“I’m frightened for my son’s future, ” said a migrant from Henan.

The three had a long chat, with Obama being introduced to Ndesandjo's wife, a native of Henan, China, whom he married a year ago.

But I suspect he has spent too long sipping tea with Dalian's technocrats and not enough time breathing the air in Shanxi, Henan and Beijing.

Mr. Chen's blog entries were sometimes their own desperate pleas: Lovelorn girls of Henan where are you? read one.

In Henan, however, the message that you can consume more if you breed less appears to be more persuasive than threats and penalties.