My Chinese Door

It thick, it’s heavy and you have to slam it hard to get it to shut all the way. When i shut the door behind me every morning when i leave i feel like i’m slamming a vault door shut because of the weight and sturdiness of that thing.
Today, my roommate left to go to [...]

Difference Between Hong Kong and Beijing

Many people often ask what i think the big differences are between Hong Kong and Beijing. Both are major Chinese cities, both are big players on a global scale. So, how are they different? I’ll tell you.
I recently spent a solid 2 weeks in Hong Kong. Most of that was spent without an agenda, just [...]

Lingt.com

If you’re into language learning, especially Chinese, then this blog post is for you. A good friend sent me a link to Lingt.com yesterday and told me i might enjoy it. I was out running errands when the email came through so i wrote back to say that i’d look into it when i got [...]

Avatar

A few days ago i had the privilege of seeing the highly talked about movie, Avatar. I’m not sure what you know about it, but i knew nothing about it going into the movie. I had not even seen the trailer. Actually, the only reason i suggested to some friends to go see it was [...]

Stare Down

Observation from two years in China::
Chinese people can hold a stare. I have yet to win a stare down with a stranger in China.   

Therapy

We found ourselves in a dimly lit room on the damp and cold second floor of a small shop in a small alley near a small road in western Beijing. Without knowing where you are going it’s not likely you would ever find this place. In this small room there is a short wall dividing [...]

Happy 60th China

Yesterday (Oct. 1) China turned 60 years old. “Wait a minute,” you say, “I thought China was the oldest civilization on earth?”
Good point. Let me explain.
In 1949 Mao Zedong declared China to officially be the People’s Republic of China and that is when today’s communist China officially began. So on October 1 China celebrates her [...]

Dinner at the Great Hall

Getting invited to have dinner at The Great Hall of the People in Beijing (wikipedia article) is comparable to being invited to have dinner at the White House. So last night when i had the privilege of joining a few friends for dinner at The Great Hall i knew that this was a night i [...]

And The Answer Is

See yesterday’s post for the pop quiz.
I was very amused by your comments and your emails. Some of you were correct in your guess and others were wrong.
The correct answer is that the picture was taken while waiting for the Line 10 subway in Beijing. Yes, that’s right, i said BEIJING! People were standing in [...]

Pop Quiz, Hotshot

(first of all, who can name the movie from which the title comes?)
Here’s the real quiz question:
Was this photo taken in Hong Kong or Beijing?
hint: notice the formation in which the people are waiting for the subway.

Bonus: Why is this observation important?

Gimme your best answers… maybe there is a prize involved.