You may have seen on the news on Thursday that imprisoned Chinese dissident and Nobel Laureate Liu Xiaobo passed away from liver cancer in a hospital in northeast China. He had been sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2009 for his part in the writing of “Charter 08,” a document calling for political reform […]
Kung-fu Granny
No, I’m not talking about my mom, who is approaching her 90th birthday. But I do love this story coming out of China about a 94-year old woman nicknamed the “Kung-fu Granny.” Apparently she’s been practicing martial arts for 90 years. Way to go, granny!
Don’t Do This in Shanghai
22 years ago, in an effort to improve the social environment of Shanghai, the city government issued a list of 7 “Don’ts” — behaviors that the citizens were to avoid. It was an attempt to eradicate the bad habits of Shanghai citizens. They included things like spitting, smoking in public, and cursing. Earlier this month […]
Ripples of the Population Policy
On February 1, the NPR show Fresh Air broadcast an interview with Mei Fong, author of the book One Child: The Story of China’s Most Radical Experiment. Here’s the introduction to the interview: Fong explores the wide-ranging impact of what she calls the world’s “most radical experiment” in her new book, One Child. She says that among […]
I Love a Parade
I’m actually ambivalent to parades in general, but I must admit to having a strange fascination with Chinese military parades. I’m not sure why, but perhaps it’s because they are multi-layered and there are interesting things going on at every level. On Thursday, September 3, China held it’s 14th grand military parade in Central Beijing. While […]
The No Smoking Dance
Nobody can launch a massive nationwide propaganda campaign like the Chinese government. Whether it is to promote an event or mobilize support in favor of a new policy pronouncement, they are in a league of their own. Today (June 1), a smoking ban goes into effect in Beijing that will outlaw smoking in all indoor public places […]
