In some brief news unrelated to the earthquake, the Mother Jones blog has reported that Pringles and Fanta are now banned in China because of toxins. You need to watch out for the berry-flavored version of Fanta, the rest are apparently ok. Also, Chinese officials found an infestation of beetles in Nestle’s coffee flavor. Mmm, …Read More
Last summer acclaimed documentary filmmaker Tan Siok Siok headed out into the streets of Beijing with a rather ambitious goal of capturing the essence of the city and its people the summer before the Olympics. The result is Boomtown Beijing, a film that paints a picture of not just a city or the sporting event …Read More
I’ve gotten a little tired of all the stories about Chinese and nationalism around that I spent most of last weekend trying to avoid most foreign news coverage about it. But I was dragged back in an interesting way when I learned to a recent podcast on the Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC) Radio’s Ideas program. …Read More
Recall the old expression: teachers are to act in loco parentis. This means, if my high school Latin still serves me, that during school hours the teachers are responsible for assuming the role of parents in the lives of their students. Yet as anyone knows, this doesn’t really work. As teenagers, the last things we …Read More
Hot off the extremely reliable mobile SMS chain comes news that Carrefour and the French government have banned together to concoct a special May Holiday sale to lure Chinese customers away from their boycott. And not just that, French TV is hoping to catch it all for the 6-o’clock news, presumably to put the French …Read More
The lead-up to the Beijing 2008 Olympics has spun so totally out of whack that I believe they need to add a new sport to the Games – Puerile Ping Pong. The event pits countries from across the globe against each other in a balls-out relay race to see who can reach absolute absurdity first, …Read More
In what can only be assumed to be fear over increased problems related to the Olympic games, China has cut off multiple entry travel visas, and limited them to 30 days. As Journey to Nowhere reports from the SCMP (which stoically continues to charge for online content): Beijing has stopped issuing multiple-entry visas, risking major …Read More
If you ever been around Shanghai’s People’s Square and Nanjing West Road, you’ve seen them — the shoe shine guys. They’ve got their little foot bench that doubles as a carryall for their oily rags and 3-kuai tube of shoe polish. If you work in that area of Shanghai these guys will pester you. Two …Read More
The scene should be familiar to all who have lived in China for awhile: You’re out at a cafe or bar with a group of friends, having a beer and a few laughs (or is that a few beers and a laugh?). A Chinese man, or woman, approaches your table and asks to speak. He …Read More
Let me get this straight. A man dedicates his time, money and energy working to help the poor, the sick, the dying, the forgotten and the endangered. And rather than the acclaim and accolade he deserves, he is kidnapped, put under house arrest and now sentenced to 3 1/2 years of hard time in prison …Read More
If you’ve been using the Firefox addon Access Flickr, which allows you view Flickr photos while being behind the Great Firewall, you may have noticed some photos display just fine and some wont at all. Since posting last june about the fantastic solution for us shutterbugs in China, Flickr has added a new “farm” for …Read More
I’m nearing my five-year mark of being in China. I don’t view that as a long time but people I meet increasingly are. It surprises me because I always view “Old China Hands” – the term that’s developed for foreigners that have been here a long time. I used to see the term as something …Read More
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