Shih Tzu Fleas

Posted on October 30, 2011 by administer

Shih Tzu

The Chinese Lion Dog and the Flea

My Shih Tzu, Chan, has had a problem with fleas recently. Being a dog of Chinese descent, I wanted to give traditional Chinese medicine a try, so I began to look into the different options for treatment.

Shih Tzu means “Lion Dog” in Chinese because they were bred to look like lions. In fact they feature in a lot of ancient Chinese art, like the porcelain statue of a Shih Tzu that my mother keeps on her mantlepiece. It’s not quite my cup of tea but I have to admit the quality of the craftsmanship is exceptional.

Dogs and Fleas

It came as a bit of a shock to me when I noticed the first flea on Chan’s body. I always thought of myself as a very diligent pet owner, always keeping up to date with his worming and flea prevention treatments.

But when I saw the flea crawling around on his stomach I realised I’d been too complacent by giving him regular baths and thinking that would take care of any fleas that might be lurking.

If you want to keep the fleas at bay you need to use some proper control methods as prevention.

Natural Dog Flea Treatment

I had experimented with various natural Chinese Medicine treatments in the past for a number of ailments on my dogs, but came to realise that they were of limited use in the treatment of fleas.

Garlic is usually quoted as the best Chinese Medicine treatment for fleas. It does seem to help with, “digestive accumulations”, but against fleas it seems to have almost no effect whatsoever.

Lavender is a good deodorant for a smelly animal and can help to soothe stressed pets, but its use as an insect repellent is vastly exaggerated if you ask me. It did nothing to reduce the flea infestation that Chan was suffering from.

Somebody had mentioned teatree oil to me in the past, too. This had no effect on the number of fleas present on my itchy pooch but did seem to soothe the irritation caused by the bites somewhat.

Best Flea and Tick Treatment for Dogs

After a lot of searching around and asking for advice from the vet, I ended up using a spot on treatment called Frontline for Dogs, which had the problem under control very quickly indeed.

I also used a flea shampoo but my vet has since told me that there was really no need because the Frontline was more than enough to see the fleas off.

I also had to vacuum the whole house, paying special attention to the areas where my dog sleeps. This was to suck up any stray fleas that might have been waiting to re-infest poor Chan after the initial treatment. I also washed his bedding; some people said I should have treated the patio area out back as well but I thought that was overkill and I haven’t noticed any re-infestation problems.

I continue to use regular treatments of Frontline each month and Chan’s itches have become a thing of the past.

So, if your pet gets unwanted guests setting up home in his coat, you know what to do. Get hold of some Frontline and say goodbye to the little horrors.

If it works on Chinese fleas, it’s bound to work on fleas where you are.

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Studies Starting To Show E Cigarettes Might Be Effective

Posted on October 26, 2011 by administer

I recently learned, thanks to an article in the Huffington Post, that there are now more former smokers in the USA than there are current smokers. This is absolutely fantastic news and shows just how determined many nicotine addicts are to kick the habit. After all, giving up using this drug is just about the hardest thing you can do and most people needing several attempts in order to be successful.

Although it’s great news that more smokers are now managing to quit, there are still a depressing 46 million people who light up on a regular basis. It’s not that these addicts are happy to be using cigarettes, most of them would do just about anything to quit if they thought it would work. Indeed, this is the very reason that nicotine replacement therapies, hypnosis sessions, and stop smoking books are so popular.

What if there was a way for the smokers who can’t quit to get that regular nicotine fix their bodies crave without doing so much damage to their health? That’s the promise of a new device which was the subject of the Huffington Post article mentioned above. It’s called the electronic cigarette, and it’s coming to a shopping mall near you, if it hasn’t already.

The electronic cig is a hi-tech alternative to the regular cigarette which delivers a cleaner form of nicotine in a vapor which feels very similar to real smoke. Although it might sound like the perfect answer to the health problems of the world’s smokers it has been at the center of a lot of controversy since it was released just a few short years ago. Many stop smoking groups have attacked the device because they contend that it keeps users addicted to the nicotine they are trying to get off, much in the way that traditional NRTs do. Agencies such as the FDA on the other hand say that it shouldn’t be allowed to be sold until it has been proved to be completely safe and we know that it can really help people quit.

Pleasingly studies have started to come out over the last year or so which show this device can actually help some people to quit, while many doctors are agreeing that it is almost certainly far healthier than using tobacco.

Perhaps the most promising study released so far is the “Effect of an Electronic Nicotine Delivery Device (e-Cigarette) on Smoking Reduction and Cessation” by Riccardo Polosa. The results showed there was a 50% reduction in the number of cigarettes smoked per day in over 30% of participants who started using an e cigarette, while an amazing 22.5% had managed to quit altogether. The incredible thing about this study was that the participants were chosen from smokers who weren’t even motivated to quit in the first place.

