provinces in laos="provinces in laos" the best parts of China to visit?
i'm going to be in Laos and Vietnam and want to go into China but want to know what are the nicest provinces/towns to visit. Preferably those near the Laos and Vietnam border. I was looking at Yunnam and Sichuan what are they like. Also does anyone know the best way to get there? THanks for any help
Kunming is a lovely little city. I wasn't all that impressed with Chengdu, but you can fly from Chengdu to Lhasa, which is a very interesting city despite being overwhelmed by tourism and development. You may consider Hong Kong or Macao as well. It's been a while since I was in Kunming, but from what I understand, it is not all that safe to travel to China by bus from where you will be.
The United States removed the Southeast Asia nations of Laos and Cambodia from a trade blacklist, opening the door for U.S. loans to companies doing business in the two countries.
U.S. President Barack Obama said that Laos and Cambodia had “ceased to be a Marxist-Leninist country,” a designation that prevented financial support by the U.S. Export-Import bank.
The United States now forbids U.S.-backed loans in only six countries – Cuba, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Sudan and Syria.
The countries of Laos and Cambodia were placed on the blacklist following the Vietnam War, when both nations became sideshows to the main struggle in neighboring Vietnam. The war and collapse of the U.S.-backed governments in Vientiane and Phnom Penh gave rise to a communist government in Laos and the brutal Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.
While concerns over corruption and accountability for Khmer Rouge war crimes and the fate of U.S. servicemen still missing from the war have remained, China’s growing influence in the region prompted the United States established normal trade relations with Laos in 2004 and lifted all restrictions on aid to Cambodia in 2007.
Obama’s decision to take Laos off the blacklist came under intense fire from supported of the Hmong, a hill tribe people who fought on the side of the United States during the war and claim continued persecution from the Laotian government today.
Over 250,000 Hmong have resettled in the United States since the end of the war.
This article was written for the Asian business news blog, 2point6billion.com. The site is contributed to by the China business experts at Dezan Shira & Associates, who can help with China law, tax, accounting and company formation.
Certain market conditions favor investing in real estate by using a No-Bank-Red-Tape method. The real estate market has been steadily declining since 2003 and has continued to decline through 2010. While many investors are crying foul market conditions others are reaping the rewards favorable for using the No-Bank-Red-Tape system of investing. The conventional method of buying real estate is dead for investing. The un-employment offices are full of un-employed realtors looking to put food on their table. I dare you to call 30 realtors randomly out of the phone book. Ninety percent of realtors today do not answer their phones and only ten percent have answering machines that actually take messages. These are the numbers that I have been going through personally. I occasionally look for realtors for selling my properties.
Breaking The Rules Of Conventional Investing
While I do not break any laws, I do not let convention rules hold me back from buying and selling real estate either. The conventional rules that bind realtors and mortgage brokers are designed to minimize fraud and theft. I know the rules. I worked as a loan officer, broker and as a consultant. I have earned as much as $375 per hour for consulting. I no long call on realtors for selling my properties. It requires too much training on my part. I have found that most realtors are not familiar with the mortgage options available for conventional sellers. That explains their lack of sales. I don't have time to train realtors on mortgage options they should already be familiar with. In addition, I don't them screwing up my deals. It is better for to retrain a few realtors who are interesting in investing in real estate by using the No-Bank-Red-Tape method. They are making more money with me then working as a realtor peddling other peoples' properties.
Acquiring Properties
Market conditions are better right now then they have ever been for acquiring prime real estate with little or no money down. The trick to using No-Bank-Red-Tape is to acquire un-sellable or distressed properties and selling them to unqualified buyers. The details of doing this are too extensive for one article. However, any one of the standard lease option or purchase option contracts worded correctly should work for acquiring the property. Investing in real estate can be tricky with out a having formula determining profitability. Finding no money down properties is easy. Extracting equity or profit quickly from a no money down property is an art with in itself. Market conditions currently favor the No-Bank-Red-Tape real estate acquisition artist. You can hold real estate by using the No-Bank-Red-Tape system. You are not obligated to flip properties. You can continue investing in real estate you have acquired if you choose.
If you decide to sell your acquired properties, you will need qualified buyers. The true artist will already have eager buyers ready to buy his properties with such favorable terms. You will need to familiarize your self with all of the creative methods real lenders (Banks) use to attract buyers. I don't use realtors for the simple reason that most of them do not take the time to educate them selves on all of the options available for conventional loans. Nor, do I want them practicing on my buyers. You must take the time to learn all the available convention methods used by creative brokers. Brokers use different lenders for different scenarios. They don't use the same lender for every deal. I put unqualified buyers into my properties based on approving them to close in one to two years from now. You will need to know the various lender qualifications so that you will have a strategy for closing your already flipped property. Always put together win, win scenarios only.
I have a Free-CD plus shipping you can get at my web site to get started acquiring properties with no money and no credit right now. I work with a group of professionals you can plug into right away.
About the Author
I have over twenty years of lender broker and creative real estate acquisition experience. I was also a loan officer for Nova Star before they went under. I have also owned and managed a construction company.
The world official gold holdings (December 2008) in tonnes as reported by the World Gold Council
SINGAPORE: World Gold reserves (or gold holdings) are held by central banks as a store of value.
The world gold reserve total 29,697.1 tonnes, or in excess of 29697100 kg, 954798572.48 troy ounces, with total value at today gold price equal to about US$753 Billion dollar.
Singapore gold reserves (or gold holdings) total 127.4 tonnes, or in excess of 127400 kg, 4096067.90 troy ounces, with total value at today gold price equal to about US$32 Billion, or S$48 Billion dollar.
As one metric tonne equals 1,000 kilograms (or 32,150 troy ounces), one tonne of gold equates to a value of US$25 million at January 2009 gold prices (US$861.34/troy ounces).
