The blog In the Footsteps of Joseph Rock has a terrific tribute to Margo Carter, an eccentric Australian woman who ran a guesthouse near the beginning of Yunnan’s Tiger Leaping Gorge trail. Carter died recently, likely from exposure while hiking. Sadly, her demise followed reports of bizarre behavior: I got much of my information from [...]
Most expats who move to China follow a similar pattern. First, there’s the shock and euphoria of actually living in China. Then, there’s a protracted struggle to carve out a life despite linguistic and cultural misunderstandings. Finally, one finds his stasis in China; though while there still may be issues with understanding and occasional frustrations, [...]
On Monday, my friend and I (who share a birthday) invited about 20 people to a Tibetan restaurant in Kunming for our birthday dinner. Neither of us had been before, but the place had been recommended by a couple of good friends and we thought we’d try something different. The deal at the restaurant included [...]
Today I leave the comfortable bosom of Shenzhen and hop across to Hong Kong, doing my first ever proper visa run. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, I’ll be flying back to Kunming tomorrow night after nine days in the overcast, muggy Pearl River Delta. A week is far too long for Shenzhen, readers. The city itself [...]
I’ve spent five and a half years of my life living in countries that use the metric system, which isn’t such a remarkable accomplishment when you consider that the United States is the only country left in the world that doesn’t. I have a lot of strong opinions about why I find our continued use [...]
Quite a lot of people in my bulding have dogs, and very few of them bother keeping their dogs on a leash. I love dogs, but this concerns me. First, sometime last year a small dog attempted to bite me on the street, missing by a milimeter or so. Second, a big dog the other [...]
I have a cleaning lady who is professional, reliable, and sweet. The other day, though, she got on my nerves by gleefully pointing out how I got ripped off when buying furniture at the second-hand market. At the second-hand market, of course, all prices are negotiable. I’m not a terrible negotiator, but eventually my patience [...]
The other morning I was awoken by a rooster crowing. At first I suspected that it was a cell-phone alarm clock, but the crows were too irregular for that to be the case. Awhile later, while sitting on my balcony, I realized that there was an actual rooster living in one of the apartments beneath [...]
1. You bring beers to business meetings- in the middle of the afternoon. 2. You complain when you have to pay more than 8 yuan for a Tsingtao at a bar 3. You think the notion of working more than 20 hours per week is crazy 4. You have heated discussions about which cafe serves [...]
As a culinary region in China, Yunnan doesn’t have the same cache as Sichuan, Hunan, or Guangdong. That doesn’t mean, however, that Yunnan food isn’t good. In fact, some of the regional specialties are absolutely delicious and difficult to find outside of Yunnan. These include “Grandma’s potatoes”, a mashed potatoes dish that’s spicier than what [...]