Featured Photos
Photo: School Assembly
Tomek Pienicki‘s photo stream offers up some extreme captures from China. Tomek has a real knack for allowing the image to speak for itself. Be sure to check them out.Read More
Teaching ESL
There’s Nothing Delicious About Delicious
As a former English teacher and long-time observer of the curious ways Chinese people approach our native tongue, my list of linguistic pet peeves is surprisingly few. Yet there is one term that I can no longer stand: delicious. Ask any Chinese person about his or her favorite food and you’re bound to hear the …Read More
Chinese Politics & News
What the hell’s with all these primary school attacks?
What the hell is going on? I know times are tough, I know there is huge economic disparity between the rich and the poor, I know nobody likes you, I know your boss made you lose face, I know society looks down on you, I know your parents beat you. But why the fuck do …Read More
Humour
You know you’ve been in China too long when…
You know you have been in China too long when:
You start shaving your eyebrows and stop shaving everywhere else;
You don’t know the conversion between CNY and USD;
You send back ice water for hot water;
You have a stock pile of deodorant;Read More
Shanghai World Expo 2010
Hilarious Shanghai Expo Trial Run Email Meme + Photos
Steven (of LLW and Sinobytes renown) sent me an e-mail yesterday that has been make its way from Chinese inbox to Chinese inbox in an expedient fashion. I thought it was hilarious, and a some what rare opportunity to get a peek at the Chinese taking the piss at their own expense. Below is not the complete e-mail with photos, but the majority of it — organized into slightly more coherent groupings.
By far my favourite is the photo captioned “上海资æºä¸°å¯Œï¼Œè¯·éšä¾¿äº«ç”¨” — the first image in the “Water Fountains” section. Let it never be said that the Chinese are devoid of sarcasm.
主题: 对ä¸èµ·,我们丢脸了 / Subject: Sorry, we’ve lost face.
See the images, with explanations, after the jump.Read More
China Expat Rants
Laowai Lush Caught on Tape
Charles at ChinaGeeks pointed me to the following video in his most recent post, “What an Idiot Foreigner Shows Us About Xenophobia and Sexism in China.” The video shows an extremely drunk foreigner stumbling down the street, having an incredibly patient cop try to help him out, exclaiming he loves China, hugging said cop, kicking …Read More
General
Fact or Fiction V: The Glenpire Strikes Back
Welcome back one and all to the April edition of Fact or Fiction. Those of you who read either of the last three will know, every edition I will have a guest and we will discuss a few of the big issues in China of the day. Every answer will have a “Fact†or a “Fiction†and some justification to go along with it.
Today my guest is Rebekah Pothaar, the former editor of Ctrip and Chinatravel.net and former Shanghaiist and CNNGo contributor. She always dreamed of being a travel writer until she discovered through experience that writing is one of the most badly paid “glam” jobs on earth. So in 2009, she tossed her old dreams out the window and chose a life of corporate advertising in Shanghai. Since then she has what they call “career prospects” but rarely has time to write. Lonely Planet and The Telegraph phone her from time to time asking for her work, but she disdainfully asks them to show her the money. So far, they haven’t coughed up anything worth rolling out of bed for. She dreams that one day writers will be paid enough so she can leave the advertising business and return to writing again. In her spare time, she still enjoys traveling in China and lists camping on the Great Wall and running the Great Wall Marathon as her most unique China experiences. With the May Holiday coming up, Rebekah and I will be discussing several travel issues in this crazy country of ours.
So join us for Fact or Fiction 5: The Glenpire Strikes Back!! (…I’ve seriously been waiting four issues of this to use that title)Read More
Arts & Entertainment
Joe Wong, the new face of Chinese comedy — just not in China
Having a bit of a lazy day this Sunday past, I took up residence on my sofa and watched three Russell Peters DVDs back-to-back. Russell, for those unaware, is a Canadian-Indian comedian whose routine is largely made up of racially-centric jokes, and he’s milk-out-the-nose hilarious. I love stand-up comedy, and it is one of the …Read More
General
Ethical Vegetarianism
I tried being a vegetarian once, my first year of university. I was 18 and realized with delight that for the first time, my culinary options weren’t bound to whatever my parents came up with for dinner. Â I could stop eating meat, and nobody could stop me! Besides, I thought vegetarianism would help me lose …Read More
Featured Photos
Photo: Chicken Dinner
This mouth-watering shot from the Gaoqiao market in Ningbo is by Mark Hobbs, a talented photographer and cultural studies teacher based out of Ningbo, Zhejiang. Check out Mark’s photostream for more great shots.Read More
General
Fact or Fiction IV: March Madness
Welcome back one and all to the March edition of Fact or Fiction. Those of you who read either of the last three will know, every edition I will have a guest and we will discuss a few of the big issues in China of the day. Every answer will have a “Fact†or a “Fiction†and some justification to go along with it.
Today my guest is fellow Laowai blogger Matt. He is the resident Kunminger (that is a word, right?), and his most recent intelligent posts have been about learning and teaching Chinese, as well as cooking and alcoholism. Also, he keeps his own personal blog, Matt Schiavenza – A China Journal, which is a worthy addition to your Google Reader, whenever it’s not blocked. Today we’re doing a bit of a topic potpourri, discussing Google, prostitution, and the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of the National People’s Congress.
o join us for Fact or Fiction 4:Â March Madness~!!!Read More
Learning Chinese
Speaking English in China
Here’s a situation likely to be familiar to Chinese-speaking foreigners in China. You walk into a bar, cafe, or shop in a reasonably fashionable district of a big city. The guy or girl behind the counter greets you with a ‘hello!’. You reply in Chinese. They reply in English. You reply again in Chinese, attempting …Read More
