tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53650452011-04-22T11:01:53.878+08:00Kept this blog while studying Mandarin in Beijing, courtesy the Washington Post, and before that while reporting from postwar Iraq for Knight Ridder Newspapers. Occasionally I can't access this blog but I will try to update it intermittently ...Maureennoreply@blogger.comBlogger1461100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-31029781334357075432008-01-12T23:55:00.000+08:002008-12-12T09:35:26.329+08:00

OLYMPICS & THE ARTS This week, in a preview of the pagentry of the Olympics if not its news value, a press conference to announce an Olympics art exhibition was held in the Supreme Ancestral Temple of the Forbidden City. It went on for more than two hours, featured lots of food and drink, flowers for the VIPS and made-up boys and girls in a children's singing performance.Chinese and international

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-84741169718441550432007-10-18T13:44:00.000+08:002008-12-12T09:35:27.150+08:00

HOW TO CURB EMISSIONS WITHOUT AFFECTING ECONOMIC GROWTH?The US and China are actually in agreement on this; neither wants to reduce growth. This is unfortunately a typical scene: Landing at Beijing airport in late July, a year before the 2008 Olympic Games, visibility was poor due to smog. Officials say they are working hard to cut pollution but won't say what's actually in the air and don't in

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-17638351239025864312007-10-15T01:16:00.000+08:002008-12-12T09:35:27.936+08:00

THERE'S A PARTY IN TIANANMEN SQUARE Starting Monday, 2,213 delegates meet at the Great Hall of the People to discuss policies in the Communist Party platform and select new leaders. More than 1,100 foreign journalists and more than 800 domestic Chinese journalists are covering the week-long event, known as "Shi Qi Da," shorthand for the 17th Party Congress. Li Dongsheng, spokesman for the

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-3873058879055409552007-10-15T00:50:00.000+08:002008-12-12T09:35:28.128+08:00

AIDS ACTIVIST, AUTHOR AND DOCTOR GAO YAOJIE In Henan province, Gao Yaojie, 80, avoids other doctors as well as entrepreneurs who seek her endorsement for various cures for AIDS. She also has harsh words for officials who want her approval of their efforts to fight the disease. She was detained earlier this year trying to get to Beijing to pick up a visa from the US embassy in order to attend a

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-63783700494415805422007-10-15T00:24:00.000+08:002008-12-12T09:35:28.850+08:00

THE 1000 POUND GROUP Loosely translated, that is. Discrimination against all sorts of people and problems is wide-spread in China; the story of how one very overweight woman tried to do something about it, here.They performed recently in Guiyang, Guangxi province, here:

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-80193818228658924302007-10-15T00:19:00.000+08:002008-12-12T09:35:28.999+08:00

AMERICANS ADOPTED 6,493 BABIES FROM CHINA LAST YEAR, MOSTLY GIRLS Five families from the Washington DC area visited China recently with their 12-year-old daughters, adopted from Jiangsu province. Their experiences here.

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-51876555444497900692007-10-15T00:15:00.000+08:002007-10-15T01:39:03.807+08:00

WHEN MIGRANT WORKERS CAN'T FIND OTHER JOBS In yet another sign of China's economic boom, prostitution flourishes here.

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-68352713901325773332007-09-08T23:03:00.000+08:002008-12-12T09:35:29.189+08:00

At the euphemistically-named Beijing Pop Festival today, a mostly Chinese audience came to see headliner Public Enemy and scores of Chinese bands. Also performing during the two day festival: the New York Dolls, Brett Anderson of Suede, Nine Inch Nails and Cui Jian, China's godfather of rock and roll. In its first year, the festival drew mostly foreigners. Now in it's third year, the event has a

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-4494605311875960902007-09-08T23:02:00.000+08:002008-12-12T09:35:29.568+08:00

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-70487324188577476032007-09-08T22:23:00.000+08:002008-12-12T09:35:29.625+08:00

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-7293525755021154272007-08-28T16:56:00.000+08:002008-12-12T09:35:29.883+08:00

RESURGENCE IN CONFUCIANISM At the private Young Pioneers Confucius school in Zhengzhou city, Henan province, kids practice how to give each other back massages so they can go home and offer one to their parents. Many parents want their children to study the ancient philosopher to learn how to respect their elders, but many Chinese have no real understanding of what Confucianism means anymore.

