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Free Lesson on Chinese Infrastructure

21 August 2011

In the deep of Mt. Taihang (太行山) in Henan Province bordering Shanxi, there is a mountain peak 1,752m above sea level. Near the peak, there is a little village with a population of hundreds. For generations, the only way for the villagers to meet people other than their neighbours was by climbing down the cliff face 200m in height.

Then in 1972, during the Cultural Revolution, 13 men in the village decided they got enough of the adventure sports and believed they deserve a more dignified channel to communicate with the rest of Chinese in the country. So once again, they climbed down the cliff with their money-generating possessions, that included goats and mountain yams (can't imagine how they did that!!!), and sold them on the market, and with that money they purchased hammers and steel files, and with these simple mechanic tools they worked five years on the cliff and have constructed a 4m wide 1,300m long motor road that connects the village to the world outside.

Nowadays, the world comes to the villagers' doorsteps, as the remote settlement has become a popular tourist destination and the villagers can make living by conducting tourism business. Almost every household provides visitors home accommodation that includes meal-shower facility-phone connection-satellite TV with a total price at around 12 yuans a day. Of course, you also need to pay 20 yuans entry fee at the entrance of the village.

The following are the pictures of another wonderful mountain village in China, located in the outskirts of Chongqing, about 300km from Chengdu by road. The photos were taken and posted at tianya.cn/tianyacity by 麻油3酥:

A hydraulic system in the deep mountain near East Peace, Town Entrance City, in Double Celebration Metropolitan (Chongqing 重庆市城口县东安乡)

A long bridge over a sharp valley

A tiny stone bridge over a shallow mountain stream

A suspension timber bridge by a farmhouse

One day the villagers at East Peace become restless and decide they need to build an extra bridge between the fields in the east and in the west (or in the south and north) to make their life a bit more easier.

It is a collective effort, everyone - young and old, men and women - participates in the work team

Even household livestock contribute their part to the project

The village amateur engineers lay the framework structure of the bridge

The young trainees add soil to hold the bridge together

The bridge starts to take shape

An arched stone bridge in its final construction stage.

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Chongqing or Guangdong?

雨夹雪 (wyzxsx.com):

茅于轼经常说一些胡话，诸如中国不应该收复钓鱼岛、贪污不是大事、高房价是因为百姓太有钱、穷人的孩子不应该上好学校……，但有时也说实话，像“我是准确地被打成了右派，一点也不冤枉。”“我根本不在乎拿外国人的钱，我也不在乎拿资本家的钱。”

茅于轼“胡锦涛也不见得相信共产主义”的说法，我认为是极其恶毒的污蔑。胡总书记曾宣誓“为共产主义奋斗终身，随时准备为党和人民牺牲一切，永不叛党”，如果胡总书记不相信共产主义，岂不成了背叛自己誓言的政治小人？历史上，反共的共产党总书记是很多的，像苏共的戈尔巴乔夫，捷共的杜布切克，意共的奥凯托，西共的卡里略，中共的zhzy等都曾公开表示自己不相信共产主义，但这些叛徒、野心家、阴谋家、政治流氓、两面派哪一个有好下场？当然，我无权代替胡总书记回击茅于轼的污蔑，但我相信胡总书记很快就会对茅于轼推崇的广东模式和茅于轼反对的重庆模式表明自己的态度，以此来回击茅于轼的污蔑。

卢映西 (南京财经学院副教授):

最近我到南京市图书馆作了一个讲座，痛陈现实的荒诞，狠批西方主流经济学的荒谬，当时会场气氛十分热烈，说明西化精英在老百姓当中早已信誉扫地。所以，要把“重庆模式”进行到底，首先必须彻底排除西化精英的干扰。

易淼说(西南财经大学博士研究生)

薄熙来“看的深，看的透”，他说“西方以‘自由、民主、平等、博爱’的口号为荣，但就是从不提及‘共同富裕’这个涉及人类最大多数人、最大利益的根本问题”，这是一语道破了资本主义普世价值的虚伪。

朱明熙 (西南财经大学教授)

只要看一看薄熙来这个讲话的网上留言和前几天另一位地方大员“分蛋糕不是重点，做蛋糕才是重点”的讲话的网上留言，谁更能代表民意，不是高下立判，泾渭分明吗？

柳成湘 (西南大学教育工作者):

前苏联亡党、亡国、民族分裂的历史悲剧会在中国重演吗？今天，这个问题有答案了. 经历了三年风风雨雨的薄熙来与广大干部群众总结的重庆经验，是值得信赖的。重庆实践、重庆经验、乃至重庆模式，都是值得为之共同奋斗的！“如果把这篇文章做好了，我们中国人就是在创造历史，就会对人类发展做出更大贡献”。

刘明国(贵州财经学院经济学院副教授):

中国作为社会主义国家，必须、并且只有高举“共同富裕”的大旗、走共同富裕的发展道路，才能有效抵制和防范西方资本主义思想的侵蚀，才能让中国成为一个具有强大凝聚力和青春活力的国家。

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