Whenever you hear the word bulrush, do you think of cattails? Oddly enough, most people do. However, there are some differences between the two, although cohabitation is not unheard of. Cattails are known to invade a wetland much faster than bulrushes, taking over large expanses in a single growing season because of their mass quantities of wind-borne seeds. In growing season, cattails are more water dependent than bulrushes. Typically, the hardstem bulrush [Scirus acutus] is used in wetland projects and restoration. Bulrushes are much slower than cattails in establishing and spreading because they proliferate primarily through underground rhizomes rather than seeds. Bulrushes can handle and withstand long, dry periods better than cattails. There are some noted differences between cattail and bulrush, as emergent vegetation, but one noted commonality between them is their special adaptation in transporting oxygen from the air to their roots, enabling them to grow in continually flooded, but shallow water areas. Both cattail and bulrush establish quickly, (although as stated previously, bulrushes are still slower than cattails at establishing), and both can tolerate poor quality water. However, bulrushes tend to grow in deeper water, whereas cattails prefer shallow water.

Bulrushes are various wetland herbs (aquatic) from the genus Scirpus. They are annual or perennial plants that are medium to tall in height. Also known as tule, wool grass and rat grass, this herbaceous plant can grow up to 10 feet tall; they are found all through-out North America and Eurasia.

They are divided into groups of soft-stem [Scirpus validus] and hard-stem [Scirpus tabernaemontani] bulrushes, found in the Cyperaceae family. These two species are quite similar in their appearance and share commonalities regarding the areas they grow in. Bulrushes are often used in constructed wetlands to treat agricultural NPS pollution and for the creation and restoration of wetlands. One of the plants used for this kind of project is the species called the Giant Bulrush aka ‘Restorer’. It is considered a superior plant for this, particularly in the south-easterly states. Now you may be wondering, ‘What is NPS pollution and where does it come from?’ Good question!

NPS is short for ‘non-source pollution’, which comes from coal and metal mining, photography and textile industries, agricultural and urban areas, failed home septic tank drain fields as well as municipal wastewater, storm water, and other land disturbing activities that detrimentally impact 30 – 50% of the waterways of America. An affordable and efficient means to address and clean up diverse wastewater is with constructed wetlands. For almost 60 years, researchers have investigated and reported on the use of natural or constructed wetlands and their effectiveness and ability to cleanse polluted water. In 1989, one such researcher named Hammer, defined constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment as “a deigned and man-made complex of saturated substrates, emergent and submergent vegetation, animal life, and water that simulates natural wetlands for human use and benefits.”

The bulrush [Scirpus spp] is one species of vegetation that is cultivated in shallow beds or channels containing a root medium such as sand and/or gravel are effective in helping to regulate water flow. At the same time, biochemical reactions occur on the submerged portions of the plants and within the wetland soils. Oxygen is passively made available for biochemical reactions mainly by the diffusion of air into the system (Rogers et al, 1991). In the United States alone, over 56 FWS (Fish and Wildlife Service) systems process 95 million gallons a day of runoff and wastewater (Reed, 1991).

Bulrushes are reed-like and have long, firm leaves, olive-green, three-sided stems and drooping clusters of small, often brown spikelets found near the stem tips. The stem bases have a few inconspicuous leaves. The roots (or rhizomes) produce edible tubers. The tips of the bulrushes bloom with clumps of reddish-brown or straw-colored flowers that turn into hard seed-like fruits, during the period of April through August.

They are often found along the shorelines of marshy or swampy areas; such as wet locations like the edges of shallow lakes, ponds, swamps, fresh and brackish marshes, wet woods, slow moving streams and roadside ditches. They can grow as high as 10 feet in moist soils, and in shallow or deep water, respectively, from 1 -9 ft of water. The bulrush is densely rhizomatous with abundant seed production.

The Scirpus species occur almost always under natural conditions in wetlands. They are divided into groups of soft-stem [Scirpus validus] and hard-stem [Scirpus tabernaemontani] bulrushes, found in the Cyperaceae family. These two species are quite similar in their appearance. Soft-stem bulrush can grow to 10 feet and grows in dense colonies from rhizomes. Soft-stem bulrush has a round (in cross section), light gray-green, relatively soft stem that comes to a point with no obvious leaves (only sheaths at the base of the stems). Flowers usually occur just below the tip of the stem, from July through September. They grow in the places mentioned in the first paragraph, where soils are poorly-drained or continually saturated. As far as ecological importance goes, the soft-stem bulrush can triple its biomass in one growing season. One area that benefits from this bulrush are urban wetlands, where soft-stem bulrushes can be and have been used to reduce pollutant loads carried by storm water runoff.

The hard-stem bulrush (tule, black root) is a perennial herb with an obligate [restricted to a particular condition in life], robustly rhizomatous wetland plant that forms dense colonies. The stems of this bulrush are erect and slender, sharp to softly triangular; typically reaching 3-10 feet tall. Likewise, the leaves are slender blades that are sheathed around the long stem. The flowers are brown spikelets. The panicle can have 3 to numerous spikelets, which are oval to cylindrical. The nutlets are completely covered by whitish-brown scales and have 6 basal bristles. Bulrushes have stout rootstocks and long, thick, brown underground stems [rhizomes]. The hard-stem bulrush has a much higher tolerance of mixosaline [water containing saline] conditions, than the soft-stem bulrush. It regrows well after removal and is tolerant of fire.

Submerged portions of all aquatic plants provide habitats for many micro and macro invertebrates. These invertebrates in turn are used as food by fish and other wildlife species (e.g. amphibians, reptiles, ducks, etc.). After aquatic plants die, their decomposition by bacteria and fungi (called “detritus”), provides food for many aquatic invertebrates. Seeds of bulrushes are consumed by ducks and other birds while geese, muskrats, and nutria consume the rhizomes and early shoots. Muskrats and beavers like to use this emergent wetland vegetation for food, as well as for hut construction, thus improving the wetland habitat.

Bulrushes have been and are used by many cultures for medicinal purposes, as well as

In the provinces of Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui and Zhejiang, in China use the bulrush in teas, decoctions and extracts. The bulrush is believed to be effective and most commonly used to stop bleeding, whether from an injury or an internal disorder. It is also used to treat painful menstruation and postpartum abdominal pain. Evidence has shown that bulrush extracts can also reduce the amount of lipids in the blood, as well as being effective in treating colitis.