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-54998562463992753492007-08-28T16:42:00.000+08:002008-12-12T09:35:30.045+08:00

CUSHY STATE JOBS Zhou Li, and her husband Wu Youming, a former police officer in Hubei province, both quit their state jobs and say they are happier as writers and painters, even without all the benefits they used to receive from their danwei. But they're unusual. Each year, as college enrollments rise, more and more graduates have difficulty finding jobs they want in the private sector.

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-19400371654132289582007-08-28T16:18:00.000+08:002008-12-12T09:35:31.612+08:00

SUICIDE IN RURAL CHINA In China, a woman kills herself every four minutes. The ratio is even worse in the countryside. That's according to the World Health Organization, which claims that China is the only country where more women commit suicide than men. The true picture is a bit more complex. Statistics differ from region to region and one might ask, why do so many more men in the west succeed

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-59105014792006349172007-04-24T02:47:00.000+08:002008-12-12T09:35:32.241+08:00

Thurston Moore with Sonic Youth, performing in Beijing tonight (Monday). Opening act should have been Carsick Cars, a local punk trio who idolize the seminal alternative rock band from New York but they were suddenly cancelled. The rumor was that someone had told Beijing cultural authorities that Carsick Cars once performed in a "Free Tibet" concert, but 1) I couldn't get this alleged reason for

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-39993078313387392252007-03-26T00:24:00.000+08:002008-12-12T09:35:32.701+08:00

Second warm day in a row, and locals are admiring and photographing the blossoms on Chang'An Jie, as you drive past Tiananmen Square. Had another fight withe the bao an, this time the security guard at the diplomatic compound just next door to mine, when they demanded my passport, but not the passport of any other foreigners entering. The guy actually chest butted me. I was so shengqi. Last week

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-82891325645212680762007-03-08T23:08:00.000+08:002008-12-12T09:35:33.566+08:00

The tenth National People's Congress is on, through March 16th. China's Foreign Minister used the occasion to host an annual press conference Tuesday at which he urged Japan to face historical facts but otherwise took the let's-uphold-friendly-relations route. Today, leaders debated a controversial law to help protect private property, which experts say is likely to pass.These pictures don't have

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-28330172067696361632007-03-07T20:50:00.000+08:002008-12-12T09:35:33.774+08:00

Duck eggs at Mengyang market, outside of Jinghong city, in the XiShuangBanna region of southern Yunnan Province. Bordering Laos and Burma, near Thailand, this region is much more relaxed and laid back than the rest of China. The women wear heels and beautiful silks even when working the fields and markets. Not so long ago, before China's opening and reform first kicked off in about 1978, free

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-71571061301246976512007-02-17T23:29:00.000+08:002008-12-12T09:35:34.981+08:00

Fireworks have been going off all night, but they intensified half an hour ago, at midnight Saturday, or New Year's Eve according to the Lunar calendar. You could see them in three directions, from a dozen different locations just from my apartment windows. Gong Xi Fa Cai, or Chun Jie Kuai Le, everyone has been saying. The nightsky is cloudy with smoke, and I can't take any decent pictures. Spent

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-86066065217895751852007-02-13T14:02:00.000+08:002008-12-12T09:35:35.205+08:00

This electronics company two hours west of Shanghai recently fired 22 people who are carriers for the Hepatitis B virus (which is transmitted by blood, maternal-infant transmission or through sex rather than casual contact). The company, which employees say makes up to a million all-in-one printers for Hewlett Packard every month, says it didn't discriminate: it was just protecting the health

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-31190482954077291952007-02-05T23:22:00.000+08:002008-12-12T09:35:35.595+08:00

It's hard to get a real sense of Wanlong ski resort from these photos, but it's not bad skiing (trail map here) considering the other choices currently available in China. Colleagues, as well as the bulletin boards at that's Beijing have reported big crowds, bad lines, dangerous beginners and tiny bunny hills elsewhere. Nan Shan is said to have a good snowboard park, and a problematic lift at Shi

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-60447854040448508282007-02-02T17:08:00.000+08:002008-12-12T09:35:35.786+08:00

