Heading Downstream in Jieyang

Today in Jieyang I didn't see a goat.

But I did see a boat.

Speeding down the Rongjiang North River

A Question, a Fire, and a Repeat Sighting: One More Goat Post

Yesterday was my first day in a while not to see a goat in Jieyang. But thanks to two readers, it wasn't an entirely goat-free day for me, though, so I will briefly return to the goat topic.

One reader asked "What's with all the goats?" To be clear, Jieyang isn't overflowing with goats. The examples I have shared were isolated incidents during days when I covered much ground. After showing a goat-milking photo to one local, she said she didn't think it was common. That's been my impression as well. But I have seen far more goat milking on Jieyang's urban streets than anywhere else in China.

The other reader shared some rather unfortunate goat-related news. 300 goats recently burned to death on a truck which caught fire near its destination in Liuzhou, Guangxi. I won't be sharing the graphic photos of the fire and its aftermath, but Shanghaiist has them. The incident is terrible regardless, but I wonder where the goats were headed. I doubt it was a petting zoo.

To end this post on a cheerier note (not a high bar there), I will sneak in another photo of goats on wheels, this one from today. It provides more food for thought regarding the goats' diets. One goat was munching on the tarp covering its cart.

The tarp was one of several clues including the vehicle, the broom, the bucket, and, of course, the five goats which give me the confidence to declare these are the same five goats I saw speeding down the road earlier this week. As far as I can tell, this is my first repeat sighting. I will take it as further encouragement to move onto other topics.

Chinese State Media Tweet About Xi Jinping's Special Visits

The Chinese Communist Party's People's Daily received an important visitor today. They were inspired to report it on Twitter, which is blocked in China.

President #XiJinping is in People's Daily's newsroom, meeting with the editors and other staff pic.twitter.com/T4OZXbeVm8

— People's Daily,China (@PDChina) February 19, 2016

People's Daily wasn't the only state-media organization in China to receive a visit from Xi today and tweet about it. Xinhua made appropriate use of quotation marks in one of its tweets.

President #XiJinping visits Xinhua HQ in Beijing, encourages journalists to write stories that "people like to read" pic.twitter.com/0wXGqITtRL

— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) February 19, 2016

They also shared a heart-touching moment.

President #XiJinping visits Xinhua newsroom in Beijing, clicks 💟on Xinhua's mobile news app pic.twitter.com/73691VclwA

— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) February 19, 2016

In its excitement, CCTV didn't feel inhibited to declare "exclusive" on something which happened within their own studio.

Exclusive: President #XiJinping visits the studio of CCTV Evening News Bulletinhttps://t.co/cpe3xdp9PN

— CCTVNEWS (@cctvnews) February 19, 2016

CCTV really loves inspections after all.

"CCTV's family is The Party; Absolute loyalty; Please inspect us" - blare screens during Xi visit. @S_Rabinovitch pic.twitter.com/DGe2K2tcoU

— Tom Grundy (@tomgrundy) February 19, 2016

Unsurprisingly, there was a bit of commentary on Twitter.

"And now, a word from our sponsor."pic.twitter.com/rM4OKqzLyg

— Mike Forsythe 傅才德 (@PekingMike) February 19, 2016

Slow shutter speed really highlights who is clapping the hardest, bad clappers will be fired https://t.co/HBxeKDGojQ

— Benjamin Haas 本雅明 (@haasbenjamin) February 19, 2016

President Xi Jinping drops by local fanzine pic.twitter.com/4jBNxTPGmT

— China Daily Show (@chinadailyshow) February 19, 2016

pic.twitter.com/dqTAk8YIoP

— MiaInChina (@MiaInChina) February 19, 2016

China's still got the last mile to go. The question is how fast it will get there. pic.twitter.com/v9uvX4NuSO

— Li Yuan (@LiYuan6) February 19, 2016

Of course, none of this is a joke.

Xi has identified all the people making jokes at his expense. pic.twitter.com/oQa4KpDJSb

— Chris Buckley 储百亮 (@ChuBailiang) February 19, 2016

If these tweets aren't enough to satisfy, one can head to Medium where David Bandurski translated a portion of a poem about Xi's visit written by a deputy editor at Xinhua. Bandurski described it as a "steaming heap of sycophancy". That is also not a joke.