Native Americans would parch the edible rhizomes (seeds), which are high in protein and very starchy, grind them into a powder for flour, mixed it with water, boiled it and ate it as porridge. The young shoots are considered a delicacy, whether eaten in the raw form or cooked. The bulrush can be used for syrup and /or sugar, used in a salad or eaten as a cooked vegetable. The syrup is dried out to produce sugar and the pollen can be used to make breads and cakes.

They also made a poultice from the stems to stop bleeding and to treat snakebites. The roots can be processed and used in treating abscesses.

‘Boneset’ tea was a popular remedy used by Native Americans and pioneers alike to address general aches and malaise. It was said to have the most effective relief for the nineteenth and twentieth century flu epidemics. It remains popular as a herbal tea and is used as a tonic for colds, reduce sweating and to promote bone healing. It is the belief that it does indeed aid in bone healing that gave ‘boneset’ tea its name. Modern medical research confirms these benefits, stating that the compounds of ‘boneset tea’ stimulate the immune system.

Some Native Americans would chew the roots of the bulrush as a preventative to thirst. They also used the ashes from burned stalk to put on a baby’s bleeding naval.

Stems are used to weave strong sleeping mats, ropes, baskets, purses, hats, skirts, sandals, curtains, temporary shelters, canoes and rafts, brooms and other household items. The plant must grow in coarse-textured soil that is free of gravel, silt and clay if the roots are to be used for quality basket-weaving. The root was sought for the black color, which was desired to highlight patterns created in the making of a basket.

The benefits and uses of the bulrush, both ecologically, medicinally and creatively, make it worth careful consideration for wetland planting zones and native restoration landscapes.

Abstract

To read foreign literature in the original language is the ultimate goal for many foreign language students. Requiring knowledge of a few thousands of characters for reading Chinese literature, the challenge is particularly immense for students of Chinese. Lu Xun is China’s most famous author and is frequently referred to as the “father” of modern Chinese literature. To read Lu Xun is to experience living in China during the decline of the Qing dynasty and the rise of the Republic of China. His characters are poignant, his style is sarcastic, and his stories are unforgettable. While his stories are laced with difficult Chinese phrases, allusions to Chinese Classics, and historical references, his stories are too important not to read. With a little help and a historical introduction, students of Chinese can enjoy his stories and have the satisfaction of reading one of the world’s greatest authors in the original language. In this article, I will be exploring my experience with reading Lu Xun in the original Chinese and hopefully will inspire you to do the same.

Reading the Father of Modern Chinese Literature – Lu Xun’s Nahan

Mastering a foreign language is like mastering another culture. When you begin to learn a foreign language, you open yourself up to another way of life and another way of thinking. When you have truly mastered a foreign language you have also mastered the history and culture of that language. How many people can say they are fluent in English without having read some of the best English authors like Shakespeare or Mark Twain? Too many idioms and cultural references come from literature. Without having cultural frames of reference when you are learning another language, you will find yourself lost on certain topics.

One of the highest goals when learning another language is to be able to read literature. I find literature so fascinating because it gives insight into the local perspective. Literature in the original language gives a raw path to understanding the history, culture, and philosophies of another culture.

In this article, I will be discussing my experience with reading Lu Xun’s Nahan in which I learned a vast amount about Chinese history and culture through the “father” of modern Chinese literature. As Julia Lovell, a translator of Lu Xun’s work, says: “to read Lu Xun is to capture a snapshot of late imperial and early Republican China.” (Liu 2009)

While Lu Xun is the pioneer who started writing academic essays and short stories in the vernacular Chinese, his Chinese is still a bit different than what you find in novels today. And, remember that Lu Xun’s works are hard even for native speakers. His short stories are linked with the history and politics of his time and without an understanding of that history Lu Xun’s wit and sarcasm are hard to understand.

In order to overcome these issues let’s take a look at a short history of written Chinese and then a look into Chinese history during Lu Xun’s time.

Written Chinese – A Short History

In Lu Xun’s essay Silent Night, he writes “there are only two paths open to us. One is to cling to our classical language and die; the other is to cast that language aside and live.” When Lu Xun says “our classical language” he is referring to literary Chinese known in Chinese as Wenyanwen. This writing style had its roots in classical Chinese (guwen) that was used in the Zhou dynasty (1045 BCE to 256 BCE) up to the Han dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE). The grammar, vocabulary and style of literary Chinese are derived from these early roots. After the Han dynasty, spoken Chinese continued to evolve especially with a growing number of dialects, but literary Chinese remained mostly the same. The differences between the two can be compared to that of German and Latin. While German has Latin roots, Germans certainly cannot understand Latin let alone write in Latin without a long education in the language. Literary Chinese was basically a different language with its own vocabulary and grammar.

For an example of literary Chinese, let’s see an excerpt from the introduction to Lu Xun’s A Madman’s Diary shown below.

“Two brothers, whose names I need not mention here, were both good friends of mine in high school; but after a separation of many years we gradually lost touch. Some time ago I happened to hear that one of them was seriously ill, and since I was going back to my old home I broke my journey to call on them, I saw only one, however, who told me that the invalid was his younger brother. “(Hsien-yi and Yang 1960)

Students of Chinese will probably find the original Chinese extremely difficult. Literary Chinese uses succinct phrases that would typically be twice as long in spoken Chinese. The vocabulary is more obscure and many Chinese have difficulty understanding it. During my studies of A Madman’s Diary, I consulted numerous native speakers and English translations of this paragraph. Many times the meanings did not match up and sometimes conflicted with each other. Lu Xun saw literary Chinese such as this as a major obstacle to universal literacy throughout China and saw its reform as a cornerstone to modernization.

His first short story under the pen name Lu Xun, was A Madman’s Diary and is celebrated as the first short story to be written in vernacular Chinese. When you read this story, except for the first two paragraphs, you find the style to be similar to that of spoken Chinese. For the most part the text is easy to understand and can be read aloud.

This form of writing is called baihuawen. The change from literary Chinese to baihuawen can be viewed as the Catholic Church using the vernacular language instead of Latin. Traditionalists were infuriated, but now more people could read. With the growing popularity of the vernacular writings, the Chinese also began using Western punctuation and Arabic numerals. Traditional Chinese literature was almost completely devoid of punctuation.

