Little disks tell you where you are in the world

Posted on 22nd February 2012 in The monuments of world

If you’ve ever wondered exactly where you are in the world, the U.S. Geological Survey paved you a path.

And in that path, it left behind little brass disks set on concrete bases. And on those disks set into the ground are the latitude and longitude of that position.

“That’s a monument,” said Thomas S. Rowe, vice president of Mark W. Whiteley and Associates, a consulting engineering, surveying and planning company in Beaumont.

One of those monuments is on the north side of Washington Boulevard, just west of the Union Pacific railroad tracks and across the street from a small seafood restaurant.

It’s in plain sight, but is probably long overlooked by most area residents. It’s all but invisible to passing motorists, but its location is crucial for industry, Rowe said.

Whiteley uses the monument – and another near the Jack Brooks Regional Airport – to help triangulate the position of the Spindletop salt dome. Computing elevation at Spindletop is important to the developers of natural gas storage caverns at Spindletop, Rowe said.

“The operators have to monitor movement,” Rowe said. “The ground moves up and down at salt domes. We use the monuments for subsidence surveys.”

That little disk at Washington Boulevard was set into the ground in 1931 and the information on it is intact, including the severity of punishment if a person is caught intentionally destroying it. The offender could face a fine of $250,000 or imprisonment.

On Rowe’s desk is an example of a disk that was destroyed, more than likely by a brush hog – a large mower for heavy underbrush.

This particular disk, set in 1959 in China, is bent in the middle. It was broken off its post so that part of it is still set in the ground. Whiteley crews know where it is so they can still use the location and take the readings they need, Rowe said.

“As people build, they get destroyed,” he said of the markers.

But the disks still have enormous value, he said.

“This is how you find out where you are in relation to the rest of the world,” he said.

Mark Whiteley, who founded his surveying and engineering company in 1978, said the position of the Earth changes all the time. In ’78, when he began, the difference between magnetic north – which is where a compass points – and true north, the position of the North Star (the only star that doesn’t move in relation to the Earth), was 8 degrees. That difference, or declination, is now 3 degrees, Whiteley said.

Knowing how to compute a point on Earth from a fixed monument that shows latitude and longitude is essential for a variety of reasons, Whiteley said.

Property boundaries can be determined through the fixed monuments, he said, but other factors also will apply such as local law and history.

Determining the correct physical location through latitude and longitude is used in setting a refinery’s pressure vessel in the right place, making sure it is plumb, Whiteley said.

The global positioning device in one’s vehicle is based on latitude and longitude. Aircraft get where they’re going because of it. Mariners cross oceans because of it, Whiteley said.

The method used for placing the brass monuments is antique, Whiteley said, as out of date as the use of a slide rule for computations. Slide rules, once as common an accessory for an engineer as a plastic pocket protector, helped send Americans to the moon and brought them safely home, Rowe said.

Geodetic positioning, which is the technical way to say where you are in the world, also is crucial in laying water and sewer pipes, telephone and utility poles, or planning streets, he said.

Whiteley said he wants his surveyors to be able to rely on mathematical skills like trigonometry and geometry just in case their modern tools, like battery-powered devices, fail them in the outdoors where his company’s business takes place.

Some of them can, he said, with a little nostalgia for the lack of math skills now taught in schools.

As to the humble little monuments that a person might find at his feet in the weeds off a busy city street, Whiteley quoted a little Scripture from Proverbs:

“Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set.”

DWallach@BeaumontEnterprise.com

Twitter.com/dwallach

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Future secure for Belfast listed church – Video

Posted on 9th February 2012 in The monuments of world

Thursday, 09 February 2012

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A disused Belfast church – which features on the same worldwide endangered building list as the Taj Mahal and the Great Wall of China – has received £400k of funding to secure its future.

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The Carlisle Memorial Methodist Church stopped holding services in 1982 as a result of the declining congregation and its location at a major interface area. The iconic building is now in a critical condition having empty since the late ’80s.

In 2010, The World Monuments Fund recognised the church as one of the 100 most endangered historic buildings in the world.

Designed in the Gothic Revival style by noted architect W. H. Lynn and completed in 1875, the church was once home to one of the largest Methodist congregations in Belfast.

On Thursday, Environment Minister Alex Attwood pledged his support to the preserving the important piece of built heritage.

He said: “Carlisle Memorial Methodist Church is one of Belfast’s best known listed buildings and is a hugely important landmark at the entrance to West and North Belfast from the city centre.

Carlisle Memorial is a jewel in our historical crown and after its conservation, it will have a great beneficial impact for the economy, tourism and for health and well being.

Environment Minister Alex Attwood

“This funding will help secure its future and, following its conservation and regeneration, will be a great opportunity to both revitalise and provide a significant economic boost for the area.”

He added that while it was “not economically feasible to save every historic building,” before adding that it is “vital that we do as much as we can to preserve our rich past for future generations.”

“Why shouldn’t the many tourists who visit our shores every year, flock to it as they do to our other historic sites in turn revitalising the area as a gateway to visiting north and west Belfast.”

A spokesman for Belfast Building Preservation Trust described the Department’s support is “critical in stabilising and securing the building and allows us valuable time to work towards finding a vibrant and sustainable regeneration solution.”

Alliance Councillor Sara Duncan has welcomed the announcement saying the extra funding will be “a major boost” to the local area.

“I wholeheartedly welcome this funding. This iconic building is the only church left of three which were originally at Carlisle Circus.

“It is such an iconic building that is known throughout Belfast and beyond. I have great memories of it myself from my childhood when I visited my grandparents who lived close by,” she added.

“I drive past it every week and have observed with sadness its gradual deterioration. It is just one of a number of Victorian era buildings throughout Belfast and I am passionate about preserving and reusing these buildings which give Belfast its distinct character.

“I hope to see further regeneration in the area.”

© UTV News

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The Death of Mao by James Palmer

Posted on 29th January 2012 in The monuments of world

  • Rana Mitter

    • Earthquake-Torn Tangshan
    Tangshan City in Hobei province after the 1976 earthquake. Photograph: Bettmann/CORBIS

    On 12 May 2008, a devastating earthquake ripped apart Wenchuan county in Sichuan province, southwest China. Military and civilian rescuers arrived swiftly at the scene, saving countless lives. Although more than 68,000 people died, the number of fatalities could have been much higher.

    1. The Death of Mao: The Tangshan Earthquake and the Birth of the New China

    2. by

      James Palmer

    4. Buy it from the Guardian bookshop

    1. Tell us what you think: Star-rate and review this book

    An indication of how much higher had been made clear on 28 July 1976, when the nondescript mining city of Tangshan in northern China was hit by an earthquake which measured 7.8 on the Richter scale and killed some 250,000 people. At the time, many Chinese regarded the disaster as a portent of great change. Already that year two major Chinese leaders, premier Zhou Enlai and senior marshal Zhu De, had died. And just two months later, on 9 September, Mao Zedong, the man who had led China for more than quarter of a century, himself went to meet his maker – Marx, of course.

