May 12, 2008, 2:28 p.m. Beijing Time

At 2:28 p.m. today, one week to the minute of the earthquake, 1.3 billion people stopped what they were doing to stand up from their everyday lives and silently send their thoughts, prayers and respect to the victims of Sichuan earthquake for three minutes. Some prayed for the dead, some hoped for those still buried [...]

Taiqi is for pussies

Before I head off to Bali to ring in the New Year, I just thought I’d spread a little holiday cheer. I was back and forth on the title of this post, but I’m too tired to come up with a witty and concise way to combine Hip Hop Hippity etc and something about a [...]

1984 called. It wants its plot back.

When people ask me what China is really like, I usually tell them that its very different from the way Western media portrays the country. We live in a culture of fear and one of our greatest fears is ceding our global dominance to an unfamiliar rising power. We fear the unknown and, since we [...]

I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes

You know it’s that time of year when the smell of Gingerbread lattes from Starbucks fills the air (even in the polluted, wet air that is Shanghai in the winter). Just take a stroll down my street and you will see Santa Claus’s jolly twinkle and plump belly poking out from every corner. Granted, about [...]

China Wins… Again

Rumor on the street is more than 137 million people in China are on the internet. In fact, China recently surpassed the United States as the largest internet population (in addition to the place with the coolest people, since I’ve arrived). And, more than 30 million people are blogging. All it took was for [...]

Mono… It’s what the cool kids are doing!

It’s hard to believe, but I am sick again. I know, I know, the mind reels trying to comprehend that someone can actually be ill as often as I am. I blame the back-to-back mono and meningitis I endured during the months between 7th and 8th grade. Brutally destroyed what little immune system I had [...]