If China ruled Kansas, would anyone care?

Americans, and the American northwest in particular, have caught the China fever -- for why else would they decide to construct a Chinese pavilion in Des Moines, Iowa? OK, we don't really consider that a big deal, but then again we've spent some time in places like Richmond, BC (OK, let's include Canada) and Rowland Heights, California -- Chinese enclaves where you could go days without hearing English -- so perhaps we shouldn't take the pavilion for granted.

Americans like Chinese babies and want their kids to learn Chinese -- one of Shanghaiist's professors, of the Caucausian persuasion, is getting her kids to learn Chinese at an early age. And of course, better late than never, especially in light of the harsh geopolitical realities that Kansas teenagers have to face:

“China is going to take over the world in 10 years,” said Spencer Higginson, a Free State High School student taking the course. “I’m just sort of defending myself, I guess.”

The Confucius Institute branches in Kansas are using videoconferencing and distance learning to compensate for the shortage of Chinese teachers in that state.

Although we've been reporting recently on the Chinese love for American TV, remember that this is a two way street -- Americans love Chinese TV, for why else would this happen:

KyLinTV is the first to roll-out ChongQing TV (CQTV) in North America, a channel devoted to bridging the ChongQing province in China to the rest of the world, as part of the largest selection of Chinese entertainment in North America: 26 live broadcast channels and a vast video library that offers subscribers more than 20,000 hours of choice.

Chongqing TV has some thrilling programs out there such as Talk After Watching and Longmen Talk Show, as well as programs that use Chongqing dialect.

Not sure how the pricing and accessibility of all this Chinese TV is going to pan out -- our cousins get most Chinese (including Hong Kong and possibly Taiwan) TV stations simply by setting up a satelitte and pilfering the code) -- however KyLin TV is going to have on demand video and other features which might give it an edge over the regular satellite method ... nonetheless, we think it's a good idea, as it allows Chinese people back home to keep in touch with what's happening in society. Furthermore, since Chongqing is a megacity and China is taking over the world, one might find that in 10 years' time, Canada's prairie provinces and the American midwest (and possibly the Mexican state of Chihuahua) will be directly administered by officials in Chongqing. Better start brushing up on that Chongqing dialect ...