    James Palmer’s book weaves together these two narratives of natural disaster and elite political intrigue to provide a lucid account of one of the eeriest moments in modern Chinese history. Palmer takes us inside Zhongnanhai, the party complex formerly inhabited by the emperors in the heart of Beijing, and brings to life the personalities jockeying for power as Mao lay dying of Lou Gehrig’s disease. On the left, the cultural revolution group radicals were led by Mao’s wife Jiang Qing, who once declared “Sex is engaging in the first rounds, but what really sustains attention in the long run is power.”

    The Chinese (and western) prejudice against powerful women has tended to give Jiang a uniquely demonic quality, and Palmer does well to remind readers of the role of figures such as the venal and overpromoted Wang Hongwen who whiled away the time during Mao’s deathwatch by riding his motorbike and watching imported Hong Kong movies (although not simultaneously). On the right, the dying Zhou, stricken with cancer, sought to promote Deng Xiaoping, whose economic reforms he thought essential to rescue China from the inward-looking xenophobia of the cultural revolution. Yet this was not a melodrama of evil and good, or even radicalism versus reform. Even Zhou had plenty of blood on his hands, voting for all Mao’s decisions to deepen the cultural revolution; in Palmer’s telling phrase, he “saved more monuments than people”.

    Just a few hundred miles away from the chairman’s deathbed, thousands of ordinary Chinese were about to meet a sudden and much more horrific end. The earthquake hit Tangshan with the force of 400 Hiroshima-sized atomic bombs, and its effect was felt as far afield as Beijing. Yet the help that arrived was patchy and almost all concentrated on the city, where the economically vital industrial equipment was located, rather than the rural areas. There were many heroic tales of people rescuing each other. There were also numerous cases of rape and looting. Palmer has interviewed survivors of the earthquake, some of whom had never before had a chance to tell their stories of struggling to survive in a city whose streets were lined with corpses and where help seemed very far off. One theme emerges clearly: the state was distracted by the crisis of succession and unable to deal with a more immediate and unexpected shock.

    Palmer’s account is written in enviably elegant prose. The narrative never flags and its judgments are humane and nuanced. The book argues that 1976 marks a moment of transition; after Mao’s death, a swift series of internal coups and arrests brought the Gang of Four low and set the stage for Deng to take power within two years of Mao’s death. The concentration on human stories means, however, that some of the factors that complicate the transition between the cultural revolution and the China of Deng Xiaoping are underplayed. We tend now to think of the era since Mao’s death as the emergence of China into a capitalist world (in which Beijing has become one of the most skilled players). But during the first decade of reform, immediately post-Mao, the aim of Deng and his faction was to create a more market-oriented socialism in a world where they would engage with the USSR as well as the United States. In addition, important legal and economic reforms had already begun in the early 70s, along with the opening to the US. The death of Mao was a moment when China sought to rethink the cold war, rather than escape it.

    Yet the significance of this book is reflected in the fact that a book entitled “The Death of Deng” would hardly have the same impact. Mao was the last Chinese leader whose death would unleash a personalised factional battle that could end in violence. In 2011, Hong Kong news sources wrongly reported the death of former Chinese president Jiang Zemin. The moment was embarrassing but not politically relevant. Yet just four decades ago, leaders did not retire and die peacefully. Former president Liu Shaoqi died as a prisoner in agony from medical mistreatment in a basement in 1969. Mao himself hung on as chairman to the last possible moment. Deng’s achievement after Mao’s death was to use his own force of personality to create a regular changeover of distinctly uncharismatic leaders.

    Palmer ends with a reflection on the Sichuan earthquake of 2008. There, effective rescuers arrived within hours, unlike in Tangshan. But the aftermath of 2008 has been just as murky as in 1976. Locals who have tried to investigate official corruption that might have allowed substandard construction that caused buildings to collapse have been arrested and intimidated. The artist Ai Weiwei, who has spoken out on behalf of the earthquake victims, has been subjected to a (still ongoing) cat-and-mouse strategy by the authorities. This account of the links between natural disaster and elite politics in China is a fine work of history. But its real relevance may be that it shows how much has changed in China, and yet how little, since 1976.

    • Rana Mitter’s Modern China: A Very Short Introduction is published by OUP.

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    Drenched in old-world charm

    Posted on 26th January 2012 in The monuments of world
    A

     

    The beach near Nam Hai Hotel in Hoi An

    The beach near Nam Hai Hotel in Hoi An

    The Goddess of Mercy looms large at Linh ung Pagoda complex

    The Goddess of Mercy looms large at Linh ung Pagoda complex

    A woman sells her tasty skewered meat in Hoi An

    A woman sells her tasty skewered meat in Hoi An

    A view of the Japanese Covered Bridge in Hoi An

    A view of the Japanese Covered Bridge in Hoi An

    A hawker in Danang

    A hawker in Danang

    A view from the Citadel

    A view from the Citadel

    THE waves are ominous but I am drawn to them. Danang’s China beach, which faces the angry South China Sea, is my idea of paradise on earth. The wind and the waves rant and roar, a magnificent audio backdrop to the pristine beach. There are zero tourists around and I am glad for that. With the wind in my face and the hypnotic sounds of the crashing waves, I could just stay there forever.

    Danang is the third largest city in Vietnam, home to almost a million people. Holidaymakers come mostly for the endless beach and the nearby Marble Mountains. Thankfully, it still remains relatively untouched by the crass commercialism that has afflicted Ho Chi Minh City.

    Flashback a couple of decades ago. I remember the tiny airport at Danang and the old plane I boarded from Ho Chi Minh City to wearily get there. Danang today boasts an international airport and AirAsia now flies there four times a week, so access is a breeze.

    The best time to visit Danang is from January to August as the rainy season starts thereafter, but there’s no stopping our media group from trekking through Danang, neighbouring Hoi An and Hue — in disposable raincoats, no less.
     
    More than just the beach

    The incessant rain makes sightseeing difficult. It’s Day 1 of the tour but our spirits are not dampened. Peering through the window as the bus lurches its way through the thoroughfares of the city and beyond, we try to take in whatever sights we could and take a shaky shot or two with our cameras.

    The Goddess of Mercy can be seen in the the distance, gradually looming above us as we make our way to the Linh ung Pagoda complex in Son Tra province. At over 600 metres above sea level, the complex offers great views of the city and the adjacent beach. The Goddess herself is 67 metres tall, a sight to behold. Inside her are apparently 17 stories and 21 Buddhas but we never got to go in.