So while Lu Xun’s stories might still be hard for students and even for native Chinese to read, his works are much more accessible then works pre-Lu Xun.

A Short History of Lu Xun’s China

Before reading Lu Xun we have to understand the context of the world he lived in. After the first opium wars in 1839, China was forcefully opened up to the outside world and the Chinese began to grasp their dire need to modernize. Western powers were infringing Chinese sovereignty and even their neighbor, Japan, came to exploit China. China was divided into many different areas of influence. The Germans were in Shandong, the Japanese were in Manchuria, and the British were in Hong Kong. Major port cities such as Shanghai and Tianjin had many foreign concessions.

The Qing dynasty was overthrown in February of 1912 and was followed by the Republic of China. While Sun Yat-sen (Sun Zhongshan) had founded the Republic of China, the military man, Yuan Shikai, shortly thereafter usurped power and continued the corrupt ways of the Qing Dynasty before him. He even declared himself emperor of a new dynasty in 1916 before dying later that same year.

On the other side of the world, Europe was engaged in World War I from 1914 to 1919. The Chinese supplied 140,000 troops to the Allied powers on the condition that Shandong which was then in German control, be returned to China. After the war, Shandong did not return to China but was instead ceded to Japan as stated in The Treaty of Versailles. China refused to sign the treaty and mass demonstrations erupted in Beijing on May 4th, 1919 to protest the government’s inability to secure China’s interests during the peace negotiations.

The period shortly before the death of Yuan Shikai to 1921 is generally referred to as the May Fourth Movement in commemoration of this protest or is also known as the New Cultural Movement. During this time in China, Lu Xun began to write his short stories in the hope to inject the Chinese people with a new spirit. Lu Xun writes in the preface to Nahan: “the most important thing, therefore, was to change their [the Chinese] spirit, and since at that time I felt that literature was the best means to this end, I determined to promote a literary movement.” (Hsien-yi and Yang 1960) During the New Cultural Movement, Lu Xun’s writing began to influence Chinese thought. His friends were editing a magazine called The New Youth and asked Lu Xun to write for them. His first story, A Madman’s Diary, was published in The New Youth in 1918 and ever since Lu Xun became a major voice in this movement that was looking to define China’s future.

History Behind His Stories

The audience of Lu Xun’s stories was the population of China during these tumultuous times in Chinese history. Many of his stories refer to “backward traditions” or to current events of the time. Without an understanding of some of these historical references, much of Lu Xun’s humor can be lost and the stories lose much of their meaning. However, with a historical introduction, his stories became fascinating and lend insight into Chinese thought during those times.

Let’s explore two of Lu Xun’s more famous short stories, Medicine and Kong Yiji.

Medicine

Medicine starts off dark and mysterious with the father heading out in the early morning with a big chunk of silver in his pocket. The father returns home with a red mantou wrapped in paper from his lantern. He spent his family savings on this mantou which they heat up to give to their sick son. Their son is coughing madly and they are hoping to give him this mantou to cure his tuberculosis. The secret ingredient of this expensive object is the blood that it is stuffed with. The blood is from a young revolutionary who was just executed that morning. The revolutionary was exposed by his own family member who pocketed a nice reward. As we know, human blood will not cure tuberculosis, but according to some Chinese myths, human blood was the for sure cure. As this family was desperate to save their only son, they took the risk and tried to save their son.

Their son dies, the young revolutionary has been killed, and the family’s savings are in the hands of some shady people. Lu Xun’s stories become especially poignant because of their relation to current events in China.

The revolutionary in the story refers to the real anti-Qing revolutionary, Qiu Jin (1879?-1907). Her older cousin, Xu Xilin, led a failed uprising against the Qing empire in July 1907 by assassinating the provincial governor of Anhui Province hoping to trigger a wider rebellion. After Xu Xilin’s capture and execution, Qiu Jin, who was planning a coordinated attack in Zhejiang Province, was arrested at her school, tortured, and then decapitated in her hometown, Shaoxing, a few days later. The father in the story buys a mantou filled with the blood of Qiu Jin.

Lu Xun’s father also died of tuberculosis and as Lu Xun’s family was well off, they were able spend a small fortune treating his illness. Lu Xun’s father went to a famous traditional Chinese doctor in search of his cure. As Lu Xun describes in the preface to Nahan about his youth:

“For more than four years I used to go, almost daily, to a pawnbroker’s and to a medicine shop… to hand clothes and trinkets up to the counter twice my height, take the money proffered with contempt, then go to the counter the same height as I to buy medicine for my father who had long been ill.” (Hsien-yi and Yang 1960)

Lu Xun actually studied modern medicine in Japan before turning to literature. He saw traditional Chinese medicine as a scam and used by swindlers to extract money from grieving family members. With today’s emphasis on traditional Chinese medicine in the West, I find it ironic how anti-traditional Chinese medicine Lu Xun is.

Kong Yiji

Another personal favorite of Lu Xun’s stories is Kong Yiji. The main character of the story is called Kong Yiji and hence the title. He’s a scholar who never passes the imperial examination. Passing the imperial examination in China was the criterion for becoming a government official in imperial China. Young boys of well off families would spend years learning the Chinese classics in preparation for the exam. Since learning the classics is of little practical value, they would hope to pass and become a government official. If they never passed, they were doomed to be quite useless or having to learn a new set of skills from scratch.

Kong Yiji is an example of a recurrent failure of the exam. He’s lazy and likes to drink so doesn’t do much to make a living. He occasionally copies classics for extra money, but finds it easier to steal instead. One of Lu Xun’s classic lines is “taking a book can’t be considered stealing…it’s taking a book!” (Lyell 1990) This line is difficult to translate because Kong Yiji is playing with two different characters that essentially mean “to steal”. The first character (qie) is used frequently in literature and given Kong Yiji’s scholarly background this is the word he prefers. The second character (tou) is commonly used in spoken Chinese.

