Insights

I pulled out my phone and found Mr. Wang’s WeChat. The map showed the location of the café he had recommended. It was over 700 meters from the bus stop, an 8-minute walk. The interview with the café owner was scheduled for 10:30 AM, so I shouldn’t be late. Looking Back and Moving Forward This past Tuesday, I finished my barista course at the training school. After the exam next Friday, I’ll get my certificate. Learning to bake bread and make coffee is much more interesting than studying for the Gaokao. Funnily enough, even the teachers would mess up sometimes. We could actually laugh in class; my old middle school teachers never allowed any joking around. ...

Wuhan had already entered its plum rain season. Even deep into the night, there was no relief from the heat; everything felt damp to the touch. Tossing and turning in bed, Liu Jie would shift his position about every class period’s length, a sheen of sweat on his forehead that the constantly blowing fan couldn’t disperse. He regretted not turning on the air conditioner before bed. For a fleeting moment when he was about to sleep, the thought of flipping the AC switch had crossed his mind. But coming out of the bathroom, the electric fan in the living room was working hard, and Liu Jie, bare-chested, felt quite cool. Since it wasn’t that hot, he had simply collapsed onto the bed. ...

The currents of history often lay the groundwork for a city’s rise in unforeseen ways. In 1369, the second year of the Hongwu reign, the newly enthroned Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang initiated a massive military recruitment in the Huguang region (modern-day Hubei and Hunan provinces) to quell the Ming Xia regime in Sichuan. Two years later, generals Tang He and Fu Youde led this army west, pacifying the region. While the campaigns concluded, a wave of migration had just begun. This grand demographic shift, later known as the “Lianghu Tian Chuan” (the filling of Sichuan by people from the two lake provinces), inadvertently injected the most primal life force into what would become a great commercial metropolis. ...

In recent years, the US dollar’s position as the world’s primary reserve currency and the bedrock of international transactions is facing unprecedented scrutiny and challenges. The dollar, which historically tended to strengthen during periods of economic or geopolitical conflict, has recently exhibited unusual behavior, signaling that a subtle shift might be underway in the international monetary system. One signal of this change comes from the actions of international rating agencies. Following Standard & Poor’s downgrade of the US sovereign credit rating from AAA in 2011, Moody’s recently lowered the US government’s credit rating from Aaa to Aa1. This means the United States has now lost its top credit rating from all three major international credit rating agencies (S&P, Moody’s, and Fitch). The downgrades reflect concerns about the US’s accumulating debt burden, fiscal uncertainty, and political polarization, factors that could weaken the US’s future fiscal strength and policy stability, thereby impacting investor confidence in US Treasury bonds. ...

“Ten li of masts leaning against the town, ten thousand households’ lights bright through the night.” This poetic line, quoted in the 1920 Xiakou County Gazetteer, vividly portrays the magnificent scene of Hanzheng Street at its peak prosperity. Hanzheng Street is one of the oldest streets in Hankou, boasting a history of over five hundred years since its formation. As early as the early Chenghua period of the Ming Dynasty, a change in the course of the Han River made the area adjacent to it a good haven for passing ships, attracting numerous people to build foundations and houses. Shops and trading firms along the street gradually increased, accommodating visiting merchants. By the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty (1573-1620), the area around the main street had already formed a bustling market town. ...

When you leave home punctually from Monday to Friday, take the crowded subway to the busy office, day after day, what you anticipate is the salary your boss pays you each month. Regardless of your skills or how much energy and enthusiasm you invest, the final salary you receive is generally in line with your expectation – not significantly more, nor noticeably less. With the salary your boss provides, you might treat friends to a special seafood meal when a restaurant has a promotion. On weekends, shedding your stiff work attire for a comfortable T-shirt, you might visit a street bar for a drink and offer polite applause to a singer you enjoy. ...

Jianghan Road was originally named Guangli Alley, a dirt path about 300 meters long extending from the riverbank to Poyang Street. After Hankou was opened as a treaty port in 1861, the road was widened and paved with gravel, named “Taiping Road”. By the late Qing Dynasty, Taiping Road had been extended northwards to Hualou Street. In 1901, Liu Xinsheng, known as Hankou’s “Land King” or real estate magnate, donated a tract of low-lying land he had acquired through loans, situated around the Zhang Gong Embankment in Hankou, to the then British Concession. In recognition of his contribution, the British authorities named the road built in this area “Xinsheng Road”, which was the early form of Jianghan Road. Xinsheng Road quickly began to serve as a commodity distribution center between the Chinese-administered area and the concession, already showing initial signs of commercial prosperity. ...

“Gold will always shine” is a common saying, often cited to encourage harder work, yet it contains a fundamental factual error. Gold itself does not generate light; its glittering appearance is merely the color of light it reflects from external sources. Extending this simple physical fact to the realm of finance might offer a deeper understanding of gold’s nature as a special asset: the radiance of its value doesn’t stem from intrinsic growth or yield, but rather largely reflects external conditions – the market’s fear, the shadow of risk, the tide of currency, the temperature of geopolitics. Gold’s value is a passive and complex “reflective value.” ...

The Jianghan Customs House is one of the most representative landmark buildings in Wuhan, located at 129 Yanjiang Avenue. The building’s east-facing main entrance faces the Yangtze River, while its main structure runs parallel to Yanjiang Avenue. Its history traces back to 1861. According to Article 10 of the Treaty of Tianjin between China and Britain, the British government compelled the Qing government to open Zhenjiang, Jiujiang, and Hankou as foreign trade ports and establish customs houses. The Hankou Customs House (i.e., Jianghan Customs) was officially established in November of the same year, with Thomas Dick serving as the first Commissioner of Customs. ...

Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting is famously dubbed the “Woodstock of Capitalism.” However, unlike the original Woodstock music festival which took place only once in the distant year of 1968 (when Buffett was 38 and had acquired Berkshire just three years prior), Buffett’s gathering is a yearly event. How much value does this enduring “Woodstock of Capitalism” truly hold, and is that value adequately reflected in Berkshire Hathaway’s stock price? ...