Lost in TranslationThis photo was taken recently by Beijing hiker Raquel Martins, near the Shunyi residential neighborhood. Beijing registered a record 22,079 new motor vehicles in the first 18 days of 2007, the New China News Agency reported last month. That's more than 1,226 new cars on the road each day. By May, there will be more than three million cars in this city of 13 million people,

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-88441971056826244472007-02-02T00:16:00.000+08:002007-02-06T00:04:04.469+08:00

Why overstuffed news bureaus in China blackmail sources, and why the tradition of hong bao (cash-filled red envelopes) is likely to continue, covered by my colleague here and here and posted on China Digital Times by Newsweek's Jonathan Ansfield here.It's not just the practice in China, but also in Taiwan (scroll to reader comment from 11/4/06). It's not just among journalists but also local

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-50984258364228785062007-01-29T21:31:00.000+08:002008-12-12T09:35:36.006+08:00

Jade statues, paintings and calligraphy scrolls and other treasures confiscated from corrupt officials went on auction today in Hefei, Anhui province. There is a photo here, which says the items were taken from officials such as the former Anhui vice governor and the former mayor of Fuyang. Whether in a sign of curiousity about the scale of corruption or just continued passion for costly art,

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-53486368508734402332007-01-28T13:42:00.000+08:002008-12-12T09:35:36.523+08:00

Imported wine is the latest fad among middle class Chinese. A well-known Shanghai entrepreneur told the owner of the largest wine distributor in China: "Wine is a really good gift. I can give it to somebody, even a government official, and it's not perceived as a bribe."But wine making here has a long way to go – a group of Australian wine experts recently toured the country's wineries and

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-86938142720481741872007-01-27T23:37:00.000+08:002008-12-12T09:35:36.942+08:00

Online dating is big in Beijing, with many people saying they like being able to hide behind their computers until they "get to know someone." When online dating organizations host events for members to actually meet in the flesh, most participants are painfully shy. Emcees at this Love21cn.com event had to coax many of them onstage to sing or announce their online numbers so that interested

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-54953354022873481042007-01-24T21:32:00.000+08:002007-01-25T00:51:41.811+08:00

When discussing China's myriad challenges with laobaixing, or ordinary Chinese, most eventually circle back to the source of all their problems: too many people. There is a population clock here. China now has 137 million Internet users, and is expected to overtake the US in two years, officials said in today's China Daily newspaper, which like all media here is state-owned. The US has 210

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-73238229985963715652007-01-19T13:26:00.000+08:002008-12-12T09:35:37.218+08:00

Zeng Yan, 21, left, and Nie Yuehua, 38, right, making noodles for lunch at the Yunnan Daytop Drug Abuse Treatment and Rehabilitation Center in Kunming. Kunming almost didn't get a therapeutic drug treatment center, one of less than a handful in China based on an American model that emphasizes peer to peer interaction and counseling. Its first incarnation as a pilot project died after only nine

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1593688087183730452007-01-14T21:38:00.000+08:002008-12-12T09:35:37.696+08:00

Sun Jingxia, 53, is one of hundreds of thousands of nonprofessional, or "barefoot" teachers in China: peasants with little more than a vocational school certificate who help teach their less educated neighbors. After years of sacrifice, they are now being cast aside in favor of younger, better educated candidates. It's simply the price of reform, some experts say. But because this is China, a

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-41821217886879654762007-01-14T20:55:00.000+08:002008-12-12T09:35:37.937+08:00

One day last fall, lunchtime at a home that cares for the children of prisoners was interrupted by a loud, sharp demand."Those who took the dates stand along the wall!" a voice rang out. Slowly, reluctantly, several children took their places, one by one, below two lines of hand-painted Chinese characters that read, "Now I'm a good kid. When I grow up, I'll be a good adult.""Is that date tree

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-66909696405586193612007-01-14T20:30:00.000+08:002008-12-12T09:35:38.201+08:00

For the last two years, Bi Zuying, 81, has been living in the Baiyun Home for the Elderly in Dalian, in northeast Liaoning province, where the elderly population is growing faster than in Shanghai or Beijing. Bi doesn't want to burden the three sons and one daughter she raised single-handedly after her husband died 20 years ago. "I don't have to cook, I don't have to clean house ... I don't have

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-88274565854566110632007-01-14T19:52:00.000+08:002008-12-12T09:35:38.384+08:00

