Canada Cottage Country Real Estate – Intro

Cottage Country Canada  Part 1

First Published Date : Dec 24, 2009

Central and Eastern Ontario are wonderful travel destinations for anyone looking to get away from it all. With scenic views and easy lake access, Canada’s cottage country is a very popular tourist destination spot for people from many locations around the world. Each region of Canada has their own local cottage district, with variations in Ottawa and Ontario.

The Ontario cottage district includes the Muskoka, Peterborough, Haliburton Collingwood, and Kawarthas. Cottage country in Canada is very busy on weekends, especially those around the holidays. If you are expecting peace and quiet, then you may want to avoid cottage country during Victoria Day, Civic Holiday, and during the first weekend in September. If you don’t mind a little bustle, however, these long weekends can be very relaxing. There are plenty of recreational areas in the region that provide activities for the whole family.

The lakes are very popular destination spots in Canada. Muskoka is a region that is home to 1,600 lakes, including Lake Couchiching. The Algonquin Provincial Park is also in the Muskoka region, offering tourists a chance to get out and enjoy nature anytime of the year. The park is over 7,000 square kilometres, and is connected by rivers that were once glaciers. There are roughly one million visitors to the park each year, making it one of Canada’s most visited state parks.

Collingwood is located in the Georgian Triangle region and is a town in Simcoe county. Collingwood is a famous tourist spot because of its old time charm and location. It is located in the heart of four-season destination area and known for its vacation cottage resorts.

Haliburton is located in Ontario, as well. This section of Canada is known for its picturesque views and local artisans, as well as being home to Head Lake. This region of Canada is rural, but offers lodgings in the villages of Wilberforce and Eagle Lake, just to name a couple of the tourist destinations in the regions. Eagle Lake also offers a ski resort for family style winter fun.

Kawartha Lakes also lie in Ontario, and offer guests a diverse supply of river and lake access. The region has fifteen main lakes, as well as a host of resorts and lodgings for guests. The Canadian Shield is located in the Kawartha region, where the lakes in the area are wedged between the Shield and the ancient limestone that forms the Golden Horseshoe. The lakes of Kawartha run all of the way to Peterborough, another of Canada’s famous cottage country regions.

Peterborough is also home to a variety of lakes and scenic state parks, with the Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park running through the region. Agriculture is very important in this rural area, which also offers tourists a chance to lodge in lakeside homes while on vacation.

All of Ontario’s cottage country is very laid back and focuses on the outdoors. Warm summer weather brings an influx of tourists to the region, but any long weekend is a good chance to visit the scenic country of Ontario. Each region has unique features, ranging from ancient stone formations to activities on the lakes and rivers of the region. With dozens of lakes to chose from, and lodgings that vary from rustic to luxury, there is something for everyone in Canada’s cottage country.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the realestateexpedition.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to A Dawn Journal. This article originally published on the above website on Dec 24, 2009.

The CN Tower – An Architectural Triumph

The CN Tower – A Wonder of the Modern World

First Published Date: Aug 8, 2009

Each major city in the world must have at least one tower that stands over the skyline to really give it definition. These towers invariably end up on postcards and other visual media for sale, and as often as not they find their way into the civic logo as well, as a means of identifying the city visually in combination with its name identifying it verbally. The most famous towers can even identify a city without the need to mention its name. People see the Eiffel Tower and they think of Paris. They see the Empire State Building and think New York. More recently, the Burj al-Arab has performed this role for Dubai. In Toronto, a city which embodies the Canadian tradition of having wealth, power and success without needing to shout about it, there is still such a tower – the CN Tower.

In a lot of ways the CN Tower is situated in an ideal place to give Toronto a further boost to its identity. This is due in no small part to the proximity it has to Toronto’s major sports arena, the Rogers Centre. Originally known as the SkyDome, the Rogers Centre was a ground-breaking example of the now common mega-structure, multi-use sporting arena with a level of technological advancement that really makes you draw breath. One of the first stadia in the world to feature a sliding roof, the SkyDome made it possible to play games “outdoors” when the weather suited and “indoors” when necessary. This is now commonplace in sporting arenas, but in 1989 when it opened was huge news.

