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, …Read More
Cleptos beware, if you happen to be suspected of thievery from a Wal-Mart in Jiangxi province, you might just end up beaten to death. That is, at least, what happened to Yu Xiaochun a little more than a week ago. On August 30 the 37-year-old woman exited the Jingdezhen, Jiangxi, Wal-Mart and proceeded to her …Read More
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 …Read More
It’s been a while since we’ve featured one of Douglas M. Paine’s images as the Featured Photo here on Lost Laowai – but it’s certainly not for a lack of choice (we just like to spread the love around a bit). Better known as Alphafish on Flickr, Douglas’ shots are nothing short of inspiring. This …Read More
I’m sure everyone has heard the story of the friend of a friend from X country at X university in China, and the story is so remarkable you almost don’t believe it. Here are a couple I’ve picked up from different people, I don’t know if they are true or not. They are both very …Read More
It’s fairly common knowledge that Chinese people like to perform.  If you ever go to a school “dance†in China, you will sit in the audience and watch people perform on stage.  The other day I was walking on the busiest shopping street in Qingdao, when I witnessed another kind of performance, Chinese “flash” å¿«é—ª dancing.  Apparently …Read More
London, not quite my hometown, but a city I know very well, has its own peculiar culture called Cockney, which is evident as an accent, in traditional clothing, and in the idiosyncratic ‘Cockney rhyming slang’. The Cockney accent and mannerisms were famously mis-represented by the actor Dick van Dyke in the Mary Poppins movie, and …Read More
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, …Read More
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 …Read More
There’s a scene in the great 1980s baseball film Major League (I realize that the majority of you readers are unlikely to be baseball fans, but bear with me) in which Pedro Cerrano, a newly acquired slugger, takes batting practice in spring training. At first, he hits each pitch way out of the ballpark for …Read More
This excellently timed capture of two white tigers in a playful-yet-deadly yin-yang pose is one of many great photos from the Flickr stream of Mark, aka China Lost and Found.Read More
I absolutely love the simplicity and practicality of the Chinese language. This means that I can read medical journals in Chinese that I can’t even understand in English. Chinese pretty much puts complicated vocabulary into layman’s terms. For example the Coccyx is the 尾臀骨 [wÄ›i tún gÇ”] or the “tail butt bone,†and Hepatopathy is …Read More
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