Sorry, have been busy. A few updates. In a fit of madness, a friend and I threw Thanksgiving dinner for 40. Blame must go to the previous occupant of my apartment. When we asked if Phil & Sarah would host their annual Thanksgiving party in their new siheyuan, they claimed their kitchen was too small. So we bought the turkeys and made almost everything else. In Beijing, cranberry sauce and

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1155741256558249462006-08-16T22:52:00.000+08:002007-01-14T20:55:32.148+08:00

Unlike the anti-Japan riots of April 2005, journalists outnumbered demonstrators Tuesday as about 30 Chinese protested Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visit to the Yasukuni shrine, which honors Japan's war dead, including 14 war criminals.

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1155228753839633612006-08-11T00:45:00.000+08:002006-08-11T00:52:33.840+08:00

The lily pond and rose garden at Beijing's China Academy of Science Plant Research Institute are a brief respite from skyscrapers and smog.

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1155228145552809692006-08-11T00:25:00.000+08:002006-08-11T00:42:27.646+08:00

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1155227066549912042006-08-11T00:13:00.000+08:002006-08-11T02:03:36.033+08:00

China's punk rockers include Lei Jun, 31, lead singer of Misando, a skinhead band named after a traditional Chinese dessert. Their T-shirt sold out months ago.

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1155226132635442762006-08-11T00:03:00.000+08:002006-08-11T00:13:33.503+08:00

On the road to Sale, a remote village three hours from Lanzhou, capital of Gansu province. Our taxi took a bunch of stranded villagers up the hill first, with their watermelons, eggs and dying chicken. Pic by Andrea Bruce, who said the road would collapse if we stomped too hard.

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1154603891049950772006-08-03T19:09:00.000+08:002007-01-19T01:24:25.594+08:00

Two boys compete for lunch in Dacitan, a Hui Muslim village several hours from the capital of Gansu, the second poorest province in China. Much better pictures by Andrea Bruce at previous link.

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1154602919915818352006-08-03T18:43:00.000+08:002007-01-19T01:26:48.327+08:00

Young couples in Beijing increasingly prefer Western wedding photo sessions, spending serious time and money to pose in front of a Catholic church even if they're not Christian. Here, Liu Ting, who sells cosmetics, and her fiance Sheng Yue, a telephone equipment manager, both 24, are prepped by staff from the Miracle Love Marriage wedding photography studio.

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1138299096656912592006-01-27T02:09:00.000+08:002006-01-27T02:14:52.363+08:00

The Chinese New Year starts Sunday. I can already hear illegal firecrackers going off outside my apartment window. Chinese friends are complaining about the high cost of the holiday, from price gouging to the apparently required gift of two or more bottles of expensive liquor to tons of relatives (you'd lose face if you just gave fruit). Decorations are up at all the stores, and they're not all

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1138298923201339132006-01-27T02:06:00.000+08:002006-01-27T02:08:43.203+08:00

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1138298523877576162006-01-27T01:55:00.000+08:002006-01-27T02:18:45.566+08:00

I spent a recent evening with a Chinese friend whose down-to-earth college roomate and husband are addicted to a popular Thursday night TV show about how to be a TV host. Three young Chinese guys competed before a studio audience which voted one the winner. All had perfectly coiffed and spiky hair and dance moves influenced by the latest hip hop videos. Two professional commentators dished out

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1137416502480964992006-01-16T20:57:00.000+08:002006-01-16T21:01:42.480+08:00

Hit my first karaoke joint in Beijing, at a place called Partyworld, to help a CNN producer correspondent celebrate her brithday. Apparently, you know your Chinese is good enough when you can sing at least one song in Chinese by reading the Hanzi characters scrolling across the bottom of the screen. I can't.

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1137415511381121252006-01-16T20:40:00.000+08:002006-01-16T20:45:11.383+08:00

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1137415246138396442006-01-16T20:24:00.000+08:002006-01-16T21:25:49.543+08:00

People here are preparing for a weeklong Chinese New Year celebration, which kicks off with New Year's Eve dinner with family and relatives Saturday Jan 28. According to two of my teachers, one of the surest signs that New Year is approaching is the spike in crime in urban centers like Beijing. The city has a growing number of migrant workers, all of whom head home to their villages for the

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1136765681847154352006-01-09T08:01:00.000+08:002006-01-09T08:14:41.856+08:00

The small lane of restaurants and food stalls between my apartment and the gym.