Any wide-angle view of the SkyDome/Rogers Centre will typically involve the CN Tower, which imprints it on the consciousness of baseball and football fans from all over North America. Completed in 1976, as part of a rash of skyscrapers being built in the city, the CN Tower is as recognizable a part of Toronto as any of the above buildings are to their home cities. In fact, it was the world’s tallest free-standing structure for over thirty years, from the point where it surpassed Moscow’s Ostankino tower in 1975 to the winter of 2007 when it was finally surpassed by the Burj Dubai, still under construction at present.

Unlike many of the world’s most notable towers, the CN Tower was built with a technical purpose in mind rather than office and commercial space or residential properties. It is used primarily for communications, although it does contain a restaurant, a gift shop and other elements that attract tourists as well as providing a meeting-place and a landmark for the people of Toronto. When the similarly-sized Ostankino Tower had a fire in 2000, with the deaths of several people, the response from many was to fear that the same thing could happen in the CN Tower, given the similar heights and ages of the buildings. The fact, though, is that the CN Tower was built much more safely, with fireproof building materials, stringent emergency monitoring and automatically-replenished water reservoirs at the top of the building.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the realestateexpedition.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to A Dawn Journal. This article originally published on the above website on Aug 8, 2009.

Real Estate in China

Real Estate Market In China

First Published Date: Aug 15, 2009

There will be few, if any, more important countries to the future of commerce and real estate in the next couple of decades than China. Viewed by many as a “sleeping giant” due to its immense landmass and population, but perceived insularity, there is no doubt that China is set to play a part as it increases its openness and moves ever more towards a market-based economy. The developments of recent years have led to just about every financial expert worth the name signalling their belief that China will become the world’s number one superpower by the middle of this century at the latest. A vital part of this process will be in its real estate sector.

For Western investors, there are still some sticking points when it comes to backing investment in China. Not least of these is the fact that with a population of one billion and a language that is the most prominently spoken as a first language (by numbers – of the billion plus Chinese residents, more than 900 million speak Mandarin as a first language. A third as many speak English as a mother tongue), China has little need to cater directly to foreign investors or incoming migrants. The growing policy of openness is expected to mitigate this somewhat, allowing new investors to feel confident in branching out into China.

From a real estate point of view specifically, China has also had to move from a point where most housing was state controlled to one where it is common for residents to own their own homes.  . It does seem like the country was always ready for this kind of progress and that, aware of the importance of a happy domestic population, the government has moved to give them just that. Although the overwhelming majority of home owners in China are Chinese, the incoming investor need no longer feel that there is an excessive bar to their prospective ownership of real estate property.

There are still some elements that give potential house buyers what they consider to be reasons not to invest. Although a great deal less insular than it was once considered, China is still not the most transparent place in the world for visitors. There is a large level of bureaucracy and seemingly obscure laws (from a Western perspective), but things don’t change overnight. What has happened in China in the last few decades has been more than impressive, so do not bet against things developing quickly in the future. If you are thinking of investing in Chinese real estate, the bargains tend to be outside the city centers but still close to centers of population. It is here, too, that anyone moving to the country and living there for the first time will best be able to acclimatise to the fascinating, unique nation that is China in the present day. Try one of the many Chinese real estate sites on the Internet to find out more.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the realestateexpedition.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to A Dawn Journal. This article originally published on the above website on Aug 15, 2009.

China Real Estate

Real Estate in China

First Published Date: May 11, 2015

As China becomes more and more a part of the global trading economy, it is natural to expect that its increased openness will continue increasing and that its economy will behave similarly to those of other major powers. This is not necessarily going to be the case, not least because the way that an economy behaves, its DNA, and its part in the global economy all depend on more factors than simply China’s entry to the worldwide club. So, currently, we can see that China is seeing major growth in its economy, while other nations labour under a recession or enter a cautious recovery.

