First, let me apologize for not posting in a bit. To say I've been busy is an understatement. I've been making a lot of progress with the research, which is good. After all, that's the primary reason I'm here.
For this post, I want to share my observations on two topics
that go hand in hand; energy and development.
Energy:
Energy is used slightly differently in China compared to the
US. The resource isn’t scarce, but there are a lot of people. Air conditioning
is rarely used. Refrigeration is used for essential functions. We have two
coolers in the three labs we share here. There are no mini-fridges in the
offices. Water is served hot (for safety) and they don’t see a need to cool it
down afterwards. Public transportation is encouraged and is very affordable. I
took the bus the other day for 2 RMB (about 33 cents American).
Green/alternative/renewable energy is a big topic both here
and in the US. However, the questions they ask are entirely different. In the
US, the typical question is “How can we use renewable energy to make more
electricity?” In China, however, the questions are often “How can we use
renewable energy to use less electricity?” In China, energy conservation is
heavily encouraged. From what I could gather from the energy conservation is
also pitched to the people as good citizenship/patriotism. That isn’t necessarily a bad
thing, though I don’t know how that would be received in western cultures. Most of the energy conservation is pitched as a saving money on bills.
Take for example hot water. In both the US and China, each
home typically has a water heater, the purpose of this device is to heat water
and make showers bearable (among other uses). In my household growing up, this
was in the basement. I’m guessing it was placed there to be close to the water
pump. In the US, you can typically buy an electric or a gas powered heater.
Now, in China, the hot water situation is a bit different. It is much more
common to find a solar heater, which uses the power of the sun to heat the
water. These are found on the roof of buildings in nearly every household. I
have a photo of one posted below. (Note: These are broad observations and I’m sure
there are exceptions in both cases.)
 |
| A typical solar heater in China. While these are available in the US, they're not nearly as prevalent as they are here. |
Development:
China is growing fast. When I say fast, I mean as fast as
possible. Large cranes are a common sight in every city. When a building is
completed, move-in is immediate. The institute is in a brand new building, and
there is still construction dust on the door frames and wrappers on the door
handles. My dorm room just got the screens last night and the guy installed
them in seconds and quickly left to install the next ones. The packing tape was
still attached. There is an intense demand for building space and housing,
which contributes to the boom in construction.
It’s not uncommon to see multiple cranes going in a building
complex. I have probably seen over 200 cranes since I’ve been here. I’m told
that large trucks are not allowed to deliver materials during the day. At
night, however, numerous trucks can be seen on the city streets (and even more
so on the city’s highways). I’ve also been reading reports that Chinese
development is slumping as of late.
From what I can ascertain, a lot of the buildings being
erected are apartment complexes. Housing is in extremely short supply. This
shortage has resulted in very high housing prices. An older flat in Nanjing is
priced around $400,000. As a result, a lot of the people rent, which, at
3,000RMB a month, it isn’t cheap either.
Even in the slump, the growth rate of China is astronomical!
Hope all is well. I will be home soon! The Wi-Fi at the mall is really buggy, so I apologize for not posting more photos. I'll try to post tomorrow when there are fewer people on the routers.
Mason
Yes! come back soon!!! :)
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