It’s Christmas card season, even in China, and they are pouring into our office fast and furious-like! Most of them are very nice, but some of them have very humorous "Chinglish" greetings. One that we received today scored particularly high on the chuckle factor: Please listen carefully to the bell in the distance before time […]
Finger Food
Finger food has never really been a part of Chinese culture. It is very rare here to see someone using his/her fingers to eat anything. In fact, I’ve seen people go to great lengths to avoid using their fingers when eating food that is normally eaten with fingers, such as hamburgers, french fries, etc. Did […]
Background Music
I was in a taxi yesterday afternoon on the way downtown to meet a friend for supper. The radio was on, and I was just half listening. But during the commercial breaks, my ears locked in to the background music of some of the ads. For one of them, it was "Jingle Bells." For another […]
Second Hand Smoke
If you were to pop in to my place for a visit tonight, you’d imagine that I was secretly indulging in cigarette smoking. The smell of cigarette smoke in my place is quite strong. Problem is, I haven’t been home all day, so it can’t be me! Here’s the problem. The apartment next door has […]
Hillary!
This is another of those "conversations from the twilight zone" that I occasionally have with Beijing taxi drivers. On Sunday morning I hailed a cab to go to church. I told the driver where I wanted to go and gave him detailed instructions on the best way to get there. This always throws them off […]
Toothpaste With Chinese Characteristics
Recently I needed some toothpaste, so I headed across the street to the Hypermarket. Now I normally try to avoid any store or enterprise that has the name “hyper” in it, but it is so convenient that it’s hard not to go there. Being someone who was raised on Crest toothpaste, I’m happy that they […]