In my opinion we are going to see a lot more positive studies coming out in favor of the use of these electronic cigarette products as an alternative to tobacco. Whether this will bring stop smoking groups and the FDA onside remains to be seen, as many of them have a financial interest in the status quo. It will also be interesting to see if the E cigarette catches on in China where the typical male smokes.

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What the Tai Chi Masters Can Teach You About Mastering the Guitar

Posted on October 23, 2011 by administer

Tai Chi in ChinaI’ve been playing guitar since my teens and have loved every minute of it. It’s given me the opportunity to meet new friends, to make cool music as part of various bands or alone in the comfort of my front room. Playing music is one of those life-affirming activities that gives me a huge buzz each and every time I pick up my guitar.

A few years ago, I took up Tai Chi, specifically Practical Tai Chi Chuan, which as its name suggests is a very practical martial art, focused on self defence techniques. Part of the training involves the performance of the slow, graceful actions that most people think of when Tai Chi is mentioned. You know the kind of thing, the exercises that you’ve seen people doing in Chinese parks as part of a large group, all moving in perfect synchronization.

After studying Tai Chi for a little while, I began to notice certain things that it has to teach anyone wishing to learn guitar. Things that practitioners of both arts need to develop in order to achieve the highest level of skill.

It Takes 10,000 Hours to Master the Guitar

It is a widely accepted fact that the time it takes for a person to develop a skill to the point where they can be considered an expert, is 10,000 hours. Whether the skill is playing a guitar, flying an airplane or using a spear in Tai Chi, all of these skills require 10,000 hours worth of practice before they are mastered. I think this is a useful thing to bear in mind when embarking on the learning journey. If your expectations are too high, you can easily become disheartened and give up. Whereas if you go into it with your eyes open you’ll stand a much better chance of seeing it through and mastering your chosen skill.

Relaxation is Key

Everyone knows that relaxation is important in Tai Chi; it’s famous for being the martial art that people take up partly as a form of meditation and relaxation. Apart from the very real health benefits that relaxed exercise brings, the martial side of Tai Chi demands relaxation so that the practitioner can respond quickly to any attack and feel the nature of the threat through the forces being generated by the attacker. If one is not in a state of relaxation then one cannot “listen” in this way and will not feel the nature of the attack. Maintaining a relaxed body during the highly stressful scenario of a fight also preserves energy and increases the endurance of the fighter.

The parallels with playing the guitar are less immediately obvious here but if you pause to think for a moment, it makes perfect sense. How many times did your guitar teacher tell you to relax? Do you remember when you first began playing and the effort with which you had to press the strings down against the fretboard? It seemed impossible to keep the effort up for a whole song, never mind an entire live performance.

Well, the reason that you now find this so much easier is that your technique has improved and you are much more relaxed when playing. It is possible that your muscles have become stronger and have increased stamina but I think this is a relatively minor factor compared to having a properly relaxed technique. I know this because a few years ago I took an extended break from playing the guitar. Any advantage I might have gained from building up my playing muscles would have been completely lost, but when I picked up my guitar again I found that I could play almost for as long as before without having to stop through fatigue. Solid technique wins over brute force most of the time. Relaxed fingers also move faster than tense ones, which means you can play faster when relaxed.

Practise Slowly to Improve Muscle Memory

In Tai Chi, one practises the movements very slowly and precisely in order to ensure the muscle memory is built up in a correct and accurate way. If practice is rushed, mistakes can easily creep in to the movements and the techniques, when executed at full speed in a fight situation, would not be effective.

This is exactly the same for the guitar. Practise at a higher speed before you are entirely comfortable with a particular piece at a slower speed and you’ll be locking in the little mistakes and imperfections in your playing forever, or at least make it a real pain to “unlearn” them later on. Always practise at a speed you are comfortable with until you’ve absolutely nailed whatever you’re learning. Then, and only then, should you increase the speed.

So, applying the principles of Tai Chi to your guitar playing will yield big rewards in the future. And you’ll be able to use the title of Tai Chi Guitar Master in your Stage Name, which is no bad thing.

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International Grad Students and Vaporizer Research

Posted on October 11, 2011 by administer

Lately, lots of folks on campus have been coming by the Institute. This is probably due to the increased interest in studying abroad in China. Traditionally, the most popular destinations for exchange students have been in Europe. Among the most popular countries were England, France, and Italy. For most of the eighties and nineties, governmental policies in China prevented many American students from spending a semester at one of China’s prestigious universities.

The creation of the China Institute was a response to changing policies in the 2000s. China began to emerge as a global superpower on the world stage, and a more open exchange of culture began to take place. Thus, our Institute was quite popular from the beginning. Originally we sent four students to Peking University and accepted four in return. Now, we send dozens of students per year. The Institute has grown along with increased cultural ties between the two countries.

Peking University

Here in the US, hundreds of graduate students from China study the natural sciences. There are hundreds of inventions that have been discovered with the help of international graduate students. For example, some groundbreaking work in the development of the vaporizer was done at CalTech with the help of three postdocs from Beijing. Vaporizers have been in use for many years, but their popularity has greatly increased recently due to improved technology. At the China Institute, we believe that we helped contribute to this large and growing market.

