1.) Richard at The Peking Duck sticks his head in the dragon’s maw and asks: “How many years does Chinese civilization go back, and what criteria are applied to come up with the famous claim of ’5,000 years’?” Well, the comments came fast and furious and are well worth checking out. Sam, from The Useless Tree, posted his own, very thoughtful response, to Richard’s question.
2.) The Shanghaiist reports on a fellow named Du in Yunnan who, tired of looking at a dusty brown mountain and after being told by a feng shui master that the current condition of the mountain was hurting Mr. Du’s business, decided to paint the mountain green. If this isn’t a metaphor for China’s current environmental policies then I don’t know what else could be.
3. ) Finally (and it would really help if you were going “boom-chicka-wa-chicka-boom” in your head here):
Who’s that sexy negotiator with the crazy boyish grin?Hill!Who can take China and make them put the squeeze on old Kim Jong-il?Hill!Who’s the man with the nuclear smile who can take Bush’s policy back to President Bill’s?Hill!
Yes that’s right, AP reports (hat tip: FP Passport) that Christopher Hill has been quite the