One of my favorite travel writing websites is called the Matador Network. Last week one of their writers put up a post on what he considered the world's worst tourist traps.Beijing's Forbidden City made his list. That got me thinking about what I would include in a list of Beijing's worst tourist traps — my […]
A Tribute to My Father
Eight years ago today, my father died. Below are the words that I spoke in farewell and tribute to my dad at his memorial service on January 25, 2001, in Roseville, Minnesota. Speaking them before 600 people was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. The first part of this tribute was written at […]
Beijing or Peking?
Many who visit the Middle Kingdom for the first time (particularly those who remember the ‘old days’ when the city was known in the West as Peking) want to know when the name of the city changed from Peking to Beijing. The easy answer is that it changed in the 1970’s by order of the […]
An Encouraging Perspective
Tonight I was chatting with some friends I hadn't seen yet since I've been in MN, and they were asking how my knee rehab is coming along. While at times I find myself wishing the progress were faster and more pronounced, tonight as I was talking to them, I realized that it was only three […]
Beijing’s Winter Wonderland
Last weekend Beijing decided it that it wanted to pretend to be Minnesota for awhile. Six to twelve inches of snow fell (the most in 50 years) and the temps plummeted to 0 (f), which may have been an all-time record low. In the 12 years that I've lived in Beijing I don't think 12 […]
