Bad Weather

News Headlines
China loses $4.5 Billion because of snow storm. Hundreds of thousands trapped in Guangzhou. Tens of millions have their travel disrupted. Vast areas of central and southern China have experienced the most severe winter in half a century in the past few days, coming on the heels of one of the warmest winters on record last year.

Weather Forecast
Heavy rain will hit southern parts of South of the Yangtze River and northern parts of South China. Partial areas will have storms. Heavy snow is predicted in Southeastern parts of Tibet, southern part of western plateau of Sichuan, northwestern and northeastern parts of Yunnan Province, northern Guizhou Porvince, southern Hubei Porvince, middle and northern Hunan Province, northern Jiangzi Province, middle and northern Zhejiang Province, southern Anhui and Jiangsu provinces. In particular, most parts of Guizhou Province, middle and southern parts of Hunan Province and middle Jiangxi Province will have freezing rain.

A little Fairy tells me that the weather will be cleared out by Feb. 4-5. Let's hope it will be by then if not sooner.

If you hear of someone in need, do what you can to help them.

Snow Total:5.3 cm Occurring: Jan 31

AccuWeather.com Forecast: Days 1-5

Days 1-5 Days 6-10 Days 11-15 Weekends All 15 Days

Currently at 3:51PM

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Sunny

RealFeel®:1 °C

Temp: 3 °C

Thursday, Jan 31

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Cold with snow, accumulating up to an additional inch.
Winds from the SSE at 4 km/h.

Realfeel®: 2 °C

High: 3 °C

Thursday Night, Jan 31

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Cold with snow, accumulating an additional 3-8 cm.
Winds will be calm

Realfeel®: 0 °C

Low: -4 °C

Friday, Feb 1

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Cold with snow, accumulating up to an additional inch.
Winds will be calm

Realfeel®: 5 °C

High: 1 °C

Friday Night, Feb 1

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Considerable clouds and cold with a couple of flurries.
Winds will be calm

Realfeel®: 0 °C

Low: -4 °C

Saturday, Feb 2

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Mostly cloudy and chilly. Winds will be calm

Realfeel®: 7 °C

High: 3 °C

Saturday Night, Feb 2

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Partly cloudy and cold. Winds will be calm

Realfeel®: 2 °C

Low: -1 °C

Sunday, Feb 3

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Mostly cloudy and chilly. Winds will be calm

Realfeel®: 7 °C

High: 3 °C

Sunday Night, Feb 3

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Chilly in the evening with a bit of snow and rain at times
followed by a couple of flurries late. Winds will be calm

Realfeel®: 2 °C

Low: 0 °C

Monday, Feb 4

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Chilly; periods of snow and rain in the morning
followed by a couple of showers in the afternoon. Winds will be calm

Realfeel®: 8 °C

High: 4 °C

Monday Night, Feb 4

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Cloudy and chilly; a shower in the evening
followed by a couple of flurries late. Winds will be calm

Realfeel®: 3 °C

Lo

Amazing Race Asia

I have never been the biggest fan of Reality TV but there are a couple that I really like. One is the Apprentice which is all about business. The other is on called the Amazing Race. I really like this one because it sends people traveling around the world. They get to see exciting things and meet many different people.

This most recent season saw a Father and Daughter team (Ron and Christina), Chinese immigrants to the United States compete and do well.

Last year I was pleasantly surprised to find a new version of the Amazing Race (normally produced for CBS TV in the United States). It is called the Amazing Race Asia (produced for AXN Satellite channel out of Malaysia.) For people in Korea they can get AXN on Sky Life TV. For people in China, the Amazing Race Asia must be downloaded.

I think it is interesting because the show is done entirely in English. The contestants from all over Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Japan, India, Hong Kong) all must speak English fluently to be on the show. It is interesting to learn about these other Asian countries and to see so many sights in these countries. Often times we throw people from one part of the world into categories and think that they are all the same. Well that is not true. People from different Asian countries are really quite different in many ways. While this is the case, it is also true that their are certain universalities about all people. What I might have once thought of as American or Western behavior can be seen in people from all countries and to varying degrees. It reminds me how in many ways we are the same.

The way the show works is 11 teams of 2 people compete, traveling from country to country, completing task after task. Almost each week the team the finishes in last place is eliminated from the race. Finally, after 12 weeks of racing, the final three teams race to the finish line during the 13th week and the winning team is awarded $100,000US.

The American race awards $1Million US, but giving the cost of living in Asia compared with the US this seems highly reasonable. Two of the teams competing are cuties Paula and Natash below, and Mark and Rovilson above, strong favorites to win.

First season was pretty good, but the second season has been better. They are in their second season now with just about 3 weeks left, and the producers of the show are currently taking applications for contestants for the next season. The show can easily be downloaded and is worth a watch. It is fun, interesting, a little exciting and always entertaining.

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SPOILER
Since the original posting the cute girls were eliminated from the race. Such a disappointment, but they didn't seem to have the fire.

Winter 冬天 겨울

I think winter has the ability to provide some of the most beautiful views during the year. To see the fields covered in blanket of white, buildings and trees alike with a layer of white. Winter is really rather beautiful when viewed through a window. However, winter is really rather cold.

A good amount of snow fell last week her in Korea, as I understand it did in Shanxi as well. The cold finally did me in. Up until then I managed to stay in out of the cold, but I was drawn out by the an amazing shroud of white cast over the land. I had managed to not become sick this last winter until this last week. I still have some problems in my sinus but I am a lot better. Hopefully I will be able to recover.

One very good thing is that I'm out of the cold a little bit. I recently acquired that little red car, that you can see in the picture, just in time for the frigid January weather. I am enjoying winter a bit, but I happily look forward to the coming spring.