An article on danwei.org entitled Kong Yiji and the Question of Computer Piracy compared today’s computer users in China who use pirated software to Kong Yiji from Lu Xun’s story. In an attempt to stem software piracy, Microsoft included some code that would black out the screen of users with pirated software. Just as Kong Yiji insisted he was not stealing, many people in China fought back and “stood up to self-righteously defend their own actions, though they were surely wrong.” (Martinsen 2008)

Kong Yiji eventually gets a life debilitating beating for stealing by having both of his legs broken. He is reduced to dragging himself by his two hands and his livelihood of stealing is taken away. He eventually dies.

Looking back into Lu Xun’s childhood we again find parallels between his story and his past. The character of Kong Yiji is based on one of Lu Xun’s uncles, Zhou Ziqing, who lived in the family compound in Shaoxing and taught Lu Xun the classics. Zhou Ziqing spent years studying for the civil service exam, yet repeatedly failed. He was something of a nuisance in the family compound and did not contribute much except to teach children the classics.

Lu Xun’s uncle and Kong Yiji highlight one of the flaws in the civil service exam in feudal China. While the system prepared people very well in the classics, it also produced many people who never passed the exams, but yet had spent years in preparation. After their failure, they lacked any other skills to support themselves and their families. Lu Xun’s uncle eventually committed suicide by lighting himself on fire and jumping off a bridge into the water below. He died a few days later.

Coincidentally, America and Europe were first introduced to the civil service examination in the mid 1700s by China. The civil service exams, such as the Foreign Service Exam, have their roots based on this Chinese system. Luckily for today’s candidates however, these present exams do not dwell on obscure passages of the Chinese classics.

Summary

Lu Xun has been branded as the Charles Dickens of China as he was pivotal in shaping Chinese thought during a critical time in Chinese history. For students of Chinese, I suggest taking the challenge to read his works. The hard work you put in will be paid for in an appreciation of one of the world’s greatest authors.

References

“Julia Lovell on translating Lu Xun’s complete fiction: “His is an angry, searing vision of China”” by Alice Xin Liu, November 11, 2009 posted on http://www.danwei.org/translation/julia_lovell_complete_lu_xun_f.php

“Selected Stories of Lu Hsun” By Lu Hsun, translated by Yang Hsien-yi and Gladys Yang, Foreign Languages Press, Peking, 1960, 1972.

“Diary of a Madman and Other Stories” by Lu Xun, translated by William A. Lyell, University of Hawaii Press, 1990

“Kong Yiji and the question of software piracy” by Joel Martinsen, October 28, 2008 posted on http://www.danwei.org/intellectual_property/kong_yiji_and_the_question_of.php

Although suppliers shipped out mostly low-value items on short-term contracts, exports for the holiday season show remarkable year-on-year improvement.

Christmas is truly a joyous season for China’s export manufacturers this year. Statistics from the Rui’an Gifts Industry Association show Christmas gift exports from the city were valued at $82 million this year, up 14.5 percent from the previous season’s sales. Likewise, customs statistics from Guangzhou, Guangdong province, indicate toy exports from January to July 2010 went up 29.2 percent to $3.31 billion.

China customs statistics also show toy shipments between January and September 2010 rose 30 percent to $7.3 billion and 22 percent to nearly 11.3 billion units. When compared with predownturn sales in 2008, however, growth was slower at just 15 percent by value and 5 percent by volume.

Worried about the pace of economic recovery, buyers from the US and the EU placed orders for smaller quantities, lower-value items, or both. It is shipments to emerging markets such as South America, South Africa and Russia that bolstered China’s overseas toy sales. Suppliers estimate Christmas orders from emerging markets grew 30 percent. China customs statistics show that in the nine months to September 2010, exports of all products to Russia and South Africa increased 75 and 48 percent, respectively, while shipments to the EU and the US were up 35 and 31 percent.

Orders for the Christmas season are usually placed during the second quarter, with deliveries scheduled a few months before the holiday. But for this year, buyers finalized transactions in late 2009 through Q1 2010, with goods set to be shipped out in July, August and September. This was mainly to avoid late deliveries and having their products left stuck at ports, which happened to many retailers in 2009.

Transactions finalized during this year’s peak buying months were done when the yuan was stable against the dollar. Even so, talks about appreciating the currency made some small and midsize suppliers wary of accepting long-term contracts. As such, short-term orders made up a considerable percentage of holiday exports.

Apart from the yuan’s appreciation, the difficulty in finding enough workers prevented many companies from accepting long-term orders. Some makers feared buyers would charge them a substantial penalty if deliveries for extended contracts were delayed.

During this year’s peak manufacturing months for Christmas orders, many factories in Rui’an, Zhejiang province, subcontracted to more than 30 family-run workshops to meet delivery deadlines. But not all companies are willing to explore this option as doing might increase the defect rate.

Tapping emerging markets not easy

A manufacturer of eBook readers, portable DVD players and digital photo frames, Acuce Co. Ltd was one of the businesses with thriving sales to emerging markets.

Encouraging growth in exports to emerging markets has renewed China suppliers’ optimism about their bottom lines. Customs statistics show toy exports from Taizhou, Zhejiang province, to Mexico increased 700 percent to $1.4 million. Those to Peru, meanwhile, grew nearly 400 percent to $160,000.

Despite phenomenal growth, however, success in penetrating these markets depends on the products offered and requires substantial investment. Consumer electronic devices, for instance, are more popular than promotional and gift items.

A manufacturer of eBook readers, portable DVD players and digital photo frames, Acuce Co. Ltd was one of the businesses with thriving sales to emerging markets.Dwindling exports to the EU led the company to participate in trade fairs attended by buyers from such destinations. Now, shipments to Brazil, Russia and Argentina have been increasing at a healthy pace.

In contrast, PP/PE woven and nonwoven bags and promotional gifts supplier Wenzhou Yuanfei Printing & Packing Fty has been trying to develop the Middle East market for the past several years, but with no success. Thousands of China suppliers are trying to achieve the same thing, resulting in severe price competition.

The May 12th earthquake in western China's Sichuan Province will have effects reaching further outside China than Beijing is letting on. Sichuan Province holds the key to China's hydroelectric power generation plans in its renewable power targets and the area is also a hub for worldwide outsourced wind turbine equipment. Both were badly damaged.

This infrastructure will take months or years to repair, but in the meantime Chinese media report that "The quake in dollar terms is minimal and it seems unilaterally to set back China's economic growth by very much." I beg to differ.

