This is Randi Hacker with another Postcard from Asia from the KU Center for East Asian Studies.

Feeling sleepy? It’s spring and the Chinese believe that people often feel sleepier in the spring. They even have a name for the condition: Chun kun – spring sleepiness. Kind of poetic, isn’t it? Also, kind of dangerous if you happen to be behind the wheel of one of China’s approximately 24 million cars. China’s roads are already among the most treacherous in the world in any season so, in an effort to prevent drivers from snoozin’ while they’re cruisin’ in the spring, police here in the southwest are serving them free chili peppers at highway service stations. We’re talking hot chilies here, folks. Raw. The kind that clean out your sinuses and your frontal lobes with one bite. I suppose you could call them authentic “pepper” uppers!

From the KU Center for East Asian Studies, I’m Randi Hacker. Wish you were here.