    After playing tourists, we are soon herded back onto the bus for our next destination, Marble Mountain, but not before spotting a middle-aged female visitor doing the unthinkable in the distance — pulling down her pants in broad daylight and peeing in a drain. Wow, I thought such sightings are only possible in rural China!

    It is late afternoon when we reach Marble Mountain but the huge lift, specially constructed for the weary (read: lazy tourists) is closed so going up by foot is the only option. However, this too is ruled out, thanks in huge part to the downpour that continues unabated. We console ourselves with browsing at a couple of nearby shops selling pricey marble handicraft.

    A bit of history

    Danang was apparently first settled by the Indonesians. Initially a part of the Champa Kingdom that ruled much of southern Vietnam until the 15th century, Danang played an important part in Vietnamese history for many centuries.

    Colonised by the French in 1858 along with Hanoi, Saigon, Haiphong and Hue, it was considered one of Indochina’s five major cities.

    In more recent history, Danang is best known for its role in the Vietnam war. The air base there was a major American hub, used both by the Americans and the South Vietnamese army.

    Nearby China Beach, named after its beautiful china-white sand, was where wounded and weary American soldiers came to recuperate and recover.

    Onward we march

    I never knew the skies could contain so much water. It is still raining when Day 2 of my Danang adventure dawns. Our AirAsia organisers want it to be extra special, so our bus takes the Hai Van pass, a winding narrow road that snakes up a mountain, instead of comfortably zooming down a new highway, en route to our next destination, Hue.

    This Hai Van pass is a 5km mountain route which takes up 1,500km above sea level, a veritable challenge for drivers due to the twisting and arduous route. Being a left-hand-drive vehicle makes it extra daunting but I suppose the attraction of braving the route are the scenic views of the coastline at every other turn.

    We arrive in Hue after three long hours and guess what? It’s still raining! Do your worst, I mutter under my breath as I struggle with my raincoat, camera, bag and dignity. We all look like bloated whales in our colourful raincoats and I think we media folks — all 18 of us — make quite an impression descending on the Citadel.

    The imperial complex

    In Vietnam’s ancient history, Hue was once its capital, with the palace complex located on the north bank of the Perfume River. Commonly called the Citadel, the complex was built in 1804 and completed in 1833. It is huge — covering an area of 520 hectares — so it’s an intimidating prospect for travel journalists. We make do with visiting some old rooms and pretend to understand what the Vietnamese guide is mumbling in the rain.

    To cut a long story short, the Citadel contains feudal relics of immense architectural and cultural values, showcasing the traditional and classical side of Vietnam. Just so you know.

    Finally, the rain stops

    It’s Day 3 and our official duties (the itinerary proper) ends today. Our guide senses our exuberance as he lets us off in Hoi An, a village-cum-tourist area boasting Vietnamese, Chinese and Japanese-style old buildings. The sky is clear and it is a good day to, what else, shop! Like a bunch of excited students on their holiday break, we fan out looking for cheap souvenirs and hawker fare. It’s a good time to practise our haggling skills. With 100,000 Vietnamese dong the equivalent of RM15, calculating the price of anything can be mind-boggling. One guy goes in search of the loo and refuses to pay the 3,000 dong fee, until we point out that it’s only 30 sen-lah. Another female journalist posts on Facebook that she’s spending 83,000 on a item, eliciting numerous queries on whether it’s a branded bag! One thing’s for sure, it does feel good to be millionaires in Vietnam.

    Hard to say goodbye

    Vietnam has undergone much changes since it opened its doors to tourists 20 years. Then, I went through immigration under the watchful eyes of soldiers brandishing M16s. Today, officers in smart attire man counters and efficiently wave you through. While Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi have, unfortunately, morphed into expensive touristy places, Danang still retains that old-world, simple charm that is quite irresistible.

    I will never forget the innocent smiles, the quizzical looks we encounter over language, and the simple folks we meet in Hoi An, Hue and elsewhere. Danang, for me, is on the verge of modernisation and yet not quite there. That is as good a reason for anyone to visit it now before the innocence is lost. As my plane takes off, I take a last longing look at Danang and tell myself that I will be back.

    Where to go

    Marble Mountains
    One of Vietnam’s most popular attractions, they consist of five marble and limestone hills (each named after one of the elements) not far from Danang. Climbing them is challenging but rewarding as there is a panoramic view of the beach and the surrounding countryside. The lazy ones can always opt to take the lift, a huge contraption that looks so oddly out of place with the natural surroundings.
    Several Buddhist sanctuaries can also be found within the mountain.
    The area is famous for its stone sculptures but rock extraction from the mountains has been banned, with materials now sourced from quarries elsewhere.
     
    Hue
    The imperial capital of the Nguyen Dynasty and was also the capital of Vietnam until the communist government made Hanoi as the capital city. Hue houses the Imperial Citadel and within it is the Forbidden City where emperors and concubines cavort. While the city stood majestically during the reign of the emperors, it also witnessed a massacre when it was controlled by the Viet Cong during the war. Hue also suffered damage when the Americans bombed the city in an effort to recapture the city.
    One of the main attractions of Hue is the Thien Mu Pagoda, which also serves as the symbol of the city. Other sites that should not be missed are the tombs of several emperors.

    My Son Sanctuary
    This is a Unesco World Heritage Site, and considered to be the Angkor of Vietnam. Located about 70km west of Danang, it was an imperial city of the Champa kingdom. Expect a large complex of ruined or abandoned Hindu monuments constructed between the 4th and 14th century.

    Hoi An
    Located near Danang, Hoi An oozes charm and history. This sleepy village is definitely a tourist spot these days, with souvenir shops, bars, and tailors every step of the way.

    The weather

    February to April
    Spring: cool and dry: Great time to stroll about

    May to July
    Summer: Warm and dry

    August to October
    Autumn: Cold and wet

    November to January
    Winter: Occasional thunderstorms and generally rainy

    Getting there

    The Danang International Airport is 2.5km southwest of the city centre. AirAsia flies to and from Danang every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Call 03-8660 4541 or 03-8660 4333 for more details.
     

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    Clash of capitalist systems

    Posted on 23rd January 2012 in The monuments of world

    The Year of the Dragon may symbolise the struggle for prosperity for some, but others may use this year to challenge what they call state-capitalism being practised by developing countries, especially in Asia.

    IT’S the first day of the Year of the Dragon. Like others around the world, Malaysians hope it will be an auspicious year.

    Certainly it will be an interesting one. Perhaps that’s the only certainty about this coming year of uncertainty.

    The new Dragon Year will usher in even more intense debate about the role and the rise of China and of other “emerging economies”.

    As the Western countries face gloomy economic prospects, some of their political elite and intellectuals seem to be seized by fears that some developing countries, especially China, will be steaming ahead.