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1136764658276290752006-01-09T07:54:00.000+08:002006-01-09T08:01:15.126+08:00

The Forbidden City, nearly deserted in winter. Donna Kato's pic.

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1136764153430354212006-01-09T07:47:00.000+08:002006-01-09T07:54:29.036+08:00

Yu Yuan bazaar dumpling makers, Shanghai.

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1136728797926479772006-01-08T21:57:00.000+08:002006-01-08T21:59:57.926+08:00

Am back after a lightning quick Christmas and New Year's in the US: San Francisco, Washington, New York City. Family, a few friends, editors and more family. Updated the iPod. Packed China books. Bought dark chocolate. Saw Syriana, about how US oil interests affect a fictitious country in the Gulf, and The White Countess, about 1937 Shanghai, as the Japanese invade. By the time I am back in China

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1136728606020120072006-01-08T21:51:00.000+08:002006-01-08T21:56:46.020+08:00

My brother, Elliot, and his daughter, Jenna, two and a half and inseparable from her panda puppet.

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1136727994926732242006-01-08T21:46:00.000+08:002006-01-08T21:46:34.926+08:00

Just before leaving China, a friend came to visit me in Beijing. She toured the Forbidden City and the Great Wall while I attended Mandarin class, but we traveled together to Shanghai for a weekend of dumplings, sightseeing, shopping and a look at a couple of buildings my architect grandfather designed before he fled in 1949.

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1136727954623243322006-01-08T21:28:00.000+08:002006-01-08T21:48:51.176+08:00

Robert Fan, or Fan Wenzhou, designed this apartment building at 2 Yongfu Road between Wu Yuan and Fu Xing roads in Shanghai's French Quarter. My Dad, who lived here between 1932 and 1941, when he was 2 to 11, calls it the Bauhaus apartment building, for its straight lines and concrete block look, but others say it is more Art Deco.

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1136726861325767242006-01-08T21:13:00.000+08:002006-01-08T21:28:49.770+08:00

Original built in 1930 as the Nanking Theater, the Shanghai Music Hall was recently relocated to People's Square and is one of the few Western-style buildings designed by Chinese in Shanghai. Designed by my grandfather and Zhao Chen.

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1136725969729100722006-01-08T21:09:00.000+08:002006-01-08T21:50:47.000+08:00

Dumplings at Xiao Yang's, a hole in the wall with an enormous line out front, in the Wujiang pedestrian street off Shimen Lu in Shanghai.

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1136725732634821542006-01-08T20:59:00.000+08:002006-01-12T22:19:08.413+08:00

Donna Kato, at the Yu Yuan Gardens and bazaar complex in Shanghai's Old City. The gardens were founded by Ming dynasty officials in the 1500s. The bazaar is full of tourists eating stinky tofu and buying overpriced souvenirs.

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1136724345447900702006-01-08T20:44:00.000+08:002006-01-08T22:14:06.976+08:00

China is: brassiere ads in taxicabs, cigarettes on the menu and Wrigley's doublemint gum on a plate after dinner, cars honking at you for using the crosswalk, nosepicking and shops virtually sold out of $1,500 Italian cashmere sweatsuits. It's a place where women's restroom attendants lift the toilet seat after you, in order to prepare for the next customer (it's easier to squat over the rim).

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1133354522407587022005-11-30T20:39:00.000+08:002005-11-30T20:42:37.733+08:00

A friend found this Chinese cooking class on Google. No English. Not for tourists. Hard to follow every word. Great to watch and listen and taste.

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1133354338067654052005-11-30T20:35:00.000+08:002005-11-30T20:38:58.066+08:00

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1133354121621311862005-11-30T20:33:00.000+08:002005-11-30T20:35:21.623+08:00

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1133353936954356922005-11-30T20:28:00.000+08:002005-11-30T20:32:16.956+08:00

The second the teacher finished, students descended on the dishes with their own chopsticks, which they bring to class. The two fish dishes were reduced to bone in two minutes.

