In a recent post, the Atlantic’s James Fallows talks about a song and video by a group of Harvard Chinese language students. The song, “HÄfó/Harvard Welcomes You! 哈佛æ¡è¿Žä½ !”, has the American students singing in Chinese, praising their studies and teachers in Chinese Bb – Elementary Modern Chinese. Fallows draws a good comparison between the style …Read More
I’ve had Mao’s Last Dancer on my “to watch” list for a while now, and finally sat down and gave it a look the other night.
I’ve no doubts that the reason it sat for so long unwatched was because my academic desire to watch it couldn’t beat out the fact that I’d be spending two hours watching a dude dance. Fortunately for me, my less-evolved side succumbed to ever-eroding powers of having nothing else to watch.Read More
Should we get involved? A question that has plagued foreigners living in China since time immemorial. Do we step in when we see some gross injustice, or simply let it pass as “not our fight?” It’s a tough question, and one not easily answered — unless you’re a rollerblading laowai in southern China’s Guangzhou. Being …Read More
I’ve been resisting the idea of doing a “goodbye China” post for awhile now, just as I resisted the idea that I was leaving China. I remember clearly what it was like the summer before I left America. Those initial emails, the excitement, the trepidation. The realization that my options were a) go to grad …Read More
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 …Read More
The game Scruples; that’s the first thing I thought of when I read “Plea for help to get sick Aussie home” in the Canberra Times this morning. The Department of Foreign Affairs has refused to fund the repatriation of a former air force serviceman who has been in a coma in a Chinese hospital for …Read More
If, like myself, you’ve ever had trouble visualizing the concept of time in Chinese with its “behind day” and “ahead day” paradoxically meaning “the day after tomorrow” and “the day before yesterday” respectively; be sure to check out…Read More
“You need to understand,” Walter said, lighting a cigarette. “Chinese love is real love.” “And American love isn’t?” Nick said. “Western love,” Walter said, “is not real love. Not in the Chinese sense. It’s not. Their love is deeper, truer.” “Yeah,” Nick said, “I can see what you mean.” He could too. One night at …Read More
There is a Chinese saying, è™Žçˆ¶æ— çŠ¬å, which mirrors the old Western adage “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” Love him or hate him, it’s tough to argue that the late Mao Zedong wasn’t extremely charismatic and a commanding leader. The same is not as often said about his grandson, Mao Xinyu. A new …Read More
I’ve been on my share of flights where the flight attendants tried to spice things up with a bit of comedy or improv, but this is a first. The video below shows three flight attendants from China’s Capital Airlines putting a bit of a shimmy in their safety instructions.Read More
This photo reminded me of a video blog I did back a few years ago. An intriguing shot. Explains Eric Hevesy, the photographer, “This photo was taken with a telephoto lens looking out of my teaching dormitory at my university in Dalian. I used vignette to kind of highlight towards the center of the photo.”Read More
Chinese authorities have stopped the issuance of permits for foreign travel to Tibet due to chilly weather and over-crowding. Probably has nothing to do with this. People’s Daily: The temporary measures on restricting foreign tourists to Tibet were mainly due to the current cold winter weather, limited accommodation capacity and safety concerns, a high-ranking official …Read More
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