This earthquake cracked dams and roads, but at the same time it cracked holes in the myth that an ever-expanding China can accommodate an infinite number of companies wanting to open facilities there. We have been hiding behind a wall of outsourcing dependence to resolve our domestic pollution and economic problems and that great wall is about to collapse.

The hydroelectric crutch: The quake zone area generated 62 percent of Sichuan province's total electricity production by way of hydroelectric dams, of which "396 dams were believed poorly damaged and many of the power stations on the river systems were damaged and several major reservoirs are being drained to prevent their dams from failing. "The seismic safety of these dams is a concern and it is expected that many of them will need repair and strengthening," according to Ministry of Water Resources minister Chen Lei.

Even before the quake, Beijing had admitted there were major flaws in many of the country's 87,000 dams. "Roughly 37,000 dams across the country are in a dangerous state," Ministry of Water Resources deputy minister Jiao Yong said earlier this year, noting that many had been built decades ago.

Two weeks after the quake, the Water Resources Ministry acknowledged that 69 reservoirs and dams were on the verge of collapse, and nearly 3,000 through China had sustained damage.

If the always secretive central government is publishing this type of information, I can only conclude that reliable power from that region is no longer assured. This single set of facts revolving around hydroelectric production in western China is a link in a chain that stretches from China right around to your back yard, and that link has broken.

Do not count your renewable energy eggs before they hatch: China has more dams than any other country – about half the world's total. And the 11th Five Year Plan pins its hopes on rapid and massive development of every metre of flowing water in the rivers of Yunnan, Sichuan, and Gansu Provinces in the west to satisfy the insatiable power demand for factories and homes. The Chinese government will now have to reconsider its aggressive dam-building program.

If hydroelectric projects are scrapped there will be persistent permanent electric shortages through the country. China's hydroelectric consumption was around 7% of their total prime energy consumed in 2007.

Pre-quake, the central government was thinking: 'Sichuan possesses the country's largest reserves reserves of hydropower resources, estimated at more than 110 gigawatts. Yunnan has a number of hydropower stations under construction on the lower- and middle-reaches of the Lancang River, with 11 GW and plans for dozens more projects between now and 2016. Gansu's abundant Yellow River hydropower resources can provide electricity for the neighbouring provinces of Qinghai, Shanxi, Sichuan and Ningxia, and their further potential is great. '

Not anymore.

The China Electric Council believes less than 20 percent of the country's hydroelectric resources are being utilized. According to the pre-quake governmental plan, the hydroelectric installed capacity should have reached 125 GW in 2010, accounting for 28 percent of total installed capacity; in 2015 it could have reached 150 GW and by 2020 the goal was 300 GW. These plans are not likely to go forward as planned. This will leave China far behind its electrical generation goals and far short of the capacity it needs to attract manufacturing businesses to that part of the country.

The slow decline: China's Go West Campaign is designed to lure college graduates and businesses to western parts of the country, thereby spurring the economy in China's less affluent interior.

The bait most frequently used by the central government is in the form of Major Economic & Technological Development Zones, Special Economic Zones and City Industry Zones, which confer tax-free status along with preferential transportation and wage agreements. This is great when there is a continuous power supply, but now in the western region that is anything but assured. China's State Power Grid announced Sichuan's electricity grid is running at 76% of pre-earthquake levels. Notice how they conveniently leave out the surrounding provinces, which also sustained damage.

A recent article appearing in the China Daily – "China expects power shortages amid surging demand" – quotes the State Electricity Regulatory Commission general office as saying "Guangdong Province would be short of 5.5GW, Guizhou 1GW, and Yunnan 1.5 GW." Yet again they left out shortages in Sichuan, Gansu, Inner Mongolia, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Shanxi provinces to get a reliable total. This will be the fifth consecutive year of power shortages countrywide. Now consider this: the last four years were short with all of the country's hydropower up and running.

This year, power is likely to be 10 GW short, so keep an eye on the power ratings – "normal shortage", "severe shortage" and "power crisis" – to see how your favorite town or industrial zone is getting along.

It sees there is a masking of the real numbers. What business would want to set up in a country with consistent electrical shortcomings?

Devastation in Beichuan: Combine electrical shortages with the amount of factories that need to be relocated now that fewer enterprises will want to rebuild on an active fault line and the veil begin to lift on what they are hiding. Labourers are refusing to return to work until government inspectors sign off on the integrity of the buildings, despite the fact that it may take months or years before they get around to every company. The psychology of danger for the worker and investor is the overlooked factor X in the Chinese equation. Now, how appealing are the Regional Development Zones in western China ??

As for us living outside China, outsourcing heavy industry to China is the norm. Even the worldwide renewable energy sector has many of its wind turbines and solar panels produced in China. Unfortunately, Deyang – a town about an hour and a half north of Chengdu – had wind turbine operations including majors from Europe, Australia and North America carrying out some of their production at Dong Fang Turbine. In the same area there were also carbon fiber blade, wind tower and ball bearing operations supplying parts to Dong Fang. Buildings in the surrounding area from Deyang to Mianyang were heavily damaged or flattened.

Business Week sums it up in an article titled "Dongfang Turbine Badly Hit." The operations of Dongfang Turbine, China's largest steam turbine producer and third largest domestic manufacturer of wind turbines was actually wiped out. Dongfang, which produces 30 percent of China's locally made turbines estimates direct losses from the earthquake will reach $ 1 billion. Its parent company, Dongfang Electric Corp., has seen its stock price plummet as the steam turbine business accounted for 20% of its operating revenues in 2007.

Although Chinese media reports suggest that facilities for its wind turbine business was unaffected, sources inside the company said that most of their wind business' senior engineers have unfortunately perished and one of their wind components factory was badly damaged.

The electric shortage earthquake triangle: Where does this leave us? Peak Oil is identical and can no longer be denied. We as a world need to begin a transition to renewable power and these circumstances will set the wind industry production in China back a year or two. China's answer to the electrical shortage will be to build more coal-fired power plants. As outsourced production is now being limited by fault lines and electrical shortages, what will our answer be?

The electric shortage earthquake triangle from Kunming in the west to Chongqing in the east and Lanzhou to the north with Chengdu in the center is all sketchy territory from now on. The central government was funneling new business to this exact area because there is very little space along the east coast. That's why there is a massive push to send the economy west. If you have been to coastal China you have seen how densely packed a society can be.

