Dispatches from the Communist Mainland

1. You would think, with 115-100 male to female ratio ie. a looming demographic and social crisis, that the Chinese authorities are providing every safe outlet possible for their men to release their sexual frustrations. Not so - pornography is heavily censored. Yes, I checked.

2. Who said the Chinese weren’t entreprenurial? I was in E-City, the electronics mega-center in Beijing, and let me tell you: walk in, and a salesperson from every booth in the store swarms you. Perfectly competitive free markets in the heartland of communism.

3. Apparently, before civil wars and Japanese occupation, the Chinese had a penchant for public bathing. Bath have been popular for quite some time now - I visited one five years ago. Of course, I don’t think lots of genitalia soaking in the same water can be very hygienic.

4. I was at a dinner with some family friends and the conversation turned to the Korean nuclear crisis. Most people here are genuinely worried about Kim Jong Il’s sanity and recognize the distinction between rational actors such as China and the U.S. wielding nukes and a mad man playing with them.

5. Also, ask any Chinese person and the country they are most fascinated in is the U.S, because it’s the country many want China to emulate (and it’s arguably the only country more powerful).

6. And not surprisingly, Kobe is more popular here than Lebron. Sorry LBJ, but the mandarin is not enough.

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