Journalist. Author. Junk Man.
Rich people are leaving China in droves. Just ask the South China Morning Post: “Exodus of the super-rich: half of China’s millionaires plan to leave country within five years.” Or the Wall Street Journal: “Almost Half of Wealthy Chinese Want to Leave.” Or Bloomberg: “Almost Half of Rich Chinese Consider Move, Barclays Says.” Seems convincing, no?…
This morning while browsing the New York Times I came across this stunning full page Apple ad. Terrific collaboration on the part of two of America’s top lifestyle brands. [and a nice explainer on native advertising, here at the Guardian]
It’s Mid-Autumn Festival time aka Mooncake Festival here in the Chinese-speaking parts of Asia. When I lived in China, I mostly associated it with eating extremely heavy pastries (mooncakes ) and crowded restaurants. But of course there’s much more to it, as I was reminded in a conversation with a Malaysian Chinese acquaintance who grew up…
For more than a decade, Gary Ries of Mission Hills, California, has spent his spare time earning money by picking recyclable cans and bottles from trash cans owned by the city of San Diego. Under most definitions, this is laudable entrepreneurship and everyone wins: Ries makes a few extra bucks, San Diego trucks a few…
As of today, I have relocated to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It’s a new home (for me, at least), and a new adventure. But I’d be lying to say that I won’t miss Shanghai, my home of 12 years. In fact, let me just come out and write it: I’ll miss Shanghai, my home of 12…
It’s been more than two months since my last update, but that’s not to suggest that nothing is happening on Junkyard Planet. Where to start? Over the last couple of years, some of the best and most interesting journalism related to the global scrap industry has come out of Vice, and thus I was really…
It’s been nearly a month since my last update from the Junkyard Planet world tour (of sorts). Since then, we’ve been in the UK, Malaysia, Singapore … and now we’re back in Shanghai. To my ever-persistent surprise, Junkyard Planet continues to have legs – and get press. My hope, from the moment I wrote a…
I’ve spent the last ten days in the UK meeting media, and making appearances related to Junkyard Planet. It’s been an absolute thrill, and the reception has been excellent. On Saturday, for example, I was the lucky recipient of two marvelous reviews in the London papers. Writing for the Guardian, Isabel Hilton calls Junkyard Planet…
As readers of Junkyard Planet know, that’s a question that I’ve been asking since 2011, and my first visit to Shijiao, a small-town in south China that I call the ‘Christmas Tree Light Recycling Capitol of the World.’ The story of Shijiao is about more than just the recycling of Christmas tree lights. In many…
This afternoon I spent some time working on details for what’s going to be the second leg of a Junkyard Planet tour that’ll lead me to the UK. And that got me wondering if it’s going to be anything like the first leg. The thing is, before this all started, I sort of knew what…