Cup of Cha
This is China

One of the oddest things about Beijing is its bizarre scale. You can’t walk anywhere. One block is about a kilometer long. Housing complexes expand over dozens of acres. Coming from Brooklyn, where anything you want is a five-minute walk, Beijing is bizarro world.
And one of the cornerstones of Beijing’s madness is the lack of [...]

Continue reading “No Roads Lead to Starbucks” »

Henry Sanderson of the Associated Press is reporting that China has stopped issuing all business visas into China until September 20. Terrorism concerns related to American lawyers were the cited reason. Just kidding, they’re worried businessmen might protest. That makes sense:
The visas restrictions are part of a massive security operation to ensure a trouble-free games, [...]

Continue reading “We Don’t Want No Stinkin’ Business” »

The Chinese government has announced that people attending the Olympic Games will have designated areas where they will be allowed to protest. No word yet on what topics people are allowed to protest in these areas that, no doubt, will have extremely close surveillance. Here’s the official story from the AP:
Beijing will set up specially [...]

Continue reading “Idiots Encouraged to Protest in Olympic Safe Zones” »

A few nights ago, I was minding my own business biking home from the Andingmen area on the Second Ring Road, when I noticed two police officers in full riot gear talking to a motorist on the side of the road. The one speaking had a giant plexiglass shield on his left arm, separating himself [...]

Continue reading “Riot Gear and Big Guns Near Yonghegong Temple” »

So I just tried to send a package express to the US through one of the three major shipping companies (EMS does not qualify. Sorry). They now require a photocopy of your passport. Why? “We’re now in a ’special period.’”
Damn presidential election!
I can’t wait for the Olympics to end so we can get to normal [...]

Continue reading “Express Mail Now Requires Passport” »

In New York I sometimes get phone calls from wrong numbers. Sometimes they are speaking in Spanish. Come to think of it, that happened once with my US number in Beijing. Can you imagine living in Washington Heights and accidentally calling China? Anyway, callers are usually apologetic in the US, or sometimes embarrassed causing a [...]

Continue reading “I Do Not Call Wrong Numbers” »

This afternoon my lunch-mate and I were refused salad at a Thai restaurant in a mall on Wang Fu Jing.  The reason given was that salad is banned for the Olympics.  This was news to me, but my colleague said that he had heard tell of this impending ban but had not believed that it [...]

Continue reading “No Salad” »

In China, all too often, criticizing any aspect of Chinese society or the government is taken as an affront to the entire country. On my blog I pretty much say whatever I want, but in my personal interactions I try to be a little more cautious. Nevertheless, it also strikes me as bizarre that talking [...]

Continue reading “When Can One Criticize China?” »

If I had thought of this first I would have written it as satire. But it occurred in Guangdong first.
You know those flags that have become the ire of most Chinese citizens advocating the breaking off of one of China’s biggest provinces? Many were made in China, unbeknownst to factory owners and workers. If the [...]

Continue reading ““Free Tibet” Flags Chinese Made” »

Normally, the safest place in the world is in front of the police station. You know, normally. Yet one of the only crimes committed against me since I’ve been in China happened directly in front of my local PSB. As in four meters away. It wasn’t violent, and it wasn’t terrible, but it is a [...]

Continue reading “Robbed in Front of the Police” »