Teacher in China

Modern equipment housed in leaf-covered huts, but make no mistake: China is continuing to build, infrastructure, apartments, you name it, and above all: the party. 

Is it the real estate bubble ? Is it weakening demand from Europe and the US ? Despite all the clearly visible problems, it seems unlikely that China's advance will be derailed by major events outside the middle kingdom. In this light the stony road a head looks ... less stony and more solid. 

The Star of Nanchang opened May 2006, having cost $7.3 million to build. For 22 months it was the tallest Ferris wheel in the world before Singapore opened its 165-meter (compared to 160 meter in Nanchang) tall Singapore flyer on March 1, 2008

Nanchang university offers degrees not only in fashion design but also in fashion modeling. What a smart combination and interesting topic of conversation: "My first semester for my master degree I had to totally relearn how to swing my hips and second semester I nearly flunked my "Lascivious Looks" seminar. Fortunately my grades in "Makeup in Marxism-Leninism" helped me. 

Chu Yi-Bing and 5 of his students performed at Nanchang's art school. Chu before becoming the first cellist at the Beijing Philharmonic Orchestra, played in Basle and Munich. His mastery of the cello, his tone, his phrasing, ... breathtaking.

Over dinner the evening however turned from music to Rubic's cube when their photographer Francois Sechet showed how to solve the cube, with closed eyes, in about 20 seconds (total time 1 minute 30 seconds, because he needs a minute and 10 seconds to remember the position of the cube).