Cup of Cha
This is China

I was interested recently to read an esteemed Beijing blogger’s giving the ‘Chai’ to the SOHO chain of developments around Beijing.
SOHO complexes now dot Beijing and the most recent Qian Men development is raising some ire.  Developing the Qian Men area has been controversial with the old neigbourhood pretty much destroyed.  This is a great [...]

Continue reading “I give SOHO the ‘Jian’.” »

There is a tendency for people to try to bridge the culture difference between the West and China by calling things “the Chinese X.” Like, people can’t just say “he’s one of China’s great writer.” Instead, the preferred way of explaining this notion is, “He’s the Chinese Shakespeare.” Of course, I assume that they mean [...]

Continue reading “Spring Festival IS Like Christmas!!” »

Last day of the Olympics and I have handball gold medal tickets.  I love handball, it’s fast paced, I understand the checking rules that leave me bemused with basketball and it’s in the Olympic Green.  The sun is shining and the trip to the Green is pleasant enough.  I have heard so much about the [...]

Continue reading “One Man, One Dream.” »

I texted a Chinese friend asking if she or her colleagues were interested in an extra pair of tickets I have for tomorrow’s soccer finals. The reply came back at 12:25PM on a Friday:
我们在睡觉 我一会问他们。
In other words, the office is napping, I’ll ask them in a bit. I love China.

Continue reading “Text of the Day” »

You did know Liu Xiang has been injured all year, right? The 2004 gold medalist in the 110 meter hurdles hasn’t been in top form in months. So why is it such a shock that, after the Chinese Team and the nation did all they could to force this poor guy to run through injury, [...]

Continue reading “Liu Xiang Critics Bring Shame to China” »

The Olympics have, as hoped, put Beijing in the spotlight. My sister and some other friends are coming before the games, something I am not sure would have seemed as interesting or achievable without them. One reason for this is that for many the first thing that comes to mind when they think of China [...]

Continue reading “Welcome Olympic Guests” »

When you first arrive in China the challenge is always figuring out what you can and cannot do in mixed company. But after a long enough time in the country the difficulty slowly becomes what is appropriate for American, not Chinese, society.
In the beginning I found it bizarre that many Chinese spit bones onto the [...]

Continue reading “Forgetting Cultural Etiquette” »

The rhetoric and tactics that Hillary Clinton has pushed on China policy demonstrate everything that is wrong about her campaign, and herself as a politician. Publicly advocating that President Bush should boycott the opening ceremony in response to a pu-pu platter of offenses by the Chinese Government would not only fail to help promote progress [...]

Continue reading “Clinton’s Dangerous China Stance” »

With stunning deftness, the Chinese Government has managed to completely change the topic from, why so much of the world is so upset with the the country’s official policies, to…Jack Cafferty and CNN. In the process the government has incited enough nationalism to make a Frenchman blush. How did the topic move from human rights, [...]

Continue reading “China do get PR: All Hail Anonymous Nanjing Resident” »

I’m going to list several insults with the author and target deleted, and you decide which is the most offensive. Let’s call it a test of perspective:

war criminal
the Devil
a wolf with a human face
goons and thugs
Satan
someone who makes junk
son of a motherless goat

I’m going to go out on a limb here, but “goons and [...]

Continue reading “The Meaning of China and the Press Blame Game” »