    Used to centuries of global economic dominance, these advanced countries are fearful that their leadership will be challenged and even overturned.

    This may be the reason for the obsession about China. These days, there are new books almost every month about the rise of China. Some deal with its high growth and prospects or with its complex political developments.

    Quite a number, like the book Death by China: Confronting the Dragon, are of the view that China is destroying not only the American economy but the whole world and its environment.

    But the fears go beyond China, and incorporate other emerging countries as well, as seen in the latest issue of The Economist, with its cover stories on “The rise of state capitalism: the emerging world’s new model.”

    The magazine describes the 88-storey Petronas Towers soaring above Kuala Lumpur, as well as the China Central TV building in Beijing and the VTB bank office in Moscow, as monuments to the new hybrid corporation – backed by the state but behaving like private-sector multinationals.

    The Economist’s editorial admits that for emerging countries wanting to make their mark on the world, state capitalism has an obvious appeal, giving them the clout that private-sector companies would take years to build.

    But its dangers outweigh its advantages, says the magazine. For their own sake and in the interests of world trade, the huge holdings should be unwound and handed over to private investors.

    The Economist however also admits that this hybrid form of “state-directed capitalism” company is not new, and cites the East India Company.

    This was the huge conglomeration that took over many Asian countries’ economies, while the English government made use of its gunboats and colonial rule to back up the EIC but other British companies.

    The magazine also cites the United States after its war of independence, Germany in the 1870s, and Japan and South Korea in the 1950s as examples of rising powers using the state to kick-start growth.

    There is thus recognition that the rise of today’s advanced countries was based on the state’s strong support in their companies’ emergence.

    These companies have dominated the global economy for decades and in some cases centuries, backed up not only by subsidies, cheap credit and other policy measures but also by their governments’ political and military force.

    In the past three decades, most developing countries have been told, through IMF-World Bank structural adjustment programmes, to give up the role of the state to direct their economies and instead rely entirely on the private sector.

    These policies did not succeed as the domestic private sector is weak or even non-existent in many countries. In poor countries, foreign companies were not interested in coming in except in the mining or plantation sectors.

    However, several other developing countries, mostly in Asia, took on a different model. Their governments believed in playing an important or even dominant role in the development process.

    At first these governments owned companies that they ran like government departments, and this was not efficient. This model was changed in some countries to one where the state can own or partly own companies that are then run on a commercial basis. The state can also assist private companies to grow.

    Government investment holding institutions like Khazanah and PNB in Malaysia or Temasek in Singapore have been set up as crucial components of this framework.

    The increasing criticism by Western intellectuals and politicians of “state capitalism” is not confined to academic observations.

    The US administration and Congress are contemplating legislation and action to place extra tariffs on Chinese products not only on anti-dumping grounds but also that they have been subsidised and that China is not a market economy.

    The Congress is also discussing whether to slap tariffs on Chinese products on the ground that China’s currency is manipulated and under-valued.

    While the focus now may be on China, other developing countries may be faced with the same actions based on the same reasoning, that these countries are unfairly helping their companies through policy measures that represent state-capitalism and industrial policy.

    Moreover, the US and Europe and now negotiating free trade agreements with developing countries that contain clauses or even chapters that seek to prohibit or restrict the practices of government-linked companies, or the provision of subsidies and preferences by government to local companies.

    Korean economist Ha Joon-chang wrote a famous book Kicking Away the Ladder to describe how developed countries made use of policies that made them rich, and now want to prevent developing countries from doing the same and thus are seeking to prohibit these same policies.

    The clash of capitalist systems and the clash between developed and developing countries over what policies are legitimate and which should be banned will intensify in this Year of the Dragon.

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    Five People In-the-Know Offer Their Favorite Places To Visit

    Posted on 20th January 2012 in The monuments of world

    There are destinations to satisfy every appetite and curiosity. We asked five authorities in various fields about the best places to …

    … EAT

    I’ve eaten sushi around the world, and the best in Tokyo is at Sushi Sawada. In the kitchen, it’s just the chef, Koji Sawada, and his wife. And there’s nothing there except charcoal and a box of rice. As old-school as you can get. I found it to be a breath of fresh air.

    In Paris, Le Chateaubriand looks like a typical bistro, but you’re getting extraordinarily intelligent food. The chef is Inaki Aizpitarte — there’s nobody like him. He’s doing food in new ways, and in the sort of relaxed setting that you might find in the United States but is rare in Paris. Everyone who ever goes to Paris asks me if I can get them a reservation at Chateaubriand.

    Everyone goes to San Sebastian, in Spain, for food. But if you want to have the best seafood experience of your life, drive about 10 to 15 minutes outside the city to Elkano Restaurant. It may not look like it, but it’s got a state-of-the-art storage space for seafood; they get a shipment of sea water every week that they use to keep things fresh. And everything’s cooked over charcoal — it’s like Basque barbecue. A dish might consist of turbot, a local sherry, a few other ingredients. Very simple, but everything is delicious.

    Don’t worry if you can’t get a reservation at Noma, the acclaimed Copenhagen, Denmark, restaurant. Head to Restaurant Relae. Christian Puglisi, the chef, and his team are all Noma veterans, serving exquisite and light vegetable-centric food, and amazing bread. Christian is a great chef — he’s worked all over Europe. And he’s Italian, so there’s sometimes an Italian bent to his dishes. His food is simple, but not simple.

    In New York, you have to try Kajitsuin the East Village. I think, consistently, it might be the best restaurant in the city. And it’s totally a value; there’s an eight-course tasting menu for $70. The executive chef, Masato Nishihara, serves Shojin temple food, an ancient cuisine developed in Buddhist monasteries — sort of Japanese comfort food. It’s all vegetables, but you’re not going to miss the meat. And his pickles are so delicious. It’s a thought-provoking experience, but also incredibly fun and extremely tasty.

    — David Chang, chef and owner of Momofuku Restaurant Group

    … SEE ART

    I find that art is a great starting point for exploring the world. Of course, my own travel is often determined by art exhibitions and projects. I love Los Angeles, and I’ve been thrilled by the international attention to “Pacific Standard Time,” a huge, multi-institution exhibition showing art of California in the most inspiring and groundbreaking way. From the Los Angeles County Museum of Art to the Hammer Museum to the California African American Museum and many, many more, “Pacific Standard Time” is a whole new way to experience a vast range of significant art and artists and a great moment for the city.

    New York is always at the top of my list because at any given moment, this city is filled with exhibitions that allow people to be reacquainted with art and artists they love, and to discover new art — sometimes in the same institution. This year, there’s the Whitney Biennial 2012 and the New Museum Triennial: “The Ungovernables.” In June, the Studio Museum and our peer institutions El Museo del Barrioand the Queens Museum of Art will open the collaborative, multisite exhibition “Caribbean: Crossroads of the World,” surveying art from the Caribbean and offering new ideas about this amazing part of the world and its contributions to art and culture.

