When we were in China a few years ago we were told the Buick is the car brand to buy. Buick was considered a car of the affluent before the Communist took over and somehow that idea stayed in the Culture through the decades. Kinda amazing to me.
The area we visited had a mandatory age limit on vehicles that I think applied to cars and not just trucks. I can't remember the time limit, maybe seven years?, then the truck/vehicle could no longer be on the road. Supposedly this was due to safety concerns but you have to wonder if it was mainly to force new truck/vehicle sales.
We were in south China and the pollution was horrible. Not like in NE China which is beyond horrible. Best I could tell the air pollution was from ship traffic on the river and from motor bikes. I only saw two power plants, one in Hong Kong and another somewhere along a river we were traveling. There had to be more large scale pollution sources but I did not see it. There were lots of motor bikes driving around with no pollution control devices though. Quite a few cars and trucks as well. The number of cars surprised us but there were not traffic jams of cars either. Buying a car is still difficult for most people and often families combine money to buy a car.
We saw huge highways and bridges being built but very little traffic on the existing roads. There was traffic but not traffic jams like we have here at home.
Quite alot of speculative building of both public infrastructure and housing. Huge apartment complexes built with very few people in them with more being built.... The part of China we saw is obviously in a huge housing bubble, and when it pops, it is going to be ugly.
China was amazing and we would love to go back and spend more time there. We were in what is considered a rural area, though we considered it a city. Going into a bigger city, you could see the difference in how people were dressing even though the two places are a short 30-45 minute bus ride apart. Twas an alien place, with many things being the same but so much being different. Food quality was so much healthier too. We lost weight over in China and I think it was because we were not eating so many refined carbs. Surprisingly we noticed the same thing in Scotland and Ireland. We lost weight in China, Ireland and Scotland and we think it is because the food is not as refined as in the US. Far less simple carbs and more fat, protein and complex carbs. We ate quite a bit in all three countries but still lost weight.
Best nachos we have ever had were in a small hotel, in a small port town, at the western edge of Scotland! :licking::licking::licking: You want good nachos, don't got to Mexico. Don't go to Texas. You have to go to Scotland and have nachos with haggis! :licking::confused3::shocked::laughing::laughing::laughing:
Wow, I went from Buick in China to nachos with Haggis in Scotland, all in one post!
That same small port town had some great whiskey's as well. :laughing::laughing::laughing:
Later,
Dan
