The Terrorists Have Disappeared

I’ve kept my eye out for any more information on the Turkistan Islamic Party and so far the only piece of news that I’ve come across in the Chinese blogosphere is this post from Michael of Opposite End of China.
Michael like me doesn’t see much truth behind the group’s claims, but he also had stories [...]

So China has Islamic Terrorists Now?

Last week I wrote a post on Lost Laowai wondering about how China defined terrorism. I wondered why China wasn’t declaring the Kuming bus bombings a terrorist act even if it was done by someone with a local grievance. When I wrote it I was just thinking out loud, but then last night I discovered [...]

China’s Young Neo-Conservatives

Anyone who wants to learn more about the young Chinese nationalists that were behind much of the anti-CNN backlash around the time of March’s T1bet riots should read Evan Osnos’ piece in this week’s New Yorker. It paints an interesting and far account of some of China’s young conservatives in Shanghai. If anyone who is [...]

Today’s Earthquake: The Day China Entered the Twitter Era

I’m sure by now you’ve heard about the earthquake that hit Sichuan today. It was so big that we even felt it in Shanghai.
When it happened I was sitting at my desk working on my computer. I felt a little dizzy and I thought it was just from some eating some bad food at lunch. [...]

Video Picking Up Where the Book Left Off

In my last post, I mentioned I was reading Duncan Hewitt’s Getting Rich First. Today I found out that Thomas Crampton posted a video of an interview he did with Hewitt recently. Hewitt spoke about the Internet, angry teenagers and censorship. The video is worth watching for those who have read the book as well [...]

Lane Houses and Hutongs: Home to the Ancient Sense of Chinese Community

Last weekend, while I was at the Shanghai International Literary Festival I picked up Duncan Hewitt’s Getting Rich First: Life in a Changing China. I’ve been ill over the last week so I’ve had lots of time to go through it.
Hewitt’s first two chapters cover the demolition of old and ancient buildings in Beijing and [...]

What’s in a Name?

Earlier this week, Shanghaiist had this great post about how a guy from Chongqing got stuck with the same Chinese name as Hong Kong actor Andy Lau (Liu Dehua). This supposedly caused the guy’s business partner to split with him over the fact that having the same as Andy Lau nobody would take him seriously [...]

Bad Kids or A Bad Home Life?

Last Sunday, I saw a documentary on the Discovery Channel’s Asian Gateway program entitled Bad Kids. It was about the military-style schools that have risen up in China in response to the number of badly behaved (more like holy terrors from what I saw) Chinese children that have appeared in the last few years.
After watching [...]

My Holiday in the CAR (Cantonese Administrative Region)

I had a great time in Guangzhou with Winnie visiting her family. I ate a lot, shopped and slept a lot — most of all I learned a lot about Cantonese culture that I didn’t know before. Here are some things I learned about life in what I call the Cantonese Administrative Region or the [...]

Snow Yesterday in Shanghai for the First Time Ever… Uh Sorry In About Three Years

It snowed yesterday here in Shanghai for the first time in about three years. I still see snow on the roof tops and some of the cars, but there isn’t as much as three years ago when I lived around East China Normal University (I’m a former student there) and I saw students building snowmen. [...]