In no particular order other than how they came to mind, my 'best reads' of 2011: Snowflower and the Secret Fan, by Lisa See — A great novel about the relationship between two "sworn sisters" in mid-19th century China. You can read a previous post about the book here. Note: resist ALL temptations to see […]
Reading Assignment — Urban Migration
Imagine, if you will, every single person in the United States packing up everything and moving — not just to a different house, but to a different city or state. Pretty hard to imagine, right? But that’s exactly what’s happening in China today, as urbanization continues at an unprecedented pace. David Pierson, of The Los […]
A Second Glance
In 1997 my sister and her family traveled to China to spend Christmas with me in Changchun. While they were in town, we visited a miiddle school. This was of particular interest to my three nieces, who were all still in middle school and high school at the time. The following essay about that visit […]
Upcoming Talk: My Literary Journey to Being a Sinophile
According to Dictionary.com, a Sinophile is “a person who admires or has a strong liking for China, the Chinese, or their culture.” After 25+ years in China, I guess I qualify. In addition to my own experiences, which I write about on this blog, books have played a major part in helping me understand China. […]
Reading Assignment — Soccer, Scrap, and Street Vending
People in China love soccer (football), but even more they love to hate their soccer teams and players. In an article titled Why China fails at football, The Economist explores the abysmal state of Chinese soccer and why there seems to be little hope for improvement. In a country so proud of its global stature, […]
Run for the Border
It seemed like a fun idea at the time — to climb the sand dune over there…..the one on the other side of the short barbed wire fence, the fence that looked like it was merely surrounding a pasture to keep the cows in. Fortunately the two People’s Liberation Army soldiers who had attached themselves […]
