A favourite thread for the ‘China ranter’, surely, is the enormous gulf between rich and poor in this society supposedly forged through class struggle; and the inequality this imposes. It wouldn’t be a huge leap of faith to guess that another area that draws criticism among expat ranters and others is the health care system [...]
General Posts
Giving Thanks To China
Today is a special day in Northern North America, Canadian Thanksgiving. While it is (not surprisingly) less of a big deal for us than it will be in about six weeks for our neighbours to the south, it is still an important day on the calendar. While I won’t be heading to mom’s for a big feast, it doesn’t mean that I’m not thankful for several things. And since this is a blog centred around life in China, I thought that I would take a minute or two to make a list of things that I would like to thank China for. I would love to here what any of you out there in Comment Land have to add to this list.
So in no particular order, I would like to give Chin a big thanks for….
350 Day of Climate Action coming to China
On October 24, 2009, relatively small groups of people around the world will create an action that helps to raise awareness about the 350 International Day of Climate Action, and with a long list of events taking part across the country, China’s no exception. If you’re like me and are wondering what the heck the [...]
A Good Dog Couple – 好一对狗男女
Manners (and I know it’s been said before, but not like this)
I have eaten dinner with Chinese people at a number of fancy restaurants and a variety of closed-off rooms at special establishments. Each time, I pick out the things that I can bear most from the curious selection of oddities on the table and prepare to eat. Each time, this carefully chosen meal is interrupted [...]
The Amateur’s Guide to Chinese Name Translation
Chinese names, to the untrained ear, may sound somewhat similar. They jumble together in a scrambled binary of Changs, Wangs, Wus and Hus. They are hard to remember, since they are all 2-to-3 segment K’NEX sets of syllables that fail to strike a strong note with western minds. Yet upon further intensive (albeit unscholarly) investigation, [...]
10 Slightly Off the Beaten Path Locations in China
Still haven’t made up your mind for the October Holiday yet? Don’t want to bother leaving the country, but have already done Beijing, Shanghai, Xi’an, and the like? Well worry not, I’m here to help!
I’ve come up with 10 of my favourite places to visit here in China that are off the usual laowai tourist route. Of course, since this country has a billion people, it is very difficult to truly be able to leave the beaten path. But is that necessarily such a bad thing? I mean, places are visited because they are exceptional…for the most part. But many of these locations seem to be skipped over by other foreigners for reasons I do not truly understand.
Hopefully you’ll find some inspirations here…
The Forecast for Today: Death from Above!
Mother Nature must show up drunk at China’s doorstep, or she’s on some pills or something. Beijing is said to have year-round weather, but I never knew there were more than four seasons until I flew across the Pacific. To the usual line up of Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter, add the new seasons: Boggle, [...]
Ode to the Beijing Garbage Man
In the wee hours of the dusty morn, a hero lurks the alleyways of old Beijing. He has the body of the Spartan and the face of a ghoul. His eyes and cheekbones seem chiseled from granite. shirt and pants are torn asunder and streaked with every oil, chemical, paste and sauce imaginable. With his [...]
Rule Of Law
Just got back from the Dalian beer festival, Xu Zhiyong was arrested, The piss ran in streams from the urinals, And not a soul protested, Here we are in the land of the dragons, Xu Zhiyong was arrested, Maybe Hu’s words got lost in the Jargon, Cause not a soul protested, The rule of law, The rule of law, [...]
