.” Source: Sinocism

“Furthermore, homebuyers in China put down at least 20 percent as a down payment (30 percent for a first-time buyer and 40 percent for a second-home buyer to damp down speculation). These buyers rarely fall behind on their mortgage payments.” Source: No Housing Bubble in China

Food:
“China’s mass grocery retail is booming and the turnover of both Chinese and foreign supermarket chains are growing.  The middle class’ new consumption patterns and increasing income has been a catalyst for growth and creates new export opportunities for Danish food companies.” Source: Renmin Shimbun

Discover The Reasons Why China is Studying Singapore

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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.

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2 Comments | China, Chinese Culture, Chinese middle class, economy | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Cruising the Li River

March 21, 2010

Southeast China near Vietnam and Laos is a beautiful area to visit.  The air is clean. The sky blue. One morning, we left the hotel early to join a river cruise along the Li River.

Soon after leaving the dock, I snapped this shot of the boat in front of ours. While the tourists were on the upper decks, the cooks were preparing lunch.  The dinning room is in the large, first-deck cabin.

Cruising the Li River will carry you past one of the ten places to see in China.

I couldn’t resist taking a picture of water buffalo eating the plants that grow under the water.  They would dip their heads under and come up with a mouthfull of green.

Small boats and villages are scattered along the river.

I wasn’t the only tourist taking pictures.  Most of the tourists were from the Chinese middle class.

If you enjoyed this post, you may enjoy Shanghai Huangpu River Tour

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of The Concubine Saga. 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.

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

2 Comments | China, Chinese middle class, tourism | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

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