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1133353243711401312005-11-30T20:17:00.000+08:002005-11-30T23:38:42.923+08:00

Orville Schell this week on China’s contradictions: http://www.truthdig.com/dig/item/china/ Went to a cooking class last night with a Chinese-American friend who is writing a book about food. Some 15 other students, all local Chinese, jotted notes from bleacher-style seats in a middle school classroom as a chef showed them how to make four Sichuan dishes: spicy diced chicken thigh and chicken

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1132940131252421932005-11-26T01:34:00.000+08:002005-11-26T01:49:07.773+08:00

Anniversary dinner and fashion show (by local designer Feng Ling) at My Humble House Beijing, complete with Australian wine, Russian and Chinese models, warm chocolate cake and big hair.

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1132939971686066232005-11-26T01:28:00.000+08:002005-11-26T01:34:11.456+08:00

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1132939598204717832005-11-26T01:12:00.000+08:002005-11-26T01:43:12.976+08:00

Phil and Sarah threw a great Thanksgiving ("gan an jie") dinner party last night featuring expats and Chinese, journalists and non-journalists, salads, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, chocolate cake, stuffing, cranberry sauce and turkey! There were doctoral candidates studying village elections, writers dissecting the environment, NGO workers and TV presenters, toddlers who spoke German and Chinese

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1132681278935607612005-11-23T01:21:00.000+08:002007-01-16T13:30:13.625+08:00

Chamber pots as art exhibit, complete with a loud soundtrack of rhythmic, scraping sounds. To me, it's just odd. But many Chinese immediately recoil, instantly recalling the men who used to carry away the waste in a box slung from bamboo sticks on their shoulders and the maids who had to scrub the empty pots.

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1132677092405490942005-11-23T00:23:00.000+08:002005-11-26T01:00:29.246+08:00

Not much local reaction to the Bush visit apparent in the day to day. One conversation partner scans headlines and front pages at her local newstand everyday and claims Bush didn't make the cover of anything for sale over the last four days (except for a photo of him riding his bicycle). The well-regarded Nanfang Zhoumo or Southern Weekend comes out Thursday however, so she'll have a closer look

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1131544551279066122005-11-09T21:41:00.000+08:002005-11-10T23:24:47.363+08:00

Went to a lowkey art auction at a hotel near the Worker Stadium where serious money changed hands in minutes. In the absence of a reliable stock exchange that everyone trusts, auctions have become a way for the rich here to get richer.Several large framed paintings and works of calligraphy were displayed off the lobby but most of the art wasn't on show. A projection screen showed the artwork for

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1131383182508897122005-11-08T01:04:00.000+08:002005-11-09T01:03:39.723+08:00

Elle: "To have everything that one should have"

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1131382533419561352005-11-08T00:40:00.000+08:002005-11-09T01:31:07.013+08:00

Winter began Monday, according to one of my teachers, even though the heat doesn't get turned on in most buildings until Nov. 15. The bathroom heater has begun to make odd noises but otherwise I need two quilts at night. One teacher says she's started to wear long underwear. Another continues to wear shorts and boots to work. Most people are rooting for high winds because they blow the pollution

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1131182411578594132005-11-05T17:09:00.000+08:002005-11-05T17:28:55.200+08:00

Posted on Sept. 19th a view from my apartment of the Tai Ping Yang towers on a clear day (see archives), but this is the same view today. According to reporter friends, today is a really bad smog day, a 5 out of possible 5, which means you should stay home. I went for dim sum instead (so far haven't found anything that compares with Hong Kong or San Francisco).

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1130854134777243452005-11-01T21:54:00.000+08:002005-11-01T22:12:03.903+08:00

Bad translation department: The literal translation of Dong Fang Hong, Xi Fang Hei is as described. But the actual meaning of this unpictured abstract photo at a gallery north of DaShanZi is "The East is Rising, the West is Declining." Or, according to a conversation partner and teacher, "The East is leading world trends, the West is bankrupt or Imperialism is dying and has no hope." The first

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1130758639864416692005-10-31T19:13:00.000+08:002005-10-31T19:39:38.426+08:00

Behind Hong Qiao market, meat and vegetable skewers and a sticky flour snack are for sale. My friend went for the roasted yams instead. She says they often cook at home these days. While tourists worry about whether to eat street food, many Chinese are concerned about food contamination and deliberate mislabeling in their packaged food.

