Never Ending Bureaucracy

There’s always “one more thing” that wasn’t mentioned the first time around. I’m in the middle of the registration process for a client’s company. Because I know the process, and because the sole reason for hiring my personal assistant Jimmy was to have someone who stands in lines, things are going much much faster for …Read More

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The Value of Life and Chinese Hypocrisy

Recently, a colleague at work told me this supposedly common Chinese phrase: 生活就像强奸,如果奋力反抗无济于事,那就躺下静静享受吧. Roughly translated, this phrase in English is as follows: “Life is like rape. If you are unable to resist it, then you might as well lay back and enjoy it.” While this statement is typically used to describe situations where people are …Read More

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Warning to watch your carry-on luggage, thieves take to the air

Philippines-based tour operator, A3 Tours & Travel, recently posted the following story on their Facebook page from a passenger on a Hong Kong flight. The tl;dr of it is that you should not naively believe your carry-on luggage is safe in the overhead bins — the contents might not just have shifted during flight, they …Read More

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Shanghai air pollution gets cutesy AQI Girls, but missing one

I’m sure we’ll all breath a deep sigh of relief that Shanghai’s Environmental Protection Bureau (EPB) is sparing no expense to improve communication with the city’s public on the quality of air in China’s largest city. According to blogger Angel Hsu, the EPB has recently updated their Web site to feature a more (user) friendly interface with …Read More

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A weekend of sun, sand and surf in China

Growing up on the Great Lakes in Southern Ontario, surfing was always an abstract thing. It was something you did in video games, or watched in movies. It was exotic and a bit magical. This past weekend the family and I had an opportunity to attend China’s longest running surf competition, the 2012 Skullcandy Surfing …Read More

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Racist Chinglish?: ‘Your big John is not as long as you think’

I thought I had seen all the wacky Chinglish translations there were, but this one grabbed my attention. From Weibo, the picture has quite different ways of telling its domestic and foreign patrons how to use the urinal. For the English, it makes a rather crude joke about the size of one’s member. For the …Read More

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2012 Surfing Hainan Open, celebrating 5th anniversary

Surfing Hainan Open, China’s longest running surf competition, hits the shores of Hainan’s picturesque Riyue Bay this November 4-5. For the first time ever, competition organizers are expecting the lion’s share of the 40 competitors to be Chinese nationals; a big milestone for the sport, which is just starting to come into its adolescence in …Read More

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German tour bus catches fire in Beijing–6 dead, 14 injured

Tragic news out of Beijing today. A bus carrying a German tour group was engulfed in flames after rear-ending a truck on a highway near Beijing. Current reports indicate that six people have died, and a further 14 are injured. While the identities of the victims have not yet been released, five of the dead …Read More

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US Embassy warns China expats to avoid anti-Japanese protests

Things are certainly escalating in regards to anti-Japanese protests due to China’s ongoing dispute with Japan over the contested Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands. I’ve heard mention from a few people that more protests are likely planned for this weekend, and no doubt continuing after that. The following is a warning from the US Embassy for its citizens to avoid such events, as they can quickly turn violent.

In light of news of ongoing and likely further protests in China related to a territorial dispute in the East China Sea between China and Japan, the United States Embassy and Consulates General in China remind U.S. citizens that even gatherings intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and escalate into violence. U.S. citizens are therefore urged to avoid areas of demonstrations if possible, and to exercise caution when in the vicinity of any demonstrations. U.S. citizens should stay abreast of media coverage of local events and be aware of their surroundings at all times.

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Assaulted on Qixi

What was I thinking? A 3-day/2-night “flag and hat” Chinese tour off the beaten track in Hainan culminating in a super-soaker armed crowd at an annual water festival. If I was just asking for a bad China day, I certainly got it; but that wasn’t anything compared to what happened to some of the Chinese ladies in the crowd.Read More

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What’s with the Chinese aversion to scheduling?

When I started at a four-year college in 1998, I didn’t think it the least little bit odd that the schedule included in my orientation package already had the date of my graduation ceremony listed. Considering that family and friends would be traveling from out of town and would need to plan in advance, this …Read More

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