When the novel Beijing Coma by the Chinese writer Ma Jian came out last year, I had little interest in reading it. Something about the structure of the novel — which is narrated by a man in a coma who is able to perceive, though unable to respond, to what is going on around him [...]
Langmusi, a tiny Tibetan town along the Gansu-Sichuan border, initially seems like an unlikely draw for tourists both Western and Chinese. It’s not much more than a one-street town, with a couple of small monasteries. But it is a terrific jumping-off point for explorations of Tibetan nomad culture in the mountains around town. An enterprising [...]
After nearly a month of travel, I’m back in Changsha. I have a ton of photos, stories and reviews to share here — starting tomorrow. Now, it’s off to bed to sleep off the last of whatever flu-like illness I picked up on the last day of the trip.
Last week I mentioned that Picasa is down in China, thereby cramping my slideshow style. I’m still searching for a solution to that problem. In the mean time, I thought I would revisit the past 2 1/2 months of slideshows for my newer readers:
Anhui’s Ancient Villages
Hong Kong’s Bird and Flower Markets
The two-week-long riot-avoidance tour* of Gansu and Qinghai provinces has come to a highly successful and riot-free end. I’m in Guangzhou for a day — tomorrow, it’s off to Hong Kong for work. Unfortunately, flu symptoms mean that I’m spending the day on the couch. Although I would have liked to explore the Glasses Market [...]
Our trip through western China is progressing, and going well. So well that Internet access and blogging hasn’t been a top priority. But in case any readers are following in our footsteps, I wanted to write a quick post about actually getting to Langmusi and Xiahe in the Tibetan area of southern Gansu Province.
Both Langmusi [...]
Dalian is one of China’s premier beach destinations, outside of Hainan Island. But don’t expect to come back with a tan — even in July, Dalian can be cloudy and cool. (If you’re from Northern California, this may remind you of home.) At Xinghai Park, ostensibly the largest public square in Asia, you won’t even [...]
The fort at Jiayuguan once marked “the end of China” and the beginning of barbarian lands. It was where the Great Wall ended — and where threats to the Chinese empire might be expected to begin. Stepping into the fort, it is immediately clear that it had more in common with medieval European castles than [...]
Tomorrow marks the one-year anniversary of the beginning of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Called China’s “coming-out party” by too many journalists, the Olympics brought heaps of new construction to Beijing. (Continuing the cliched metaphor, you might think of the new buildings as a deb’s new wardrobe.) The most famous examples of Beijing’s new architecture were, [...]
(Warning: This post involves a lot of venting. More happy stories to come!)
Yesterday (location: Lanzhou, Gansu Province) was one of those days when it seems that China is trying to tell me that “you shouldn’t be here.” The day was all about transportation: buying tickets for the rest of our trip and then taking an [...]