The major test of China’s development as an economy will be time. It is only recently that the country has embraced capitalism, and although any interested party could not have failed to notice that it is headed squarely to become the world’s biggest economy by the middle of this century, it would be fanciful to assume that the forty years between now and then will all be smooth sailing. In ensuring that China continues to develop in the present way, it is going to be necessary to have a strong real estate sector, one which is competitive enough to bring in outside investment. Currently, the signs are good for that sector of the Chinese economy.

Looking at the major Chinese real estate companies gives some interesting results. Poly, considered one of its most prominent real estate big-hitters, recently posted its results for the first half of 2009 and, in a year which we should take care to remember has been touched by major recession, showed a massive increase in net profit. Set against the revenues of the first half of 2008, Poly posted an increase of more than 54%, taking its numbers to 8.29 billion yuan (US$1.21bn) and a profit of 1.396 million yuan (US$200m). In comparison with real estate sectors in other countries, China is certainly showing results which point to a thriving real estate economy going forward.

The most definitive question on the Chinese real estate economy, however, remains how it will deal with any bust or recession in the national economy. Perhaps due to the nascent nature of its free market economy, China has not suffered from the global financial crisis in anything approximating the same way as most of its G8 partners. This means that we have yet to see how the country, and the real estate market will deal with it should it happen again any time soon.

However, at this stage it seems only right to give China the benefit of the doubt as to its financial results. Having seen how the rest of the world does free market capitalism and real estate, China has delivered its own approximation of the medium and has shown an impressive level so far. Will this continue? As of this moment it is difficult to say, as we have not seen China’s free market operate under all conditions as we have with the more long-standing free market economies. Those tests are still to come

Taipei 101 – A Landmark Skyscraper

Taipei 101

First Published Date: Sep 5, 2009


In a world obsessed with extremes, and where publicity is king, it is quite something to be able to say that you are at the further extreme of anything. To be the tallest person in the world, although it may have its inconvenient points, is certainly a claim that will entitle you to publicity. Being the world’s richest person will encourage other people to do business with you, ensuring that you simply get richer. Although it is not always universally positive to be able to claim that you are or have the best, the tallest, the richest or the most famous of anything, it does entitle you to certain perks of which recognition is arguably the most powerful. On a worldwide level, having the tallest building in the world certainly puts you front and center in any architectural for um.

As things stand, then, the Taipei 101 tower is a building with a lot to envy. At present – and until at least the 2nd of December this year – the tower remains the tallest building in the world. Standing at 509.2 meters above ground to its highest point, and 139.2 meters to its top floor, the Taipei 101 tower is taller than any other currently habitable building in the world. One tower currently outstrips it in terms of height – the Burj Dubai in the United Arab Emirates – and at present it is not habitable, and will not be until its opening date, currently slated as being in three months’ time. Since its completion in 2004, Taipei 101 has held this title, one which has grown in importance as the world of publicity has gained strength.

It is all the more impressive for the fact that Taipei is found in one of the areas of the world with the highest incidence of typhoon winds and earthquake tremors. The building simply could not have been built were it unable to withstand such conditions, and therefore great care was taken to ensure that this was included in its building plans. As a result, it is capable of withstanding winds of over 130 miles per hour and the strongest earthquakes that the tectonic plates are ever likely to throw at it. innovative engineering was required both for this level of stability and its enormous height – and for any combination of the two.

A lot of the publicity which surrounds the Taipei 101 tower is not to do with its tenants but with its fascinating idiosyncrasies which make for fascinating facts. For example, the name of the tower refers not only to the 101 floors above the ground, but also to the fact that it was built in the first year of a new Chinese century (100+1). Another reason behind this name is that 100 is viewed worldwide as a number of perfection (anything deemed to be 100% is seen as perfect) – the idea being that Taipei 101 goes one better than that. The number eight is seen as a renewal of time, as each week has seven days (the eighth marking a new week). In connection with this and the association of eight as a “lucky number”, the outside tower is made up of eight segments of eight floors. Also interesting is the external design, which features touches of specifically Chinese architecture like the traditional pagodas and ruyi figures.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the realestateexpedition.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to A Dawn Journal. This article originally published on the above website on Sep 5, 2009.