Another way in which we try to improve cross-cultural lines of communication is through Chinese language classes. Mandarin can be among the most difficult languages to learn, and some methods of studying are certainly better than others. At the Institute, we have pioneered innovative teaching methods that help develop language skills rapidly and accurately. One can always use Google translate, but that software still has many flaws and doesn’t always give the best translation.

If you are interested in visiting China, we certainly recommend you pay us a visit. Even if you are just traveling there for a week, we have many resources that can help you plan your trip. There are numerous tips that could prove beneficial for the aspiring traveler, and there are many sights to see including the Great Wall. For instance, do you know the best airline to take from Los Angeles, and how long the flight will take? If you’d like to get in touch, we’ll be happy to let you know.

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Cat Diabetes and Caring for your Cat

Posted on October 10, 2011 by administer

Many of us suffer from diabetes or have loved ones or friends that have diabetes, and so a lot of us are aware of its negative impact, and living life requires extra effort to manage the disease. While it is quite saddening to know that pets can develop diabetes, on the bright side, cat diabetes can be managed and treated.

Symptoms of Cat Diabetes

It is good to be proactive by monitoring cat health if you suspect that your cat might be at risk for diabetes. Perhaps your cat is:

  • overweight
  • suddenly lost a great deal of weight
  • always thirsty
  • uses the cat litter box a lot to urinate

If so, it is possible that your cat is exhibiting symptoms of cat diabetes. More advanced symptoms of cat diabetes are:

  • weakness or tiredness
  • breath smells like acetone (a substance used for removing nail polish)
  • lack of appetite
  • frequent drinking
  • vomiting

Once you start noticing these symptoms – and these are symptoms that your vet will probably not notice since your cat will only be at the vet for several minutes – it is important to take your cat to the vet to get tested. Your cat’s urine and blood glucose levels will be tested for ketones.

The Good News

As mentioned, the good news is that diabetes in cats can in fact be treated and managed, if the proper measures are employed. Get the opinion of your vet with regards to how you can take care of your cat, if your cat has diabetes. There are times when drugs that are taken orally can be used to control diabetes, and in some cases, insulin shots will be required. It depends on the type and severity of your cat’s diabetes.

What Causes Feline Diabetes?

While the exact causes of feline diabetes are unknown, statistics tell us that genetics plays a big role, and statistics also show that male cats are more prone to diabetes than female cats. Feline diabetes is also seen in most cats that are obese.

How You Can Help Your Cat

Since cat diabetes is more common among obese cats, you can help your cat by creating an environment that will encourage him to lead a more active lifestyle. Get your cat some cat furniture that will allow him to get some exercise. Even in humans, exercise has proven to be a key factor in the management and prevention of diabetes. Consider some cat furniture like scratching posts, cat trees, cat exercise wheels and other toys like feather danglers, and mice cat toys, to keep your cat preoccupied and physically active. As for your cat’s diet, ask your vet to recommend some good brands of diabetic cat food.

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Koh Samui

Posted on September 29, 2011 by administer

Chaweng Beach in Koh SamuiLife is not all work, work, work or indeed studying about China all the time. It is necessary to take time out from the hectic nature of our everyday lives. What better way to relax and rejuvenate than on the tropical Thai island of Koh Samui? Read below to find the essential information concerning the popular island of Koh Samui.

Overview

Koh Samui is located in the southern part of the Gulf of Thailand. It belongs to a group of islands known as the Samui Archipelago. This archipelago also contains the popular islands of Koh Phangan and Koh Tao as well as Ang Thong National Marine Park.

Koh Samui is Thailand’s second biggest island. It has an area of 228.7 km2 and a population of about 50,000 people. The principal town of the island is Nathon. The island enjoys sunny, hot weather all year round except during the month long rainy season which usually occurs between October and November.

Koh Samui is easily reached from either the mainland of China or from Hong Kong. There are both direct flights to Koh Samui as well as connecting flights via Bangkok. It is worth mentioning that there re often some great air flight deals available between Bangkok and Hong Kong.

History of Koh Samui

Koh Samui is found on Chinese maps dating back to 1687. A prehistoric drum from the Stone Age was found on Koh Samui in 1977 which has lead archeologists to surmise that the island was first used by fishermen over 15 centuries. The island is rich in tin so it is also assumed that the island was mined in the Middle Bronze Age.

In the Twentieth Century few people outside of Thailand had heard of Koh Samui. That is until 1972 when 2 backpackers managed to catch local transport to the island. They returned to Bangkok declaring they had discovered paradise. From that point tourism in Koh Samui quickly took off.

