Archive for the ‘China Expat Rants’ Category

Aug252010

Posted By
Ryan

Lasseter explores the Internet according to China

Tom Lasseter, who in 2009 took over the Beijing bureau chief spot for McClatchy Newspapers from long-timer Tim Johnson, has a great post on his blog about the GFW.

Due to a computer glitch, Tom lost his VPN the other night and without it decided to traipse around the Internet as viewed from inside China (and with no tunnel out). Poking around here and there and brushing up against its fiery walls, he concludes that the various blocks in place aren’t just to outright deny access, but rather to make it more convenient to get information from a more controlled and State-friendly source.

Aug132010

6Comments

Posted By
Jarrod

Weird Things That I Got Used to in China, Part II

Part 2 of my two-part rip off of a Forbes article of a similar name. Did I mention there are two parts? This is the second one (of two). 7. The Internet I’m a freedom-loving American, so the whole idea of the The Great Fire Wall is a great annoyance to me and my values. It [...]

Aug132010

8Comments

Posted By
Jarrod

Weird Things That I Got Used to in China, Part I

Today I read part 1 of the Forbes China Tracker Blog article Weird Things That People Get Used to in China (a translation of a Chinese article on NetEase). I suppose it is about things that Chinese people get used to, but since I’m leaving soon (countdown: 4 days), I figured I’d write one based on the [...]

May212010

22Comments

Posted By
Ryan

China, might be time to let the DPRK slide into the DARK

Half the sunken Korean ship -- that's a big crane!

So, nice way to end the week — my neighbours might be going to war. Fuck.

I’ve been operating with newsblinders on lately as I try to keep everything on the rails with a new baby in the house (apologies for a lack of updates, but that’s why). As such, it hit me off guard when I read this Guardian article moments ago about South Korean findings that point to the North having sunk their ship back in March.

The short recap — military South Korean ship on routine patrol near disputed maritime boarder between the two nations blows up and sinks, killing 46 crew. Joint investigation with British, U.S., Swedish and Australian experts finds that “The evidence points overwhelmingly to the conclusion that the torpedo was fired from a North Korean submarine. There is no other plausible explanation.” DPRK, hearing of the report, announces loud and clear that should the South retaliate, it’ll be all out war. Keeping things in perspective, they issue the same warning when South Korean media makes fun of “Dear Leader”.

Apr292010

19Comments

Posted By
Ryan

What the hell’s with all these primary school attacks?

What the hell is going on? I know times are tough, I know there is huge economic disparity between the rich and the poor, I know nobody likes you, I know your boss made you lose face, I know society looks down on you, I know your parents beat you. But why the fuck do [...]

Apr222010

37Comments

Posted By
Ryan

Laowai Lush Caught on Tape

Charles at ChinaGeeks pointed me to the following video in his most recent post, “What an Idiot Foreigner Shows Us About Xenophobia and Sexism in China.”

The video shows an extremely drunk foreigner stumbling down the street, having an incredibly patient cop try to help him out, exclaiming he loves China, hugging said cop, kicking at his father-in-law, falling off one of those coin-op children’s rides outside a shop, showing the children’s ride who’s boss, and then getting violent with the police before being carted away.

Mar312010

6Comments

Posted By
Glen

Fact or Fiction IV: March Madness

Welcome back one and all to the March edition of Fact or Fiction. Those of you who read either of the last three will know, every edition I will have a guest and we will discuss a few of the big issues in China of the day. Every answer will have a “Fact” or a “Fiction” and some justification to go along with it.

Today my guest is fellow Laowai blogger Matt. He is the resident Kunminger (that is a word, right?), and his most recent intelligent posts have been about learning and teaching Chinese, as well as cooking and alcoholism. Also, he keeps his own personal blog, Matt Schiavenza – A China Journal, which is a worthy addition to your Google Reader, whenever it’s not blocked. Today we’re doing a bit of a topic potpourri, discussing Google, prostitution, and the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of the National People’s Congress.

o join us for Fact or Fiction 4: March Madness~!!!

Jan132010

58Comments

Posted By
Ryan

Hong Huang tells laowai, ‘don’t assume you can be one of us’

I just finished reading Hong Huang’s opinion piece in the China Daily entitled, “Dear laowai, don’t mess with our Chinese-ness” and I can’t figure it out. What I’d like to think, based on Hong’s reputation, is that it is self-depreciating humour actually directed at Chinese about Chinese superiority and penchants for stereotypes. If this is [...]

Dec152009

12Comments

Posted By
Ryan

Laowai homecoming — mass-transit misery

I’ve been home in Canada for a little more than a week, and am already beginning to rub up against the things that run different from my laowai life in China. And while we’ve covered this topic a few times on the blog, I felt like using this post as an opportunity to reach out [...]

Nov122009

9Comments

Posted By
Glen

Pandemic on the Streets! Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Start Loving the Vaccine

I’m going to be honest. I don’t really know how to write an introduction for this. You all know the story by now. H1N1 is going around and it is either a media creation or a harbinger of the apocalypse. So I would like to apologize in advance if I am further flooding the blogosphere with this topic. So I would like to warn you in advance. This is a post about the H1N1 vaccine. If you are tired of the topic please turn elsewhere. I won’t be offended.

Recently the Centre for Disease Control decided to offer the vaccine, which is in limited supply, to the graduating classes and teachers of local and private schools. As a teacher at an international school I was offered the choice to get vaccinated or not. On Wednesday I decided to get the shot for a number of reasons.