I haven’t seen a bottle of this Pabst Blue Ribbon 1844 (going for 300 kuai for a 750-milliliter bottle, or more than $44) yet, but Evan Osnos’ story about the appearance of Pabst in China reminded me of a single can of P.B.R. I saw last year in Dandong on a cart selling various snacks […]
It’s been almost three weeks since I’ve returned from Taiwan, and I still have no appetite! I don’t want to eat anything, except for a shaobing youtiao or lo bo gao or dan bing or o-ah jian. Or anything made in Taiwan. It’s so depressing and well, unappetizing, in Beijing. Why do they eat such […]
A few things that surprised me about Tokyo, besides how different it is from China and how much more similar it felt to the West. People drive on the left side of the road. This one girl I was walking behind after the U.S. lost to Slovenia was, by all indications, drunk off her ass. […]
I’ve made my way from the North ‘jing to the East ‘jing, which is in a whole other country, so that probably explains most of the differences. It’s the battle of the two giant Asian capitals: Beijing versus Tokyo. Which is better? Cleanliness: The Japanese may have borrowed a lot from the Chinese, but they stopped […]
I had the great fortune of visiting a public Chinese hospital yesterday — Beijing Tongren Hospital (北京同仁医院). Bright and early on a Monday morning, around 7, I asked the taxi driver to take me to the hospital. He drops me off on the opposite corner of a busy intersection, with the hospital rising high above […]
Two special things today this year: 21st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square … incident. National Doughnut Day, celebrated the first Friday of June every year. Krispy Kreme is handing out free doughnuts! Alas, it’s only “national” and not “international,” so even though there is now a lonely KK in Shanghai, I don’t know if it […]
Sometimes, it’s easy to forget how little Beijing is, despite being the political, cultural and social center of the universe China. But this infographic by Chinfographics, which is already on its way to becoming a vital source for China statistics, reminds me that Beijing still only makes up less than 1 percent of China — at […]
Summits are not my thing. Even as much as I love travelling, the World Travel and Tourism Council’s annual get-together in Beijing these few days is just a bit dry and (save for a few interesting reports) unenlightening. Where’s anything about eco-tourism? Voluntourism? They did talk a lot about sustainability and doing environmentally-friendly things (especially […]
A friend of mine recently noted that I’ve been in a much happier mood lately. This is true. Here are possible reasons why: The weather. It’s warm and (at times) sunny again! Things to look forward to: Family visit. I started getting excited around the one-month mark. Upcoming trips. Bye-bye China, hello summer vacation. PMS. […]
Are Chinese people selfish? On the one hand, they’re labeled as “community-oriented,” placing the interests of their family, community, country above their own needs — at least, they face huge pressure to do so. On the other hand, they will do anything to get ahead: They don’t believe in lines, and they push and shove […]