Facilities and Amenities on Koh Samui

Koh Samui is second only to Phuket in terms of development for a tourist beach destination. In the Northeast there is an airport. There are big supermarkets including Tesco Lotus. There are modern hospitals, a decompression chamber for divers, several excellent dentists and a good road system that covers most of the island. There are ferry ports at Maenam, Big Buddha, Bophut, Lipa Noi (car ferry) and Nathon. The popular beaches of Chaweng and Lamai have small towns next to the beach that contain nearly everything needed for a holiday such as ATM machines, post offices, gyms, shops, restaurants, bars etc. The best markets for food and souvenirs are located in Nathon. This is also the place where you should go to renew your visa.

Beaches in Koh Samui

You can draw a diagonal line from the Northwest of the island to the Southeast of the island. The upper section contains the most popular and developed beaches, the lower half the quieter and less developed beach areas.

The longest and best beach on Koh Samui is Chaweng. This is the main tourist hub of the island. The beach has fine, white sand and is good for swimming. Off the coast at Chaweng there are coral reefs and a couple of small islands to explore. The nightlife of Chaweng varies from simple Thai restaurants to fine dining to Brazilian samba shows to tacky ‘beer bars’.

Lamai is just south of Chaweng and offers more of the same but on a slightly smaller scale.

In the north is Bophut. The entrance to the area contains the trendy and boutique area called Fisherman’s Village. This is a street where many of the bars and cafes have retained the original Chinese wooden architecture. Next to Fisherman’s Village is the relaxed beach of Bophut. It has several mid-range and luxury resorts.

To the West of Bophut is Maenam. It has a 7 km long stretch of white sand beach. The sea gets deep quickly at Maenam. There is extensive palm and tree cover. Most of the accommodation in Maenam is along the beach. There are lots of budget places to stay in Maenam. As a consequence the area has more of a backpacker vibe. There are only a few bars and restaurants in Maenam.

South of the diagonal line there are a number of quiet beaches such as Laem Set, Bang Kao, Taling Ngam, Phangka and Thong Tanote. They tend to have coral in the sand and the sea bed. They also have large tidal differences. Swimming at these beaches is generally better between April and September.

Accommodation in Koh Samui

Koh Samui accommodation varies from small bungalows with air-con, fridge and TV or rooms in small locally owned hotels for as little as $30 a night. There are plenty of cheap places to stay in Koh Samui. There are lots of mid-range resorts with communal pools, air-con rooms with hot water, TV and fridge that cost in the region of $50 to $70 a night.

Hilton, Marriot and Amari all have luxury resorts in Koh Samui. Stand out luxury resorts include The Library at Chaweng, Amari Palm Reef Hotel in Chaweng and the Conrad Koh Samui in Taling Ngam.

The beach of Laem Set is home to the Kamalaya. This is a luxury wellness center that has a host of experts to teach yoga, Pilates, tai chi and a lot more. They also have saunas and a far infrared ray sauna. There’s also a fitness center with private trainers.

Activities / Places to visit in Koh Samui

The icon of Koh Samui is undoubtedly the Golden Buddha at Bang Rak. It is a 12 golden Buddha at the top of a staircase that goes out over a lake. In the south at Wat Khunaram there is a 30 year old mummified monk wearing saffron robes and sunglasses. It is one of the very few Buddhist mummies in the world.

There are plenty of dive spots around the coast of Koh Samui as well as farther afield at Sail Rock, Chumphon Pinnacles and Koh Tao. The sea is warm and there are few better places to learn how to scuba dive than in the Gulf of Thailand.

There are a few waterfalls to visit. There’s also Canopy Adventures who have tree houses with zip lines to allow guests to see the forest of Koh Samui. There’s also a go cart track, a full size golf course, sail boats to hire, kite boarding lessons, Muay Thai gyms and lots of spas. For those with the ethical stomach there is a tiger show on Laem Set beach. In short there’s plenty to see and do on Koh Samui.

Koh Samui – Conclusion

Koh Samui is a developed island. Although the south is much quieter you are never far away from all the amenities you could want. The better beaches tend to crowded and the less popular beaches in the south are not great for swimming. For some the nightlife on Koh Samui is the reason to visit. For others the brazenness of it all is off-putting. You can spend a lot of money in Koh Samui and you can also get by on a limited budget. Koh Samui is still paradise, but very much a paradise in the mainstream.

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Fruits from all over the World

Posted on October 3, 2011 by administer

What may be seen as one of the benefits of globalization is that in many countries we’re now able to purchase a variety of fruits and vegetables that were grown outside that country. This ensures a disconnect for many of us regarding the optimal growing conditions for the produce that we eat. It’s only when we go to visit tropical climates such as Thailand, China, the Philippines, Ecuador and so on that we discover that fruits grown tropically and picked and eaten locally taste so much better than what we can find in Western supermarkets. It is not always the case that local fruits and vegetables are going to be better. However, one of the benefits of buying local produce is that there should be a shorter period of time between when it is picked and when you can eat it. Also, the fruits and vegetables are more likely to be picked when they are ready rather than long before they become ripe. This is one of the big problems with mass production of fruits today – they’re picked for the way they look rather than the way that they taste.