Price is the main reason we buy Chinese goods and have our industries there. However, when something is in short supply it costs more. Electricity is no different. There are now daily diesel shortages along the east coast, electric shortages in the west and along the coast. Add in the recent appreciating yuan and China is no longer the utopia for business it once was. Until the damage in western China is repaired, increased usage of oil, natural gas and coal will replace hydropower to an extent. This in turn creates higher prices in China's manufacturing sector. You will pay at the check out counter.

Please understand: The rest of the world is far less dependent on China's exports than China is dependent on the rest of the world. We need to prepare to take care of ourselves again. As oil prices continue to rise and the global economy Declines, I believe we will see a resurgence of light industry returning to our home countries. China's electric problems could be partially solved if light industry moved elsewhere and left heavy industries in China. Unemployment is going to become more and more ferocious over the next few years as our fossil fuel based economy Declines.

What a great way to put millions of people to work: Bring companies back home. This will take one link out of the globalization dependency chain, and save energy along the way.

Bladeless fans were first introduced to the mass market a few years ago by British engineer James Dyson. He is better known for his innovative designs such as the vacuum cleaner without a bag as well as the Dyson airblade; a hand dryer that doesn’t use hot air. Dyson products are renowned for their innovation and have revolutionised their respective markets.

When first looking upon a bladeless fan it will look like no fan you have ever seen without any grilles or visible blades. For this reason you will often be thinking to yourself how does it work. A bladeless fan is simply a circular structure mounted on top of a base; so how can this fan produce a stream of cooling air without any visible moving parts?

The name, bladeless fan, is actually a little bit misleading as whilst there may be no visible blades there is in fact an energy efficient brushless motor in the base of the fan. This brushless motor sucks in as much as 20 litres of air per second, this is the primary source of air flow. Technologies commonly found in turbochargers and jet engines are then employed to accelerate the air before it is passed into the loop amplifier.

The loop amplifier (the circular structure on top of the base) is a hollow structure that acts as a ramp. Air flows inside of the loop amplifier until it is expelled through a 1.3mm annular aperture and then over an aerofoil-shaped blade. This has the effect of creating air flow with 15 times more air than the fan draws in. The reason for the increased air flow is due to some simple physics known as inducement and entrainment. When air is pushed out by the bladeless fan, the air that is behind the fan is also dragged into the airflow through inducement. The air from behind the fan is induced to follow the moving air in the front.

Simultaneously, the air located at the sides and the front of the fan will begin to flow in the same direction due to entrainment. The combined forces of these two effects causes 15 times more air to be expelled than what is taken in. A bladeless fan is as efficient as a conventional fan but has the added benefits of a constant, non-buffeting flow of air.

In recent months there has been a new product introduced, the bladeless fan heater. It uses similar technology to that described above but has the added function of a room heater. It is not commonly known yet but be sure to be on the lookout for them as they increase in popularity.

An electric chain hoist is a power-driven device that runs on electricity and is used to lift heavy loads and move them from one place to another. They are used in various industries and factories to make lifting jobs easier and safer. They help in saving a lot of manual labor and time and make the job quick and easy.

It lifts the heavy loads, supplying the best safety and security while taking very less time as compared to the total amount of effort and time needed when done manually. This machinery is a development in technology helping businesses to maximize and minimize costs at the same time. A chain hoist has the capability of performing the work of a number of men or women in just a fraction of the amount of time with almost negligible manpower. A proper guide and an experienced operator can help your business become more efficient while investing in this useful machinery.

Let’s consider an example- in any manufacturing unit, heavy containers are lifted by workers and placed inside a truck or any other vehicle for delivery to the retailing or the wholesaling stores. Many risks are there when placing heavier containers or packages into the truck or any other delivery vehicle. There is the possibility of injuries to the workers while carrying the heavy weights and besides there is also a risk of rough handling of products which can damage and sometimes even heavy losses. This is when this machine can be used for reducing the risks and the time taken to complete these weighty tasks.

This device has proven to be absolutely convenient and safe for such type of risky jobs. There are several types of models available in the market and you can select the one that is appropriate for your industry. A perfect and high-quality hoist machine can help significantly in increasing the productivity, facilitating easy and secure operations and offering great durability. It is suggested to select the hoist with a particular capacity based on the use and weight needed to shift regularly.

The selection of the most suitable mounting for your hoist is very crucial in order to make the task easy, efficient and quick. While purchasing an electric chain hoist, it is very vital considering different specifications such as the capability of the hoist to lift heavy loads, the height of lift, its suspension, the voltage used, hoist speed, and push button pendent drop. Having knowledge of the speed and the trolley’s projection width is very crucial for the operation of a trolley.

Getting the machine after a brief and comprehensive study of requirements, gathering full information about several products and going through their specifications and then selecting the most lucrative and efficient product that is ideal for your industry can help you make the work much easier, faster and moreover, very economical.

Raising minimum wage levels is not likely to curb worker deficit, nor is it a big concern in China’s export manufacturing industry. But other factors are.

The persistent shortage of labor in China’s eastern manufacturing provinces has led suppliers and local governments alike to implement various measures to fill the empty positions. One of the loudest policies is the push to raise basic monthly salaries across the major export hubs along the coast to attract workers from inland provinces. This step, however, may not alleviate the shortfall as a tight labor market has already inflated actual wages.

Many factories have been offering higher-than-minimum wages to their workers, whether skilled or entry-level. At some companies, the current monthly salaries are still more attractive than the new base levels would be after the pay rises take effect. For instance, the minimum wage at several furniture makers in Dongguan, Guangdong province, ranges between 1,000 and 1,300 yuan ($146 to $190). The anticipated increase in base pay for the city is 920 yuan ($135). In some industries, monthly salaries even reach 1,500 yuan ($219).

Even so, many plants continue to remain short of hands. This comes despite offers of free board and lodging on top of a 1,500 yuan basic salary. The high cost of living in the coastal cities has made migrant workers reluctant to accept jobs there. In many cases, employees allocate 80 to 90 percent of their income for rent, food and other daily expenses. Skilled personnel at garment and textile factories in the Pearl and Yangtze River Delta regions generally take home 1,800 to 2,200 yuan ($260 to $330) a month, including overtime pay and other extra forms of compensation. Back home, however, they can earn as much as 1,500 yuan ($220) but spend roughly 20 percent less on living costs.

