Cup of Cha
This is China

As it turns out, concerns that Beijing will be brutally hot this August during the Olympics are completely false. You see, temperatures and humidity both begin to fall one week into the 8th month, according to Guo Liwen, head of the Beijing Meteorological Bureau. What a lucky coincidence then that the Olympics are set to [...]

Continue reading “Lunar Calendar Means Cool Olympic Weather” »

When I first saw that the IOC was “allowing” blogging by athletes during the Beijing Olympics, I didn’t think much of it. However, the more I read, the more absurd and offensive I find the entire plan. It is an attempt to muzzle the very people who put money into the IOC’s greedy little palms. [...]

Continue reading “Shameless IOC Crushes Olympic Blogging Discourse” »

Just more than five months away, I’m already getting the feeling that things are going to be really crazy in August. In the last day I’ve had people ask me if they can stay with me during the Games, get them an internship and help students volunteer during the Olympics. Plus, the rumors flying, both [...]

Continue reading “Beijing Olympic Disaster: It’ll be Entertaining” »

My lease is up in a few weeks, and while I’m happy with the current apartment, I’m willing to test the waters. I’ve been looking at some places recently and have come to an unmistakable conclusion: Beijingers have lost their effing minds. They seem to think that owning a Beijing apartment in 2008 is as [...]

Continue reading “August 8th Changes Everything (to Some)” »

One of the amazing theories many Chinese hold about foreigners is that we are somehow promiscuous and sex-obsessed. The not-that-subtle phrase that people use is ‘open,’ or kaifang (开放), literally meaning ‘open door.’ You might think that this would not have a negative meaning, especially since the Open Door Policy (改革开放) uses the same two [...]

Continue reading “Foreigners are so Kaifang!” »

One rumor, and one piece of bizarre gossip/conspiracy theory:
1. Joe Lieberman might run with John McCain
2. (this from a normally sane person, who has possibly cracked): The Clintons have secretly hired Karl Rove
The first theory seems like something Joe would do just because it would be so irritating. The second I had to ask my [...]

Continue reading “What’re McCain, Clinton up to?” »

China’s papers seem to be highly focused on the likely next Beijing leader, even if most of the world is watching the race for the White House. His name may not be as well known as Hillary Clinton (or even Fred Thompson) but Xi Jinping is the only sure-fire next president in the bunch.
Today the [...]

Continue reading “China’s Next President” »

I have been a big defender of Chinglish, but I came across a bizarre column in Beijing Today that talks about the perils of incorrectly using English. However, the story refers to a supposedly embarrassing phrase, which seems perfectly normal.
The newspaper, which despite its name is actually a weekly, has a regular feature that talks [...]

Continue reading “Beijing Today “Chinglish” Article Confounds” »

During a trip several months ago in Xinjiang I noticed something quite peculiar in a typical Muslim restaurant: a tablecloth with Hebrew writing (sorry, picture is slightly out of focus, but it should be clear enough). Now Islam and Judaism share roots, but I would not tell that to a Uyghur guy wielding one of [...]

Continue reading “Jewish Tradition in Muslim Xinjiang” »

For the last six weeks the Chinese internets has been a bit spotty, at least everywhere I’ve used it. It seems like a lot of sites are getting the “BBC” treatment. This means you can connect to the front page, but none of the links actually work. I’ve been using the proxy server Anonymouse, which [...]

Continue reading “What’s Up with the Chinese Internets?” »