Living in Western countries, there are loads of fruits and vegetables that are grown domestically. However due to consumer demand or perhaps supermarket dictat we now have year round access to “year round” produce. The result being that many of us simply don’t know what a good mango tastes like.

Image from Stock Food

There are so many impediments to good taste that our fruits have to deal with. Some of these include, washing, waxing and irradiation. These are much more to do with preserving the way the fruit looks so that it looks more attractive to the eye and will have a longer shelf life.

The point is that it’s simply quite a challenge for us to start to find out about the seasonality of fruits from our own country. Why must we have year round availability? Is it what we really want?

On one hand, the choice that it gives us is amazing. Being about to get hold of berries in the winter is great. Then again, there is a world of difference between bland out of season supermarket fruit and the real deal, hand picked at the height of its ripeness. On a personal level, I’d prefer less choice and more taste!

Fruit that we can purchase in the supermarket works pretty well when it comes to juicing though. It’s cheap and perhaps not as sweet as it could be. The thing is, for making juice, perhaps being really sweet isn’t what’s required. This could make the juice “too sweet”. Choose from low cost through to high end models depending on how much you’re willing to spend. The best juicer reviews are to be had online. Reading the internet is free and it’s a wonderful source of information.

A CBS report Pomegranate Ranked Healthiest Fruit Juice talks about the nutritional benefits of drinking fresh fruit juice as part of your diet.

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Chinese Culture in Thailand

Posted on December 3, 2011 by administer

There is a cultural connection between China and Thailand that stretches over many centuries. A large percent of Thais have Chinese ancestry. You can see Chinese characters, Chinese architecture and Chinese temples all over Thailand. Even the present royal dynasty, the Chakri Dynasty has connections to China. This does not mean, however, that there is any type of cultural clash in Thailand between the two influences. The Chinese-Thais are some of the most integrated and respected overseas Chinese communities in the world. Rather it is a case that Chinese culture has become part of Thai culture, enriching it and the people as a whole.

Chinese culture in ThailandChinese immigration to Thailand began as early as the Thirteenth Century. It began  mostly with traders from Fujian and Guangdong arriving in the then capital, Ayutthaya. The King at the time welcomed foreigners as a source of income for his kingdom. By the 1700s Burmese military might was growing and was threatening to over-run Thailand. The Qing Emperor of China sent armies to protect Thailand. These efforts ultimately failed but it had the result of greatly increasing the number of Chinese settling in Thailand. By 1910 720,000 Chinese had moved to Thailand. Today Chinese ancestry is claimed by 15% of Thais.

It is interesting to note that King Rama VI (1910-1925) who himself had Chinese ancestry cleverly realized the need to properly integrate the Chinese community into Thailand. He passed an edict that made all Chinese adopt Thai surnames. It also became compulsory to learn the Thai language at school. That is why today even though many people in Thailand can trace their ancestors back to China they do not speak Chinese or feel like foreigners in a foreign land. Famous Thais with Chinese roots include Rama V, Thailand’s most beloved former King and Thaksin Shinawatra.

Aspects of Chinese culture can be found all over Thailand and in many aspects of Thai life. When I first went to Bangkok I was shocked to find Chinese characters, Hanzi, on so many shop signs all over the city. In China town in Bangkok a few traders still speak the Teochew dialect. Ancestor worship is prevalent in Thailand. There are Chinese temples all over Thailand. The island of Koh Samui appears on Chinese maps dating back to 1687. Both Koh Phangan and Koh Samui retain many of the old Chinese wooden fishermen’s houses. Much of the food that tourists eat in Thailand is actually based on Chinese ideas of cuisine. It was only when a friend on the beautiful Koh Phangan beach of Thong Nai Pan introduced me to Thai cooking that I realized how different it was to the fare offered to tourists in restaurants.

Today Thailand and China have important trading links. They are both members of ASEAN. Thailand is a net exporter of food. South East Asia is the rice bowl of the world. It is also rich in timber and rubber. These are vital for the continued growth of China’s industrial base. At the same time while European and American tourism and investment in Thailand has slowed down due to the 2008 financial crash Chinese tourism to Thailand has increased. In places like Koh Samui, Phuket and Koh Phangan the number of Chinese visitors is increasing year upon year.

The Thais are rightly proud of their independence and their culture. This culture includes Chinese culture and people of Chinese ancestry. It is very much a success story that shows how one culture can enrich another.

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The Importance of Sustainable Design

Posted on November 9, 2011 by administer

The pressing problems of our age are environmental ones. The environment underpins all our lives. If environmental conditions change rapidly then all our efforts are reduced to nothing. One of the major ideas to emerge from the environmental movement is sustainable design. In essence this is an attempt to create consumerism that does not alter the overall quantity of resources available to us. These resources include not only hardwood, fossil fuels, metal ores but also biodiversity, marine resources and clean soil.

