Morning:
8°c
You'd have to be seriously preoccupied not to realise that Chinese New Year was just around the corner. The streets are festooned with red and gold decorations. Slogans on shops exhort passers-by to spend their way to a better future. “New year new image” is one of the favourites, and we all know you can't do that without a bit of personal investment.
Many factories have closed for three weeks and, with order books thin, been rather glad of it. Lucky employees who received a hong bao, the red envelope containing their New Year bonus, might just be persuaded to spend. Shopkeepers may be disappointed, but restaurants have been fully booked for ages. However bad things are, nothing gets in the way of eating.
At this time of year, everyone eats with their relations. If granny still lives in the countryside, the family will head there. At the moment, rural communities have an ageing population. The young seek work in the cities and grandparents are left to tend the family plot. When they all sit down to dinner on the eve of the year of the ox, the subject of family land may be a new hot topic.
Rural land reform has been debated for some time as a way to improve agricultural production. Last autumn, the central government announced its intention to reform the countryside in two key ways: rural land use rights extended to 70 years and, more importantly, those rights to become tradable. Not much more will be said before a proposal is put to the National Congress in March. But once land can be traded a whole range of possibilities will open up that could transform rural China and investment in agriculture.
* M-ON-THE-BUND, one of the most stylish restaurants in Shanghai, has its tenth birthday later this month. The initially eponymous Michelle was the first international restaurateur to return to the Bund and set a high standard for others to follow. The party was last week but celebrations continue.
* SHANGHAI Safari Park in Pudong District is doing an active trade in chickens. At Rmb60 (£6) each, some fallout from the credit crunch might have been expected. Alas, no such luck for the chickens. They are still being bought and thrown live to the lions and tigers by visitors.