    One of the most inspiring places to see art is, for me, the Tate Modern in London. It’s among my favorite physical spaces, as the architecture really facilitates engaging with the work on view. I’m really looking forward to the Yayoi Kusama retrospective that opens in February.

    Placing museums and art at the center of any itinerary gives you a point of entry for so many wonderful places. I love Dakar, Senegal, and the biennial Dak’artis a reason to explore not just the city’s visual art, but also its music, performance, design and more; this year’s iteration opens in May. In fact, there are so many biennials and triennials, you could combine them for a fascinating itinerary. To start: Arts in Marrakesh Biennalein Morocco is Feb. 29 through June 3; the Paris Triennial is April 20 to Aug. 26; the seventh Berlin Biennial is April 28 through July 1; the 11th Havana Biennialis May 11 through June 11 in Cuba; Manifesta 9 in Belgium is June 2 through Sept. 30; Documenta in Kassel, Germany, is June 9 through Sept. 16 and the 30th; and Sao Paulo Biennialis Sept. 8 through Dec. 9.

    — Thelma Golden, director and chief curator of the Studio Museum in Harlem

    … UNDERSTAND THE WORLD

    If you want to understand the world, you need to understand Asia. That, in turn, means setting foot in China and India.

    Together, those two countries account for one-third of humanity and much of the world’s recent economic growth. They reflect two of our richest civilizations, two broad religious traditions and a vast share of the world’s artistic heritage — and its future.

    So fly to Beijing and Shanghai, Xian and Guangzhou. But don’t just visit the giant metropolises. Go also to the countryside that is China’s soul. Visit a town like Datong, west of Beijing, home to stunning carved Buddhas several stories high. They are 1,500 years old and one of the most amazing sights in China, yet few foreign tourists know of Datong.

    Not far away is the stunning Hanging Monastery, perched precariously on the side of a cliff. And Datong can be used as a base to see parts of the Great Wall that haven’t been restored. Nobody charges admission: They just sit there, waiting to be explored.

    Then visit India, and likewise go beyond Delhi and Mumbai, Kolkata and Bangalore. From Delhi, you can hire a car and visit the poor state of Rajasthan next door. Or explore the religious side of India, perhaps with a flight to Varanasi, on the holy Ganges River, where corpses are cremated on bonfires beside the waters. Or take a train to Amritsar and visit the Sikh Golden Temple.

    Wherever you go, try to interact not only with monuments but also with the people. My best experiences on the road have always been unscripted and spontaneous encounters with local people. Too often, tourists see Tiananmen Square and the Taj Mahal, but don’t make friends or ever step into a Chinese or Indian home. Asia is important above all for its people, so get to know them!

    — Nicholas D. Kristof, New York Times columnist

    … HEAR MUSIC

    I’ve traveled all over the world — Europe, Africa, South America, Asia — and music is everywhere. People are full of music in Cairo, and music is on every street corner and temple in India.

    In terms of where to hear cutting-edge popular music today, your first stop might be New York City, which, in my opinion, is definitely one of the hot spots right now. I’m from the U.K., and people there feel the same way, with groups like Vampire Weekend and MGMT putting it on the map and newcomers like Elle King making the scene now. The Music Hall of Williamsburg is probably the epicenter of the scene, along with Glasslands and the Knitting Factory. Bell House is worth a visit, too.

    I was in Paris a few weeks ago. As well as being historical and beautiful, is still one of the most vibrant, cutting-edge cities and has some of the best music. The hot club right now is the Social Club. You can hear a sound there — kind of an amalgam of funk and disco, though not specifically retro — that’s purely a creation of Paris. It’s electronic and based around that ’70s and ’80s funk. Hip-hop is also really big there. Kanye and Jay-Z have a song that references Paris right now. Another club worth noting is Silencio, designed in part by David Lynch. It’s more of a social club and a dance club — another place to hear the newest Paris sound.

    In London, the dance party everybody is talking about is Horse Meat Disco at Eagle London in Vauxhall on Sunday nights. It’s DJ’d disco music that is a late night thing. I would also recommend XOYO in Shoreditch. Azealia Banks, a Harlem rapper, just performed there, and it’s becoming one of the hippest, in-the-know clubs in the city. Londoners are very open to new music, so a lot of Americans get their start there.

    Most recently, I’ve been in Jamaica, staying at Geejam, a resort in Port Antonio owned by Jon Baker, a music producer. This place has music happening at all times, as local sound systems boost reggae. The hotel also has a studio where the Gorillaz and Drake record.

    — Peter Edge, chief executive of RCA Records

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    Obama Takes Actions to Increase Travel and Tourism in the United States

    Posted on 19th January 2012 in The monuments of world

    19 January 2012 White House Media Release

    This morning, President Obama will sign an Executive Order and announce new initiatives to significantly increase travel and tourism in the United States. The U.S. tourism and travel industry is a substantial component of U.S. GDP and employment, representing 2.7% of GDP and 7.5 million jobs in 2010 – with international travel to the United States supporting 1.2 million jobs alone. The travel and tourism industry projects that more than 1 million American jobs could be created over the next decade if the U.S. increased its share of the international travel market. Today’s announcement offers important steps to bolster job creation through a range of steps to better promote the United States as a tourism destination and improve secure visa processing. This is the most recent of a series of executive actions the President has announced to put Americans back to work and strengthen the U.S. economy.

    “Every year, tens of millions of tourists from all over the world come and visit America. And the more folks who visit America, the more Americans we get back to work. We need to help businesses all across the country grow and create jobs; compete and win. That’s how we’re going to rebuild an economy where hard work pays off, where responsibility is rewarded, and where anyone can make it if they try,” said President Obama.

    According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, international travel resulted in $134 billion in U.S. exports in 2010 and is the nation’s largest service export industry, with 7% of total exports and 24% of service exports. The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that every additional 65 international visitors to the United States can generate enough exports to support an additional travel and tourism-related job. According to the travel industry and Bureau of Economic Analysis, international travel is particularly important as overseas or “long-haul” travelers spend on average $4,000 on each visit.

    Today’s announcement calls for a national strategy to make the United States the world’s top travel and tourism destination, as part of a comprehensive effort to spur job creation. The number of travelers from emerging economies with growing middle classes – such as China, Brazil, and India – is projected to grow by 135%, 274%, and 50% respectively by 2016 when compared to 2010.  Nationals from these three countries contributed approximately $15 billion dollars and thousands of jobs to the U.S. economy in 2010.  In addition, Chinese and Brazilian tourists currently spend more than $6,000 and $5,000 respectively each, per trip, according to the Department of Commerce. The Department of State has made tremendous progress in processing non-immigrant visas from these key markets, allowing them to issue more than 7.5 million visas in the last fiscal year, a 17% increase from the previous fiscal year. In the 2011 fiscal year, consular officers adjudicated more than a million visa applications in China and more than 800,000 in Brazil, representing 34 % growth in China and 42% growth in Brazil. Improving visa processing capacity for China and Brazil is particularly important because of this growth.