In the developed world people spend 90% of their lives indoors. This is a shocking fact. It is also a fact that points to the need for a code of design for buildings that is environmentally friendly. Such a code has been developed by LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). LEED was set up the US Green Building Council. It identifies 5 areas by which to assess the ‘greenness’ of a building. These 5 metrics are also the keystones of green interior design. They are:

1)    CO2 Reduction
2)    Water conservation
3)    Husbandry of natural resources
4)    Energy efficiency
5)    Improved indoor air quality

Carbon Reduction

Only a few skeptics hold out against the overwhelming evidence that carbon levels in the atmosphere are increasing because of (but not exclusively) human industry. This increase is causing climate change, increased species extinction rates and threatens to destroy the quality of life for future generations.

It is necessary to look at the carbon history of the materials used in construction: the carbon released in mining, in transport and in manufacture. Methods to reduce the carbon footprint of a building include recycling, using local materials and improving the energy efficiency of a building

Water Conservation

The world population has hit 7 billion. Fresh water makes up less than 1% of the total water on the planet. Already 66% of water use goes on agriculture. At present rates water demand will soon outstrip supply.

To reduce water consumption in a home it is imperative to instill better habits in people. It is also vital to install low flow showers and faucet aerators. It is also important to collect rain water.

Husbandry of Natural Resources

The world is not limitless. At the present rate of deforestation all the forests in the world will disappear in 40 years. Already fossil fuel supplies are running out and these shortages are leading energy companies to take more risks in extraction with the inevitable polluting catastrophes that result. The alternative of nuclear energy has perhaps the worst power to pollute and reduce biological life spans. A building construction must be sensitive to these problems. The solutions lie in using renewable resources such as bamboo, coconut, rattan and water hyacinth; and in using clean energy sources such as solar and wind that do not deplete natural resources.

Energy Efficiency

Energy efficiency in the home helps to reduce bills, reduce pollution, reduce C02 emissions and conserve natural resources. Making homes and interiors as energy efficient as possible is an important project. In Northern Europe they have developed the Passive House that through superinsulation and careful design have reduced heating and cooling costs by 90%.

As well as improved insulation important aspects to energy efficiency is avoiding waste by using digital programmable thermostats, Energy Star approved devices and by getting rid of ‘stand by’ in home electronics that drains electricity for no appreciable reason. Using photovoltaic panels is another part of energy efficiency in the home; as are green roofs.

Improved Indoor Air Quality

Human health is just as important as environmental health. It is a saving ethos for the world when humanity fully understands the implications of this idea. Green interior design is very much about replacing materials that give off dangerous volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The discipline is also concerned with using flooring and window treatments that reduce the chances of causing allergic rhinitis attacks. There is a lot we can do to make our interiors healthy places to live.

It is very hard to overestimate the importance of sustainable design and green interior design. If we and our children are going to be happy and prosper in the future these are things we must address now. It is blatantly clear that we cannot shift responsibility to governmental leaders or ‘market forces’. The success of sustainable design will be through a grass roots movement that starts with the people, with the everyman.

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The China Study Advocates Alkaline Foods

Posted on November 9, 2011 by administer

A book titled The China Study: Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss, and Long-Term Health is an eye opener in terms of finding out more about nutrition and how we can enjoy a long and healthy life. The authors advocate a whole foods, plant based diet. It just so happens that many of these foods, indeed all fruits and vegetables can also be termed alkaline foods. When reading this book, I was struck by the simplicity of the message and it all seemed to make so much sense.

The China Study website says:

Even today, as the low-carb craze sweeps the nation, two-thirds of adults are still obese and children are being diagnosed with Type II diabetes, typically an “adult” disease, at an alarming rate. If we’re eating healthier, why are Americans stricken with heart disease as much as we were 30 years ago?

This is a question that’s hard to answer if you’re a meat eater. Since reading this book, I’ve gone from being interested in health and thinking that lean meat and eggs were good for me to changing almost overnight to cutting out all meat, dairy and fish from my diet. You’d be surprised just how easy it can be. I’m now cooking for myself much more often rather than eating out, which in turn is saving me money too. The main reason I do it though is so that I know what’s going into the dishes that I’m making.

The China Study was an academic project undertaken and paid for by Cornell University, the University of Oxford, and the government of China. It started in the 1970s and lasted until the end of the 1980s. As the name suggests, it took place in China. In total the epidemiological study examined the diets, lifestyle and disease characteristics of populations in 65 rural Chinese counties. Then in 1991, the authors – led by T. Colin Campbell published their results which were subsequently turned into The China Study book.

The study has received high praise from both academic and mainstream sources. Jane E. Brody writes in the New York Times:

Eating a lot of protein, especially animal protein, is also linked to chronic disease. Americans consume a third more protein than the Chinese do, and 70 percent of American protein comes from animals, while only 7 percent of Chinese protein does. Those Chinese who eat the most protein, and especially the most animal protein, also have the highest rates of the ”diseases of affluence” like heart disease, cancer and diabetes.

