In the mostly friendly Beijing-Shanghai rivalry game, I’m firmly on Shanghai’s side. I spent six months in Beijing in 2005, and have made regular visits since then, but I’ve never quite warmed up to the city. When people defend their choice to live in the capital, I point to Beijing’s chronically smoggy skies, its often … Continue reading Five Great Things about Beijing
A Brief Encounter with the Chengguan
Shanghai is enjoying some absolutely glorious spring weather right now, and since it’s not likely to last long, I’m trying to savor it while I can. I went for a walk after lunch today, passing fruit stands filled with mountains of newly arrived pineapples on every block I traveled. Though I’m not a big fruit … Continue reading A Brief Encounter with the Chengguan
The One about the Café in Beijing
Plenty of Western television shows are popular in China. When I lived here between 2006 and 2008, Lost and Prison Break occupied my classmates’ free time, while Gossip Girl became a hit after I left. More recently, the English-language press has developed a mini-genre of articles exploring the Chinese appetite for various Western TV shows: … Continue reading The One about the Café in Beijing
WSJ China Real Time Report: The Vulnerability of China’s Left-Behind Children
At the end of January, I was visiting my aunt in Florida and the two of us spent a lot of time talking about what I would be doing once I finish my PhD this year. I said that I was planning to focus on freelance writing and a couple of bigger projects I have … Continue reading WSJ China Real Time Report: The Vulnerability of China’s Left-Behind Children
Recap: #SILF2014
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the Shanghai Litfest is one of the best things about living in the city. This is the third time I’ve been around to attend it, and I went to far more sessions this year than I ever have before. I can honestly say that I didn’t … Continue reading Recap: #SILF2014
LA Review of Books: River of Dust
This year’s Shanghai International Literary Festival was a whole lot of fun—I got to see half a dozen excellent writers discuss their latest work, and I hope to post a rundown of all that later today or tomorrow. I was also asked to moderate one session, which featured novelist Virginia Pye talking about the family … Continue reading LA Review of Books: River of Dust
Ningbo Event: China’s Past, China’s Present
One late addition to the mini book tour that Jeff Wasserstrom and I have put together to spread the word about the second edition of China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to Know: on Friday, March 14 (so, tomorrow), we’ll be at the University of Nottingham’s campus in Ningbo, China. Our talk on … Continue reading Ningbo Event: China’s Past, China’s Present
Beijing Event: China’s Past/China’s Present
As promised, full details about the event I’ll be doing with Jeff Wasserstrom in Beijing on the morning of Wednesday, March 19 are now up on the Foreign Correspondents’ Club website.
It’s a Freelance Life
It has taken me a very long time to start describing myself as “a freelance writer.” In fact, I don’t think I really felt okay about it until I heard other people refer to me as one—a classic case of impostor syndrome—which then gave me “permission” to apply the label to myself. But I’ve finally … Continue reading It’s a Freelance Life
Shanghai Event: History in the Headlines
Next Thursday (March 13), Jeff Wasserstrom and I will be speaking at lunchtime event hosted by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Shanghai. In “History in the Headlines: How Does China’s Past Inform the Present?”, we’ll be putting current events in a long-term perspective, which is something that both of us do in our respective writing … Continue reading Shanghai Event: History in the Headlines