Undoubtedly Trashy: Goats Eating in Jieyang

I thought I might be on my way to a goat-free day, but, of course, this afternoon I came across some goats yet again in Jieyang. A older man had just bought some fresh goat milk and appeared amused when I photographed the goats. We spoke briefly and thinking about the ambiguity of the Chinese character 羊 (yáng) regarding sheep, goats, and other Caprinae I inquired about the name of these fine animals. Not to my surprise, he went with 羊 (yáng) on its own.

What most caught my attention about these particular goats wasn't their number (only two) or their mode of transportation (walking with their human). I earlier mentioned that while buyers like the man I met today could be assured of the source and freshness of their goat milk, there were still unanswered questions which could be of concern such as those pertaining to the goats' diets. So I watched silently as one of the goats munched on . . . something.

And with that food for thought, I think it can be said not only has the recent goats-on-wheels series come to a close for the time being but now the broader goat series as well.

Signs of Goat Meat in Jieyang

As was evident with the previous lunar year's zodiac symbol, the Chinese character 羊 (yáng) can refer to sheep, goats, rams, and other related animals. Professor of Chinese Language and Literature Victor Mair uses the term "ovicaprid" when translating instances of 羊 (yáng) which are ambiguous. "Caprinae" may work as well. My earlier idea to go with "Year of the Yang" never took off.

Although adding a preceding Chinese character provides more clarity, it is still common in China to see 羊 (yáng) without one. For example, a man I recently saw selling goat milk in Chaozhou evidently felt that no additional character was needed. But at a market in Jieyang I passed through the other day, I saw several instances of 山羊 (shānyáng), which typically refers to goats.

They weren't selling milk like the vendors with goats on tricycle carts I saw nearby. The third character in these signs means "meat".

Elsewhere in Jieyang, I saw a restaurant sign which used 羊 (yáng) alone, once again with the meat character following. During my earlier days in China I would have assumed this meant sheep meat was on the menu. Given how I have seen the character used elsewhere in this region, though, I wasn't shocked to see a picture of a goat below.

So what do they write in Jieyang when referring to sheep? I haven't explored this fascinating issue, but I did see one man selling sheep meat who didn't write anything at all. The head and skin did seem to communicate enough on their own though.

Undoubtedly Unexpected: A New Goat Cart Record

I hadn't planned on a series of posts about unexpected goat sightings in Chaozhou and in Jieyang. I figured the last post about the motorbike tricycle cart with an impressive five goats would be hard to top and looked forward to moving onto other matters. So even though I saw an electric/pedal-powered tricycle cart with five goats yesterday in an urban area of Jieyang . . .

and saw a milking for a customer . . .

I probably wouldn't have shared more goat photos today.

But nearby on Ronghu Road, I came across something which made me feel, yes, another goats-on-wheels post was clearly justified.

One cart. Seven glorious goats.

Barring seeing something like a school bus filled with goats, which at this point I wouldn't discount, this should conclude the series. I will have something to say, though, about a fate for goats in Jieyang less grand, at least from a goat's perspective, than being milked or riding carts.

Undoubtedly More Goats: On Wheels and On Foot in Jieyang

While taking a series of photographs of a scene at Jinxianmen Avenue in Jieyang yesterday, something else deserving to be captured caught my attention. I was ready with my camera, but unfortunately the arrangement of vehicles on the road was not conducive to a clear shot. But as the vehicle of note sped away there was a break, and I caught the moment.

After briefly looking at the small image on my camera, I thought it was a motorbike tricycle cart with four goats — topping the previous carts with goats in Jieyang and in Chaozhou. When I later looked at the photo, I realized it was something even greater, as can be more easily seen in a cropped version of the photo.

Yes, make that five goats — all with a view.

The goat appearances didn't stop there. Today near Donghu Road while I had been thinking about matters other than goats, four more goats passed by. And for the first time in my life, I was surprised to see goats because they were not on a motorbike tricycle cart.

Like before, all of these goats were spotted in urban areas. These are exciting days indeed.

Undoubtedly Authentic: More Mobile Fresh Milk in Guangdong

Chaozhou and Jieyang, bordering cities in eastern Guangdong province, share much in common. So after recently seeing fresh goat milk for sale in Chaozhou, I wasn't entirely surprised to see a similar arrangement yesterday at a street intersection in Jieyang.

