A finely wrought story about Beijing, no irony intended
2007-12-20 07:02:10
I was looking for wrought iron art when I bumped into a store in one of Beijing's immense home decoration centers. This year, wrought iron is particularly fashionable.
Crazy cabbies that grab and tickle our fancy
2007-12-19 07:22:52
The country's cabbies drive me crazy - in a good way, that is. Surely, some of the zaniest people I've met in China were behind the wheels of cars for hire.
W00t has happened to MSN and QQspeak?
2007-12-18 07:09:23
I don't know whether I'm a typical user of MSN. I use my real name and accept anyone who asks to get on my "friends" list.
Pen friends are my favorite kinds of people
2007-12-14 07:08:28
One of my many regrets is that I was born too late to be a turn-of-the-century satin-wearing, grape-eating aesthete. I could wear satin and eat grapes all I want in the industrial gloom of suburban Beijing, but it's just not the same.
When the love of food turns to hate
2007-12-13 07:11:58
The host then had to live in a wooden box beneath the branches where the birds would perch. Every day for 10 days, he had to think of a different way to cook the eggs.
Dinner as usual, but cigarettes not on the menu
2007-12-12 07:06:05
We had just feasted on a sumptuous seven-course Cantonese dinner and I was about to enjoy my usual dessert - a soothing cigarette - when all hell broke loose.
Pints, body language and other ways to bridge a culture gap
2007-12-11 07:50:02
One word I learned before going abroad was "multicultural". It's arguably the single most popular word to pop up in an IELTS essay question, and I got it down.
Left speechless by Chinese youth
2007-12-07 07:16:30
China's youth was speaking loud and clear at the telephone interview round of the "21st Century Scholastic Cup" speech contest, which I recently helped judge.
Trapped insidemy own private wooly prison
2007-12-06 06:58:29
Does wearing a black turtleneck sweater instantly turn you into a social leper?One thing's for sure, throat huggers do not make for appropriate karaoke garb.
Big shot can't see actions speak louder than words
2007-12-05 07:48:20
My friend Xiao Wang should have scored a 40,000-yuan ($5,256) a month job as a sales director at a top US company. Instead he became yet another victim of East meets West culture clash.
Subway just the ticket for my comic routine
2007-12-04 07:07:20
I ride the bus or taxi much less now. That is good for my health because the nearest subway station is 10 minutes from where I work. Besides, I can finish much of my shopping en route.
How slips of the tongue make me mean and dumb
2007-11-30 07:04:52
I've become both an idiot and a jerk since I started learning Chinese. By raising the bar on my Mandarin level, I've increased both my capabilities of communication and miscommunication.