Life In Ancient Lijiang
Feb. 19, 2009
Panama City, Panama
PLUS:
- Escape From California...
AND:
- "Ms. Peddicord Is Hardly An Unbiased Source"...
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Dear Overseas Opportunity Letter Reader,
"Vicki and I are in Lijiang's lovely ancient city,"
writes intrepid Correspondent Paul Terhorst, "in Yunnan province in
southwest China. We're staying at a popular backpacker's guesthouse,
Mama Naxi's, for US$11 a night, including free Internet. A sign on the
wall says, 'Please try to return to Mama's by Midnight. It is easy to
get lost, and the staff at Mama's will stay up worrying about you. At
the very latest, be back by 1 a.m.'
"Mama means it. She (see
picture) refers to herself in the third person, passes out
tangerines and bananas, and races around the courtyard like a brash,
loving Queen among her subjects.
"Queenship comes with the territory here. Mama's Naxi tribe gives
females nearly total control over children, property, law, and
finance. Even the language reflects this matriarchy. As Lonely
Planet puts it, 'Nouns enlarge their meaning when the word for
'female' is added. For example, 'stone' plus 'female' conveys the idea
of a boulder; 'stone' plus 'male' conveys the idea of a pebble.'
"Another tribe here carries matriarchy even further, practicing what
the locals call 'walking' marriage. Walking marriage means that women
take whatever lovers they feel like taking, without ever marrying.
Children are raised by mothers, often without anyone (Mom included)
knowing who the fathers are.
"Ancient-city Lijiang is a pretty maze of winding, narrow paths (no
cars) with red wooden buildings restored to perfect condition. Canals
provide water from a lake above town. Think cute, clean, lucky red,
small-scale, old-style Chinese, and you'll get an idea, but really
you need to see the place.
"Chinese tourists from Shanghai and Beijing, from Hong Kong and Taiwan
crowd the streets. At night the clubs, bars, and restaurants explode
with music and dance, fireworks, and strobe lights. We're here during
the low, winter season. I'm told that in summer Chinese tourists
escaping the heat farther east pack the place shoulder to shoulder.
"Even with the crowds, Lijiang charms and delights. My Chinese friend
David tells me that Chinese and even Western tourists spend several
months a year here, just to enjoy the special setting. Vicki and I
might do the same one day.
"At first, we were taken aback by the crowds and the souvenir shops;
Lijiang's only industry today is tourism. But, after hanging around a
few days, the souvenir shops somehow receded into the background, and
we felt the indigenous Naxi culture come through.
"The Naxis play cards and tile games, wear tribal dress, shop at an
immense outdoor market, sit in tea shops, and dance tribal circular
dances in the town's central square.
"They eat yak yoghurt (we tried peach-flavored, delicious) and
over-the-bridge noodles: thick rice noodles with ground meat in a
spicy soup with half a dozen ingredients tossed in, all for about a
dollar.
"One morning, as I ate breakfast in the Lijiang market, Vicki stood up
to take a picture (see
picture), and the woman next to me promptly put her arm around my
neck and posed. Later she said, 'I...Shangri-La.'
"Shangri-La, a city about two hours drive north of Lijiang, has a
largely Tibetan population. She was telling me she was proud to be
Tibetan, taking her place alongside Yi, Naxi, Mosu, and other ethnic
groups in this part of the Yangtze valley.
"Signs around Lijiang tell tourists how to behave. My Chinese friend
David says the originals use Chinese poetry and metaphor to get the
point across, thus presenting a translation problem. I can figure out
some signs--'Green the ancient town and promote the civilization
everywhere.' But others--'Another bright scenery rational
shopping'--seem more challenging.
"Yesterday we took a two-hour drive to visit a spectacular Yangtze
River gorge, called the Tiger Leaping Gorge by locals. We walked 3
kilometers along the gorge's rocky southern wall, with gushing water
and rapids below, mountain peaks above. Again, you need
pictures to appreciate the beautiful setting.
"The gorge offers stunning natural beauty, yet some Chinese would
prefer to dam it. Plans called for maybe a dozen dams on the upper
Yangtze, flooding thousands of square kilometers of picturesque Naxi
villages, terraced fields, and ancient temples. Such a shame.
"Then again, the Chinese desperately need the power for the Yangtze
valley's growing population. For now, we're told, the dam is on hold,
but the authorities could change their minds.
"Get here before they dam the Leaping Tiger Gorge. Or after, if that's
the best you can do. But do come. You'll love Lijiang's ancient city
and the Yangtze valley, with so much color and natural beauty."
