Liu Xiaobo, the professor and human rights activist who authored the Charter 08 petition that called for democratic reform, has the highest odds to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Liu, who was arrested last June for inciting subversion of state power, was sentenced to 11 years in jail in December. Unless you count the Dalai […]
The CCP has the power to move the weekends. Last week, for millions of workers in China, the weekend fell on Thursday and Friday. This was so that they could enjoy a three-day reprieve from work, when combined with the Mid-Autumn Festival on Wednesday, which being a holiday, cannot be moved. Thus, we had to […]
Today was Mid-Autumn Festival, a national holiday in China. It was also the most gorgeous day we’ve had in a while, after a month of smoggy skies and a week of cloudy/rainy days. The boyfriend and I decided to spend our day off at the Fragrant Hills Park (香山公园), located in the surrounding hills of […]
I was going to make cookies last weekend when I ordered an electric mixer off the Chinese Amazon. Little did I know, next-day delivery wasn’t going to be next day. Anyway, it came the day after that, on Monday, even though I had specified to deliver only on weekends. Fortunately, one of my roommates was […]
Wal-mart sells shark! OK, not my Wal-mart. That would be too cool to see.
This is apropos of nothing. Coming from a background of both journalism and political science, I am still completely bewildered by how there is so much misinformation out there concerning our political (i.e., social) affairs. I rant a lot about how the Chinese government and media are so adept at muddling facts that it’s almost […]
Main ingredients: Bread, milk, cinnamon. Special flavorings: Honey, which usually sells for 25 RMB ($3.71) for a jar. While it’s comparable to U.S. prices and doesn’t seem very expensive, I do live in a country where things are usually a small fraction of American prices. Still, it’s better than using maple syrup, which goes for […]
China, which is not exactly known for its high safety standards, has this to offer those in wheelchairs: What angle is that? 30 degrees? (Not good with eying angles.) And yes, it has apparently been closed off with caution signs. It does look kind of dangerous.
Ever since I saw the preview for the Pixar movie, I’ve always wanted to eat ratatouille. Not that the movie really explained what it is, but I came away with the impression it was some sort of lame, poor-man’s vegetable stew/soup that is undergoing a rediscovery. Vegetables — good! Then I started to look at […]
Hachis Parmentier is, apparently, the French version of shepherd’s pie, that I baked in my mini-loaf pans: Pretty delicious, though nothing memorable. Nothing especially French about it, either. So, meh. Main ingredients: ground beef, onions, tomatoes, potatoes, parmesan. Special flavorings: nothing special. Total cost: 40 RMB ($5.91) for six servings. Yeah, pricey. For shepherd’s pie.