Spotted in the convenience store up the road: A box claiming to contain whiskey, alleging said whiskey was a product of Scotland. But something about that box made it difficult to believe its contents were actually produced in the Scotland that makes...
One of the many things to be done in preparation for a Chinese wedding is the hanging of decorations in the 婚房/apartment occupied by the bride and groom. For our wedding it's a little complicated, because, of course, the ceremony will happen in Yanqing...
So last night's CCTV-1 weather forecast was as accurate as ever. Sleet turning to cloudy? No. No sleet, just high clouds. Low of zero? At least. Wouldn't be surprised if the temperature was a degree or two cooler, though, judging by what hit my slowly...
Y'know, I'm not sure if I like sitting here listening to these two guys fix our washing machine. It's occasionally fun, in that listening into some random discussion of whether Hebeiren eat rice or not, and whether there's a southern/northern Hebei division...
This is what it's all about, and this is why the Dreamblogue is worth supporting. I've been sitting here quietly observing what the Dreamblogue has been getting up to for a while now. I thought maybe it's time to give it another little plug. Not that...
I like rain. Rain is good. First of all, Beijing doesn't have enough water. More rain equals more water. Secondly, rain cleans the air, but unlike wind, it doesn't bring with it the threat of dust and sand and other nasties blowing around. It simply,...
When I read the headline, 290 ancient tombs found in Beijing, I wasn't expecting much more than the usual shallow, meaningless rubbish from China's state-owned English-language press. But then I saw the word "Yanqing". And then I saw the article was what...
Class this afternoon was interrupted by a fire. It was largely my fault: When I heard the sirens of the fire engines making their way up Xidawang Lu (the classroom I was in overlooks the street), I instinctively turned to see if I could see where the...
Versailles led on to Vietnam and Al Qaeda? Well, at a first glance it seems like a bit of a stretch, but looking a bit closer, the idea does seem to have a bit of merit. I guess this is one area in which I still haven't fully liberated my mind from the...
It's not often I read the French media, only occasionally, but I remember reading a few months back about a Chinese women who threw herself out of a window in Paris to avoid a police raid that had nothing to do with her, only to fall to her death, and...