Like the milk seller in Chaozhou, the tricycle cart carried three goats (in the above photo two of the goats are off the cart mostly out of view). Unlike the milk seller in Chaozhou, the tricycle cart had a motorcycle front end.

Nearby, another seller offered offered milk from a more common source.

While there, I was fortunate enough to witness a milking for a customer's order.

Having grown up in an area with many farms, I have seen plenty of cows before. I haven't seen many on motorized tricycle carts in the middle of urban areas though.

With concerns about fake products and past milk scandals on the minds of many in China, even inspiring cross-border trips for milk products, it is easy to think of reasons why this option would appeal to some people. Questions remain pertaining to the milk's quality, including ones about the animal's diet, but there is no doubt about its source, its freshness, or whether anything was added after it left the animal.

Traffic Jam Jieyang Style

Sixian (思贤) Road in Jieyang, a prefecture-level city neighboring Chaozhou

Traffic Jam Chaozhou Style

At Zhumu Gate (竹木门) in Chaozhou

Rooster Hoping For Something Better During the Year of the Monkey

A neglected portion of Fenghuangzhou Park (凤凰洲公园) in Chaozhou holds statues for all the animals of the Chinese zodiac. Yesterday, on the last day of the Year of the Yang, the goat statue stood proud.

Hanging out nearby was the statue for the new lunar year's animal.

I'm don't know what is planned for this portion of the park. It seems to hold some potential despite its curious current state. But hopefully they at least address one mishap before next year — the Year of the Rooster.

The Last Goats During This Year of the Yang

Not only did I see three goats yesterday, three goats saw me.

And a girl petted one of them.

They weren't part of a mobile petting zoo though. Instead, the man who had biked them there was selling fresh goat milk.

It seemed to be an auspicious sign to see goats on the second to last day of the Chinese lunar new year. There was much debate over which animal was represented by 羊 (yáng) — the Chinese word for the year's zodiac symbol. It can refer to a range of animals related to sheep and goats, and additional characters are sometimes used to remove any ambiguity. In this case, though, the seller apparently felt that 羊 would be understood as "goat", not so surprising since we were in Chaozhou — a city in southern China. Of course, if there was any doubt, the nearby goats cleared things up.

Although I had questions about the whether the milk was safe, I figured I couldn't pass up the opportunity to end the year in such a fitting fashion. So I told the man I was interested in making a purchase. After discussing the amount of milk I wanted, he asked what I intended to do with it. After I told him I planned to simply drink it as is, he explained that wouldn't be a great idea.

The man with the goats had spoken. And he had passed up a sale in order not to bring me any harm. I thanked him and left milkless but appreciative I didn't end the year on an unpleasant note.

A Luggage Ride in Shenzhen

I recently saw many examples of luggage sales at the Dongmen shopping area in Shenzhen. Most buyers likely planned to use their new luggage for the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday.

I saw one example, though, of a more immediate benefit.

More on Foods with Durian

Durian hawker in Hanoi, Vietnam, five years ago

In response to my first taste of durian pizza and my stated preference for plain durian, a reader in the U.S., a country were I doubt most people could even identify the fruit, shared his own durian-related preferences:

For what it's worth, my first exposure to durian was in ice cream. I didn’t like it. I also tried durian muffins — also not so good. I then discovered that I do quite like plain durian — so long as we’re outside and the smell can dissipate.

I had previously wondered whether treats such as a durian ice cream could be a way for more people to gain an appreciation of durian. The reader's experience made me question that, though the unenjoyable treats may have primed him for a more pleasurable first experience eating plain durian. Perhaps if he revisits the muffins he may now have a different impression. It is also worth noting that people can have strong preferences for a specific durian variety, of which there are many. There are so many variables to consider, but at least the reader's story has a happy ending. He may be heartened to learn I ate the strong-smelling durian pizza outside.

As planned, I ate the leftover durian pizza at room temperature (inside) for breakfast. I must say, it was a great way to start the day. I now see durian pizza in a new light and am wondering if I could get a durian pizza delivered in the early morning — with extra durian, of course.

Joining a Mass Migration Out of the Pearl River Delta Area

During recent days at the Dongmen shopping district in Shenzhen, lint removers were obviously not the only item in demand. One item in particular stood out.