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1130757191210543472005-10-31T19:02:00.000+08:002005-10-31T19:13:11.360+08:00

An alley behind Hong Qiao market, a giant indoor collection of shops and stalls selling generally cheap clothes, housewares, shoes, toys, souvenirs and cheap and expensive jewelry. A family friend kindly showed me this neighborhood over the weekend: where and how she gets her watches, bedspreads, kitchen supplies, etc.

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1132942097766197612005-10-31T19:00:00.000+08:002005-11-26T02:08:17.776+08:00

Halloween at Club Nuage in Houhai. Amazing what you will do under peer pressure. We were: two Chinese Americans, one Filipina-Canadian and one Caucasian American, who quickly became the target of a well-off Chinese guy who kept his girlfriend or date waiting downstairs while he hit on Amy.

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1130421816404230342005-10-27T21:15:00.000+08:002007-01-19T01:43:02.810+08:00

My parents and the paper's assistant managing editor in charge of foreign news were both in town last week, so I'm spending much of this week catching up. There's a test tomorrow on nearly 300 characters in my Book 1 before I can move on to Book 2. I need 3,000 characters to read a Chinese newspaper.Tried to take my parents to places not yet on the tour bus circuit. They've already seen the

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1129482361767162712005-10-17T01:04:00.000+08:002005-10-21T01:57:53.723+08:00

Shangxia Jiu Pedestrian Street, Guangzhou

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1129482282501036162005-10-17T01:02:00.000+08:002005-10-17T01:04:42.500+08:00

Dong Hu Park

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1129481985302727102005-10-17T00:57:00.000+08:002005-10-17T00:59:45.303+08:00

Traces of Old Canton, DongShan neighborhood

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1129481696820463452005-10-17T00:52:00.000+08:002005-10-17T00:54:56.820+08:00

Bead shop on Kang Huang Street

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1129481546876462492005-10-17T00:41:00.000+08:002007-01-19T01:45:06.022+08:00

Just back from a long weekend in Guangzhou, where I stayed with a friend of a friend. In a way, it's my "village," if I have such a thing. My mother's mother left Guangzhou for Hong Kong. My father, born and raised in Shanghai, is Cantonese.It was a change of pace to actually understand what everyone was talking about, if not every sentence. Before I started studying Mandarin again, I would've

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1129039812456322492005-10-11T22:07:00.000+08:002005-10-11T22:11:39.253+08:00

After lunch with the family of my Dad's former classmate (standing behind me). The couple in the middle of the back row are visiting from California.

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1129039673833200822005-10-11T21:57:00.000+08:002005-10-21T02:34:33.016+08:00

Have caught my first cold here, and all five of my Mandarin teachers are unanimous: it must be the weather. Like my parents, they believe that when it's cold outside, it's easier to catch a cold. If they told me to put on a sweater, they'd definitely be my relatives. They're not talking about lowered defenses or more people with germs crowding indoors. They say there is a Chinese saying that the

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1128169885309895722005-10-01T20:30:00.000+08:002005-10-01T20:31:25.310+08:00

Outside a big electronics shop in West Beijing, a mostly-male audience gathered to watch scantily-clad women dance on stage in an apparent attempt to sell cell phones and home appliances.

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1128169815062302402005-10-01T20:27:00.000+08:002005-10-01T20:30:15.063+08:00

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1128168329899331352005-10-01T19:59:00.000+08:002005-10-01T20:33:26.143+08:00

Beijingers start celebrating National Day today by taking off for the suburbs or other cities, and Chinese from elsewhere flood into the capital. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are non-working days for most; some people take the whole week off. Had lunch at the West Beijing home of my Dad's old classmate. Understood maybe 50% of what they were saying, but that was with them trying to speak slowly

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1127694858027588732005-09-26T08:31:00.000+08:002005-10-21T02:41:12.166+08:00

798 Photo Gallery, Da Shan Zi.

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1127694669937635902005-09-26T08:28:00.000+08:002005-10-21T02:45:00.846+08:00

"Charm and Strength - Mao Zedong and the Chinese Contemporary Artists," at the Xin Dong Cheng Space for Contemporary Art.

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1127694525183739872005-09-26T08:25:00.000+08:002005-09-26T08:28:45.190+08:00

Factory 798 grounds, Da Shan Zi.