Kathleen Peddicord
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"You wrote recently, Kathleen, about the
exodus of the middle class from New York City," writes friend and
international tax attorney
Chris Rusch. "I thought you might be interested in what's
going on in California along the same lines.
"California is not allowing loss carry-forwards for 2008 or 2009. This
can make a very big difference for a company that had a prior loss and
was planning to use that to offset current gains.
"Another big issue is the California Limited Liability Company tax. A
California LLC used to pay an US$800 annual fee. Now, in addition to
that fee, an annual tax based on income is charged...up to US$11,790
per year.
"I am getting calls regularly from people who want to move out of
California as a result. One client has calculated his California tax
at 16% for 2009, compared with 9% in 2007. Add that to a federal rate
of 33%, and there goes 50% of your net income, meaning 50% of your
effort is for the government!
"For more on the topic see: California
Limited Liability Company Fee and
California Suspends Net Operating Loss Carryovers and Limits Business
Credits.
"I've been reading you for a long time, but I fear you're just a
vehicle to hawk the investments of you and your friends. I remember
the chateau in France, then the wonders of
Ireland, the opportunities in Nicaragua
(would you really invest there in the current political climate?), and
now Panama. Ms. Peddicord, while no doubt
knowledgeable, is, in my view, hardly an unbiased source.
"I spend a great deal of time in Panama and have considered moving
there. But there are numerous issues in Panama City, which is
overbuilt, especially in the high-rise condo sector, has growing
problems with crime and traffic, and is not the bargain your
publication suggests.
"El Valle is wonderful but too far from essential amenities to suit
most retirees.
"In any event, while I applaud you trying to open the eyes of
Americans to opportunities overseas, your organization's views and
recommendations in my judgment are colored by factors other than the
actual pros and cons of the areas you tout."
-- James C., United States
This long-suffering reader, indeed, has me pegged. I've been putting
my money where my mouth has been...and writing about it...for about
two-and-a-half decades.
Indeed, I told readers to buy in Ireland in the 1980s and 1990s...and,
finally, I bought myself. We sold our Georgian stone house six years
after we bought it for about four times what we had invested in it.
Again, I encouraged readers to do the same--that is, to take their
Irish profits, for that market, I reported often at the time, had
reached its top. I hope that, if you bought, you sold when I suggested
you sell.
We still own in France...and, if you do, too, I'd say hold on to what
you've got. France is struggling along with the rest of the world, but
its real estate has more intrinsic value than most...and Paris is one
of the most recession-proof markets on the planet. The property market
is softening in the City of Light but not dramatically so.
We still own in Nicaragua, too, though we've taken some profits over
the years (of 250% and more).
We're happy to continue to be invested in this country. We return as
often as we can...and we day-dream about the pleasures of life in
Nicaragua when we're away. It's one of our favorite places to spend
time, and that's one of the best reasons of all, in my view, to own
property anywhere.
Now Panama...where we've been urging you for some time to
avoid buying a Panama City condo (unless you want to live in one)...and
where (we're right there with you, dear reader) we've been bemoaning
the chaotic traffic, the shortage of taxis, the constant construction
noise and mess, and all the other
growing pains this little city is suffering through right now.
Don't come to Panama City, we've been telling you, to slow down, and I
don't recommend this city as a "retirement haven," not in any
conventional sense. This is a place to come to do business and to seek
adventure.
For retirement, you need to look outside Panama City, where the
options are many. El Valle, we agree, dear reader, is idyllic...and
sleepy.
But Panama is far more than Panama City...and El Valle is only one
retirement living choice outside the capital. This country today is a
land of opportunity. One place you should be paying attention to.
I say that not because I'm invested here and want to promote my own
interests.
I'm invested (and investing further all the time) in Panama because I
believe this is the best place in the world this 2009 to be focusing
time and capital.
And I'm telling you about it because I believe you'd do well to think
about investing along with me.
Markets move up, settle out, and slide down. Ireland saw a phenomenal
run over the past two decades that distorted the country's property
market beyond all sense. That situation is now correcting itself.
Here in Panama, the run is still on, and, I believe, still has
considerable course to cover. While Panama City has ballooned and
bubbled (and is now seeking some correction), other pockets of this
country have a lot of upside still to realize.
We'll cover all this country's local markets of interest and
opportunity in detail during our
Live & Invest in Panama Conference May 14-16. I'll look
forward to continuing this conversation then.
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