So many people walked around with pieces of newly purchased luggage, one could wonder whether the world's biggest annual human migration is underway in China. It is. During a 40 day period surrounding the Lunar New Year, Chinese travelers are expected to take 2.9 billion trips. Notably, that's 700 million trips less than last year.

Yesterday, travelers in nearby Guangzhou experienced some of the pains which occur when transporting all of those people doesn't go as planned. Due to bad weather far to the north delaying trains, thousands were stranded — figures range from 38,000 to 100,000. Part of the discrepancy may be due to some figures including Guangzhou East Railway Station. Whatever the case, it was a lot of people and probably a miserable experience.

Yesterday, I made my own journey. Due to my unexpected return to the area and staying in Shenzhen longer than planned, I was not able to buy a train ticket in advance. They were sold out, so I took a bus at roughly twice the cost — partly attributable to the bus company's willingness to raise prices for the holiday. The bus ride lasted over 6 hours instead of the 2 hours possible on a high speed train, though that doesn't factor in the bus stations' more convenient locations. I am not complaining, though, even with the many unexpected detours the bus took to pick up more passengers. I made it to my destination.

No Donkey Today, Just Durian Pizza in Shenzhen

For a late lunch today in Shenzhen, I headed to the COCO Park — a trendy shopping mall with a number of restaurants. After all of the recent posts about donkey meat, I was in the mood to try something different.

In the mall's central courtyard area outside, an advertisement for a Vietnamese restaurant tempted me.

But the restaurant didn't fit the "different" category for me.

Inside the mall I saw a banner inside advertising the Sajiao Chilli Restaurant. It promised "ALL FOODS ARE USED ONLY ONCE!"

I typically eat food which has only been used once. So, again, tempting but not different. Or at least I hope so.

Next, from afar I spotted WareHouse.

Their pizza was tempting too, but it still couldn't pass the "different" test.

But I didn't have to give up hope on enjoying some pizza. Fortunately, I was able to find an appropriate restaurant next to a large sign promoting it.

Like WareHouse, La César specializes in pizza.

More important for today's goal, it specializes in a pizza I had never tried before. No, not donkey meat pizza (still haven't seen that). The main ingredient for their famous pizza is durian — a fruit that evokes a wide range of responses from people. Some can't bear the smell. Some are attracted to the fruit so much they wonder if people have died from durian overdoses. I fall into the latter category, and someday I will write an ode, or perhaps just a post, about durian. Today is just for durian pizza.

The restaurant allows you to order a pizza with two different toppings at no extra cost. So for one half I ordered the standard durian topping (there are pricier varieties of durian available) and for the other half I went for a black mushroom topping with tomato sauce (they have a number of other non-durian options as well).

The half and half option is an excellent offering since the durian pizza is sweet and could serve as a dessert. One drawback is that the strong durian smell can coverup some of the smells from the other pizza. Ideally, I would want the durian half of the pizza brought out later, though it's hard to escape durian smells regardless since the durian pizza is a popular choice.

The results? Keeping the dessert theme in mind, I started with the more savory mushroom side. It was good although more fresh basil would have been appreciated. The crust reminded me of Little Caesars in the U.S.

The all-important durian side was pretty good as well. It works, though I'm not sure the cheese was really necessary other than for texture. Which leads to my common impression when trying durian ice cream, durian cookies, etc. I like them but often feel like I would be better off just eating a plain durian.

If you like pizza and you like durian, the durian pizza will probably pass. As long as the half/half option remains, I can see myself returning someday. Tomorrow, I look forward to seeing whether leftover durian pizza works for breakfast.

Tough Choices: Lamb, Donkey, Noodles, or Food With a British Theme in Zhuhai

I have seen many restaurants in China serving donkey meat in addition to the ones I tried in Handan and in Huizhou. These restaurants often specialize in donkey meat. But some offer options, such as this restaurant in Zhuhai, Guangdong:

Lamb or donkey both readily available

If those options didn't appeal, across the street in front of the New Yuan Ming Palace (a place deserving a post of its own someday) another set of options were available.



I didn't take advantage of any of these choices. And I am not sure whether Sweet Home serves authentic British food. Pizza appears to be on the menu though. I doubt you can get donkey meat as a topping, but it's worth asking.

