I finally made it back to the Green Umbrellas today, a week after the big rumble, to settle my bill. One of the girls working behind the counter had been our waitress that night. I stopped at the counter and said that I had fled the night of the rumble and wanted to pay. She […]
Passing the Torch
Various news outlets today reported on the dismantling of the Olympic torch that has been sitting on it's side atop the Bird's Nest since the close of the Olympic Games 2 years ago. Here's what the Daily Mail had to say: More than two years after the Beijing Olympic Games ended, workers today began removing […]
Hot Zone
This scary map has been making the rounds on the China blogs today. Produced by Canadian researchers Aaron van Donkelaar and Randall Martin at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, it shows the distribution of fine particulate matter (otherwise known was pollution–but also including dust) across the globe. As you can see, most of China, but […]
Open Up! Police
Earlier this evening, as I was sitting on my couch reading a book, my doorbell rang–frantically, as is often the case in China, where it seems the person ringing the doorbell thinks that the person answering the doorbell should be able to open the door within 1.5 seconds. I opened the door thinking that it […]
China Photos
The Big Picture at Boston.com has done it again — a fantastic spread of photos from around China the past few months. Here's one to whet your appetite — a photo of the guy who bought the first iPad in Beijing last week. (ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images) Please click on the link above and enjoy a tour […]
“Kung Pao Fighting”
In response to my post yesterday about the rumble at the Green Umbrellas, a reader wrote me with the following commentary, which is too good not to share: Take a bunch of only-child men-children, marinated in a culture of Hong Kong cinema martial arts machismo, stratified education and employment opportunities, mix in some pent up frustration from the week long moon […]
