Matt Schiavenza From the Dragon to the Apple- A Sinophile in New York

China Divide, This Site, and Me

A couple of announcements for a lazy Saturday morning in hot and sunny Kunming, China.....

Keen followers of the China blogosphere may have noticed that there's a new kid on the block: China/Divide. Combining the talents of Stan Abrams of China Hearsay, Kai Pan of CN Reviews, and Charles Custer of China Geeks, China/Divide has already become a go-to source for smart, witty analysis on all things China.

To my delight, I have been invited to join the team. My first contribution, a piece discussing the recent thaw in Sino-American relations, is now live. Go and have a look.

Some of you- ok, maybe just close friends and family members- are probably thinking, "Damn, Schiavenza. You already write for Lost Laowai, China Intelligence Online, Yunnan Magazine, and MattSchiavenza.com. Don't you think you're stretching yourself a little thin?"

Perhaps. There is only so much time to blog each day, and only so many things to blog about. As a result, I've decided to change the direction of my personal site and make it, well, more personal. Since its launch in summer 2007 I've consciously tried to devote this space to thoughts and reflections about China, deviating only occasionally into rants about US politics and other subjects. Doing this has brought focus to my writing as well as a group of intelligent and interesting regular readers.

So while I still plan to write often about China, those posts will likely appear elsewhere. This space, then, will become a repository for the millions of other things clamoring around in my brain. In the past I've wanted to write about books, baseball, movies, politics, and other subjects but refrained in an effort to maintain the China focus on this blog. Now, posts about those things will begin to appear more regularly.

With that out of the way, I've got another announcement to make, one which will likely not be news for most of you. Beginning this fall, I will be a student at Columbia University in New York City, pursuing a Masters in International Affairs. Leaving the Dragon for the Apple will be a big change, no doubt, and I'm sure I'll have a lot to say about it. Though I'll be sad to be leaving China after six wonderful years, I'm excited about this new challenge in my life and feel now is the best time to go for it.

Anyway, I hope all of you stick around for the ride- writing this blog has been one of the best things in my life both personally and professionally, something that would not have been possible had you not popped in with comments. Once again- thank you very much.

Now, back to regularly scheduled programming...