Matt Schiavenza

’tis the October holiday, and while it would be nice to relax in Kunming all week, I’ll be up to something far more interesting. A few friends and I will be going off to towns in the central Yunnan countryside, traveling almost exclusively by bicycle. I won’t have the opportunity to blog during the trip, but am taking my camera and a notebook so should have some meaty content up on the site sometime next week. In addition, I’ve made some arrangements to write longer-form pieces for various publications* and will keep you posted when those are ready.

One of the friends I’m traveling with, Jeff Crosby, authors the blog South of the Clouds**. Those interested in Yunnan or China in general should give it a look- Jeff has been here for quite awhile and has a lot of interesting posts about China from a more cultural perspective. I’ll see if I can persuade him to write some trip thoughts up after we get back.

I’ve also been giving a site re-design a bit of thought. I like the current layout but it hasn’t changed one iota since last August, an epoch in blog years. The content won’t change, though after the Presidential Election I’ll probably write less about non-China related matters.

If any of you have suggestions for me, particularly those concerning layout or design, leave them in comments or send me an e-mail at matthew.schiavenza (at) gmail (dot) com. Thanks!

* I sound so important, don’t I?

** “South of the clouds” is the English meaning of Yunnan, by the way.

PS- Apologies for the shitty photo posting I did in the George W. Bush post…I’ll do a better job next time but am tired and anxious about my trip.