China has over 1.3 billion people. Belgium has 11 million, about half of the Beijing population.
Now look what Belgium has achieved in soccer (The Red Devils, in the past decades in recently) and in cycling. Let’s not even mention Chinese soccer, a disaster due to the aversion of parents to let their kids play soccer (or anything like that), the pitiful low number of professional players, the way players are selected and trained, the scandals of corruption that have decimated what existed at a certain stage.
The Tour de France is considered the most prestigious cycling event in the world. Now China is, sorry, was considered the kingdom of bikes. But Belgian trainers had to come over here in the eighties to show the Chinese how to ride a bike. Again, riding a bike here is even considered a shame. Candidates in the famous dating show “If You Are The One” (Fei Cheng Wu Rao) are immediately buzzed out by the girls if they mention they like biking. Shame on them, why not ride a BMW? Also, riding a bike is mostly dangerous, and what even most people don’t know, traffic regulations do not allow high speeds. For good reason, imagine biking at 30 Km/h or more on a Chinese road! Suicide!
Not surprisingly for me, Belgians have a long and glorious tradition in the Tour de France. We basically grew up with a bike. However, where are the Chinese?

See here in my hometown Gent in Belgium the bike parking (one of them!) at the railway station. There is nothing like that in the whole of China!
Well, this Tour makes history because for the first time ever a Chinese is participating: Ji Cheng. Thanks to a first experience with the Dutch team Purapharm he was then taken on by Shimano China.
Let’s hope it will also encourage others in China to follow in his tracks. That is, if he makes it to the end of the grueling tour.

Got this from a friend and found it to be so interesting, I simply copy/paste, without digging deeper:

Grandson of slaves, a boy was born in a poor neighbour hood of New Orleans, known as the “Back of Town”.
His father abandoned the family when the child was an infant. His mother became a prostitute and the boy and his sister had to live with their grandmother. Early in life, he proved to be gifted for music and, with three other kids, he sang in the streets of New Orleans and his first gains were the coins that were thrown to them.
A Jewish family, Karnovsky, who had immigrated from Lithuania to the USA, had pity for the 7-year-old boy and brought him into their home. Initially given ‘work’ in the House, to feed this hungry child. Then he remained and slept in this Jewish family  where, for the first time in his life, he was treated with kindness and tenderness. When he went to bed, Mrs. Karnovsky sang him a Russian Lullaby that he would sing with her.
Later, he learned to sing and play several Russian and Jewish songs. Over time, this boy became the adopted son of this family. The Karnovskys gave him money to buy his first trumpet; as was the custom in the Jewish families, they sincerely admired his musical talent. Later, when he became a professional musician and composer, he used these Jewish melodies in compositions, such as St. James Infirmary and Go down, Moses.
The little black boy grew up and wrote a book about this Jewish family who had adopted him in 1907. In memory of this family and until the end of his life, he wore a star of David and he said that it is in this family that he had learned “how to live real life and determination”.
This little boy was called Louis Armstrong.

Another unpleasant attack of kidney stones in January, fortunately the doctor at SOS did a miracle and the horrible pain disappeared in 20 minutes. Grateful for that.
The Chinese mafia in my house brought in the TCM connections. Oh yes, “I have weak kidneys”. Now in Chinese TCM that is quite a sensitive subject as “kidneys” here refer not just to our Western “kidneys” but to a whole concept of well-being and of … sex. Doing some search produced totally different opinions on what “seniors” are supposed to do in bed. According to the Chinese, based on some “specialist” who lived like some 2,000 years ago, once you reach a certain age, men should limit their bed activities.

Dr. Sun Si Miao, a physician and Taoist of the Tang Dynasty who lived from 580 to 682 (101 years), gives the following guidelines for a healthy amount of sexual activity. TCM recommendations given over 2500 years ago:

• Teens:  Contrary to what the media pressures us to believe in today’s society, in Ancient China it was thought that teenagers didn’t have enough strong, mature energy to engage in sexual activity yet.
• 20′s: It is healthy to have sexual intercourse once every 4 days.  Engaging in sex more frequently at this age runs the risk of prematurely depleting Kidney essence.
• 30′s: Once every 8 days
• 40′s: Once every 16 days
• 50′s: Once every 20 days
• 60′s: Once a month, if the individual is fairly healthy.  If the individual had a history of health disorders or generalized weakness, then only occasional sexual activities was recommended.
• 70′s: Whether healthy or not, sex would use up too much energy therefore sex is not recommended at all.

Needless to say, Western views are kind of very very different… Funny how Chinese still swear by all that stuff while people have changed over the ages, better nutrition, health and more open minds.
More about it: “Sex and the Kidney”, the TCM view:
http://taliamarcheggiani.com/2012/01/17/sex-and-the-kidney/

And some of the Western views: “Sexual activity is a natural and important part of a healthy lifestyle, no matter what your age.” See:
http://healthycanadians.gc.ca/health-sante/sexual-sexuelle/senior-aine-eng.php

Anyway, I am always ready to explore TCM, so I accepted to follow some weeks of drinking a pretty awful concoction, prescribed by a “very experienced TCM specialist”. We have a special brewing pot that simmers for hours. Each time it produces like 10 small bottles, enough for about 3 days (kept in the fridge).
Whatever the effect, the stones disappeared (at least for now) and the rest, well, I don’t mention.