Probably the most well known follower of the proposed whole foods, plant based diet is the former U.S. President, Bill Clinton. After he underwent heart surgery, he completely changed his diet in an effort to reduce the risk factors for future cardiac events. If it’s good enough for Clinton, don’t you think it deserves your full attention?

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Full Moon Party Guide

Posted on October 23, 2011 by administer

Full Moon PartyIf you are visiting China and you have a few days off that happen to fall on the night of the full moon then you should catch one of the many flights to Bangkok and transfer to Koh Samui. It is also possible from some Chinese cities to fly directly to the island of Koh Samui in the south of Thailand. From Koh Samui it is a short boat journey to Koh Phangan. The best boat to take is from Maenam that takes you directly to Haad Rin where the world’s biggest regular beach party occurs.

The Full Moon Party takes place on the larger of the two Haad Rin beaches. It is appropriately the sunrise beach; so after reveling all night the party goer is treated to the awesome spectacle of the sun rising over a tropical ocean.

Full Moon Accommodations

There are over 5,000 full moon party accommodations. However more than 20,000 people regularly attend the event. It is not necessary to stay in Haad Rin. Many people take the boat over from Koh Samui the night of the party and then take the boat back the next day. This is because it can be hard to find a room in Haad Rin if you don’t book in advance. Also all the hotels and resorts in Haad Rin put their prices up for the FMP period. They also enforce a minimum stay requirement of between 3 and 6 nights. If you have only a few days this is not practical – the solution is to stay on one of the other great beaches in Koh Phangan or as I said, stay on the more developed (but maybe less beautiful) neighboring island of Koh Samui.

If you do want to stay in Haad Rin then there are 3 major areas open to you. First is in Haad Rin town and near the sunrise beach. Only Palita Lodge is actually on the beachfront of the party beach because the space is devoted to bars. The other area is on the smaller (and less nice) sunset beach called Haad Rin Nai. It is a quieter option. The third option is on the beach just south of Haad Rin Nai called Haad Sarikantang. Here there are a couple of good mid-range options including Sarikantang Resort and Spa.

Advice for the Full Moon Party

On the night of the party there are a few precautions you should take to make sure you are safe and have a good time:

1)    Leave most of your money, your passport and other valuables in a safety box in your resort. You will only need about 2,000 Thai Baht to spend at the party. If you are staying in Haad Rin don’t leave your valuables in your room as break-ins are not unheard of.
2)    Wear something on your feet. Although the party is on a beach there is often broken glass hidden in the sand.
3)    Be careful when drinking ‘buckets’. They are sweet and strong – deceptively so. Try to re-hydrate between drinks.
4)    Don’t go swimming when you are drunk. At certain times of the year there is an undertow. Moreover, people use the sea as a toilet during the party.
5)    Don’t take drugs about the party. It is heavily policed and the consequences of being caught are not pleasant to say the least.
6)    Respect other people; and have a good time!

It is guaranteed that you will never experience anything quite like the Full Moon Party anywhere else in the world. It is a unique event and a great opportunity to make new friends and to let your hair down.

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Recycling in China

Posted on October 17, 2011 by administer

Chinese recyclingPeople in the Western developed world are often under the misapprehension that developing countries do not recycle. An article in the New York Times in December 2009 wrote:

‘Chinese public has shown little enthusiasm for recycling. As Mr. Zhong, the engineer at the Baoan incinerator, put it, “No one really cares”.’ (www.nytimes.com/2009/08/12/)

This is only partly true. Chinese households are not interested in separating trash into different colored bins. In most municipalities such schemes do not exist. All rubbish is thrown in the same incinerator or buried in landfill sites. There is no money available or education given about local government recycling schemes.

That is not to say, however, that nothing is recycled in China. Indeed recycling is a job. It is economics that drives recycling in China and many other developing countries in the world. Anything that is of value that is thrown out is found and sold on by legions of people living on the proverbial ‘bread line’ (maybe ‘rice line’ is better) to get by. Aluminum tin cans are an excellent example of this.

Another good example is food waste. Millions of farmers in China collect food waste from restaurants and put it in spring balanced containers on the back of their bicycles to take back to their farms to use as fertilizer. In a situation where poverty is wide spread a lot of trash items have a value.

The richer a country gets the less value trash has. People are not desperate enough for money to collect aluminum cans. Instead people recycle out of a sense of civic duty or because it is the law.

The problem with the economic incentive driving recycling is that some items cannot be easily turned into a profit. This is especially true of plastic bags. These just get buried, burned or wind up clogging up water ways.

Upcycling is when an item is recycled in such a way as to make something of higher value: for example, making a laptop case out of an old wetsuit. In Thailand poor artisans make model tuk tuks for the tourists out of old cans – this is trash turned into art. In economic terms upcycling is much better than recycling.

This is the challenge for China’s current model of recycling – it must find ways to allow its citizens to use unwanted materials to upcycle. A good example of this is reclaimed hardwood flooring. China is rich in many natural resources, but not in valuable hardwood. Desertification is a serious problem in the north of China because of a lack of trees to hold the soil in place.

