Allow me a bit of shameless promotion here. Last month I published a book, titled “Survival Chinese Lessons.” It’s a simple language learning book, designed for those who want to get started in language learning, and actually learn some useful things in bite-sized chunks. It can be purchased directly from Lucerna Publishing in Minneapolis. Amazon […]
Morning Exercises
One of the great communitarian traditions here in Asia is group calisthenics. Students exercise enmasse every morning at 9AM. It’s not uncommon to see the kitchen and wait staff of a restaurant lined up outside the restaurant before opening time doing exercises. Even business offices get into the act. Follow this link to watch a […]
Plastic People
On Saturday I was at the Tianyi Wholesale Market with a friend, and spotted these “Plastic People” welcoming shoppers. They were everywhere—at the front door, on the stairs, hanging from balconies….kind of spooky really.
Spic and Span
I was out this afternoon with some Chinese friends and they asked me if I noticed any changes in Beijing since I left 6 weeks ago. Oh my goodness, yes! We were all noticing how neat and tidy and spic and span everything is. The flowers are in place; the lawns are manicured; every building […]
La La Dui
Look out, cheerleaders are coming to Beijing. The Wall Street Journal China Blog has an interesting story about an Olympics cheerleading squad that is being trained for the Games by the New England Patriots cheerleaders. BMX bike competitions won’t be the only American-inspired novelty at the Beijing Games. There will also be cheerleading—with nunchuks.For about […]
Back in ‘The Jing’
After a wonderful few weeks in Minnesota, spending time with family and friends and cleaning out my lungs, I am now back in Beijing, a city that is approaching manic panic levels as the countdown clock shouts to all that there are now only 27 days until the start of the Games. Yikes. I’ve only […]