    KEY HIGHLIGHTS:

    Today’s Executive Order charges several agencies to take part in efforts to increase travel and tourism in the United States:

    ·         The Secretaries of Commerce and the Interior will be charged with:

    o   Co-leading an interagency task force to develop recommendations for a National Travel & Tourism Strategy to promote domestic and international travel opportunities throughout the United States, thereby expanding job creation. This Task Force will coordinate with the Corporation for Travel Promotion (currently doing business as BrandUSA), a non-profit corporation established by Congress through the Travel Promotion Act of 2009 to promote travel to the United States, and the Tourism Policy Council to ensure private sector participation and cross-agency coordination.

    o   A particular focus of the Task Force will be on strategies for increasing tourism and recreation jobs by promoting visits to our national treasures. The Department of the Interior manages iconic destinations in our national parks, wildlife refuges, cultural and historic sites, monuments and other public lands that attract travelers from around the country and the globe. In 2010, more than 400 million visits were made by American and international travelers to these lands, contributing nearly $50 billion in economic activity and 400,000 jobs. Eco-tourism and outdoor recreation also have an outsize impact on rural economies, particularly in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming. 

    ·         The Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security will be charged with:

    o   Increasing non-immigrant visa processing capacity in China and Brazil by 40% in 2012.

    o   Ensuring that 80% of non-immigrant visa applicants are interviewed within three weeks of receipt of application.

    o   Increasing efforts to expand the Visa Waiver Program and travel by nationals eligible to participate in the Visa Waiver Program, and expanding reciprocal trusted travel programs for expedited travel (such as the Global Entry program).

    ·         The Department of Commerce will be charged with:

    o   Establishing and maintaining a publicly available website with key information and statistics from across the Federal Government to assist industry and travelers in understanding visa processes in key travel and tourism markets, and entry times into the United States.

    Additional initiatives announced today include:

    ·         New Pilot Program and Rule Change for Visa Processing in China and Brazil:

    o   Today, the Departments of State and Homeland Security announced a pilot program to simplify and speed up the non-immigrant visa process for certain applicants, including the ability to waive interviews for some very low-risk applicants, such as individuals from any country renewing non-immigrant visas, or, in Brazil, younger or older first-time applicants. Link to fact sheet HERE for more information.

    ·         Final Rule to Expand and Make the Global Entry Program Permanent:

    o   Global Entry is a program within the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection that was created as a pilot in 2008 to facilitate expedited clearance for pre-approved, low-risk travelers upon arrival in the United States. Through a final rule, the Administration will expand and make the Global Entry program permanent. Due in part to innovative public-private partnerships, the Global Entry program now has more than 246,000 members, more than one million trusted travelers have Global Entry benefits, and efforts are underway to expand enrollment even further. There are currently 131 Global Entry kiosks at 20 airports and since launching, members have used Global Entry kiosks over 1.7 million times, saving CBP officers over 36,450 inspection hours—staff hours that CBP has then re-allocated to expedite regular passenger queues. This final rule will allow the program to be expanded to an additional 4 airports in Minneapolis, Charlotte, Denver and Phoenix, making the Global Entry program and expedited clearance available in airports that service approximately 97% of international travelers.

    ·         Appoint new members to the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board:

    o   A new membership of 32 private sector CEOs have been appointed by Commerce Secretary Bryson to serve on the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board. The Advisory Board will build upon the work undertaken by the past Board addressing travel facilitation, visa policy, improving the international travel entry experience, aviation security, energy security, crisis communications and research and data, among other issues. This Board consists of corporate executives across the nation, representing all aspects of the travel and tourism industry, who are appointed to a two-year term to advise the Secretary of Commerce on policies affecting the travel and tourism industry. See the full list of new members HERE.

    ·         Nomination of Taiwan to Visa Waiver Program:

    o   Currently, more than 60% of international tourists do not require a U.S. visa, in most cases because they travel under the Visa Waiver Program.  The Secretary of State has formally requested that the Secretary of Homeland Security consider Taiwan for the Visa Waiver Program. Over the past year, Taiwan has undertaken significant efforts to improve its law enforcement and document security standards to meet the strict requirements for Visa Waiver Program eligibility. Under the Visa Waiver Program, participating nationals can travel to the United States for tourism or business for stays of 90 days or less without obtaining a visa. The program was established to promote travel and tourism with our foreign partners, stimulate the tourism industry, and permit the Department of State to focus consular resources in other areas. Since November 2008, the Department of Homeland Security has added nine countries to the Visa Waiver Program, bringing the program total to 36 countries.

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    AP Exclusive: Top North Korean official not worried about Kim Jong Un's ability to lead

    Posted on 18th January 2012 in The monuments of world

    PYONGYANG, North Korea – A senior North Korean official dismissed concerns about Kim Jong Un’s readiness to lead, saying he spent years working closely with his late father and helping him make key policy decisions on economic and military affairs.

    In the first interview with foreign journalists by a high-level North Korean official since Kim Jong Il’s Dec. 17 death, Politburo member and Kim family confidante Yang Hyong Sop told The Associated Press that North Koreans were in good hands with their young new leader. He emphasized an unbroken continuity from father to son that suggests a continuation of Kim Jong Il’s key policies.

    “We suffered the greatest loss in the history of our nation as a result of the sudden, unexpected and tragic loss of the great leader Kim Jong Il,” he said in the interview Monday at Mansudae Assembly Hall, seat of the North Korean legislative body.

    “But still, we are not worried a bit,” he added, “because we know that we are being led by comrade Kim Jong Un, who is fully prepared to carry on the heritage created by the great Gen. Kim Jong Il.”

    Despite Yang’s assertion of a lengthy behind-the-scenes role for Kim Jong Un, the world was introduced to the heir only in September 2010, prior to which he had been kept out of the public eye for most of his life. Though still in his 20s, he was quickly promoted to four-star general and named a vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party of Korea.

    The new ruler’s youth and quick ascension to power have raised questions in foreign capitals about how ready he is to rule over this nation of 24 million with a nuclear program as well as chronic trouble feeding all its people.

    Yang said he had no concerns about Kim’s ability to lead.

    “The respected comrade Kim Jong Un had long assisted the great Gen. Kim Jong Il,” he told AP. “It’s not a secret that he has helped the great general in many different aspects — not only in military affairs but also the economy and other areas as well.”