No Freshly Baked Buns: A Donkey Meat Restaurant in Huizhou

Mention of a donkey crisis in China and its possible impact on donkey meat dumplings inspired reader wallaby78 to write:

I love my local donkey meat place! They serve the meat in a freshly baked bun.... I'm hungry now.

This brings to mind places I have tried or seen in Beijing. Due to a technical problem, I can't share photos of them at the moment. So instead, I will continue the theme by sharing where I ate donkey meat over 4 years ago in Huizhou, Guangdong.

The restaurant offered a variety of donkey meat dishes. I went for something simple and also ordered some greens.

No freshly baked buns, but of course there was rice.

Hungrier now?

Gelatin and Dumpling Woes: China Needs More Donkeys

Rare are the days when The New York Times mentions a "donkey crisis" and "ass glue", but such occurred today. Chris Buckley reports a shortage of donkeys in China increases the likelihood your donkey skin gelatin is a fake. This poses a problem especially for people who believe the gelatin has medicinal properties and can't be replaced with even mule skin gelatin or horse skin gelatin — those are completely different.

To my knowledge, I have never ingested donkey skin gelatin. I may have been affected by China's donkey dilemma in another way though. The news made me think of a restaurant in Handan, Hebei province, where five years ago I ate my first donkey dumpling.

Restaurants serving donkey meat generally aren't difficult to find in China, and Handan isn't the only place where I have eaten it. My first experience was at a restaurant in Shanghai and later experiences occurred in Beijing and Huizhou. I didn't expect any special benefits from the meat and selected the dishes out of curiosity and the desire to immerse myself in China's food culture. Donkey dumplings definitely aren't for everybody, but I haven't heard a convincing argument as to why eating donkey meat is ethically very different from eating other meats such as beef.

In dumplings, sandwiches, or hot pots, the meat had a distinctive flavor. When friends have asked about the taste, I stated the obvious: it tastes like ass. But now I have more reason to question whether all of the dishes I tried included genuine donkey meat. Am I more of an ass if they did or they did not? I can easily imagine how some friends might reply.

A Life With Less Lint Embraced at Shenzhen's Dongmen

My recent Shenzhen-themed posts have likely caused some longtime readers to ask an important question: Are people still selling cucumber slicers in the Dongmen shopping area as they were several years ago?

Based on recent observations, they are not. Now something else is sold by many hawkers there in a similar fashion: lint removers.

One of the hawkers was asking 10 yuan (about U.S. $1.50) for a non-electric lint remover and 30 yuan for an electric lint remover (shaver). The latter price could quickly drop to 20 yuan. The lint removers appeared to be in demand, and several were sold during the brief time I watched several of the hawkers. As seen in the second and third photos, most of the hawkers have easily-transportable displays similar to those used for the cucumber slicers — still important for an easy escape from roaming security guards.

And yet again, a loose end is tied up. Though, as usual, more questions arise.

The Name for an Unusual Building in Shenzhen

Yesterday's post included a photo of a building in Shenzhen with an unusual design.

I didn't worry about identifying the building when I took the photo two weeks ago. I expected it would be easy to figure out later online. But the best I could do last night in a short amount of time was find the building on Baidu Map's street view where it is covered by scaffolding. No name appeared for the building, and an image search of the photo proved fruitless.

While at the nearby Dongmen Pedestrian Street area today, I unexpectedly caught a glimpse of the building down an alley. Feeling inspired, I decided to identify it the old fashioned way and made my way to a passageway where I could cross Shennan East Road underground while perusing the items sold by various hawkers. Upon arriving at the building, I considered what appeared to be a bovine-inspired sculpture next to the building's main entrance.

I walked into the main lobby, and a security guard soon approached. Perhaps he was from the nearby Shenzhen Security Service Company.

The seemingly nervous security guard answered a few questions before he stopped to salute an older man walking by. The man had a puzzled expression when he looked at me. Probably to nobody's surprise, we both refrained from any saluting.

After leaving the building, I pondered a nearby Land Rover advertisement with a snow covered scene.

Although Shenzhen has experienced unusually cold weather recently, snowy roads are rarely a worry. It snowed in Guangzhou, not far away to the north, yesterday for the first time in 50 years (added note: parts of Shenzhen reportedly saw snow as well).

