Originally published on the World Agroforestry Blog.
Villages in the tropical south of Yunnan province in China are responding to the drop in the global rubber latex price by replacing plantations with other crops. However, this does not address the root of the problem caused by monocultures, say scientists at the World Agroforestry Centre.
Tensions in the South China Sea mount over an oil rig in disputed waters. Recent enforcement of territorial claims are likely to disturb peace and stability in the region, cause domestic trouble in Vietnam, and sour China’s relations with ASEAN members and the US.
On 14 May 2014, Vietnamese protesters vented their anger at China’s claims to contended territorial waters and its recent enforcement of those claims by defending the construction of a Chinese oil rig (the Haiyang Shiyou 981), destined to drill a mere 120 km off Vietnam’s shore. Over 20,000 rioters vandalised factories in Binh Duong province, Vietnam’s industrial heartland just outside Ho Chi Minh City. The mob attacked anything with Chinese script on it, but ended up also damaging many Taiwanese and Korean properties. Several Chinese workers were killed in the tumult, up to 21 according to some sources. Chinese citizens react outraged.
This article was originally written for Belgian newspaper De Tijd and published on 20 December 2013. I have now translated it for any English-speaking readership.
Belgian beer is hip in China. In many places, Belgian brands are growing more strongly than others. Duvel-Moortgat wants to conquer the Chinese market with its Vedett “Penguin” and “Polar Bear”. Chinese especially appreciate the higher quality of the beer.
A normal business day in Kunming, the capital of south-western Yunnan province. On the patio of O’Reilly’s Irish Pub, a group of Chinese in a noticeably advanced state of happiness make each other laugh. Nothing special in itself. After all, drinking is a popular pastime in China. But the fact that they have traded the classic watery liquid for Vedett Extra White or a glass of draft De Coninck, is noteworthy. Especially because this city is over 2,000 km away from hip metropolises such as Shanghai and Beijing, and mainly surrounded by poor rural areas.
Tencent 腾讯, the world’s fourth largest internet company, has launched an English version of its cloud storage platform Weiyun 微云. New users are welcomed with a whopping 10 terabyte (10242 gigabyte) of free storage, matching Alibaba’s Cloud Storage offer (Chinese only) and effectively beating every possible Western competitor out there, including Microsoft, Google and Dropbox.
Provided you are eligible for a Vietnamese visa, you can get a same-day Vietnamese visa at Hekou 河口, the Chinese border crossing with Vietnam’s Lào Cai 老街 (allowing access Hanoi by train or to Sapa by bus). It is easy and quick, although possibly not entirely legal. Below is how you do it, why to do it and what the risks are.
This section from Yiwu 易武 to Jinghong 景洪 is the forty-seventh and last instalment of my bicycle loop through South-East Asia from Yunnan – if all goes according to plan. Titled “Slap the Belgian!”, it is simultaneously published on Crazyguyonabike.com, where you’ll find a map with the itinerary and many other bicycle diaries by me and others. I hope you’ll enjoy.
After yesteday’s absolute system failure, I cannot believe to be awake by 7 am already. Yes I hit the sheets pretty early, but I didn’t think I’d be able to stand until much, much later. Yet here I am, packing up my stuff and getting ready to ride all the way to Jinghong, a ride of no less than 130km. I remember the road pretty well, and I believe it’ll be a walk in the park, but then, well, on wheels.
This section from Mengla 勐腊 to Yiwu 易武 is the forty-sixth instalment of my bicycle loop through South-East Asia from Yunnan – if all goes according to plan. Titled “Slap the Belgian!”, it is simultaneously published on Crazyguyonabike.com, where you’ll find a map with the itinerary and many other bicycle diaries by me and others. I hope you’ll enjoy.
Oh, I know, I should’ve planned better. But planning takes time, too, and today is the first time I’ve been blessed with proper internet access since – well, since Bangkok. I have a blog backlog of more than seven entries so I spend the better half of my morning uploading pictures, writing captions and completing ride accounts.
This section from Luang Namtha to Mengla 勐腊 is the forty-fifth instalment of my bicycle loop through South-East Asia from Yunnan – if all goes according to plan. Titled “Slap the Belgian!”, it is simultaneously published on Crazyguyonabike.com, where you’ll find a map with the itinerary and many other bicycle diaries by me and others. I hope you’ll enjoy.
I feel grungy. Yesterday’s outing with the Belgians took us past a pizza establishment where beer flowed abundantly and where I had an extra spicy “hot head” pizza with Lao sausage and random chunks of chilli pepper scattered over the surface. It was quite good but now I’m bearing the consequences. I roll over, put ear plugs in, take my clothes off (yes – it’s one of those nights) and sleep another three hours.
This section about Mae Salong is the thirty-eighth instalment of my bicycle loop through South-East Asia from Yunnan – if all goes according to plan. Titled “Slap the Belgian!”, it is simultaneously published on Crazyguyonabike.com, where you’ll find a map with the itinerary and many other bicycle diaries by me and others. I hope you’ll enjoy.
What! Explosions! War! Fire!
Oh it’s only Chinese New Year preparing to happen. Kids, of course, lighting firecrackers and shooting explosives at the sky. I’d have tumbled out of my bed if it wasn’t one of those beds where the mattress is practically on floor level. I love this liveliness but I also love my bed. I’m one of those people who can’t go back to sleep after waking up so I spend most of my morning reading while the sun rises over the hills.
This section from Mae Ai to Mae Salong is the thirty-sixth instalment of my bicycle loop through South-East Asia from Yunnan – if all goes according to plan. Titled “Slap the Belgian!”, it is simultaneously published on Crazyguyonabike.com, where you’ll find a map with the itinerary and many other bicycle diaries by me and others. I hope you’ll enjoy.
Just like yesterday, the hills are covered in thick fog until around 9.45, when the sun breaks through and starts slowly boiling life on earth. This means I have to miss an undoubtedly beautiful sunrise. Then again, I would’ve missed it anyway as I didn’t get up until 9am.