    Daily life in this cold, sombre capital has begun to return to normal one month after Kim’s death, reportedly from a heart attack while riding on his private train.

    The white mourning bouquets and massive portraits of the departed leader have been cleared from Pyongyang’s main buildings and monuments. People are busy getting back to daily life, with children whizzing down icy slopes on wooden sleds and workers running to catch morning buses and trams as the Kim Jong Un ode “Footsteps” blares over loudspeakers.

    Vast Kim Il Sung Square, where a sea of mourners converged after Kim’s death, was ghostly quiet except for a few people who scurried quickly across the frigid plaza.

    In recent weeks, as North Koreans filled the capital’s streets with their emotive mourning and the government staged elaborate funeral proceedings, party and military officials moved quickly to install Kim’s son as “supreme leader” of the people, party and military.

    A soft-spoken octogenarian who is vice-president of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly and a standing member of the powerful Political Bureau of the Communist party’s Central Committee, Yang has long-standing ties with the Kim family that stretch back to his close alliance with the nation’s founder, Kim Il Sung.

    During a 2010 interview with Associated Press Television News in Pyongyang, he provided the first confirmation by a government official that Kim Jong Un would eventually become the nation’s next leader.

    “He knows what the exact intention of the great Gen. Kim Jong Il was,” he said Monday.

    His comments this week indicated there would be little change to major policies laid out by Kim Jong Un’s father in the three years before his death. Yang said the new leader was focused on a “knowledge-based” economy and looking at economic reforms enacted by other nations, including China.

    The North has increasingly looked to China for guidance on how to revitalize its moribund economy, particularly as South Korea, Japan and other nations have frozen trade and aid to the North amid concerns about its nuclear ambitions.

    Little is known about Kim Jong Un’s background and experience, though North Koreans have been told he studied at Kim Il Sung Military University and was involved in military operations such as the November 2010 artillery attack on a South Korean island that killed four South Koreans.

    Earlier this month, North Korea’s state-run broadcaster aired a documentary about the new leader that began filling in some blanks from before his public debut.

    The footage shows him observing the April 2009 launch of a long-range rocket and quotes him threatening to wage war against any nation attempting to intercept the rocket, which North Korea claimed was carrying a communications satellite but the United States, South Korea and Japan say was really a test of its long-range missile technology.

    It was the first indication of his involvement in that controversial launch.

    Yet if Kim Jong Un was playing a prominent behind-the-scenes role prior to 2010, his training period would have been much shorter than that of his Kim Jong Il, who spent 20 years working under his own father, Kim Il Sung. Even after his father’s death, Kim Jong Il observed a three-year mourning period before formally assuming leadership.

    ___

    Follow AP’s Korea Bureau Chief Jean H. Lee at twitter.com/newsjean and Chief Asia Photographer David Guttenfelder at twitter.com/dguttenfelder.

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    Where to Go to Understand the World in 2012

    Posted on 6th January 2012 in The monuments of world

    Narinder Nanu/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

    The Sikh Golden Temple, in Amritsar, India.

    If you want to understand the world, you need to understand Asia. That, in turn, means setting foot in China and India.Together, those two countries account for one-third of humanity and much of the world’s recent economic growth. They reflect two of our richest civilizations, two broad religious traditions and a vast share of the world’s artistic heritage — and its future.

    So fly to Beijing and Shanghai, Xian and Guangzhou. But don’t just visit the giant metropolises. Go also to the countryside that is China’s soul. Visit a town like Datong, west of Beijing, home to stunning carved Buddhas several stories high. They are 1,500 years old and one of the most amazing sights in China, yet few foreign tourists know of Datong.

    Not far away is the stunning Hanging Monastery, perched precariously on the side of a cliff. And Datong can be used as a base to see parts of the Great Wall that haven’t been restored. Nobody charges admission: they just sit there, waiting to be explored.

    Alternatively, especially in winter, go south to the warmer landscape of the Guangxi region. From Guilin, take a boat trip down the Li River, with views of those jutting spires that are featured in Chinese art, and spend a couple of days in the lovely town of Yangshuo. From there, you can easily rent bikes and explore the nearby countryside.

    Wherever you go, drop in on a village. Residents will be surprised but hospitable, and if you have a Chinese speaker to translate, then you can have great conversations. Or drop by the local school, and you may find an English teacher delighted to practice conversational skills.

    Then visit India, and likewise go beyond Delhi and Mumbai, Kolkata and Bangalore. From Delhi, you can hire a car and visit the poor state of Rajasthan next door. Or explore the religious side of India, perhaps with a flight to Varanasi, on the holy Ganges River, where corpses are cremated on bonfires beside the waters. Or take a train to Amritsar and visit the Sikh Golden Temple.

    As a backpacking student years ago, I slept a couple of nights free on the floor of a room on Temple grounds; it was as memorable as the Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai, one of the world’s best hotels. From Amritsar, you can also make a side trip by road to Lahore, Pakistan, a grand and relatively safe city just an hour across the border.

    Wherever you go, try to interact not only with monuments but also with the people. My best experiences on the road have always been unscripted and spontaneous encounters with local people. On my first trip to China in 1983, I was caught in a furious rainstorm in Beijing without an umbrella, and a young couple took pity and invited me into their nearby apartment for a memorable evening of conversation, dinner and drying off. While riding a long-distance bus in Algeria, the man beside me invited me to get off with him at his village in the middle of nowhere, so I spent a couple of days living in underground tunnels in the desert with his family. In Indonesia, my wife and I got stuck in a remote Javanese village when a road proved impassible, but a family took us in, and we ended up delighted by our mishap.

    So remember, the most amazing sights abroad are often the human ones. Too often, tourists see Tiananmen Square and the Taj Mahal, but don’t make friends or ever step into a Chinese or Indian home. Asia is important above all for its people, so get to know them!

    Nicholas D. Kristof is a columnist for The New York Times.

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    Kim Jong Il dead: Kim Jong Un to rule North Korea with help of his uncle

    Posted on 21st December 2011 in The monuments of world

    • First time since end of WW2 a sole dictator will not be in charge
    • Backing of military calms fears of coup
    • Smooth transition will mean ‘little change’ for impoverished citizens
    • South Korean activists send propaganda balloons over border

    By
    Lee Moran

    Last updated at 3:49 PM on 21st December 2011

    North Korea’s new young leader Kim Jong Un will rule the country alongside his uncle and the military, sources revealed today.

    Jang Song Thaek will work alongside his inexperienced and untested 28-year-old nephew – the first time since the end of World War Two a collective rather than a dictator from the family dynasty will be in charge.

    The army’s backing of Kim Jong Il’s third son, his proclaimed successor, has also calmed fears there could be a military coup.

    And it has prompted speculation there
    will now be a smooth transition of power – meaning little change for the
    millions of impoverished and poverty-stricken citizens.

