greetings from beijing

I'm writing this from "primitive" China, where women get three months off work with pay after giving birth (four months if they are "late" mothers -- i.e. over 25). Sigh. I've climbed up to a glacier, watched the Yangtze River splash through Tiger Leaping Gorge, and breathed more than my share of Beijing's smog, but the most heart-stopping part of this trip has been watching all those babies on their mothers' backs or in their fathers' arms, healthy and obviously doted on. Lacking siblings may not be that bad in a culture that gives you such a good first start...