![]() If you have read James Clavell’s Tai-Pan, then I must urge you to read the River of Smoke. In China on the other hand, there is little interest in European exports – the Chinese are a people who believe that their own products, like their food and their own customs, are superior to all others.Įxcept that these days the Chinese people have an insatiable appetite for all that is remotely European. If one adds to this such goods as silk, porcelain and lacquerware it becomes clear that the European demand for Chinese products is insatiable. The taxes on it account for fully one tenth of Britain’s revenues. Since the middle years of the last century, the demand for Chinese tea has grown at such a pace in Britain and America that it is now the principal source of profit for the East India Company. Ghosh makes a statement which could as well reflect today’s state of the economy: Ghosh has planted the seeds of the next volume. The threads converge towards an event which sows the seeds of the opium war, and in this convergence I suspect Mr. Yet another takes the form the Indian Tai-pan stumbling in an opium laced haze of his own creation, or perhaps he attempts to navigate through his own river of smoke. One takes the form of the colourful correspondence of a gifted and seemingly gay Anglo-Indian artist looking to step out of the shadow of his famous father. One thread features Neel, disguised as a Munshi of an Indian Tai-pan. The vivid narration effortlessly transports the impressionable reader back in time to Canton of 1838 and lets him experience the unraveling of the story as an active participant. The scene rapidly shifts to the South China sea where the script erupts into apparently disconnected, yet gripping threads of parallel narration. Ghosh starts his narration on the islands of Mauritius, which, if you’ve read the Sea of Poppies will recall was the final destination of the Ibis. Speaking of pearls, do you want to know why the murky and definitely pearl-less river flowing through Guangzhou is called Pearl river? Haha, I won’t tell. ![]() Ghosh peppers his vivid description of the events in Canton (now Guangzhou, China) leading to the opium war in China with these pearls of “wisdom”. And well, post cards were more or less a manifestation of Europe’s questionable obsession with “authentic” Chinese porcelain. Ketchup, brace for this, is apparently a Chinese export from the 1800’s. My plan is to take the seat cover off this winter and see if the seat back bracket can be cut off and discarded.Why do we call sugar “ chinee” in Hindi? How did we ever land up with “post-cards” and ketchup? Did you know that we Desis were called “Achhas”? Achha, so the origin of the word chinee is because in the late 1700 and early 1800 the Dominion of India imported sugar exclusively from China. The only complaint I have is with my wide body arse, the fixture in the seat that mounts the back rest (which I don't want/have) bites into my tailbone. The OP asked about how it works with big guys. Unless you consider 100 miles as a long day in the saddle, you'll learn that a firm seat is your friend. Many aftermarket seats (Mustang, Corbin, etc.) feel overly firm until they get broken in. ![]() Whatever seat you purchase, make sure you give it adequate time to break-in before your judge it's comfort. That seat has sold very well for Mustang and I think it hits a sweet spot for most of us between good looks and reasonable long term comfort. Is it the seat I'd choose if I were headed out on a lengthy multi-day cross country trip? Probably not. I have done several 6-8 hour one-way trips since installing and the seat works fine. As to your question about touring, I think it depends on your definition of touring. Here's my response to another post on this subject - I run a Wide Tripper w/ pillion and I think it's an excellent seat.
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