Earthquake coverage has picked up over the past few days and more and more people are talking about it. In the immediate aftermath I don't think we realized the magnitude of the disaster plus we have not really been watching much tv while in China because there is usually only one station in English. The workforce in China is very migrant, coming from all over the country to find work at factories in this area. We asked a supplier yesterday if they had many workers from that area. His response was that the Sichuan area does not supply very many workers because their economic conditions are stronger than other parts of China due to heavy tourism. He said that area is kind of the gateway into a beutiful part of China (similar to Yellowstone Park) where they get a lot of tourism. His other comment was in regard to the Chines belief in Ying/Yang (the black and white symbol?) Whenever something good happens, something bad happens to offset it. They all believe that the Olympics is the very good thing and that bad things will happen to offset it...there are 5 official Olympic dolls that are kind of the mascots for the Olympics here in China. They all represent a different region i
n China...one represents the Sichuan area of the earthquake...another the Tibet region that has been plagued by protests...another a region where a train crash occurred killing a couple hundred people...another an area of China hit by a terrible snow storm earlier this year...leaving only one doll left without some type of disaster associated with it. Also, in China, almost all the tv channels are called CCTV, which means China Communications TV and is run by the government. I was watching coverage of the earthquake on the English CCTV channel yesterday and a professor was commenting on the response of the Chinese government and how well they responded. The news anchor then asked if there was anything the government could have done better and the professor responded that the government could have done a better job if it wouldn't have been raining in the aftermath of the earthquake because that would have allowed for more helicopter support...so basically, the response was perfect except for something out of their control like the weather!
n China...one represents the Sichuan area of the earthquake...another the Tibet region that has been plagued by protests...another a region where a train crash occurred killing a couple hundred people...another an area of China hit by a terrible snow storm earlier this year...leaving only one doll left without some type of disaster associated with it. Also, in China, almost all the tv channels are called CCTV, which means China Communications TV and is run by the government. I was watching coverage of the earthquake on the English CCTV channel yesterday and a professor was commenting on the response of the Chinese government and how well they responded. The news anchor then asked if there was anything the government could have done better and the professor responded that the government could have done a better job if it wouldn't have been raining in the aftermath of the earthquake because that would have allowed for more helicopter support...so basically, the response was perfect except for something out of their control like the weather!
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On the news her, they said 400 dams had been damaged by the quake. This was one of the arguments against building the huge Yangtse River dam beacause it sits on an earthquake fault. A scary thought since this quake was not too awfully farthe "Big Dam."
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