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1127691504625680252005-09-26T07:35:00.000+08:002005-09-26T20:14:39.226+08:00

Sat. Sept 24 Took a 15 minute taxi ride this morning to "Qi Jiu Ba," in Da Shan Zi. The industrial factory neighborhood in northeast Beijing, named for Factory 798, is now a collection of artist studios and galleries. You can find good art bookshops here, a few trendy cafes and the occasional tour bus of giggling, young Korean women. My Chinese is not yet good enough to ask what the factory used

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1127691310720948912005-09-26T07:32:00.000+08:002005-10-21T02:47:16.746+08:00

Song Dong's "Waste Not," a display of objects collected by his mother, Zhao Xiangyuan, 67, over several decades.

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1127691116006107352005-09-26T07:22:00.000+08:002005-09-26T07:31:56.013+08:00

Zhao Xiangyuan's shopping bag collection, sandwiched between her collection of old shoes and string.

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1127559155667125002005-09-24T18:42:00.000+08:002005-09-24T18:52:35.673+08:00

Looking north from the main bar strip in Sanlitun (all neon, beer signs and touts trying to entice foreigners to eat in their restaurants), into the leafier embassy neighborhood.

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1127557735625593202005-09-24T18:17:00.000+08:002005-09-24T18:33:16.896+08:00

This is where I take my Mandarin classes. He laoshi, second from right, is the first of my five teachers each day.

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1127554580113348222005-09-24T17:16:00.000+08:002005-09-24T17:36:20.120+08:00

Every morning at 8:15, nearly 2,000 students have morning assembly right under my window. Sometimes they stretch to marching band music but yesterday it was aerobics-style calisthenics to pop music.

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1127553361896833932005-09-24T16:52:00.000+08:002005-09-24T17:16:01.900+08:00

Workers hanging lanterns and a bicycle repairman chatting with neighbors in a Sanlitun hutong next to my favorite gelato shop.

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1127306226681619912005-09-21T20:22:00.000+08:002005-10-13T00:37:40.870+08:00

Was supposed to meet fellow students for dinner but instead spent last night dealing with a psycho leasing agent and his partner. Had the gracious help of the office and office staff. And the police were great.I had thought the whole thing was over after the last crazy visit, but at 7 pm, agent Li called again. I explained that he needed to call my colleagues, in part because my Chinese isn't

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1127136922446238372005-09-19T21:06:00.000+08:002005-09-19T21:35:22.526+08:00

The northeast view from my apartment in Sanlitun.

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1127133248164512552005-09-19T20:31:00.000+08:002005-09-21T22:40:04.710+08:00

Yesterday afternoon I bought a brand-new bicycle for about $20. By this morning, it was stolen from the tented bike hut on the grounds of my apartment building - a tent that has a security guard. I hadn't even used it once.Unlike most Chinese cyclists, I didn't simply chain the tire to the frame. I secured it with a heavy "motorcycle" lock to a sturdy pole. I purposely bought a plain, local brand

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1126924906566137832005-09-17T10:23:00.000+08:002005-09-17T10:43:13.606+08:00

Dongyue Temple - a Taoist temple where worshippers can offer prayers to a spiritual bureaucracy of departments on official morality, happiness, justifiable wealth, wandering ghosts and 15 different kinds of violent death

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1126801393301776452005-09-16T00:20:00.000+08:002005-09-18T10:33:30.676+08:00

Sept. 12, TuesdayAcross the street from a jampacked Ikea store is the Bian Yi Fang Peking Duck restaurant. Had lunch there Sunday with a classmate of my Dad's, from St John's University in Shanghai in the 1950's. His children and family friends from California joined us eating duck at least four different ways but no one was quite sure what was salty, sweet, dark, white or whatever. Among other

Maureennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5365045.post-1126356507196252082005-09-10T20:41:00.000+08:002005-09-13T00:29:40.233+08:00

Sept. 9 FridayFriday was my first free day after a three-day search for an apartment. The fourth day was spent in bureaucracy, more of which is to come (After paying nearly $900 for a comprehensive physical in DC so I wouldn't get stuck with needles in China, the international visitor's medical center at Heiping Hospital rejected my US documentation because there wasn't enough medical terminology

Maureennoreply@blogger.com