Eric's Beijing Diary

I'd be tempted to ask this guy why he is using an umbrella. He would probably say, "Because I don't want to get wet."

Seems like China has these floods every spring. And the problem in China, is that they always tend to upend things for many thousands of people. Floods don't generally kill as many people as earthquakes do, but they sure destroy a lot of property. I don't know why, but in China, it seems like with the weather, it's either feast or famine. Either massive drought and no water, or so much rain you are (quite literally) drowning in it.

It's mostly the middle belt of the country. Perhaps I should say central and/or South China. Beijing has had it's share of disasters, too, over the years, but they tend to be political rather than natural. Earthshaking cultural upheaval (such as the Cultural Revolution); a severe knowledge drought caused by a government-enforced dearth of untainted, objective information; and a flood of corruption, encouraged in part, I think, by a stream of money--hundreds of billions of dollars--flowing in from the United States like a raging river.