Some people, communities, and nations are able to weather and rebound from substantial shocks; they are, in a word, resilient. But what exactly does that mean? What characteristics confer resilience, and how can they be cultivated?

Nearly 70 percent of water withdrawn in China is for agriculture, while 20 percent is withdrawn to mine, process, and consume coal. By 2020, China’s water use — driven in large part by the 30 percent expected increase in coal-fired power production — will increase dramatically.

Yunnan is a microcosm of the intertwined challenges facing China; climate change, strained water resources, and rising energy and food demand to meet the demands of the world’s largest country are together forming a Choke Point that cannot be ignored. In a striking example of one such growing water-energy-food choke point, Yunnan's Nuozhadu Dam on the Mekong River is located in Pu'er, the epicenter of Yunnan's coffee growing boom. Yunnan's looming threats of drought, dams, development, and deforestation are making the need for sustainable water practices, like those in Starbucks' C.A.F.E. Practices, all the more urgent.

Shale gas development promises to help resolve the confrontation between rising demand for energy and declining freshwater reserves, along with other potentially huge benefits, not the least of which is to the environment. But of all the big national projects that China has taken on in the last two decades, adding unconventional domestic sources of natural gas to the fuel supply has eluded China.