He's back. The man who inspired a witchhunt last August for his controversial blogsite about shagging in Shanghai. We know him as China Bounder. If you believe his story, he is a British Caucasian in his 30s and a former (if not current) English teacher in Shanghai. If you're somewhat more susceptible to rumors and innuendo, he is in fact a team of clever, mischievous blogsters making it up as they go along (or maybe even a team of monkeys relentlessly pounding on the keyboard?). I for one don't believe that tripe for a minute. In my humble, unenlightened opinion, this guy is real, and so are his stories.
Read MoreOn Chinglish
Recently a member of H-ASIA, an academic online forum for which I'm currently an editor, posted an inquiry asking for examples of Chinglish. This provoked a flurry of brief responses, some quoting horribly misspelled or otherwise ungrammatical English translations of Chinese signs, which in turn led a few members to write in stating that they found these postings offensive or unscholarly.
Read MoreShanghai's Art Deco Riches Revealed
Recording his city's rich architectural heritage has been a demoralizing task for Shanghainese photographer Deke Erh. While Art Deco buildings in Miami, New Zealand's Napier and even the Eritrean town of Asmara are lovingly tended, Shanghai has demolished scores of equally historic structures in its headlong rush for modernity. "I've been taking photographs of old Shanghai for 20 years, and I've continually seen these things torn down," says Erh. "But I still have hope. Even today, Shanghai has more Art Deco buildings than any other city in the world. If I didn't have hope, I'd have to give up."
Read MoreShanghai: digital map to provide 3D view of downtown
BEIJING, Feb. 10 -- By the time the World Expo opens in 2010, travelers will no longer have to visit Shanghai in person to enjoy a three-dimensional tour of its downtown core. They will only have to boot up their computers.
Read MoreComet McNaught--Another Great Siting
Excuse me for my obsession with this heavenly object, but I want to report yet another brilliant siting of the comet, this time during a dinner party held in honor of our friend Jane Fenn's birthday. The dinner was held at the Wharf Restaurant located on Pier 4, offering a great view of Sydney Harbour Bridge to the east and a fairly unobstructed view of the western sky. Again, the comet appeared at around 8:45 pm and stayed in the sky for maybe a half hour before setting behind Pier 6.
Read MoreGentrification worries Shanghai preservationists
Not everyone involved in Shanghai's old homes sees them as money-making opportunities. In fact there are people who are ardently against too much gentrification of the European-style homes, worrying that they will become merely facades for modern-day interiors -- early 20th century on the outside, early 21st century within.
Read MoreFirst Siting of Comet McNaught
It's been ten years since I last saw a comet--the last was Hale-Bopp, which was mighty impressive as it rose above the Mongolian tundra at around 3 am. So I was very excited when I found out recently about the appearance of Comet McNaught in the evening Aussie skies.
Read MoreShanghai's mad dash: University Admission
SHANGHAI-It's June 7, 2007, a day you've prepared for your entire life. Over the next three days, 12 hours of exams will determine your future, forever. Sound melodramatic? For the 1.5 million university hopefuls in Shanghai, it is the reality they've always lived with. Unlike at U of T, where 63 per cent of undergraduate applicants were offered admission last year, the limited number of places in prestigious Chinese universities has enormous numbers of students jostling for a spot. In China, entrance into the nation's top universities is a stepping stone to a successful career.
Read MoreEducation key to Shanghai life
A government survey, covering 800 immigrants, found that most of those with a high level of education and a stable job were leading a happy life in the city, and that the hostility between local residents and immigrants was subsiding
Read MoreThree Days at Uluru
Last Friday I returned from a fantastic three-day trip to the Red Centre. No better place to see the "real Australia." Before that my experiences had been limited to the coast of New South Wales and the Blue Mountains near Sydney. This trip was a real eye-opener.
Read MoreChina's problems multiply with its population
THE ticking time bomb that is the Chinese population has been underlined by a report describing the huge challenges its sheer numbers - 1.3 billion and rising - will present to the country over the next 30 years.
Read MoreGenghis Khan -- A Chinese Hero???
From outcast nomad to tribal warlord and finally founder of the world's
greatest land empire, Genghis Khan went through a lot of changes in a
tumultuous life spanning the end of the 12th century and the beginning of
the 13th.
Shanghai Scandal
Amid official silence over the graft case against Shanghai's disgraced
Communist Party chief, unlicensed tomes are stepping into the void with what
they claim is the inside scoop on his downfall.
Monument to all that jazz: Shanghai's Peace Hotel, a piece of Old Europe in new China
Standing on the top floor of Shanghai's Peace Hotel, an art deco palace once known as the Cathay Hotel, you can look out over the turrets and spires of the elegant Bund promenade and dream of a China long gone.
Read MoreShanghai Risen, Shanghai Falling Down
The Shanghaiese, whether rich or poor, have always believed themselves to be more rational and efficient than people from the rest of China. They’ve always reproached the Beijingnese for wasting time talking about politics, while they themselves get things done. They are especially proud of their trademark way of doing things the grand haipai style.
Read MoreResurgence And Spread Of Syphilis In China Is A Rapidly Increasing Epidemic
Here's a wakeup call to anybody sexually active in China today
Read MoreBeijing’s Olympic-sized traffic problem
Beijing is investing in public transportation before the Games, but experts are more worried about the transit crisis they will face after the Olympic torch has left town. Alex Pasternack asks how China’s capital can beat the sprawl.
Read MoreShanghai to have 400 km urban rail lines in 2010
SHANGHAI, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai, China's financial and business center, will have more than 400 km of light rail lines capable of carrying six million commuters a day by 2010, as the city tries to tackle its traffic congestion woes.
Read MoreGlobal warming likely to wreck havoc in China
Here's another dire prediction for China's future. In my discussion page I welcome readers to contribute their own informed opinions about what will happen in China over the next two decades.
Read MoreBeijing vs. Shanghai
A question that people often ask me is: which is the better city, Beijing or Shanghai? This is such a loaded question I don't know where to begin. Of course, the answer depends on one's perspective, background, and interests. I always reply with the hazy but useful phrase 各有千秋 (ge you qian qiu) which literally means "each has a thousand autumns" but translates more accurately as "each has its advantages..."
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