Higher labor expenses will push up export prices in the months ahead, but only marginally. Rising raw material outlay is a bigger concern. In addition, speculation is rife that the yuan will be allowed to appreciate by 2H 2010 and that export rebates will be cut. Unlike increasing labor and raw material costs, the effects of a stronger currency and a lower VAT refund are more immediate and difficult to absorb.

For the most part, suppliers in the consumer products export industries such as auto parts, garments, textiles, sports and leisure, tools, lighting, and general hardware will be capping upward price adjustments at 5 percent. A large number even intend to keep quotes stable through June. The latter is also true for many finished electronics and components companies.

Perhaps the only significant price increase may come from toy manufacturers, some of which are likely to boost quotes 15 percent. The move has more to do with efforts to ensure the safety and performance of products, and minimize recalls, than with escalating expenses.

Makers absorb extra costs, but a caveat

The small impact of minimum wage increases on export prices, even when compounded with other factors that contribute to total outlay, is due largely to companies’ preference for cutting profit over risking losing price-sensitive clients. Many are able to do so because there is still some room to reduce margins.

A sizeable number of manufacturers are also implementing various cost-cutting measures to be able to shoulder the additional expenses. These include decreasing wastage and enhancing management efficiency.

But there are numerous small factories across the country that do not comply with the labor code, including mandates on the minimum wage. As the combined effects of higher labor and material costs, a stronger yuan and lower rebates push up production outlay, these businesses are likely to cut corners in order to keep prices competitive.

Several candle makers in Zhejiang province, for instance, said they will raise export prices only if the cost of paraffin goes up 10 percent. Some of the smaller plants, however, are only able to keep quotes stable because they are using lower-cost alternatives.

Paraffin wax currently costs from 9,000 to more than 10,000 yuan ($1,300 to $1,500) per ton. Palm wax stands at just 7,000 to 8,000 yuan ($1,000 to $1,200). Candles are normally made from an 80:20 ratio of paraffin and palm wax. But to save on expenses, a few of the diminutive factories use less of the paraffin in the mix, often resulting in a 60:40 ratio. These versions burn faster and melt more rapidly under high temperatures.

Such suppliers are able to get away with this because they know many buyers will not bother having each candle sent for inspection. With most manufacturers releasing more than 150 new designs each year, testing all of them raises costs significantly.

Lead times extended, orders refused

Most companies believe the labor situation will ease by April. By then, they are hoping many of the migrant workers would have returned to their former jobs in the eastern coast or found new employment there.

In the meantime, production is being affected by the lack of workers. Several businesses, even smaller ones, are investing in computerized machinery to maintain output despite the shortage. But such a measure is not feasible for all export manufacturing sectors, including the outdoor furniture industry. Automation, for example, is not a viable alternative to weaving plastic strips manually.

Patio furniture maker Ningbo Top Green Enterprises Co. Ltd raised monthly wages 10 to 20 percent in recent months. Even so, it is still in need of workers, a situation that is prevalent among the industry’s suppliers in Zhejiang. Because there are not enough employees to complete orders on time, lead times are being lengthened by two to four weeks.

Shenzhen Baobolong Technology Co. Ltd adopts the same tactic. The children’s toy supplier has already informed clients that delivery will be delayed by a few days. It has also declined a number of orders because of the labor shortage.

Fuzhou Oceanal Star Bags Co. Ltd now focuses only on large-volume transactions and no longer accepts smaller quantities. Presently, only half of its job vacancies have been filled.

The MOQ is likewise increasing. In the PVC key rings industry, for example, suppliers used to accommodate a minimum of 3,000 pieces for a customized design. A few makers also allowed trial requisitions for as low as 500 pieces. Now, some companies are refusing to accept even 5,000-piece orders.

Minimum wage to go up 10 to 20%

City and provincial governments announced a round of pay rises a few weeks before the Chinese New Year holiday, with adjustments ranging between 10 and 20 percent.

Jiangsu province was the first to take the plunge, lifting the highest minimum wage level 13 percent to 960 yuan ($140) on Feb. 1.

Shanghai and Beijing are expected to follow suit, with a 15 and 10 percent increase to take effect on April 1.

Monthly salaries in Guangdong will be raised by about 20 percent to 1,030 yuan ($150) on May 1.

Zhejiang and Sichuan provinces are mulling over lifting minimum wage levels as well.

Workers’ base pay is normally adjusted every two years. But the global financial downturn led China’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security to freeze wage hikes, which is one way to alleviate the cost pressure on manufacturers. Before Jiangsu increased the monthly minimum salaries in the province, workers’ base pay across the country ranged from 580 yuan to 1,000 yuan ($85 to $146).

Even then, many factories were already doling out higher compensation to their employees. Depending on the industry, workers carrying out manual assembly received 800 to 1,000 yuan ($117 to $146), while those in the packaging lines were given 900 to 1,100 yuan ($132 to $161). Salaries for technical staff were from 1,200 to 1,500 yuan ($176 to $219), production line leaders 1,300 to 1,600 yuan ($190 to $234) and SMT operators, at least 2,000 yuan ($293).

If you want your home to have that classic, elegant and timeless beauty, then it is time to install wood garage doors. This is the reason why more and more homeowners choose the wood material for their doors instead of steel, vinyl, copper or aluminum.

The wood garage door comes in many styles and designs that you would not find it hard to pick one that would complement the contemporary look of your home. One wood material to consider is timber which is less expensive and easy to repair compared with steel. This is because the timber will not dent and you can repair the timber door in small sections. Here are some wood garage doors from online retailers (garagedoorsinc.com, cgbaragedoors.com, etc) for your consideration:

Model T Doors from Garage Doors Inc.:

Each door has been expertly crafted by trained craftsmen that provide you with a design that will fit perfectly with your modern home. This sectional door style is typically consists of three or four sections. It is designed to simulate the sideway sliding or outward swinging typical of many garage doors on historical homes. The framework is constructed from 1 and 3/8 inches hemlock fir. The top and bottom rails measure 4 and 5/8 inches in width for extra rigidity and 7 and ¾ wide for end stiles to accommodate the expansion of end hinges. Back-paneled doors used luan mahogany for paneling to create a finished look to the inside of the garage and to add great sheer strength. A stain grade door is constructed with cedar skin and trim. True window panes are used on all doors that have glass design.

