This isn’t going to be nearly as entertaining as the book, nor as exhaustive, but here’s our story of finding Xanadu! Hang in there, it’s going to be on the long side. The Narrative: We met up with our driver, Mr. Xu at the Lido Holiday Inn on Tuesday morning and set out, opting…
Stroll Down Memory Lane
Last night I had dinner with two former student from way way back in 1985. It was my second semester teaching English at a school in Zhengzhou, Henan Province. Both of these gentlemen now live in Beijing. One is a middle level official in the Ministry of Agriculture. The other is one of the top…
The Holiday is Over
Today is Saturday, October 8. The long National Day holiday is over, and China is going back to work. Wait a minute, you say, but it’s Saturday! True, but that’s not particularly relevant. You see, the holiday is a 7 day holiday, not a 9 day holiday. Day One was last Saturday. Day Seven was…
To Xanadu
A number of years ago, I read a book called "In Xanadu: A Quest," written by travel writer William Dalrymple , in which he recounts his attempt at retracing the footsteps of Marco Polo from Jerusalem to Xanadu, the summer capital of Kublai Khan (who, at that time was the emperor of China. It was…
Two Portraits
This evening I and a friend braved the crowds and headed down to Tiananmen Square, the closest thing that a communist country can have to a sacred space. On the north side of the square is the Gate of Heavenly Peace (Tian-an Men). To the south sits Qianmen Gate, and since 1979, the Mosoleum…
Mirror Site
This is a friendly reminder that I have a mirror site. For those of you new to this site, who are outside of China (on the safe side of the Great Firewall of China), you can read pre-September entries at: http://www.outside-in.blog-city.com.