Saint Bernards in Lianhuashan

Besides stuff like..:

• Jose Maria (CEO of World Economic Forum) saying China’s pragmatic approach to its development thus far, and of tackling things in a realistic and forthright manner, are already a good basis for understanding how to grow within one’s means when asked what the West could learn from China. (I actually disagree especially with respect to "grow within one's means".)
• Kim Jong Il's secret (luxurious) visit to China and the speculations about the mutual interests. Read the whole article here.
• In Chinese the words for crisis and opportunity are the same.

... my eye caught the following bit of information while reading through the news and searching the net:

"Ten years ago, only 500 people in China could ski. This year [2004], an estimated 5,000,000 Chinese will visit ski resorts."

When reading this, I felt like writing some random lines about our (Simon, Mishie, Nick, Troy, Habib, Anne, Sheila, Eduardo, Soraya, Aude, Rebecca and Dom) great last week-end trip to the Lianhuashan "Ski resort" (about a 90 mins drive from Beijing) .

• Yes, Skiing (as so many other things) is booming in China. However, saying that an estimated 5'000'000 Chinese will visit ski resort is not saying that they could actually ski... ;) I was really impressed by their (kamikaze-like) courage and enjoyed watching some stunning accidents (and cheering/helping them up afterwards; of course...)
• Have a look at the sexy equipment we rented. Isn't Troy's fluorescent pink and yellow ski jacket designed by Phoenix a true beauty? Also: Have a close look at Mishie's butt (slightly bigger and more amorphous than normal..;)

• We felt somewhat like "skiers in the mist" as the fog was so thick that we found out about the existence of the longest (well, approximatively 1000m "long"..) slope (5 in total) only shortly before lunch time..
  
• Yummy food and freeeee drinks during the whole day.. (what a temptation, especially on foggy and somewhat chilly days like last Saturday..) Interesting: the hot "iced tea" and orange juice..

• We tried to do some kick ass jumps, but rather hit (our) ass(es)... For some more on this and other funny anecdotes read Troy's How to embarrass yourself in front of 20 Chinese men
  
• A short but fun Inner Tubing race in the kids park

• Two fairly distinct approaches to what the role of a Saint Bernards ((Swiss) breed of dog) is in a Ski resort:

1. Swiss approach: A Saint Bernard has got a neat little barrel, filled with delicious (well, or at least strong) booze around his neck. His job then is to pep up skiers involved in accidents by infusing them some of the liquid treasure. Alternatively, a Saint Bernard (still and always with his little barrel) lies lazy in the snow, is caressed by skiers and serves as a motive for cheesy pictures.
2. Chinese approach: Tie it in front of a cart and have it transport tourists. No nice little barrel. Not smirking and licking but rather sweating and gasping on pictures with and for tourists. And in the end? Chopped into pieces and served with a smile.. ;)

> a great weekend and a good preparation for the icy temperatures (somewhere around -20C) that await us in Harbin.. à suivre..