© d'n'c


2point6billion (a blog on economic issue in India and China) had an interesting blog post not long ago on China's "hidden" borrowing.

Officially, China has a public debt hovering at about 22% of its GDP. That's relatively low. The US has a public debt that's about 94% of GDP and the UK's public debt is closer to 380% of GDP. But Victor Shih, an economist at Northwestern University, has suggested that most of China's public debt is somehow shuffled down to local governments and may be as high as 96% of GDP.

Shih thinks that local governments in China will start defaulting on their debt soon. And he things the results will be a massive economic slowdown that will come to be known as something like the Chinese Recession of 2012.

Me? I'm not so sure. China's economy is resilient. And it keeps geeting revived by US investors. Maybe 2012 will be the year of the Chinese recession, but I doubt it?

© xiquinhosilva


Gambling in Macau has been around probably since the invention of the chop sticks, but it became legal under the Portuguese in the 1850. Portugal promoted it as the "Monte Carlo of the Orient."

Most people don't know that only Chinese games were played until the 20th Century. But Western-style casinos were finally introduced in the late 1930's, and sports betting was not far behind. While gambling is also around in Hong Kong and doesn't look much different, ni Macau gambling is about half of the local economy and government revenue.

Macau has 28 casinos (the biggest is the The Venetian) and they all function as government franchises, and under a shared set of rules. So the gambling experience from one casino to the next isn't much different.

© madtpt


Life in Shanghai is what you make it. Most big cities are like that. If you let it, a job in most cities will eat your life. If you can set clear boundaries between what's professional and what's personal you can maintain the balance in your life - do a job well and still have time for some sort of private existence.

Sometimes your professional life and personal life do manage to overlap, though. And that can be okay. I recently needed a brochure flyer for work. I also needed to print flyers cheap for a small community group I belong to. Online printing is often the best way to both. Why not do them together?

Shanghai is a beautiful city - if you have a enough balance in your life to afford you the time to see it. I personally like walking around in the old city - places like Yu Garden and the City God Temple, or the Huxingting Tea House. You can feel the history around you. Shanghai is a place to be enjoyed

© BenBenW


It's easy in the investment world to think of China as one big business opportunity. But if you actually get to go to China, remember to budget a little time for seeing the place. Because China is much more than a business opportunity. It is a cradle of civilization filled with wonders, both natural and manmade.

A friend of mine was able to spend a couple of days touring China as part of a small delegation of business people from his state. He sent back links via Twitter to some beautiful pictures of the Great Wall that he uploaded on a laptop he managed to get at a discount whit some Dell coupons before he left on the trip.

The Great Wall is nice. It's part of the standard sorts of day trips and sight seeing adventures people go one from Beijing - along with places like Tiananmen Square, the Lama Temple, the Bell Tower, the Niujie Mosque, the Forbidden City. The list is much longer. But for my money I'd rather see West Lake in Hangzhou, or maybe the Yellow Mountains. And if time and finances allowed for it, I'd want to visit Guilin in the south and maybe see some of Yunnan Provinces mountainous terrain and tribal culture.

Like I said, it's easy to think of China as your own money garden. But if that's all it is to you, you're missing out on a lot that Chian has to offer.

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