Our Guy in China.

[raleighnut]

[QUOTE 4576259, member: 9609"]I have just watched the first episode tonight and really enjoyed it, I think he is a great presenter.

Slightly off topic but my wife is busy reading his latest book and it is covering his 'Tour Divide' mountain Bike race that he completed earlier this year (averaging 150 mile and 11,000' ascent per day for 18 days, he is some athlete) However during his training he decided to go up the Stathpeffer mountain bike centre for some training and decided to cycle there from Grimsby - So he cycles up the A19 and the A1 - the bloke just seems to have no sense of danger., I hesitate to go on them roads in a car.[/QUOTE]
Probably felt safer riding up there than sticking the bikes in the back of his Transit..............................................................and getting them nicked.

 

[nickyboy]

Most of the reasons why China is able to complete massive infrastructure projects more quickly than most have been covered here

There is no meaningful public enquiry system. I have several friends in China who have been forcibly moved to make way for railway lines so the lines take the perfect topographical route.

Whilst it isn't money no object, China has a lot more money to commit to these projects. There is a strong political will to produce these projects; trains are the main form of mass transit in PRC

Most of Eastern China is very flat

 

[Andrew_P]

I have been watching China: Between Clouds and Dreams fascinating in some respects but clearly shows the total lack of consideration to the general populous and as Guy hints at they are treated as many hands make light work, in a lot respects without any thought to the future of their or others health. The moving of 200 Chemical plants to an area and the uplift in cancer, illness and garden crops and trees dying was incredible. Deformed crabs dying razor clams I mean I know we do some shoot stuff to the world but no where near this scale. They closed loads of commercial premises this year for 3/4 weeks so they could clear the air and smog where the G21 meeting was, the meeting was for climate control.

 

[nickyboy]

I have been watching China: Between Clouds and Dreams fascinating in some respects but clearly shows the total lack of consideration to the general populous and as Guy hints at they are treated as many hands make light work, in a lot respects without any thought to the future of their or others health. The moving of 200 Chemical plants to an area and the uplift in cancer, illness and garden crops and trees dying was incredible. Deformed crabs dying razor clams I mean I know we do some shoot stuff to the world but no where near this scale. They closed loads of commercial premises this year for 3/4 weeks so they could clear the air and smog where the G21 meeting was, the meeting was for climate control.

I think it is very easy for us in a post-industrial society to be critical of the environmental record of countries going through their own industrialisation. If you talk to ordinary Chinese people they know that their environmental problems are serious. But they refer to where they have come from economically (and we're only talking 30 years ago) and consider it a price worth paying

It's all too easy for westerners to point the finger at developing countries when we have the nice houses, cars, holidays

 

[BrumJim]

Probably felt safer riding up there than sticking the bikes in the back of his Transit..............................................................and getting them nicked.

Probably safer than the Transit, given the engine they put in it.

 

[hopless500]

The Chinese have toys to play with, lucky people....
[media]
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbaD2-2Ktwc
[/media]

What an amazing bit of kit.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

I think it is very easy for us in a post-industrial society to be critical of the environmental record of countries going through their own industrialisation. If you talk to ordinary Chinese people they know that their environmental problems are serious. But they refer to where they have come from economically (and we're only talking 30 years ago) and consider it a price worth paying

It's all too easy for westerners to point the finger at developing countries when we have the nice houses, cars, holidays

There's a learning curve for sure but there's also a lot more information out there now on how to do stuff safer and better, problem is it isn't easier. A lot of what I do is health and safety and some of the stuff I still see going on in this country is scary and we've had tough legislation for a long time now so China's got a long way to go, but if there's no will to change then things won't. I think it's reasonable to be critical when it's people's livelihoods and lives at stake.

 

[mjr]

What about the fleet of Flying Pigeons for Guy and core crew? That was much more encouraging than stuff like the trains where you suspect ordinary people are being shooted on to achieve those headline times.

And not even a supposedly authoritarian state manages to keep taxis out of painted bike lanes!

 

[martint235]

First six months of this year 25k workplace accidents and 13k deaths.

http://www.clb.org.hk/content/grim-and-mundane-reality-work-accidents-china

In proportion to the number of workers, is that good or bad compared to our figures?

 

[Drago]

Of course, the Chinese railway line will last indefinitely, will never break, and be utterly safe. After all, their home built cars for the home market that score 0 on NCAP have all those attributes...

 

[nickyboy]

There's a learning curve for sure but there's also a lot more information out there now on how to do stuff safer and better, problem is it isn't easier. A lot of what I do is health and safety and some of the stuff I still see going on in this country is scary and we've had tough legislation for a long time now so China's got a long way to go, but if there's no will to change then things won't. I think it's reasonable to be critical when it's people's livelihoods and lives at stake.

I think the issue is a cultural one where you have a country that is going through the fastest ever industrialisation. A lot of the PRC senior management has grown up in a society where H&S was an extremely low priority. It's more important now but there is still a lot of overhang from the attitudes twenty or thirty years ago

In any case, my point was an environmental one. It's easy to take the moral pollution high ground when you've already got a western GDP

 

[threebikesmcginty]

In proportion to the number of workers, is that good or bad compared to our figures?

The acceptable number in any country should be zero.

 

[martint235]

The acceptable number in any country should be zero.

It should. But in the real world, you get people not looking where they are going or ignoring safety rules etc so you'll never get to zero.

 

[raleighnut]

If you saw the program where he modified
A transi


Probably safer than the Transit, given the engine they put in it.

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&r...d.html&usg=AFQjCNGeVwSHijCzoHCrten-Q7fNln-BHA

 

[Fnaar]

On a work trip to China some years ago (mentioned upthread) as well as Beijing, I went to several other places. I can remember being driven through the suburbs of Shanghai, seeing blokes fishing in a small lake. The lake was bright blue, and not in a good way!