Plantation Series Garage Doors:

This carriage style door is available in many sizes and dimensions. Plus, you can have this door customized to meet your design requirements. The door’s proprietary and unique construction makes it a perfect replacement choice for use in all weather conditions. Your design options include recessed or raised panels, stain or paint grades and custom glazing. The three-layer construction consists of an insulation, face panel and back panel.

Clingerman Custom Wood Garage Doors:

You can choose a wood door construction in swing or overhead style. All Clingerman doors are insulated come in either paint or stain grade. Choices of materials are Spanish cedar T&G, sapele mahogany flat panel inlay, pine T&G inlay, MDF plywood inlay, mahogany T&G inlay, MDF plywood inlay with 6-inch v groove and sapele mahogany flat panel inlay.

Clopay Canyon Ridge Collection:

This faux, rustic wood door replicate gives out the beauty, elegance and texture of real wood but with less maintenance. The five-layered door construction consists of steel, insulation, steel, cladding and overlay. The door features an overhead operation and a swing-out appearance. The overlay materials and polymer composite cladding with 1/2 -inch thickness are molded from true wood to replicate the natural texture and distinctive grain patterns. Available cladding materials are clear cypress, pecky cypress and mahogany.

7402 Churchill Carriage House Door from Wayne Dalton:

The glass window options for this door are clear, bronze tint, gray tint and antique art. Also available is the shatter-resistant plexiglass. The door is complemented by decorative hardware with choices of coach house pattern or the classic Fleur-de-Lis style. This door is paint grade finish so you could paint it to match the exterior look of your home.

Wood Garage Door from Zhejiang Ideality Automatic Door Co. Ltd.:

The door panel is made of pine wood and the surface is waterproof painted to resist corrosion and protect it from the effects of weather. It comes with zinc alloy steel brackets for stable operation.

You most likely realize this. Attempting to lose body fat once and for all is brutal for most people. I guess that’s why you see so many late night infomercials selling exercise equipment. But did you know that you do not need any of that exercise equipment? And you do not need to cut out foods with the latest diet program. The quickest way to lose weight is to drink slimming tea. A tea some may consider as a fat burning tea is Foojoy China Green Tea.

Foojoy China Green Tea Overview

Foojoy China green tea is one of the most popular in China. Its been mentioned in historical documents dating back over 700 years. One of the main reasons it is popular is because of the Jasmine fragrance. It is a very pleasant all-natural flavor too.

The smell of Jasmine seems to give people a calming or soothing effect. It does seem to make you relax. Plus Foojoy has other teas with different flavors and tastes if you do not care for Jasmine.

This is their most popular products:

• Triple-Cup Extra Green – This Chinese green tea is made in the Chinese province of Zhejiang. It will only be in loose leaf meaning no tea bags. The smell is fresh and very nice.
• China Black Tea – It’s a bit pricey. The taste isn’t as strong as some of the Foojoy teas.
• Lichee Black Tea – Lich is a dried fruit that’s used to add flavor to this tea. It has a sweet smell. But the taste is actually a little bitter.
• Lung Ching Green Tea – This tea comes in steaping bags. This is a very good tasting tea and is a decent quality tea even though it comes in bags.

Foojoy China green tea is high quality at the right price. Even the most serious tea drinkers will enjoy this tea. But will it help you to lose weight?

Well, green tea does help you lose weight. It is a proven fact. It will cleanse your digestive system making it easier to lose weight. Plus, it is also known to increase your body’s metabolic rate.

But Foojoy China green tea is not specifically designed for weight loss. Yes, you may experience some weight loss but it is meant for general health benefits and taste.

So, some food for thought about Foojoy China Green Tea. If you are looking for a delicious tea at a decent price, then this is a good choice. But if your goal is weight loss, you can purchase high quality, good tasting slimming tea that’s designed to help you lose weight quickly.

Emperor Kangxi rewarded those who reclaimed wastelands, provided large sums of money for water conservancy projects and reduced the land taxation during his 60-year’s reign, which greatly stimulated the recovery and development in agriculture of the Qing dynasty (1644-1911). Emperor Yongzheng followed his father’ (Emperor Kangxi) footsteps and continued to encourage agricultural industry. The social economy was very prosperous during the reign of Emperor Qianlong, so the later historians called this period “The Golden Age of Three Emperors”.

Large wasteland was put under the plough in the first 100 year of the Qing dynasty, with the national farming land covering an area of 5,260,000 hectares in the 18th year (1661) of Emperor Shunzhi’s reign, which increased to 8,510,000 hectares and 17,250,000 hectares in the 61st year (1722) of Emperor Kangxi’s reign and 3rd year (1725) of Yongzheng’s reign respectively. With the output of grains increasing year after year, the number of population had reached 360,000,000 by the 3rd year (1725) of Yongzheng’s reign, and the high-yielding sweet potatoes planted in Fujian and Zhejiang provinces had spread to the Yangtze River area and the Yellow River area. The planting area for industrial crops had also greatly been expanded, including tea, cottons, sugarcanes, tobaccos and mulberries, most of which became commodities in the Qing dynasty.

The number of farmers who specialized in planting vegetables increased greatly in the Qing dynasty, some of whom planted cucumbers and leeks in winter with the help of tunnel greenhouses, gaining more and more profit. With the cotton-planting prevailing across the nation in Qianlong Period, the cotton-planting area took up 4/5 of the total area in Hebei Province, and the sugarcanes were widely planted in Guangdong Province and Taiwan, while the tobaccos were widely cultivated in Shandong Province, Zhili and Shangyu, all of which provided more raw materials for further development in handicraft industry.

Some plants imported from South American also contributed a lot to the increasing number of population in the Qing dynasty, including maize, sweet potatoes and potatoes, which had begun to grow in China from South America via Southeast Asian Countries since the Ming dynasty. The planting, storing and processing method of sweet potatoes was fully described in the Agriculture Encyclopedia written by Xu Guangqi from the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), which enjoyed a high reputation in the filed of agriculture, and the planting method of sweet potatoes was perfected in Qi Min Si Shu written by Bao Shichen from the Qing dynasty.