boiling the whole chicken (especially tu ji: picked from the bone and shredded by hand after boiling) instead of just the breast also adds some interesting flavors and textures, and you get the added bonus of a nice chicken soup.

Dear Friends and Supporters of Li Ping,

It is with a very heavy heart that we bear the news of Li Ping's passing. She died yesterday in her home at the age of 18. We do not know if she died of complications from her kidney disease, her enlarged heart, or something else unrelated. We will likely never know as she will remain in her village, far from any medical examiner.

For all of us this is very sudden and very tragic news. At Salvador's there are 12 employees from Li Ping's small village and they all grew up together. This loss is very close to home. Since starting her dialysis treatments last October, she seemed to be in relatively good spirits. We spoke with her two weeks ago about possibly bringing her back to Kunming to meet with doctors and reexamine her options.

Nine months ago we nearly lost Li Ping to renal failure. The support of many in Kunming and around the world made it possible for her to seek treatment and have a chance for a healthy future. She had far more friends than she will ever know. Many of you worked very hard to make the fundraising effort possible, and even more of you donated generously.

More than 185,000 yuan ($30,000) has been raised since October. About 1/5 of that has already been spent on Li Ping's treatments. The remaining donations will go into a fund in Li Ping's name. There are millions in China's countryside, and many in Yunnan, that cannot afford needed medical care. Li Ping's fund will pursue initiatives to combat this problem. For those who donated, if you would rather have your donation go to another cause, please contact me.

The Salvador's team thanks you all for your continuing support and amazing generosity.

That was an awesome day. Thanks to all of you who made it out. A special thanks to all the bands and artists who volunteered their time. Unfortunately we all got kicked out by security before the final act, but it didn't ruin a beautiful evening. Nevada, sometimes we don't even need to hear your music to know you are the biggest rock star around. Thanks to Sean for organizing a very successful and eventful day. Really looking forward to your next events. Thanks to all the businesses who donated their gifts for the raffle. Thanks to Barbara and her lovely staff (and those who helped her out today) at Slice of Heaven for their continuing hard work to make Kunming a better place. Thanks to Kris, Cass, Eddy and Shelter Bar and everyone else who played their part and who helped clean up afterward. And thanks to Moondog for taking on the late night crew to continue the day's fundraiser. Over 10,000 was raised for Li Ping's medical treatments today. It was one of those really good days to be in Kunming.

Thanks for the info David. We have contacted Li Ping's doctor and will soon know whether or not something like this is even feasible. Most of the machines would be very difficult to use in her village and it would be tough to get her the proper training, but it seems that there are some simpler ones out there like this one...
www.nxstage.com/homehemodialysis/products/the-system-one-cycler

@Greginchina, thanks for the link. That Ted talk really shows how desertification is the other side of the argument. We need to pay equal attention to how we absorb greenhouse gasses, not just how we emit them. And I think he only proves how wasteful our present livestock situation is. Changing livestock to mobile, native grass-eating groups could reclaim grasslands and absorb more CO2. But his argument is not for more meat consumption, it is for smarter livestock raising. Animals need to be raised on the grass and out of the factory because it is the farms that grow feed for livestock that slash and burn and destroy fertile soils.

I believe Savory would agree that using his methods in combination with less methane emissions would be the best of both worlds.

Here's another Ted talk about eating insects...

www.ted.com/talks/marcel_dicke_why_not_eat_insects.html