The Gobi Desert people like their Nu Skin, so do Wild Yaks, Donkeys and Bears

Not all of Western China is thinly populated. Chongquing is big modern city (though I have not been there since 1981 when it felt medieval).

However some of China is very thinly populated indeed. Parts of the Tibetan Plateau are almost as thinly populated as Antarctica. I was flattering when I described them as being for nomadic herdsmen (though Nu Skin is also opening stores for them too).

Here again is the map of Nu Skin’s store openings – but this time I have marked a few stores.

Note the several stores planned for the Gobi Desert. This area is thinly populated – but they are planning multiple stores.

The map shows an existing store in Hohhot (a reasonable sized city). That store is marked in red. The proposed stores do not correspond to any reasonable looking population centres. However as China hands observe – the area has a surprising population density given how infertile it is.

The store that stands out though is the one marked in Hoh Xil. Hoh Xil is an elevated part of the Tibetan Plateau and the whole area is above the altitude at which sustained human existence is possible. According to Wikipedia Hoh Xil is the least populated part of China and the third least populated part of the world. The population density is comparable to the Greenland Ice Cap.

But it warrants a Nu Skin store and a couple more on the periphery of the wilderness.

There are no people in Hoh Xil, so I guess the Wild Yaks, Donkeys and Bears like their multi-level marketing schemes.

Speculations

There is little chance they will ever open a store in Hoh Xil. A store on Baffin Island is more likely. Indeed many of these marked stores are implausible.

The question arises how did this slide get into a Nu Skin presentation?

There are lots of possibilities. Perhaps it is a mistake as per Richard M. Nixon signing the debt covenant.

Perhaps the Chinese management are having the Provo Utah head-office on. After all if they “build” this store the management could just steal the money. It would be a long time before the Provo Utah team get to visit all these Chinese facilities. This is a company that bought back shares only to breach its debt covenants. That does not speak to good financial controls.

At this point I am just speculating. The company issued an 8-K to correct the Richard M. Nixon. Perhaps they could also give more accurate store opening plans for China.

John