Category: China
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My Eighth China-versary
For some reason—I can’t recall ever making special note of the date before—I suddenly remembered this week that it was on February 15, 2005 that I boarded my first flight to China, leaving JFK for a long trip across the Pacific to study Chinese in Beijing. So today, the final day of the Chinese New…
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Rebuilding Haikou’s History on Zhongshan Street
I began my Hainan trip in the capital city of Haikou, on Sunday, with plans to head down to the beach town of Sanya, Hainan’s main attraction, on Monday. I thought that since my plane landed in Haikou, I might as well explore the city a bit and see what it had to offer, not…
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Ka-BOOM! The Year of the Snake Has Arrived
I kind of hate fireworks. They’re loud, they’re unpredictable, and they involve fire, which is something I like to stay far, far away from. But this week is the Chinese New Year holiday, and the #1 way to celebrate is to light enormous bundles of fireworks, then cheer as they explode. Everyone gets into the…
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January Recap
At the end of every year, journalist and photographer Howard French posts a list at his website of all the books he read during the preceding twelve months. I decided I wanted to start doing that in 2013, but the end of December seemed too far away—when I’m excited about a book, I want to…
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Blue Skies Smiling On Me
I probably overdid it a bit this morning. I was so excited by today’s good weather that I laced up my sneakers and headed out for a walk. A really long walk. Every time I thought about turning at the next intersection and looping back to my apartment, I decided to go just a little…
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The House of Bo Will Rise Again (Maybe)
Yesterday marked exactly ten months since Bo Xilai’s spectacular fall from grace on the Ides of March last year. His eventual fate is still unclear, though last week the Xinhua News Agency issued a terse announcement that Bo, the former Party Secretary of Chongqing, had been “handed over to judicial authorities,” meaning that he’s headed…
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Under Construction: Three Tales of Urban China
Shanghai: The Building Fifteen people gathered in the driveway outside my apartment building as Dad and I approached, many of them screaming at each other, while two policemen seemed content to stand there and watch. I wasn’t sure what to do. Walk through the crowd to get to my door? Join the group to find…
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Socks With a Story
I could feel her creeping closer to me, watching me. The subway car was almost deserted, and I had been entirely alone on a long bench before she boarded the train and sat down at the other end. But over the past minute, she’d slid closer and closer until I could feel her within a…
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The 18th Party Congress: A Shanghai Perspective
It’s been happening at least once, and generally more like two or three times, per day this week: I’ll be working away on my computer when things suddenly slow down. Gmail stops responding. Apple Mail goes offline. Google searches take minutes instead of seconds, and end in a message that “the server could not be…
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Where Am I?
I’ve been experiencing the strangest feeling lately: from time to time, I forget that I’m in China. I know this sounds absurd. After all, China seems like it’s almost inherently the polar opposite of the United States; every day here should be full of reminders that I’m in a different country, living inside a different…
Maura Elizabeth Cunningham 