The powers that be couldn’t have asked for better weather today. Whether or not, as rumors say, Mother Nature’s hand was forced in creating it is not really a concern. The skies were blue and there was a light gentle breeze that felt surprisingly fresh for being in Beijing. Such miraculously good weather marked...
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The thousands of troops preparing for National Day have given photographers from around the world plenty of opportunity to take pictures that show the unity/sameness/discipline/scariness… of China’s massive military. The first picture I saw was stunning to me:
They looked like some sort of Photoshop effect brought to life: a bunch of cookie cutter people...
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Unlike in America where proud citizens show their patriotism with a bald eagle t-shirt, a lapel pin or ‘ the Calvin piss bumper sticker’, Chinese show their love for the country with flags. During last year’s Olympics I saw the red flags just about everywhere: hanging outside of store windows, in advertisements, even on...
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A while back I made a long journey by subway, bus and on foot to the Three Shadows Gallery in Caochangdi. The entrance to the compound is about a five minute walk from the two lane road that carries traffic into the northern suburbs of Beijing. Walking on the narrow road hearing nothing more...
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Checking out Tiananmen Square yesterday, I can almost believe what’s been on the newspaper, TV and billboards. The government is putting on a great show for the thousands of tourist from China’s hinterlands and abroad. Already an impressive space just for it’s sheer expansiveness, the Square now is decorated with four massive display screens....
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After eating our fill of Swedish meatballs and browsing piles of multicolored furniture with names like Fricka and Guudsvat, me and my girlfriend left Ikea in a hurry. It was 4:40pm and we just had twenty minutes before the section of the Fourth Ring road that was our only real way back home would...
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Last week, walking into a small design store in a hutong near Houhai, I was suprised to see Micheal Jackson’s young face staring up from behind the glass. Seeing this in a land where in Tiananmen another man who moved the hearts and minds of millions can be viewed in basically the same way brought me...
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Walking north to the Dawanglu subway station on a Saturday morning I saw something that proved to me the upcoming celebration for 10.1 may well be as “glorious” as all the advertisements and slogans on the sides of the road say it will be. Walking towards my direction was a wave of college students,...
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I worked amongst a sea of expectant faces trying my damnedest to hook the school’s projector and speakers up to my computer. All three pieces of equipment were balanced on a wooden desk about half a foot too small on all sides, teetering on the rocky soil that made up the front of the...
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Yesterday as we piled into the school’s white 面包车 to head to play some basketball, 杨效长 excitedly asked me if I was bringing my camera since we were going to see 黄河. The river is more than ten kilometers away from our village so I wondered why we would have to make such...
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