One excellent way to address this problem is to encourage the collection of unwanted hardwood. It is straight forward to collect hardwood from old mines, broken fencing, old barns, building waste, ripped out floors, old barrels and a million other sources and kiln dry the hardwood and then cut into reclaimed hardwood flooring planks.

The benefits to the environment of reclaimed hardwood flooring are obvious. For the home owner, reclaimed hardwood flooring has a rich patina from age and also is more dimensionally stable than new hardwood flooring.

It is such imaginative re-purposing of materials that China needs to study from America and Europe. It is also recycling that requires the input of resources that only government or business can provide, not the poor. This is where China is failing in its bid to be greener about its waste disposal.

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Coconuts in China

Posted on October 14, 2011 by administer

Hainan Coconut PalmsChina is not famous for its coconuts. You would be forgiven if you thought that China didn’t actually produce coconuts, but the country does. According to www.data.mongabay.com in 2009 China sold 109,406 coconuts. The coconut cannot grow in an area that has a cold winter as frost kills the plant. Thus it is only in the tropical parts of China that coconuts can be found.

The main area for coconut cultivation in China is Hainan Island. The principal areas of the island that are given up to growing coconuts are Wenchang County and Ya County. This is an area that stretches for several hundreds of kilometers along the coast of the tropical island. The poet Su Dong Po in the Song Dynasty lived on Hainan and admired both the view of coconut palms and also the taste of coconut milk.

The Chinese have been extracting oil from coconuts, drinking its juice and making objects from coconut shells for centuries. The musical instruments yehu and banhu are made from dried coconut shell halves.

Although China has very little tropical territory the coconut is a resource worth nurturing and protecting. The coconut palm is classified as a renewable resource because it takes only 7 years to start producing drupes. One coconut palm can yield over 100 coconuts a year. The coconut palm is fruitful for over 75 years. Senile palms can be cut down and its timber used to make coconut flooring, thatching for roofs and many other useful items.

Young coconuts have coconut water that contains more electrolytes than any sports drink. Coconut water also helps to detoxify the digestive tract and balance the PH of the body. It can also be used for emergency blood transfusions as coconut water is an exact match with human blood plasma.

Coconut milk is rich in protein, calcium, iron, selenium and other minerals and vitamins. It is delicious in food and can be used as a lactose free alternative to cow’s milk. It is interesting to note that lactose intolerance is very common in China.

In a similar way, coconut flour is high in protein and fiber but low in carbohydrates and is an excellent substitute for wheat flour for those with gluten intolerance and celiac disease.

Coconut oil health benefits are also myriad. It is composed of medium chain fatty acids that are readily metabolized by the body and turned into energy. It is healthy oil that is good for people who seek to lose weight. Also coconut oil contains lauric acid that is an antimicrobial agent that protects the body from viral and other infections. In tropical countries coconut oil is a vital source of medicine.

As the Chinese diet changes with the middle class habits of purchasing and consuming diverging from traditional patterns it is inevitable that heart disease, obesity and diabetes are sure to follow. One effective and totally natural way to combat this future problem is to promote the use of coconut food products.

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Haad Rin Delights

Posted on October 10, 2011 by administer

Haad Rin is the name of the main tourist town on the Thai island of Koh Phangan. It is also the name of the place where the famous Full Moon Party is held every month come rain or shine (only the sun nearly always shines in Koh Phangan). It is small town full of the delights of life that is perfect for outgoing people who love both going out and relaxing on a tropical beach.

History of Haad Rin

Haad Rin up until the late 1980s was a virtually unheard of little town on an equally obscure Thai island. Tourism didn’t make it to the Samui Archipelago until 1972 and of those first backpackers to make it to Thailand’s southern islands only a handful made it to Koh Phangan.

That all changed in 1987 when a party was held on the beautiful sunrise beach of Haad Rin Nok. It was for a friend and just happened to be the night of the bright full moon. Legend has it the party was a great success and thus was born the FMP – the Full Moon Party.

Over the years the party increased in size and with it the fortunes of Haad Rin changed. The once sleepy and hippy enclave started upgrading accommodation and many new bars, restaurants and guest houses started appearing in the small town.

Haad Rin and the Full Moon Party

Haad Rin Today

Despite the commercialization of Haad Rin it is still a small place that can be negotiated on foot. It is a place with amenities and facilities for tourism but not one with an ultra modern feel or one that charges so much as to be prohibitively expensive. Although Haad Rin hotels charge peak rates during the FMP you can still find a room for under $50 a night.

The great thing about Haad Rin is that it is a friendly place. There are plenty of bars in the town and on the main beach where like-minded travelers and revelers get to met each other and swap stories. There are lots of fun events around the full moon party period including Muay Thai fights and a foam party to get people in the mood.

And of course the following day what better way to cure a sore head than a delicious fruit shake and a swim in the clear warm water of the Gulf of Thailand?

Below is a YouTube video of the Drop in Bar Foam Party that happens 2 days before the FMP.

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