    New leaders: Jang Song Thaek (left) will rule with his nephew Kim Jong Un (right) with help from the military

    Collective: North Korean military, who will run the country alongside Kim Jong Il's brother and son, cry as they visit the Kumsusan Memorial Palace to pay their respects to their leader

    Collective: North Korean military, who will run the country alongside Kim Jong Il’s brother and son, cry as they visit the Kumsusan Memorial Palace to pay their respects to their leader

    A source also revealed that the test-firing of a North Korean missile on Monday, following the announcement of Kim Jong Il’s death on Saturday, was a warning shot against the U.S.

    The source said: ‘With the missile test, North Korea wanted to deliver the message that they have the ability to protect themselves.

    ‘But North Korea is unlikely to conduct a nuclear test in the near future unless provoked by the United States and South Korea.’

    Jang Song Thaek’s appointment was widely
    expected after his addition to the National Defence Commission, the
    supreme leadership council led by his brother Kim Jong Il as head of the
    military state, in 2009.

    Lying in state: The body of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is on display at the Kumsusan Memorial Palace in Pyongyang

    Lying in state: The body of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is on display at the Kumsusan Memorial Palace in Pyongyang

    Family affair: Kim Jong Il is pictured on the escalator of a Pyongyang supermarket, with his sister Kim Kyong Hui, his son Kim Jong Un, and his sister's husband Jang Song Thaek behind him

    Family affair: Kim Jong Il is pictured on the escalator of a Pyongyang supermarket, with his sister Kim Kyong Hui, his son Kim Jong Un, and his sister’s husband Jang Song Thaek behind him

    Procession: People bring floral arrangements to the bier of leader Kim Jong Il in Pyongang following his death

    Procession: People bring floral arrangements to the bier of leader Kim Jong Il in Pyongang following his death

    ‘NORTH KOREANS ARE LIVING OFF GRASS AND ONE POTATO PER DAY

    UN food experts urged immediate food aid for the isolated nation just months before Kim Jong Il’s (pictured) death.

    Three groups described the urgent need for food, reporting ‘acute malnutrition’ among North Korean children, ‘widespread consumption of grass’ and elderly people on a ‘knife edge’.

    There was ‘substantial evidence’ of a growing food crisis for millions who live in the countryside – beyond the relative comfort of Pyongyang.

    ‘What we saw was extensive chronic malnutrition and cases of acute malnutrition, which is where the person is basically dying,’ said David Austin, director of North Korea’s Mercy Corps.

    He added: ‘More than 50 per cent of people who are reliant on (state-provided grain) were out seeking out alternative food – things like bark, wild grass, and leaves – and mixing it in with food. We found there was no protein or fat in people’s diets.’

    And when he returned in September, government grain rations had been cut by more than half to about 150 grams per day – the equivalent of one potato.

    Alongside Kim Jong Il’s younger sister Kim Kyong Hui, he is expected to guide the ‘young general’ during his formative days in power.

    As part of the consolidation of power, security was stepped up in cities and troops put on high alert as South Korean activists launched giant balloons containing tens of thousands of propaganda leaflets across the border.

    Some showed graphic pictures of former Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi’s battered corpse and described his gruesome death.

    They oppose a hereditary transfer of power in North Korea – where Kim Jong Il ruled for 17 years after inheriting power from his father, national founder and eternal North Korean President Kim Il Sung, who died in 1994.

    And in another sign of border tension, Chinese boatmen along a river separating North Korea and China said North Korean police ordered them to stop giving rides to tourists, saying they will fire on the boats if they see anyone with cameras.

    Meanwhile, the young Kim yesterday led a procession of senior officials in a viewing of Kim Jong Il’s body, which is being displayed in a glass coffin near that of Kim Il Sung.

    Publicly presiding over the funeral proceedings was an important milestone for his successor, strengthening his image as the country’s political face at home and abroad.

    State media showed video of Kim Jong Un receiving mourners, including foreign envoys, as he stood near his father’s body with an honour guard.

    He was sombre during the greetings, although footage at one point showed him teary-eyed.  A report in the North’s official Korean Central News Agency did not specify which foreign countries the envoys represented.

    According to official media, more than five million North Koreans have gathered at monuments and memorials in the capital since the death of Kim Jong Il.

    Protest: South Korean activists have been sending propaganda balloons over the border

    Protest: South Korean activists have been sending propaganda balloons over the border

    Up and away: Some of the balloons showed graphic pictures of former Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi’s battered corpse and described his gruesome death

    Hundreds of thousands visited monuments around the city within hours of the official announcement that Kim had died.

    The North has declared an 11 day period of mourning that will culminate in his state funeral and a national memorial service on December 28 to 29.

    Half-way across the world, flags flew at half-staff yesterday in Cuba as the country began three days of official mourning in a show of solidarity with its fellow communist state.         

    The Council of State decreed the mourning period without comment and said flags would be lowered at all government buildings and military installations.         

    High alert: South Korean army soldiers pictured patrolling along the barbed-wire fence in the demilitarized zone between South and North Korea in Yeoncheon

    High alert: South Korean army soldiers pictured patrolling along the barbed-wire fence in the demilitarized zone between the South and North

    Bleak: Armed North Korean soldiers collect twigs on the banks of Yalu River (left) near the North Korean town of Sinuiju, opposite the Chinese border city of Dandong, while others talk amongst themselves (right)

    A book of condolences was opened at the North Korean embassy in Havana, with a big photo of the dead leader and flowers in the entrance.               

    Cuba and North Korea are two of the world’s last communist nations and have maintained good relations since establishing diplomatic ties in 1960, the year after Fidel Castro took power in a 1959 revolution on the Caribbean island.          

    They were both on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism until North Korea was removed in 2008.

    Cuba is facing its own succession issues as it approaches a generational leadership change without much new blood waiting in the wings.     

    Half mast: A Cuban flag was flying low at a government building in Havana in solidarity to Kim Jong Il

    Half mast: A Cuban flag was flying low at a government building in Havana in solidarity to Kim Jong Il

    Tribute: A group of women march towards the North Korean Embassy to mourn the death of Kim Jong Il in Beijing, China, where the flag is being held at half mast

    Cuba was ruled for 49 years by Fidel Castro, 85, who was succeeded by brother and then first vice president Raul Castro in 2008.     

    Under the constitution, if Raul Castro were to leave office tomorrow, 81-year-old Jose Ramon Machado Ventura, current first vice president of the ruling Council of State, would succeed him until 2013, although he could be replaced sooner.  

    Government opponents said they feared Cuban leaders could circumvent the constitution and follow North Korea’s lead by quickly replacing Machado Ventura with a Castro family member.      

    But other Cubans discounted the possibility that the government would put another Castro in power, saying the Cuban system would not permit it.       

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