Today is a special day in Northern North America, Canadian Thanksgiving. While it is (not surprisingly) less of a big deal for us than it will be in about six weeks for our neighbours to the south, it is still an important day on the calendar. While I won’t be heading to mom’s for a …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
The other day I wrote a quick post about how pneumonic plague had infected and killed residents in a small community in Qinghai province. My post was meant mostly as a joke, as my friend Glen was in Qinghai and complaining about being ill. However, there’s nothing funny about pneumonic plague. Now several more people …Read More
Chinese is a really difficult and frustrating language to learn, but it always helps to laugh at yourself to get you through the process. My confessions 我的自白: Injuries I have, in frustration, banged my head against my Chinese textbooks. I’m pretty sure I’ve ruined my eyesight by staring at Chinese characters for too long. I …Read More
I recently read this NYT article on missing student records and became infuriated. In short, the article is about recent graduates from various universities, who came from poor families, worked incredibly hard to set the foundations for their futures, only to find that their entire academic records (high school grades, college grades, test scores, proof …Read More
I was talking with friend and frequent Lost Laowai contributor Glen yesterday. He mentioned that he is currently hanging out in Xining, Qinghai, and while he has intentions of travelling more, his plans have been delayed as he is feeling under the weather. And then I read this: One dies of Pneumonic plague in NW …Read More
“Sober?†you say. “What in heaven’s name makes you think I want to stay sober in China?†I admit that the following advice doesn’t apply to a large portion of foreigners in China, but hear me out. Whether you’re someone who never drinks, who only drinks socially, or one whose blood-alcohol level should be renamed …Read More
As a bona fide news junkie, one of my favorite magazines is Foreign Policy. Each dead-tree issue has a section called “Think Again” in which a writer analyzes a series of assertions about a particular subject, say, the Israel/Palestine situation, and offers a slightly contrarian take on what many consider to be conventional wisdom. Let’s …Read More
I went to the supermarket today, but was blocked at the entrance by some dude checking his receipt and yelling at someone on his phone. Shrugged it off. Grabbed my gear and headed for the bus stop, but was blocked by some old lady super excited to bear witness to China’s mass-transit system in motion. …Read More
We’ve all seen them, and chances are we’ve all been them at one point or another. A quick walk to the nearest Starbucks or Metro in China, and you will notice that expats come in all shapes, sizes, and dispositions. In general, most of the laowais living here in the Middle Kingdom are fantastic people …Read More
[/caption]
Everywhere in China you can find Jade. They sell it in street corners, in subway stations, in supermarkets, and in jewelry stores. Some Jade costs as little as 1 yuan and some as much as 100k+ yuan. Whether it’s black, blue, green, yellow or white, Jade is very shiny and alluring, though it’s often a mystery to foreigners and Chinese people alike. So how do you buy Jade without being cheated? I know it can be confusing so here is a brief introduction to “the king of Jade†that is Fěicuì.Read More
Return to Top ▲
