Here’s the secret I’m keeping from my wife
With the weather heating up in Beijing, my wife and I were happy to find a swimming pool not far from home. But it wasn’t just the weather. Her heart’s desire for years has been to learn how to swim.
Good hubby that I am, I wanted to help.
Learning to swim is a bit scary for anyone, regardless of age. My wife, who is in her 50s, was no exception. In the beginning, she thrashed around like a wet chicken and gulped water like a beer-swigging sailor on shore leave.
I’m sympathetic, since she has low body fat and — unlike me — sinks like a stone. (In my youth I, too sank like a stone, but over the years I’ve become more … shall we say … buoyant.)
This Day, That Year
ItemfromJune1,1997,in ChinaDaily:ChinaJiangnan SpaceIndustryCobeganto shifttocivilianproductionin thelate1970stooffset decliningmilitaryorders.
Ithassincedeveloped morethan400civilianproducts,accountingfor80percentofthecompany’soutput.
China has been gradually increasing the integration of military and civilian industries, which means close partnership between the two through the sharing of tech- But mostly her problem was panic.
Two lessons from a Chinese instructor settled her down. On the deck, she practiced proper kicking technique: Crouch, spread, pull together. Crouch, spread, pull together. In the water, the instructor calmly taught her how to put her face down — and breathe only after coming out. The lessons did wonders.
After that, I got her to swim underwater. Now she can breaststroke the length of the pool, kicking and breathing rhythmically, and only occasionally reverting to the chicken thrash.
I have now pronounced her pool-safe. The amount of water she has ingested has decreased markedly over the past two weeks.
But it’s the swallowing that gets a swimmer to thinking: What’s in this stuff ?
Swimming pool water has a distinctive odor, a chemical nologies, manufacturing processes and equipment, personnel and facilities.
The 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) listed about 40 such integration programs, and in January, the central government decided to set up a committee for civilianmilitary integration.
President Xi Jinping has underscored the importance of such integration as a national strategy.
It is aimed at bolstering private participation in military ventures so that cost byproduct of chlorine interacting with body oils, sweat and urine. Yes, urine. Some bad-mannered people actually pee in pools around the world.
The amount of pee has been difficult to measure until now. Li Xingfang of the University of Alberta, Canada, explained in February how her team did it. Instead of trying to measure pee directly, they measured the level of an artificial sweetener — acesulfame potassium, or Ace-K — which is carried in most people’s urine, including in China. It’s found in many foods, such as yogurt. It’s not metabolized. In other words, it goes right through you, thereby providing a urine yardstick.
Li’s team collected water samples from public pools, hotel hot tubs and recreation venues and tested for Ace-K. Result: An 833-cubic-meter pool contains about 0.08 cubic meters of pee.
Other products of the body efficiency can be improved.
To implement the strategy, authorities have released plans to increase private sector involvement in defense production.
Sichuan province plans to authorize more than 50 private companies to take part in military projects, and transform five military units into integrated companies this year. pose a problem, too. Li advises a one-minute shower before entering a pool to remove much of the perspiration residue and oils that might react with chlorine to form the harmful byproducts.
When I was a kid — long before the advent of artificial sweeteners — you’d get thrown out if you didn’t shower first, but at the Beijing pool, I notice that many swimmers don’t bother. Instead, they sit on the edge of the pool and perform a little ritual of splashing water on their bodies before plunging in. For them, it’s literally bathing.
I want my wife to continue swimming, so I’m not telling her any of this.
Contact the writer at randy@chinadaily.com.cn
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The country began opening up the defense market to the private sector in 2005.
Businesses are now allowed to bid for contracts from the People’s Liberation Army after obtaining four government-issued licenses that cover confidentiality and technological requirements.