Not sure if this carries any substance in relation to our studies, but it’s a pretty strange trend regardless. The latest craze concerning pets in China entails dying dogs to resemble exotic animals such as tigers and pandas. I suppose this could just be interpreted as newsfluff, but the article does point out that “Recent figures show money spent on pets across the nation has seen nearly a 500 per cent increase between 1999 and 2008.” What do you think these figures say about how people are choosing to spend their money? In looking at the article, what conclusions can we draw about the Chinese economy as a whole?