Spring Festival – Part One Posted by sasha on Feb 2, 2011
It’s that time of the year again – time for the most important Chinese holiday of them all – the Spring Festival (春节 – chūn jié). Also known around the world as Chinese New Year (农历新年 – nóng lì xīn nián), this holiday begins on the first day of the first month (正月 – zhēng…
Hu’s the man? (胡锦涛是谁） Posted by Stephen on Jan 28, 2011
Who’s the man leading the world largest country and a rising super power? Hu. No, I’m asking “who is the man?”. Hu is! But that’s what I’m asking….Who? Yes. Eat your heart out Abbot and Costello. All jokes aside, many people are now trying to figure out who Hu really is. Known as a…
Mr. Hu Goes to Washington, pt. 4: The Issues Posted by Stephen on Jan 23, 2011
Now that Mr. Hu’s visit to Washington is complete, we can reflect on the issues surrounding his visit. While both sides of the pacific have come away with pros and cons following the meeting, most are pleased with the gains made diplomatically and believe this to be a stepping stone for stronger cooperation among…
Mr. Hu Goes to Washington, pt. 3: The Visit Posted by Stephen on Jan 21, 2011
This Tuesday, President Hu Jintao, in a remarkable display of statesmanship and cooperation, made the trip across the Pacific to Washington to meet with US leaders and lawmakers. His visit has been touted as an attempt to thaw icy relations between the US and China on a variety of human rights, economic, military and environmental…
Old Beijing Hot Pot (老北京火锅) Posted by sasha on Jan 20, 2011
While there are countless options for fine dining in Beijing, one of the best places to go for a good meal is Ghost Street (簋街). Here, you can find many great restaurants, including plenty of places specializing in hot pot. Your table is turned into a stove top, a massive bowl of broth is brought…
Riding That (Chinese) Train Posted by sasha on Jan 19, 2011
With the Spring Festival (春节 – chūn jié) fast approaching, hundreds of millions of folks in China will be buying train tickets to head home for the holidays. This is the biggest mass migration of people in the entire world, and it happens like clockwork every year. While I wouldn’t recommend attempting to travel by…
Simatai Great Wall in January（司马台长城） Posted by Stephen on Jan 18, 2011
As the transition from winter to spring occurs, and we experience a “change of seasons” or 物换星移 (wùhuànxīngyí), a real chance to shed off all those winter layers and have some fun outside emerges. Sure winter was frigid, summer’s going to be sweltering, but right now Chinese weather has found a happy medium. To understand…