China, Land of Desert
-
Martin Hash
- Posts: 18269
- Joined: Wed Jan 20, 2010 2:02 pm
China, Land of Desert
American's, and I would guess the World's, preconceptions of China have been significantly puffed up in recent decades. We're told of China's economic miracle, its stupendously large population willing to work for pennies, and its modern ambitions destine it to soon be the World leader in everything. This narrative appeals to America-haters abroad, and home-grown bashers alike. It's so pervasive an attitude that I'd never really questioned its veracity - until now...From what I could see traveling a couple weeks through central China, it's mostly desert all the way to the horizon in both directions. Worse, smog obscures the horizon everywhere for thousands of miles even though there's no industry close. I can only guess the billions of people who live in China are packed together around Beijing. Personally, I'm putting China in the Paper Tiger category along with the former Soviet Union.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Shamedia, Shamdemic, Shamucation, Shamlection, Shamconomy & Shamate Change
