A sign spotted in my neighborhood, roughly translates as: "Let's build a harmonious and kind neighborhood by being legal, civilized, and safe in setting of fireworks." As far as I can tell, the nightly barrage in my neighborhood is legal. Civilized? Perhaps. Safe? Definitely not!
The Plumber and Me
It's a truth I keep experiencing in China: just because the man who is sent to fix your toilet arrives carrying a plunger doesn't necessarily mean that he is a plumber. Most likely he is just the poor maintainance guy who happens to be on duty the Sunday morning that the pesky foreigner's toilet decides […]
The Rearview Mirror
Three months ago today I had knee surgery in Hong Kong. A couple of friends from the US happened to be in town that day and accompanied me to the hospital. Both of them have had more than their fair share of surgical procedures so they had lots of advice and encouragement for me. There's […]
Battle Zone Shanghai
In case you're feeling the need to see clips of more exploding Chinese cites, here's a link to some stunning footage of Shanghai being blown up on New Year's Eve. I guess they blew up 1000 tons of explosives while we Beijingers could only manage 800 tons. Just wait until Lantern Festival. We'll blow them […]
New Year Celebration Photos
A great collection of photos on Chinese New Year celebrations from around Asia, from my favorite site: Big Photo. I like #33. Don't mess with her. I think I have a photo somewhere of her, taken at a Temple Fair in 2007.
Guo Fen
Guo fen (过分) is one of my favorite Chinese words. The first character means 'to surpass' or 'exceed.' The second character means 'points (as in a competition or a test). When the two characters are put together they form a word that means 'excessive / undue / overly.' It's a good translation for the word […]