The world gold reserves as reported by the World Gold Council (December 2008) as shown in the breakdown of individual countries. USA as independent countries, has the largest gold reserves. But in total the Euro Area (incl. ECB) have the largest gold reserves (10,886.8 tonnes as of December 2008).
Note: Value of Metal is calculated as of January 21, 2009. GoldTraderAsia.com takes no responsibility for any misapprehension.
World Official Gold Holdings Ranking:
01. United States - 8,133.5 Tonnes
02. Germany - 3,412.6 Tonnes
03. International Monetary Fund - 3,412.6 Tonnes
04. France - 2,508.8 Tonnes
05. Italy - 2,451.8 Tonnes
06. Switzerland - 1,040.1 Tonnes
07. Japan - 765.2 Tonnes
08. Netherlands - 621.4 Tonnes
09. People's Republic of China - 600.0 Tonnes
10. European Central Bank - 533.6 Tonnes
11. Russia - 495.9 Tonnes
12. Republic of China (Taiwan) - 422.4 Tonnes
13. Portugal - 382.5 Tonnes
14. India - 357.7 Tonnes
15. Venezuela - 356.4 Tonnes
16. United Kingdom - 310.3 Tonnes
17. Lebanon - 286.8 Tonnes
18. Spain - 281.6 Tonnes
19. Austria - 280.0 Tonnes
20. Belgium - 227.5 Tonnes
21. Algeria - 173.6 Tonnes
22. Libya - 143.8 Tonnes
23. Saudi Arabia - 143.0 Tonnes
24. Sweden - 139.5 Tonnes
25. Philippines - 138.1 Tonnes
26. Singapore - 127.4 Tonnes
27. Bank for International Settlements - 125.0 Tonnes
28. South Africa - 124.4 Tonnes
29. Turkey - 116.1 Tonnes
30. Greece - 112.7 Tonnes
31. Romania - 103.7 Tonnes
32. Poland - 103.0 Tonnes
33. Thailand - 84.0 Tonnes
34. Australia - 79.8 Tonnes
35. Kuwait - 79.0 Tonnes
36. Egypt - 75.6 Tonnes
37. Indonesia - 73.1 Tonnes
38. Kazakhstan - 71.9 Tonnes
39. Denmark - 66.5 Tonnes
40. Pakistan - 65.3 Tonnes
41. Argentina - 54.7 Tonnes
42. Finland - 49.1 Tonnes
43. Bulgaria - 39.8 Tonnes
44. West African Economic and Monetary Union - 36.5 Tonnes
45. Malaysia - 36.4 Tonnes
46. Slovakia - 35.1 Tonnes
47. Peru - 34.7 Tonnes
48. Brazil - 33.6 Tonnes
49. Bolivia - 28.3 Tonnes
50. Ukraine - 26.4 Tonnes
51. Ecuador - 26.3 Tonnes
52. Morocco - 22.0 Tonnes
53. Nigeria - 21.4 Tonnes
54. Belarus - 20.4 Tonnes
55. South Korea - 14.3 Tonnes
56. Cyprus - 13.9 Tonnes
57. Czech Republic - 13.1 Tonnes
58. Netherlands Antilles - 13.1 Tonnes
59. Jordan - 12.7 Tonnes
60. Serbia - 12.5 Tonnes
61. Cambodia - 12.4 Tonnes
62. Qatar - 12.4 Tonnes
63. Laos - 8.1 Tonnes
64. Latvia - 7.7 Tonnes
65. El Salvador - 7.3 Tonnes
66. Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa - 7.1 Tonnes
67. Guatemala - 6.9 Tonnes
68. Colombia - 6.9 Tonnes
69. Macedonia - 6.8 Tonnes
70. Tunisia - 6.8 Tonnes
71. Lithuania - 5.8 Tonnes
72. Ireland - 5.5 Tonnes
73. Sri Lanka - 5.3 Tonnes
74. Mexico - 3.8 Tonnes
75. Bangladesh - 3.5 Tonnes
76. Canada - 3.4 Tonnes
77. Slovenia - 3.2 Tonnes
78.. Aruba - 3.1 Tonnes
79 Hungary - 3.1 Tonnes
80. Mozambique - 3.0 Tonnes
81. Kyrgyzstan - 2.6 Tonnes
82. Luxembourg - 2.3 Tonnes
83. Albania - 2.2 Tonnes
84. Hong Kong - 2.1 Tonnes
85. Tajikistan2.1 Tonnes
86. Iceland 2.0 Tonnes
87. Papua New Guinea - 2.0 Tonnes
88. Mauritius - 1.9 Tonnes
89. Trinidad and Tobago - 1.9 Tonnes
90. Yemen - 1.6 Tonnes
91. Suriname - 1.4 Tonnes
92. Cameroon - 0.9 Tonnes
93. Honduras - 0.7 Tonnes
94. Paraguay - 0.7 Tonnes
95. Dominican Republic - 0.6 Tonnes
96. Gabon - 0.4 Tonnes
97. Mauritania - 0.4 Tonnes
98. Central African Republic - 0.3 Tonnes
99. Chad - 0.3 Tonnes
100. Republic of the Congo - 0.3 Tonnes
101. Uruguay - 0.3 Tonnes
102. Fuji - 0.2 Tonnes
103. Estonia - 0.2 Tonnes
104. Chile - 0.2 Tonnes
105. Malta - 0.2 Tonnes
106. Costa Rica - 0.1 Tonnes
About the Author
Bill Chiam is the founder of GoldTraderAsia.com, Gold Bullion Dealer trades in various form of gold includes bullion, bars, ingots, coins and jewellery in Singapore. Offer latest gold news on precious metals and commodities news report.
