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tomtom
Social climber
Seattle, Wa
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Mar 12, 2008 - 12:21pm PT
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When that is done and the base camp development project is complete there will be hotels, restaurants, places for climbers to sell autographs to help defray expedition costs.
Sounds like they are just trying to catch up with the European huts in the Alps.
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Delhi Dog
Trad climber
Good Question...
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Mar 12, 2008 - 12:28pm PT
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Graniteclimber you want to check out my earlier post...
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=537100&tn=0
an excerpt below about the murder:
"As climbers I think we are all keenly aware of the injustice that has been done to Tibetans by the Government of China. Just over a year ago you may recall the situation of the Tibetan Nun who was shot in the back in the vicinity of Nangpa Pass in plain sight of many climbers at the advance basecamp in Cho Oyu.
Sadly little was done by those who witnessed the event though one may argue as to what they could have done...
http://www.savetibet.org/news/newsitem.php?id=1036 "
Cheers,
DD
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TradIsGood
Chalkless climber
the Gunks end of the country
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Mar 12, 2008 - 12:36pm PT
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Having a diplomatic or even economic relations with a country does not constitute approval of its political, economic, or social structures.
China certainly was large enough and potentially dangerous enough, and certainly had enough history of government stability, that Nixon's bold move made sense. You could make the same argument for Cuba with respect to its governmental stability.
Without a diplomatic relationship, sensitive negotiations can't take place effectively where there needs to be a sharing of information that is not to be shared with some intermediary. It is highly likely that we needed to share with China at least some of our classified knowledge of that country - knowledge that we might not have shared with others.
end drift.
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dirtineye
Trad climber
the south
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Mar 12, 2008 - 02:23pm PT
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The US and the rest of the west will fight a war with China over diminishing resources. It's just a matter of time.
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happiegrrrl
Trad climber
New York, NY
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Mar 12, 2008 - 02:59pm PT
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RE: Nixon opening China - True - I remember the Panda pandering, and also some tv stuff when it was happening.
Aside from the trading with communists thing, I wonder if economists and others who study shifts in societies based on commerce could have ever foreseen how opening China would affect the world as it has.
Interesting bit(to me, anyway):
One of the companies I used to work for, as a handbag designer, was THE first one to go to Taiwan to make handbags. This was way before I came along, of course. Until then, it was all Europe, and handbags were pretty pricey compared to what they are now. Materials used were mostly leather and cotton.
I don't know any detail, but the guy who started the company(Abe Sarway, of Sarne(with one of those swishes over the "e"), figured out he could make bags in Taiwan and so....he went over and pretty much held the hands of some business men, pushing, prodding, demanding and troubleshooting, until they had a factory up and running, making bags to his spec.
He was able to undercut ANYONE on prices, and he was also using the new faux leathers - pvc. perhpas Taiwan already had the vinyl thing going for upholstery or something, and he saw the possibilities - I'm not sure. But he TOTALLY rocked the lower price point handbag business in america with his new country of origin.
Soon, of course, others jumped on board, and Taiwan became the place to make bags for stores such a KMart, JCPenney and such.
This guy built and ran the most successful handbag company in the market, and stayed there for many years. Unfortunately, his daughter had been in Taiwan on her honeymoon, and riding the back of her new husband's scooter. There was an accident and she was killed. He was devastated and had a nervous breakdown. He walked away from operations, and the company began the slow slide downward. They guys who took over(son-in-law and sales manager) never had the foresight he did, and didn't see the change in the air(move to China).
Maybe 15 years later, when I began my career as a handbag designer, Taiwan was still THE country to go to for vinyl piece goods. They were on the cutting edge in technology. Most companies still had a sample room there, but production had begun shifting to China, and only higher priced "cheap bags" still were made in Taiwan. There was just no way to compete against the lower China price.
Within a frame of 4-5 years, I watched the Taiwanese makers begging us for business, trying to hold on, and losing the struggle. A very few had connections still in China, and they fared better - but it was very sketchy. Tawianese employees traveling to and fro were nervous about it when they had to do it. And the ones with the connections were sort of looked at as traitors to Taiwan....
I watched the shift from Tawianese pc. goods to chinese piece goods. At first, the chinese production SUCKED. Awful, crappy stuff. Quality control was barely in existence. But the prices! For some things, the trade-off was acceptable, and so they gained a toehold. Eventually they learned how to make vinyls of ALMOST the same calibre. It LOOKED good, but wasn't quite as nice Close enough that an importer simply could not afford to stick with the better materials.
By the time I left handbags(13 years or so in the biz), nobody did handbags in Taiwa any more, and China had begun getting the squeeze out by yet cheaper countries of origin.... Korea, Thailand, Turkey....
When I started, and saw the Tawianese struggling to hold business,I felt awful for the people I had befriended and was walking away from. But I was just a low level designer and only saw them twice a year.
As I saw the process beginning to repeat, I had grown up and reached my pinnacle as a designer. I had worked with many of these people all through my years with different importers. I saw them go from fresh from school girls into executives with companies. And I saw the shift from the "country" sample shop and factory worker girls. Form very, very provinvial, to having Hello Kitty accessories of their own, radios, CocoCola in lieu of tea....
I couldn't do it. Along with a few other factors, this using of others(countries) was one of the factors in my decision to walk away. I loved designing bags. I was good at it too, and my work made a lot of people many millions of dollars. But it just wasn't right.
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happiegrrrl
Trad climber
New York, NY
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Mar 12, 2008 - 03:05pm PT
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I know my last post was waaaay drift...Not trying to Loisify! Back to MT Everest and the Olympics....
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Gene
climber
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Mar 14, 2008 - 02:00pm PT
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BBC reports:
Nepal has agreed to a Chinese request to temporarily block access to Mount Everest, amid fears Tibetan activists may stage a protest at the peak.
Climbers will be banned from going beyond Everest's base camp until 10 May, Nepal's tourism minister said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7296677.stm
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