Sumo on the Suzhou – a Shanghaiist charity event

– The fine folks over at the Shanghaiist have put together an absolutely insane* charity event to raise money for health kits for children in rural Yunnan. The talented people at Fly Films helped them put together the following ad for the event: Read More »

Photo: Under the Railway Bridge

– A great shot of street vendors in late-afternoon Zhuzhou, Hunan. The photo is by the very talented Mark Hobbs, a British/Australian living and working in Zhuzhou, Hunan. Read More »

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 … Read More »

Chinese search giant Baidu in some US legal (bai)doo-doo

– This is clever. So a few years ago Google enters China and is put under a global grilling lamp on whether or not it will adhere to local laws regarding censorship and its search results. Don’t Be Evil held for a little while, but 300+ million Chinese Internet users was bound to make anyone check … Read More »

请讲普通话 - Please Speak Mandarin

Understanding Chinese, easier from locals or expats?

– 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, “Hāfó/Harvard Welcomes You! 哈佛歡迎你!”, 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 »

Review: Mao’s Last Dancer

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 »

Guangzhou laowai rolls out some high-level traffic justice

– 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 »

How prepared are you for an overseas emergency?

– 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 »

The back and forth of time in Chinese

– 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 »

Major General Genre, Mao’s apple is far from the tree

– There is a Chinese saying, 虎父无犬子, 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 »

Photo: Morning Exercises

– 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 »

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