Perhaps it is because the new Mac operating system is nicknamed “snow leopard.” (What’s with the cat names? Personally, I am holding out for “margay”– should be fast and small. But I digress.) The snow leopard’s habitat is mostly in China.

And the new Macintosh OS (more mundanely known as OS X 10.6) has a fun input method for Chinese characters. According to Apple’s release, “You draw them right on the Multi-Touch trackpad in your Mac notebook. They’ll appear on the screen in a new input window, which recommends characters based on what you drew and lets you choose the right one. The input window even offers suggestions for subsequent characters based on what you chose.” Fun! I can’t wait to see it!

The OS will sell for $29. Plus the cost of a Mac notebook, for Chinese input.