Cup of Cha
This is China

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?” »

To be honest, I’ve never really celebrated Thanksgiving in China. My first year (2001) the university I worked at sent all the foreign teachers to a Chinese restaurant. The director of foreign affairs clearly had no interest in being there, and sat himself at a table of his cohorts and did not speak to the [...]

Continue reading “Thanksgiving Fried Rice!” »

There’s something a little weird about your last day of work. When I woke up this morning my first thought was “Don’t get shot—not today.” Then I remembered that I’m a desk jockey, not a policeman. Besides, it’s not like I’m retiring to go fishing or something. I guess I’ve seen too many cop movies. [...]

Continue reading “Just Don’t Get Shot–Not Today” »

With all of the talk about Chinese democratization in the recent 17th National Congress, I wondered what a Mainland election would look like. Would it be like an American election, with Swift-Boat ads and fund raising bonanzas? It’s hard to know, and we’ll probably never see it, but it’s fun to imagine. Oh, wait, I [...]

Continue reading “An Imaginary Chinese Election” »