My observations of Chinese grandparents' child raising is more on the negative side. Certainly they can help with infants and toddlers, but the problems start at older age. Teenagers, you know.
Given a city-dwelling couple today that decides to have 3 children, would be looking at possible 9 grandchildren by their retirement age. Not much time for mahjong or traveling.
I would continue this thought exercise by suggesting that Confucian principles such as filial piety could become challenged when child counts within families increase.
What may have worked once upon a time when China was a poorer country with more rural surroundings, may not work now.
Having to raise 2 or 3 princes/princesses instead of just one may hit fabrics of Chinese society in unexpected ways, and force developments that for the powers-that-be may offset the economic benefits of maintaining population.
Reading about latest developments in China's childbirth regulations (now going to 3 children per family), I started to think about the role that religions and related social organizations in western countries (maybe elsewhere too) have played in increasing (maintaining anyway) and supporting child count of families.
For example in my home country most of families with 5+ children are either cases of remarrying with bonus children, or followers of certain (usually Christian) disciplines. Furthermore many church related organizations provide assistance that makes raising children a little bit easier.
I would speculate that if not for religious activities, birth rates in western countries would have dropped much sooner and faster.
In this context, what China has to offer in place of religions, is in my opinion perhaps not sufficient to create equal factor to increase/maintain birth count.
@Mario007:
It looks particularly backward considering that according to latest official data, Yunnan has more foreign residents than Shanghai and Beijing combined.
About same as from a prayer to a revolution?
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Video: Zen and the art of patisserie with chef Igor Nataf
Posted by@sezuwupom : "JanJal is living the good life [...] Igor's delivers to your door."
You forgot to mention that I recycle and care for environment, which is why I would prefer to pick up my bakeries on my way rather than have someone on scooter deliver it wrapped in plastics. Even if it would leave the plastic maker and the scooter driver jobless. They could find new jobs in Just Hot, which I keep in business.
But I wish best of luck to Igor's. If location is everything, they have some catching up to do to reach out to potential customers like they are doing in this paid review..
Video: Zen and the art of patisserie with chef Igor Nataf
Posted byWent here one morning after grocery shopping in nearby Walmart.
No surprise, shelves were less than half-empty like they are in all upper scale bakeries I've visited in Kunming, specifically in the mornings before lunch.
They all seem to get stocked up few hours after lunch time, which for me is too late because I like to consume my sweets at home(=office) couple of hours after lunch, without making a separate trip for it.
Thus my staple bakeries remain from big and soulless chains like Just Hot, that have their donuts ready before 11am.
What does organic mean in China?
Posted byThey also say time is a healer, and it takes time to grow. While time does get peope killed, it also helps greatly in reproduction. Without time, we would not have gotten where we are now - nor would we get to develop into extradimensional beings bound by neither space nor time, if we ban it now.
What I propose, is that we do not ban time, but instead develop ourselves beyond time, so that we no longer depend on it, and becomes indifferent to us.
On a related but more serious note, should humanity also develop beoynd organic in our feeding patterns?
For most people, things like "organic" or "free range" has already developed past hunting wild game and gathering roots and berries. For the minority that still practises such, our current methods to grow our food must appear as strange as eating protein grown in reactors would sound to many of us.
What does organic mean in China?
Posted byA store we frequent for vegetables and meat is Q+Life in B1 level of TKP Shopping Mall (Beijing Lu / Baiyun Lu). My wife has bought for their green advertising, I cannot vouch either way but I'm satisfied with the quality.
It's official: Yunnan facing serious drought
Posted byWell, we are having minor thunderstorm right now. Earlier in the week my phone's weather forecast showed daily rain drops in Kunming from end of this week til end of eternity, Or was it just the two weeks ahead it can show.