द्रगों बोट फेस्टिवल होलिदय

Ok, so we're back. Very rarely can I access this website, but I kept trying, and sure enough it sent me through today. Today is China's first national holiday to celebrate the Dragon Boat Races. In an effort to slim down the length of China's week long holiday breaks, the government has added a few additional holidays occurring on Mondays to get people to take 3 day weekend holidays instead of jamming up the trains and planes during Chinese New Year's etc. So a lot of people have today off, even though most races don't start until next Saturday. Legend has it that ancient imperial courts would race against one another and thus, the dragon boat festival began. But you can get a better run down on it here

It was pretty sunny this morning, the first time we've had sunlight that lasted more than 20 minutes. Amazingly, for all the rain that this place gets, it goes dry so fast because water demand is astronomically high.

I've been off to a good start doing research on water issues, land use, and the state of the manufacturing industry here, interviewing people and trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together. I had great help the other day when I met with a retired official from the local environmental protection bureau. He sat with me for 3 hours and discussed (while his daughter translated) the basic run-down of what REALLY happens in terms of environmental protection here. Suffice to say, I left the meeting with my head spinning and a really pessimistic outlook. Most people here say that things are getting better-the air quality, the water quality, the quality of life, etc. but I think, as in most places throughout the developing world, the economy is growing so fast that the government simply can't keep up to meet it with basic services like wastewater or sewage treatment for example.

I traveled to Dongguan yesterday-which has China's largest source of Taiwanese investment and is also the world's biggest manufacturer of PVC pipe!!!! :)

The "town" (which has a population of some 2+ million) is covered with factories, small supplier shops, and high-end western hotels that house legions of business travelers that are here to make sure the "world's factory floor" keeps the boilers hot, and the prices low.