Anyway, the building under question holds the Ruihe R & D Center and is creatively named the Ruihe Building (瑞和大厦). According to Reuters:

SHENZHEN RUIHE CONSTRUCTION DECORATION CO., LTD. is principally engaged in the design and construction of building decoration projects. The Company provides decoration and construction services for shopping malls, hotels, hospitals, curtain, subways, finance, office buildings and theaters, among others. The Company operates its businesses in domestic markets.

And now one loose end is tied up.

Two Contemporary Shenzhen Styles

Two photos from the city which borders Hong Kong — Shenzhen:

On Shennan East Road

Portion of an advertisement inside Lilian Sun Plaza, Dongmen

A Café With Ego

Some Hong Kong businesses indicate honesty with their name, others something else.

I have only passed by the cafe near the Kowloon City Ferry Pier in Hong Kong. I wonder if breakfast would be better at a Café de Eggo.

On a deeper note, I saw a remarkable film today which currently can't be seen outside of Hong Kong. China wants to see its movie industry thrive, but this is one film Beijing would be happy to see fail. At the moment, though, available tickets are scarce. Still pondering what I saw, so a few thoughts about the film later.

The Honest Commercial Corporation in Hong Kong

I share this lest people doubt it exists. Assuming they live up to their name, I wish them the best.

I (and My Laptop) Return

I had not planned on taking off several days from blogging and the online world outside China's Great Firewall. I had also not planned for my laptop to stop functioning in a somewhat suspicious fashion soon after posting about Taiwan's recent presidential election. That's just the tip of an undesired adventure which led to a sudden return to Hong Kong yesterday.

The short story is after arriving in Hong Kong I was able to quickly resolve the problem with my computer, which may have been caused by China in an unexpected manner not tied to any of my recent posts. I hope to share more of the story later. All has mostly returned to what counts as normal, though in some ways the adventure itself was normal. Or at least, it's not the first time I have had to make a mad dash from one city in China to another due to computer woes.

I am currently focused on recalibrating plans and am not yet sure what the next week holds. So for now, here's a recent scene from Zhongshan Park in Xiamen. The city where I was yesterday morning. And a few weeks ago. And maybe again soon.

A more peaceful mobile moment

Ten Assorted Taiwan 2016 Election Tweets

I will keep things simple on an historic night in Taiwan and just share some recent tweets (photos in tweets may not appear if viewed through an RSS reader):

Ah, Renegade Province “Election” Day! Time to get up, do some stretches, check the missile codes, make tea...

— The Relevant Organs (@relevantorgans) January 16, 2016

Apple Daily TW: "Tsai Ing-wen: the first female president in the Chinese-speaking world" #TaiwanElection #Taiwan2016 pic.twitter.com/O1KQ6b5EPP

— Kristie Lu Stout CNN (@klustout) January 16, 2016

Breaking: Sina Weibo (western media call it China's Twitter) censors just blocked Taiwan's first female president. pic.twitter.com/2wfggtVQ9Y

— Eddie Du (@Edourdoo) January 16, 2016

It ain't Taiwan without a night market. Even at Tsai's prez announcement. #TaiwanElection pic.twitter.com/vpFZUhW1wH

— Ellis Liang (@EllisLiang) January 16, 2016

Sunflower Movement got far less intl attention than Occupy, but has shaped Taiwan far, far more than HK protests effected situation here.

— James Griffiths (@jgriffiths) January 16, 2016

Banner outside DPP headquarters says step over the corpse of HK and stay away from China #TaiwanElection pic.twitter.com/tdrvosDPq4

— Varsity CUHK (@varsitycuhk) January 16, 2016

Xi Jinping looking a bit outnumbered on @guardian website this weekend pic.twitter.com/MH4gdSGkrN

— Tom Phillips (@tomphillipsin) January 16, 2016

The changing political geography. 2012 on left, 2016 on right pic.twitter.com/SS7Wm8rRDh

— Jonathan Sullivan (@jonlsullivan) January 16, 2016

"China should learn from us". Taiwanese voters elect first female president Tsai Ing-wen https://t.co/2PBJ4hZH8S pic.twitter.com/eDEnIoSEpY

— jonathanwatts (@jonathanwatts) January 16, 2016

Tsai: "Our message to the international community is that democracy as a value is deeply-ingrained in the Taiwanese people."

— Nathan VanderKlippe (@nvanderklippe) January 16, 2016