In Anji (安吉)

Here is what the article on Wikipedia (obviously written by some local government lackey) says: “Anji county is synonymous with bamboo, containing as it does 60,000 hectares of bamboo groves. It has been designated a pilot county for ecological construction. Within its boundaries are mountains and gullies, lush with forests and vegetation. The air is […]

Fun in Fukuoka (福冈)

By now, every human being considering a trip to the PRC knows that the government has thrown the visa situation on lockdown, and as of mid-April acquiring a visa is a massive pain in the ass. I had a few options on doing a run, Seoul, HK, and Fukuoka. I was just in Seoul, I […]

Fun at the Airport

When I first came to China back in the day, I had the pleasure of flying domestically a few times. I was amazed at how quick and efficient the service was, and how the flights left exactly as the time on the ticket was printed. How foolish I was. I would say that flying in […]

Spring is back, and oh look it brought its friend…Wuqi

Well, it’s 20 degrees out. So I guess that’s not so bad. Funny thing that smog. Around these parts people call it 雾气 (wùqì), meaning fog or mist. The correct word for smog is 烟雾 (yānwù) but I haven’t heard it used. I’m certain that most people know the difference, and aren’t so ignorant to […]

Getting a Haircut

Oh how I loathe thee. Before I even came, I knew it was going to be about as straightforward as deciphering meaning from a Hu Jintao speech. Forget dealing with the bureaucracy, the language issues, eating things you once thought were poisonous, getting a proper haircut here is by far the hardest thing you’ll have […]

Making Chinese Friends is Hard

I say if you want really want to learn a culture and a language, you can’t just sit around watching Entourage and picking your nose like you’re mining gold, you gotta go out and immerse yourself in that bitch. Usually that means meeting native speakers and conversing with them more often than not. But really, […]

The Water Situation

Most people are aware that tap water in most developing countries is not something you would want to wash down your vodka with. This of course applies here as well. However it appears that by the mandate of heaven, measures are being taken to make the local brew less of a potent potable. In regards […]

My Apartment is Sinking

I knew when I first rented here that problems would arise. I knew this because I had read about so many other people have problems with their apartments here. It was statistically impossible for nothing to go wrong. Having nothing go wrong in this country would be like spontaneously turning into an apple pie and […]

Shanghai again…

Well, it’s my bday and I’m back in SH. Of course I’ve already got things to complain about. For one, as soon as we got off the plane and stepped outside it was about 100 degrees out. When you breath you choke as if you were in a Swedish sauna. Now, it’s raining. But forget […]

Zhong Guo Ren, Robots in Disguise

I certainly didn’t move to Qingdao for its wealth of entertainment and cultural facilities or lack thereof. I figured that a city of 2.5 mil should be able to hold its own when it came to things to do. Sadly mistaken I was. Thus, whenever I get a call from anyone asking me to do […]

Mandarin is the Easiest Language on the Planet

I don’t even know why anyone speaks English, It’s a mindlessly complex and unintuitive language, despite being quick to pick up odd phrases, even native speakers can’t seem to master the subtle nuances in it’s obscure grammatical structure. I propose that we replace it with Chinese instead. Let’s just see how this language causes me […]

Man versus Washing Machine

Washing clothes for the first time was a fun experience. This is because I speak English, but my washing machine speaks Chinese. Trying to do the maiden load, I ran into some communication problems. You see I wanted to wash my clothes, but the washing machine had other ideas. It’s preference was to get them […]

new domain

ok so if you’re reading this, then you’ve found the new site. good for you.