Cheap freshwater pearls are an entitlement in Shanghai and Beijing. Locals tell me where to buy them; expats tell me what to pay for them; and tourists like to show me carry-on bags filled with them, destined for listing on ebay (US-based flight attendants are very well-represented in this last group). Which brings to mind…
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Olympic Air Quality: Special Tianjin and Qinhuangdao Edition
A couple of weeks ago Jim Fallows mentioned that he is snapping a daily photo of the Beijing sky(line) from his apartment window for “later chronicling purposes to see how and when the campaign to clean up the air [in advance of the Olympics] finally kicked in.” That’s a fine idea. Fallows isn’t posting the…
West Lake by Foggy Dawn
Posting will be light this week, due to the fact that I’m on-assignment in Hanghzou. And it’s not a bad place to be on-assignment, either. In fact, I’d like all of my reporting days to be preceded by a foggy walk alongside West Lake at dawn (editors: please take note). Only observation worth blogging about…
Vietnam Scrap
[Your Inadvertent All-Vietnam Double-Header Thursday at Shanghai Scrap] For more than a decade, China has been the world’s leading importer of scrap metal and paper. And for more than a decade, the world’s scrap exporters have been mostly content with this lucrative state of affairs. Mostly, but not entirely. In recent years – and particularly…
The Pope’s China Letter: Special Vietnam Edition
Recently I’ve received a few emails inquiring into why I haven’t had anything to write about China’s Catholics in recent weeks. My reply is that – in regard to subjects that I’ve covered in the past (the Pope’s letter to China’s Catholics, and the ongoing rapprochement between China’s two churches and between Rome and Beijing),…
Weekend in Nanxiang
[with apologies to Barry Manilow] I spent part of the weekend in Nanxiang, best known as the source of the famed Nanxiang xiaolongbao, or soup dumplings, found all over Shanghai (and the world). In fact, had there not been xiaolongbao in their native environment, there is little chance that I would have let my friends…
The Most Magical Hotel in China
Say you’re sitting at home frustrated that China’s Net Nanny (or Great Firewall) has once again prevented you from receiving subscribed feeds to (some of) your favorite podcasts. Or you’re at work, hoping against hope that the Nanny will let you – just this once – see your “authority” ranking on technorati. Or, you’re at…
Hammer of the [Recycling] Gods
On Friday I was standing on a bridge south of Wuxi when a woman wielding this thing walked by: I ran back to the car, grabbed my camera, and followed her down to the banks of the Grand Canal. I wasn’t sure that she wanted to be photographed, so I (very quietly) tried to take…
Northwest Airlines: Flight Risk
Northwest Flight 1652, scheduled to depart Washington National for Minneapolis at 6:36 AM this morning, left the gate on-time. But just as it turned toward the runway, a loud, hacking sound – kind of like a handsaw cutting through sheet metal – began vibrating through the cabin. From my seat – 14D -it felt like…
Northwest: Refresh and Re-Energize in Coach
[Note to readers of this blog: I’ve been traveling for the last several days, and I haven’t had much chance to update content. However, I’ll be adding a post or two over the weekend, and by Monday I’ll be at full strength with a lengthy post on the ongoing reaction to the Pope’s China letter…