travel Posts

Oct072011

Posted By
Becky

Prostitutes and Full Immersion Learning

The best thing about learning the language of a country you are living in is full immersion learning. Everyone is a potential teacher, and everything around you is your learning materials.

I really learned this lesson during a recent trip to Beijing. It was a weekend, and all the hostels were sold out so we were stuck staying at a low-end business hotel. You know, a sketchy place with smoke scented rugs; scuffed, cheap wood side tables; and a pile of prostitute cards at the door. Yes, that’s right, prostitute cards.

Jun272011

18Comments

Posted By
Ryan

Canuck expat loses it at train ticket office

Some Gems:
“Chinese people need to learn brains.”
“It’s 2011. Chairman Mao is dead.”

And the kicker:
“See, I’m Canadian, I don’t have to shut up. Chinese people have to shut up. Canada people [sic] don’t have to shut up.”

May242011

8Comments

Posted By
Ryan

Review: Last Train Home

There’s an undeniable disconnect between being a foreigner in China and being a Chinese in China. Yeah, I know, thank you Captain Obvious. As self-evident as that statement is, it’s sometimes easy to neglect the truth in it and ignore the consequences of what it is to be Chinese in China.

Maybe this is only true for me, but when I first arrived in China I was fascinated with everything. I sucked it all in like a sponge. Every discarded baijiu bottle, weathered shoe repair person, steamy baozi vendor… it was all so noticeable. But after a time these things, and the millions of others of still frames that blur together to form a tapestry of modern China, began to blend into the background as I just got on with living. I shifted from being a curious tourist to a preoccupied resident.

Which is why I’m grateful for having caught Last Train Home, a documentary by Chinese-Canadian filmmaker Fan Lixin, as it re-humanized the mass of strangers just off the edge of my doorstep.

Apr292011

2Comments

Posted By
Jalal

Taoism in modern times

In October of 2010, I was invited to take a welcome break from my life on the hamster wheel that is Shanghai, and visit Jinhua’s famous Taoist temple and caves. I was very excited by this invitation, partly because of my interest in Taoism and its place in Chinese culture, and partly because I had been invited by my new friend Kathy; a US-educated professor of Biochemistry, Taoist, and my guide to the considerable development of Taoist activity in and around Jinhua.

Jul262010

6Comments

Posted By
Glen

Fact or Fiction VIII: Hey Ho! Expo!

Welcome back one and all to the July edition of Fact or Fiction. Those of you who read any or all of the last seven 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.

My guest today is Katherine, better known around here as Baoru. You can read her work on CNReviews where she posts a great deal about life in the Middle Kingdom. Quite recently her informative posts on the Shanghai Expo have received a great deal of web traffic, and for obvious reasons. She also writes a blog in Expotia, the Official Hotel Reservation Service Provider of Expo 2010. If that wasn’t enough, depending on your perspective, she is either lucky or brave enough to be a volunteer at the World Expo in Shanghai.

Looking at my guests resume, the topic seems rather obvious to me. We will be talking about the biggest event to currently be underway in China, the Shanghai Expo. We will be tackling issues like lines, toilets, and our favourite pavilions, so join us for Fact or Fiction 8: Hey Ho, Expo!

Jul242010

13Comments

Posted By
Travis

There and Back

I came to China on August 26, 2008. Before then, I took an inventory of what I’d packed. Clothes: 7 pairs of jeans, 14 pairs of socks, 2 pairs of shoes, 9 pairs of underwear, 11 shirts total, and 1 pair of glasses, no spare, no contacts. Toiletries: comb, brush, toothbrush, toothpaste, shaving cream, razor, [...]

Jun082010

3Comments

Posted By
Lost Laowai

Photo: Left Luggage

The Lost Laowai flickr pool is full of talented photographers, but I continuely return to the photography of “Zhao Hua Xi Shi” for our featured photos. It’s cliche to say that a picture is worth a thousand words, but I can’t think of a better way to describe this image, or indeed most of the images in this photostream.

Apr202010

14Comments

Posted By
Glen

Fact or Fiction V: The Glenpire Strikes Back

Welcome back one and all to the April 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 Rebekah Pothaar, the former editor of Ctrip and Chinatravel.net and former Shanghaiist and CNNGo contributor. She always dreamed of being a travel writer until she discovered through experience that writing is one of the most badly paid “glam” jobs on earth. So in 2009, she tossed her old dreams out the window and chose a life of corporate advertising in Shanghai. Since then she has what they call “career prospects” but rarely has time to write. Lonely Planet and The Telegraph phone her from time to time asking for her work, but she disdainfully asks them to show her the money. So far, they haven’t coughed up anything worth rolling out of bed for. She dreams that one day writers will be paid enough so she can leave the advertising business and return to writing again. In her spare time, she still enjoys traveling in China and lists camping on the Great Wall and running the Great Wall Marathon as her most unique China experiences. With the May Holiday coming up, Rebekah and I will be discussing several travel issues in this crazy country of ours.

So join us for Fact or Fiction 5: The Glenpire Strikes Back!! (…I’ve seriously been waiting four issues of this to use that title)

Mar102010

26Comments

Posted By
Steven

10 fantastic iPhone apps for your China life

If you’ve gotten your paws on an iPhone or an iPod Touch, you’ve likely added lots of useful apps to it. You might, however, have overlooked the fact that there are lots of apps – many by Chinese developers – that you can use daily to help find your way around, speak the language, or get information.

I’ve chosen 10 China-relevant apps, most of which are free

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 [...]