I got some from Hegel’s Bagels, a new gig by a tall guy named Jordan from New York. They’re delicious, and 80 RMB ($12) for a baker’s dozen and free delivery (at least for me). Bagels are a rarity in China. I guess the Jew refugees from 1930s and 1940s Europe didn’t stick around long enough […]
I noted yesterday how I had never seen any helicopters in China. Today I did some quick research and found out why. China has about 180 civilian helicopters in use. That means 0.14 helicopters per million people — far lower than the international average of 3.9 helicopters per million.* That number is going to go up. […]
…I haven’t seen any helicopters in China. That’s all.
The past midterm elections were the first elections I got to witness from afar, not mired in the political machine that warps reality and makes normally intelligent and sane people go bonkers. America is so ugly when it comes to campaigning. For me, the reality of a midterm election had been looming somewhere in the […]
Too busy and too lazy lately, even though I’ve thought of a lot of things to say! So, here’s the short, bulleted version, in chronological order: A modern Chinese wedding. Boyfriend and I went down to Shanghai during the National Day holiday to attend one of his college friend’s wedding. It was interesting, to say […]
An excerpt from Minister of the State Council Information Office Wang Chen’s speech, which he’ll be delivering at the opening ceremony for the 3rd annual Beijing Human Rights Forum next Tuesday: The past 30 years of China’s reform has witnessed the exploration of promotion of the development of the society and people with new concepts, […]
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 […]