Final part in a series…filed from home…. I say goodbye to China with a ride in a taxicab. I’ve been grading papers and need a break, so I leave my hotel room […]
China, Day Fifteen: Give My Regards to Beijing
China, Day Fourteen: The Great Wall
Part fourteen in a fifteen-part series “You have never been to China until you’ve climbed the Great Wall,” Chairman Mao once declared. By that definition, the twelve days we’ve spent in the […]
China, Day Thirteen: Eating like Emperors
Part thirteen in a series We eat like emperors—literally. White’s Grand Courtyard could not get any more yellow: yellow seat covers embroidered with blue and black dragons, yellow tablecloths, yellow picture frames […]
China, Day Twelve: China's "Three T's and an F"
Part twelve in a series “Tiananmen” means “Gate of Heavenly Peace.” Ironic, then, that most Americans know it, if at all, as a scene of violence and bloodshed. photo by Jeff Widener, […]
China, Day Eleven: More capitalistic than any capitalist country
Part eleven in a series “China is more capitalistic than any capitalist country.” Amy, an employee at a jewelry booth in Beijing’s pearl market, strings together a strand of pearls after striking […]
China, Day Ten: Heart-breakers and money-takers
Part ten in a series Walking into the Beijing Silk Market is like walking into a combat zone. Shopping is a full-contact sport. My colleague, Darwin King, negotiates a price for silk […]
China, Day Nine: Panda diplomacy
Part nine in a series Nothing says “China” quite like a panda. It’s no wonder, then, that the Chinese have used these famous black-and-white faces as emissaries around the world. There’s even […]
China, Day Eight: Mao watch
Part eight in a series Chairman Mao looks a little waxy these days. It isn’t for lack of trying. The Chinese government has gone to great pains to keep him looking fresh—at […]
What do the Chinese think about Americans?
My students, colleagues, and I have been forming an impression of the Chinese during our trip to China these past ten-plus days. But what do the Chinese think of Americans?
China, Day Seven: The capital
Part seven in a series If Shanghai was New York City, then Beijing is Los Angeles. The city sprawls over some nineteen thousand square kilometers—all of which is clouded in smog. The […]
